Chapter 51: Breaking the Engagement

At dawn, sunlight filtered through thin clouds, falling in scattered patches onto the bluestone road. A burst of hurried, solemn footsteps shattered the tranquility.

The Imperial decree granting the marriage for Jun Zhidie had arrived. The Eunuch delivering the decree read aloud in a high-pitched voice: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."

Jun Zhidie accepted the decree with an expressionless face. Once the Eunuch and his attendants had departed, she tossed the decree aside without a moment's hesitation.

Yet, after turning to walk away, Jun Zhidie suddenly stopped. As if remembering something, she turned back to pick up the decree; it was likely the only lifeline she could grasp at the moment.

The Eunuch who had read the marriage decree had barely left when the people from the Prime Minister's residence arrived to call off the engagement.

Old Lady Gao, who had been struck by a stroke due to Jun Yiyi’s provocation, had been treated by Jun Zijin and carefully nursed for a month according to her prescription. Just as Jun Zijin had initially promised, Old Lady Gao was now not only able to speak but could also walk.

Had it not been for the fact that the young lady of the Jun residence had recently gained the Emperor's favor and been titled a County Princess, Prime Minister Gao, out of concern for the Emperor's face, would likely have been unable to restrain himself from coming to the Jun residence to break the engagement sooner.

Now that Jun Yiyi had brought such disgrace upon herself, coupled with the urging of Old Lady Gao, the Prime Minister's residence was no longer willing to delay the annulment.

Although Jun Zhengming felt he had lost face, he could not stop them; as a father, he too was humiliated by the things Jun Yiyi had done.

Upon hearing the news, Jun Yiyi turned deathly pale. Ignoring her leg injury, she pushed aside the First Lady and ran to Jun Zhengming, crying out:

"Father, your daughter cannot have this engagement broken! How will I ever hold my head high again?"

Jun Yiyi had indeed wanted to break the engagement with the Prime Minister's residence back then in order to marry the Crown Prince, but times had changed. Her reputation was not what it once was, and she hadn't even gotten close to the Crown Prince, let alone the Prime Minister's son. Furthermore, to secure the engagement with the Prime Minister's residence, she had already... with the third young master of the Prime Minister's residence.

Jun Zhengming sighed and said:

"Old Lady Gao was nearly frightened to death by you, and the third young master of the Prime Minister's residence was humiliated that day and is no longer willing to take you as his wife. Things have reached this point; there is nothing your father can do."

The First Lady, who had chased after Jun Yiyi, was so angry she nearly vomited blood. She pointed at Jun Zhengming and said:

"Master, how can you give up so easily? Let us think of another way."

Jun Zhengming flicked his sleeve and said irritably:

"What other way is there? Yiyi is willful and reckless, and isn't that all because you spoiled her!"

...Could it be that you never indulged her? The anger in the First Lady's heart was instantly ignited. She wanted to disregard everything and scream at Jun Zhengming, but she dared not; the last shred of her reason held her back. The First Lady stood there, staring blankly at Jun Zhengming.

The First Lady hated that Jun Zhengming could not grant her the honor and prestigious status of a Prime Minister's wife. As for Jun Zijin, she hated her to the bone; that wretched girl constantly overshadowed her own daughter and stole Jun Yiyi's thunder. She also hated Jun Yiyi for being useless—she hadn't even touched the hem of the Crown Prince's robe, and now she had lost the marriage with the Prime Minister's residence.

The First Lady also hated Concubine Wu of the Prime Minister's residence. She had originally hoped that Concubine Wu would become the Prime Minister's wife, allowing her, as the elder sister, to share in the glory. Who would have thought that her younger sister was also useless? Not only had she lost favor in the Prime Minister's residence, but now she couldn't even protect Jun Yiyi's marriage.

Aside from the First Lady, the Wu woman, Jun Yiyi was also filled with resentment, but beyond that, she could only continue to cry and beg.

The people from the Prime Minister's residence soon arrived at the main hall of the Jun residence. After stating their purpose, they were unwilling to say another word. The people of the Jun residence listened to the cold, curt words of the visitors, all looking deeply embarrassed. The First Lady couldn't help but speak up:

"How can a marriage be treated like child's play, changing on a whim?"

