Gu Changde glanced behind the screen and said seriously, "Can a woman's reputation be bought with ten taels of silver? That is her whole life, the life of all the women in the Xia clan!"
"What about the twenty taels?" Mother Jiang gritted her teeth and raised two trembling fingers. In fact, they had no money. Even if they sold the house, they couldn't get together twenty taels of silver. But Xia Qianqian's only hobby was money. For the sake of their son's life, they had no choice but to give it all.
Xia Qianqian was really tempted, and was thinking about how much money she could get the Jiang family to pay. As long as they paid, everything could be discussed.
Gu Changde also noticed that Xia Qianqian was wavering and said, "Just paying money is definitely not enough."
"Please give me some advice, Lord Lizheng," Jiang Ming said quickly, "As long as Xia Qianqian's reputation can be restored and she is not exiled, I am willing to do anything!"
"Really?" Gu Changde raised his eyebrows calmly, "Then let everyone in Pingning Town know that you said the wrong thing!"
Jiang Ming was slightly puzzled and looked at his parents.
Although Jiang's father and mother were not well-educated, they were old and had some experience. Jiang's mother whispered, "That's it. You have to apologize and kowtow in the street. Kneel every three steps and kowtow every five steps. You have to speak out your mistakes loudly."
Jiang Ming: “!!!”
Doesn't that mean letting Xia Qianqian step on him
"That was a precedent in the neighboring town many years ago." Gu Changde drawled out his words, as if he was not satisfied with this approach.
Xia Qianqian's eyes lit up: This precedent is great, she likes it!
Father Jiang was more sensible and immediately said to Xia Qianqian: "My son is willing to follow the precedent of the neighboring county! Miss Xia, please have mercy!"
Mother Jiang sighed. Losing face was better than losing life. She knelt down in front of Xia Qianqian and said, "Miss Xia, please have mercy. Let Jiang Ming kneel all the way back today. We will definitely compensate you tomorrow."
"Then... that's fine!" Xia Qianqian answered reluctantly, but she was actually very happy in her heart.
Gu Changsheng, who was standing behind the screen, raised his hands to cover his face. He knew this would be the result! Xia Qianqian didn't care about her reputation at all. She wanted money! Money makes everything easier! With money, everything can be discussed!
"Since Miss Xia agrees, let's do this!" Gu Changde wrote down a letter of agreement and asked both parties to sign and approve it, and then the drama of apology could begin.
After Jiang Ming left the ancestral hall, he knelt on the ground and loudly introspected: "It was me, Jiang Ming, who spoke nonsense and slandered Xia Qianqian's reputation! Today I am making a solemn apology!"
After taking three steps, he kneeled and shouted. After taking five steps, he kowtowed. Even if the snow was cold, he could not be careless. The only way to find a loophole was to take bigger steps.
Xia Dingfeng was even more outrageous. He got a gong from somewhere and started to bang it beside Jiang Ming: "Everyone, come out and take a look! The girl from my old Xia family is innocent. All the rumors are just Jiang Ming's nonsense."
"It was me, Jiang Ming, who talked nonsense and slandered Xia Qianqian's reputation! Today I am making a solemn confession!" Jiang Ming was so ashamed that he wanted to find a hole to crawl into, but there was only cold snow under his feet.
The sound of gongs was so loud that the entire Pingning Town was alarmed and came out to watch the fun.
"Oh, it turns out that Xia Qianqian is innocent, and this guy is slandering her maliciously?"
"How abominable! How can you slander a woman's innocence? Isn't this asking for her life?"
"That's right. Fortunately, the head of the village took action, otherwise Miss Xia Qianqian's life would be over."
"… "
(End of this chapter)