The old lady soon heard about the commotion here. She listened quietly and did not comment on the matter. Instead, she said, "This will not happen again. Even if Zhi'er opened the door and let the people from other families inquire, this kind of distrust would make her uncomfortable. No matter what she wants to do, no matter what she has done, since she is willing to take on all the responsibilities at the most difficult time, everything she does will only benefit the Hua family."
Nanny Su was filled with shame and nodded in agreement.
The old lady did not comfort her as she did before. Things are different now. Since the Hua family has to rely on Zhier to survive, she, as a grandmother, naturally cannot hold her back. Cuixiang is someone close to her, and her words and actions represent her attitude. Such a thing must not happen again.
Hua Zhi's mind was not on these trivial matters. After arranging everything that needed to be arranged, she came to the old lady again and mentioned the matter of breaking off the engagement.
"We should do this as soon as possible. If we wait until the Shen family takes action first, the Shen and Hua families will not have any friendship left."
The old lady did not reject her proposal this time, but just asked, "Does your mother know about this?"
"I will explain it to her clearly." As long as she said that everything was done for the purpose of bringing her father back, she would swallow her opinions even if she had any objections. It was not that she did not love her daughter, but compared with her marriage, her husband's return home was obviously more important.
The old lady naturally understood this, and sighed, "Don't worry, Zhi'er, the Hua family will never let you down."
Hua Zhi just blessed, and everything was said without words.
"Tomorrow I plan to go to the villa and the manor and stay at the manor for one night. Grandma, don't worry."
"Bring more people with you, and put your own safety first."
"yes."
Since the decision had been made, the old lady did not delay any longer. She sent someone to deliver a visiting card to the Shen family early the next morning. She wore a deep blue dress, with only an antique silver hairpin to hold her hair in place, before leaving the house.
The Hua family, which had been closed for several days, finally made some movement. People who were paying attention to the Hua family turned their attention when they saw that the person following the sedan chair was the old servant of the old lady.
When everyone saw the sedan chair being carried into the Shen Mansion, they were not surprised. It seemed that the Hua family could no longer hold back and came out to look for help. They just wondered whether Lord Shen dared to get involved in the Hua family's affairs.
The people in the Shen family were also thinking about this matter. Old Master Shen Zhui happened to be at home on vacation today. He paced without stopping from the moment he received the visiting card.
The two families have known each other for many years, and even the gifts they gave during the solar terms were more generous than those given by others. But now the two families are no longer a good match, and the Hua family is even despised by the current emperor. Even though Shen Zhui is thinking of the old relationship, he dare not take this marriage seriously. However, he cannot rush to distance himself from the Hua family just after something happened. Even if he does not lose the emperor's favor, he will be criticized.
But I never expected that the old lady would come at this time. With so many eyes staring at me, it would be hard to chase her away. I just had to think about how to receive her and with what kind of relationship.
Madam Shen did not keep the old lady waiting for long. As soon as she sat down and served tea, she was supported by the maid and walked out quickly, smiling and apologizing, "I sat in the Buddhist temple for a while before, and I smelled of sandalwood. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."
Although she had already sensed the change in attitude of the Shen family, these words still comforted the old lady. As long as they still remembered the old friendship, she hoped that it wouldn't fade away too quickly even if people left.
"It is I who disturbed you."
It was "old man" instead of "sister" as she usually called herself. When Mrs. Shen heard this, her eyes flickered and she was a little confused about what Mrs. Hua's purpose was.
After a few polite words, the old lady got straight to the point, "The Hua and Shen families have been friends for many years. I won't mince words in front of others. I came here today to cancel the engagement."
This really surprised Old Lady Shen, and she forgot that she had been planning to do this. She hurriedly asked, "Why suddenly..."
"To be honest, sister, this is what my eldest granddaughter wanted. She insisted on sharing the hardships with the Hua family and didn't want to leave home at this time. I told her that the Shen family would not treat her harshly like other families did because the Hua family was in trouble. She just said that she was not destined to be with the young master of the Shen family and didn't have the blessing of coming to the Shen family to enjoy happiness."
Madam Hua rubbed her red eyes, "She has a weak mother and young siblings, so it's natural for her to worry about her. But I feel so bad no matter how I think about it. Please don't ask any more questions for the sake of our past friendship. The Hua family was raided, and we don't have anything valuable left. Please calculate how much money the betrothal gift cost. I'll write you an IOU, and I'll pay you back in full when the Hua family recovers from this."
As for the reputation of the Shen family, money is nothing! Old Madam Shen suppressed her joy and said with regret: "It is our Shen family that is not blessed to marry such a good girl. Sister, please don't talk about the IOU again. That is a slap in my face and the face of the Shen family. My old master feels very sorry for the friendship between the two families for not being able to help. If you mention money again, it will really hurt the relationship between the two families."
"These are two different things. There is no reason to cancel an engagement without canceling the betrothal. I also cannot let my daughter Zhier be stabbed in the back by others. The Hua family has suffered a disaster, but there is no one with the surname Lai in the Hua family."
After much evasion, Madam Shen finally agreed to write an IOU on the spot, and Madam Hua put her fingerprint on it.
The two families parted ways amicably. They bowed to old Madam Shen who came to see them off. After the old lady got on the sedan chair, she actually felt somewhat happy. Just as Zhi'er said, the two families not only preserved their relationship, but also saved their face. In the future, the Shen family would not help the Hua family in any way, but at least they would not do anything to take advantage of the situation.
Madam Shen hurried back to the backyard and told Madam Hua the purpose of her visit without hiding anything. She said with emotion at the end, "The Hua family's generosity really impressed me."
Shen Zhui shook his head. "The one who is truly magnanimous is probably the eldest daughter of the Hua family who proposed to cancel the engagement. What a pity."
"I've seen that girl a few times. She looks pretty good, but is it true that she, a little girl, wanted to cancel the marriage as Madam Hua said?"
"Given the current situation of the Hua family, there is only one possibility that the Hua family will voluntarily withdraw from this marriage without any entanglement." Shen Zhui knocked on the table, "Compared to marrying with our Shen family, the eldest daughter of the Hua family will be more useful to them if she stays in the Hua family."
Madam Shen frowned slightly, "Is the old man overestimating her? What can a girl do?"
He also wanted to see what she could do. Shen Zhui shook his head and sighed. He hoped that she could really do something. It was a pity that the Hua family ended up like this and such an upright person like Hua Yizhen was exiled.
"Pay more attention in the future, and help when you can."
"It's not that I don't want to help, but the Hua family is disliked by the emperor. If we get involved in the Hua family's affairs, won't it have an impact on the Shen family?"
"If the current emperor really dislikes the Hua family to the point where it is beyond redemption, the empress dowager will not be able to save the women of the Hua family." Shen Zhui saw through it, but even so, it would not be easy to get the current emperor to ask for the men of the Hua family to come back. His words are golden!
Madam Shen sighed, "I'm afraid those who have old grudges against the Hua family will take the opportunity to do evil and make the Hua family even more sad."