As she spoke, she gave a signal to Madam Yu’s nanny, who then took out a list from her sleeve pocket and read: “One gold-inlaid jade hairpin with dangling ornaments, one gold and jade fish-shaped hairpin, one pearl forehead band, one tortoiseshell comb box…”
After reading, she handed the list to Zhang Yuniang.
Song Yifeng’s face turned pale.
All these pieces of jewelry had been pawned and converted to silver; the property had been sold to Wang Wenzhi, and he had only received one thousand taels. Where could he now produce jewelry and property to give to the Ye family?
He glared fiercely at Ye Chongming: “Don’t push too far.”
Ye Chongming raised his eyebrows in surprise: “All these years you’ve used my silver to study for the imperial examinations, gained scholarly titles and benefited greatly; used my silver to buy houses and land, saved on rent and gained yearly income. I haven’t calculated any of that. Now I’m only taking back the principal, and you say I’m pushing too far? So in this world, only you are allowed to take advantage of others, while others can’t even seek justice? Who exactly is pushing too far?”
Ye Hongchang was already impatient with Song Yifeng’s quibbling. With a dark face, he shouted: “Either break the engagement and return the silver, or get out.”
“I’ll break it,” Song Yifeng said, “but I have one condition.”
Ye Jiaxing was furious. He rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward, intending to punch Song Yifeng a few times: “The engagement isn’t broken yet, so I’m still your brother-in-law. A brother-in-law beating his sister’s fiancé is perfectly justified. As long as I don’t beat you to death, even if we took this to the Emperor himself, I’d still be in the right.”
As he spoke, he raised his fist, about to charge forward.
Song Yifeng was startled. Guizi quickly stepped forward to shield his master.
Ye Chongming shouted: “Jiaxing, stop!”
Ye Hongchang also rose to grab Ye Jiaxing’s arm: “Jiaxing, don’t be impulsive.”
Ye Jiaxing glared fiercely at Song Yifeng, his face ferocious, mouthing silently to Song Yifeng: “When no one’s around, I’ll kill you.”
Song Yifeng had always moved in scholarly circles, where people valued civility. Any conflicts there involved mind games and verbal sparring; direct use of force was rare, at least Song Yifeng had never encountered it.
He had already decided to break the engagement, and now frightened by Ye Jiaxing, he knew the Ye family wouldn’t let this go easily. So he took the easy way out: “Fine, fine, I’ll break it, I’ll break it, alright?”
Seeing that Ye Jiaxing withdrew his fist after hearing this, he tried to save face by saying: “Let me tell you, you’re using force to coerce me into breaking the engagement. If word gets out, I’ll be the one in the right.”
He turned to Madam Wu and said: “Madam Wu, you and Matchmaker Zhang have both witnessed this. If you spread word of today’s events, you must not be biased.”
The Ye family members present were all amused by his anger.
Madam Wu and Zhang Yuniang had been brought by the Ye family as witnesses. Now Song Yifeng was asking them to testify for him instead. This man truly had thick skin and a black heart.
Madam Wu languidly remarked: “A brother-in-law disciplining his sister’s fiancé is perfectly justified. Young Scholar Song, the engagement hasn’t been broken yet, has it?”
Her words left Song Yifeng speechless.
Only then did the expressions of the Ye family members improve somewhat.
“Alright, enough talk. Bring out the house and land deeds, then write the IOU,” said Ye Chongming.
“The land and jewelry have all been sold to raise these one thousand three hundred taels of silver,” Song Yifeng forthrightly took out a bank note from his bosom and slapped it on the table. “For the remaining one thousand seven hundred and some taels, I’ll write an IOU.”
“We don’t trust you,” Ye Jiaxing continued playing the bad cop, his voice cold. “Who knows when you’ll repay that one thousand seven hundred and some taels? With your character, you might just pretend that debt doesn’t exist. Your house originally cost one thousand five hundred taels when purchased, so let the house settle the debt. We’ll forget about the remaining two hundred or so taels and the jewelry.”
This was what the Ye family had decided after receiving information from Zhou Xiang.
If they pushed too hard, not only might Lu, Qi, and the Wu couple form a negative impression of the Ye family, but if Song Yifeng tarnished the Ye family’s reputation among scholars in Lin’an City, or if Madam Yu spread negative rumors in the streets and alleys, it would do more harm than good.
After all, Song Yifeng wasn’t trying to evade the silver entirely but had promised to write an IOU.
Rather than demanding money that might never be recovered and losing their reputation for kindness and tolerance, it was better to directly take the Song family’s existing assets as compensation.
Using two hundred some taels of silver and those pieces of jewelry to buy the Ye family a good reputation for generosity, while buying Song Yifeng a bad reputation for ingratitude, was worth it.
For Song Yifeng, who was about to be left with nothing, a few hundred taels of silver were very important. Thus, his heart was full of the satisfaction of having gained an advantage, with no thought for anything else.
He immediately took the house deed from his bosom, slapped it on the table, and said: “Fine, let’s write the engagement dissolution document.”
So Wentao took up the brush and wrote three copies of the engagement dissolution document. The reason stated was quite generous, only saying that the elders of both families felt the match was unsuitable and unanimously agreed to dissolve the engagement. It also clearly stated that Song Yifeng had returned the expenses used, and that neither side owed the other.
Ye Yaming had asked Wentao to draft this document the previous night, and after reading it through, she made a few character changes before instructing him to write it like that today.
Ye Yaming had seen many contracts in her previous life and paid great attention to textual details, ensuring that the engagement dissolution document would be flawless.
As for the true reason for breaking the engagement, Ye Yaming felt it unnecessary to write it in the document. If it wasn’t written correctly, Song Yifeng would never sign it, which would only add complications to the process.
Song Yifeng read the wording and was indeed satisfied. He immediately signed his name and pressed his handprint.
Madam Wu and Zhang Yuniang also signed their names and pressed their handprints—Madam Wu was educated; Zhang Yuniang became an official matchmaker because she was literate, could understand marriage matters, and could sign her name.
For the Ye family, Ye Chongming signed and pressed his handprint.
Of the three copies of the engagement dissolution document, the Ye family and Song Yifeng each kept one, and the remaining copy was taken by Zhang Yuniang to be stored in the government office.
Song Yifeng put the document in his bosom and felt a sense of relief throughout his body. His demeanor made Ye Jiaxing clench his fists again.
“I hope this matter ends here. If I hear you tarnishing my reputation outside, I will certainly spread certain matters. I am only seventeen this year, ranked seventh in the provincial examination. Passing the spring palace examination and becoming a jinshi is not difficult for me. Consider carefully whether you want to make an enemy of me. If we part on good terms, perhaps some goodwill can be maintained.”
After leaving these harsh words, Song Yifeng departed with Guizi from the Ye family residence.
As Song Yifeng’s figure disappeared at the courtyard gate, Ye Yaming emerged from the adjacent side hall and went to the main hall, just in time to hear Old Madam Ye thanking Madam Wu.
She walked in, and Old Madam Ye’s voice paused as she looked up at her, her eyes full of worry and concern.
If Madam Wu weren’t present, Ye Yaming would have not need to act. But with Madam Wu there, if she appeared too calm and composed, it would make Madam Wu think the Ye family’s young lady was too heartless, or even suspect that all this was the Ye family’s scheme.