The people from the Prime Minister's residence showed no mercy:

"Things have come to this, how could my young master possibly marry her? Do not pester us further." Having said this, they left.

Jun Yiyi’s legs went weak, and with a "thud," she collapsed onto the floor.

In the Aoxue Courtyard, Jun Zijin was tinkering with her hard-tipped pen. She was just waiting to assemble it, and the first fountain pen in Tianqi would be born. Jun Zijin felt quite proud. At this moment, Xiao He ran in, beaming:

"Young Lady, Young Lady! The engagement at the Anxiang Pavilion has been broken. Aren't we going to watch the show? Even the third young lady of the second branch has gone!"

Jun Zijin placed the pen she was assembling onto the table:

"Watch? We must watch. Only a fool misses a good show!" Besides, there were other scores to settle today.

"Go and invite the Old Lady as well," Jun Zijin instructed Han Xiao. The Old Lady was still recovering from her injuries, and Jun Zijin had originally not wanted to disturb her with these troublesome matters. But today's affair was too significant to hide, so it was better to invite the Old Lady to hold down the fort.

Jun Zhidie, who had been feeling depressed over the marriage decree, heard the news, and her mood did a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, instantly becoming joyful. She sneered: Jun Yiyi deserved this end. Relying on a bit of beauty and the engagement with the Prime Minister's residence, she had always been arrogant and insufferable in front of her. Now, look, she had even lost the marriage with the Prime Minister's residence. She wanted to see what capital Jun Yiyi had left to act so haughty in front of her!

Jun Zhidie couldn't wait to see Jun Yiyi’s pathetic state and hurried to the front hall with her maid. Seeing Jun Yiyi sitting on the ground with disheveled hair, Jun Zhidie’s face was filled with triumph.

"Oh, what happened to eldest sister?" Jun Zhidie said, deliberately raising her voice.

Jun Yiyi looked up, her eyes filled with hatred.

"Jun Zhidie, don't be too smug. You are nothing but a concubine in the Second Imperial Prince's residence; you aren't even married yet!"

Jun Zhidie laughed contemptuously:

"Hmph, you used to throw your weight around because you were the legitimate daughter of the first branch. Now, aren't you even worse off than me?"

In Jun Zhidie’s eyes, she was better off than Jun Yiyi, no matter how bad her own situation was. Besides, she had ended up in this state because of Jun Yiyi’s medicine; with Jun Zhidie’s temperament, how could she endure this?

"Insolent! Have you lost your mind?"

The First Lady strode over and slapped Jun Zhidie across the face. The First Lady had never endured such insults from the second branch; she had been bottling up her anger since the Prime Minister's residence broke the engagement, and she had just found an outlet.

"Enough!" Jun Zhengming roared. He hadn't recovered from yesterday's anger, and now this had happened today. He really didn't want to speak; he had been stifling his rage for a long time, but these women—the elders acting nothing like elders, and the juniors acting nothing like juniors—made the veins on Jun Zhengming’s forehead bulge with fury.

Jun Zhidie had only been focused on bickering with Jun Yiyi when she entered, and after being slapped by the First Lady, she finally saw that besides Jun Yiyi, Jun Zhengming and the First Lady were also in the room. Jun Zhidie wasn't afraid of Jun Yiyi, but she was still somewhat afraid of Jun Zhengming and the Wu woman. Jun Zhidie covered her face and dared not make another sound.

When Jun Zijin arrived at the front courtyard, she saw Han Xiao pushing the Old Lady from the Jingzhu Courtyard and waited by the roadside. Along the way, Han Xiao had told the Old Lady about how Jun Yiyi had drugged and framed Jun Zijin yesterday, making the Old Lady curse her as a "wicked creature."

When Jun Zijin pushed the Old Lady into the front hall, this was the scene she saw: Jun Yiyi sitting on the ground with tear-stained cheeks, Jun Zhidie covering her swollen cheek with one hand, Jun Zhengming looking furious, and the Wu woman looking venomous.

"Have you made enough of a scene?" the Old Lady said coldly, her face dark.

"The whole of Jingcheng is talking about it. If it weren't for my maid going out to buy things, you would have kept it from me alone. Eldest girl, tell the truth: where did the poison you used to harm people in the palace yesterday come from?"