Chapter 533: It was over
Liang Yujun was not surprised by Father Ruan's request to see him.
He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "Take him to the front hall and wait."
"Yes!" The butler replied respectfully.
Father Ruan was brought to the front hall.
He waited for a long time before he saw Prince Jin, who had arrived late.
His daughter dared to act willfully towards Prince Jin, but he didn't dare to.
He bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Your Highness!"
Liang Yujun walked to the head of the table and sat down. "What's the matter?"
Father Ruan's face was full of smiles.
"My daughter has been talking about Your Highness at home, so I came to ask when you would get someone to pick her up."
His daughter couldn't stay at their house all the time.
Now, the outsiders were starting to spread rumors, saying that his daughter had fallen out of favor.
Moreover, his insolent daughter was tyrannical at home.
She wanted to have the best food and enjoy the best of everything.
She also suppressed and bullied his concubines and illegitimate sons.
She also brought back an even more unruly granddaughter.
Their whole family was extremely annoyed and wanted to send her back immediately.
Liang Yujun picked up the tea that the servant girl had just served and asked, "Didn't she tell you why I wanted to send her back to her mother's home?"
When Father Ruan heard this, he realized that things were different from what he had expected.
"She said that she had a small conflict with Your Highness, so she went back to her mother's house to stay for a while." he said truthfully.
Liang Yujun blew on his tea and took a sip. "Small conflict? She even dared to say that. I sent her back to her home because she has already lost her position as a princess. To be precise, I divorced her. What right does she have to return to my residence?"
Her father was shocked. "What? She's been divorced."
How was this possible? Didn't His Highness pamper his daughter to the heavens?
His daughter had been acting recklessly and arrogantly before, but Prince Jin had always indulged her.
"That's right, we've divorced!" Liang Yujun said.
"She committed a crime in Heyang County. If it wasn't for me, she and her vicious daughter would have been in jail or exiled. Divorcing her is already a light punishment."
He briefly explained how Ruan Songling and her daughter had ordered people to set fire to Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo.
"As the price for not going to jail or being exiled, Ruan Songling and your Ruan family must build a cement road from Heyang County to the capital. I've already asked the housekeeper to check Ruan Songling's private property and all the gold and silver jewelry. It's not enough to repair the road. My people have calculated. After taking out Ruan Songling's money, your family still has to fork out 300, 000 taels of silver. I had originally sent someone to inform you to gather the money as soon as possible in the next few days. Now that you've come here yourself, you should quickly get this matter done."
When he sent Ruan Songling home, he deliberately didn't mention the matter of dethroning the princess and divorcing her.
He wanted to let Ruan Songling and her daughter continue to act like tyrants in the Ruan family.
That way, when the Ruan family found out about this, the two of them would retaliate even more.
Ruan Songling and Liang Mingmin, other than the money and jewelry they brought to Heyang County, he got the butler packed everything else.
These would be used to repair the road.
He was actually a little surprised, because Ruan Songling and Liang Mingmin's combined wealth was actually more than a million taels.
Ruan Songling had her people build a few secret compartments in the room and put a lot of gold and silver notes.
The two's wealth alone was enough to build a road, but he naturally would not let the Ruan family off.
All these years, the Ruan family had gotten a lot of benefits with his family behind them.
He wanted the Ruan family to spit everything out.
He had asked someone to check the amount of money the Ruan family could take out.
It was about 200,000 taels, so he asked for 300,000. He had to let the Ruan family sell their shops and fields to get another 100,000.
This would be like cutting their own flesh.
The Ruan family would definitely hate Ruan Songling.
Father Ruan didn't expect this to happen.
His legs turned to jelly and he knelt on the ground immediately. "Your Highness, your princess consort didn't do it on purpose. She knows she's in the wrong. Please forgive her this time. When I go back, I'll definitely make her learn what she shouldn't be doing as a female and make her a qualified princess so that she won't make such a mistake again."
Liang Yujun immediately threw the teacup in his hand at Father Ruan. "What princess consort? She's just a b*tch that I have divorced."
Father Ruan didn't dare to dodge.
Even with his fat body, he couldn't avoid it.
Therefore, even though his face was smashed and his body was soaked in hot water, he gritted his teeth and didn't dare to cry out.
Liang Yujun stood up and snorted coldly. "Usually, she's throwing her weight around in the royal residence, but I can't even be bothered with her. But she still wanted to make me a cuckold. She went to Heyang County to find Prince Yi in private and wanted to kill Princess Fubao, who had just been conferred by the emperor, and also an official in the imperial court. Do you think that my residence can still accommodate them?"
He walked in front of Father Ruan and looked down at him.
"If the Ruan family doesn't send over 300,000 taels in 10 days, your entire family will be exiled. I will mean it. If you don't believe me, you can try."
Father Ruan didn't expect Prince Jin, who was always kind and friendly, to change like this.
After hearing Prince Jin's words, he was so scared that his entire body went soft.
He knew a little that Ruan Songling had liked Prince Yi before she married him, but he didn't expect that after so many years, his daughter was still thinking about Prince Yi.
She was even more daring to go to Heyang County to find Prince Yi.
No wonder Prince Jin was so angry and wanted to divorce her.
If any other man were him, they wouldn't even be able to stand being cuckolded, not to mention that this was the most respected Prince Jin in the northern border.
In his heart, he cursed Ruan Songling, the daughter he had once been most proud of, and continued to plead with Prince Jin.
However, Prince Jin did not pay any attention to him.
He left after giving his last warning.
After a moment, Father Ruan got up and left under the cold urging of the Butler.
The butler's attitude was completely different from before.
When he left, he even stuffed a divorce letter written by Prince Jin into his hands and deliberately pushed him out before slamming the door shut.
Father Ruan was furious, but he didn't dare to scold or say anything.
When he opened the divorce papers, he only had one thought in his mind.
It was over.
Judging from the butler's attitude, he knew that his daughter had been completely rejected by Prince Jin.
Father Ruan returned home in a carriage and went to the backyard angrily.
As soon as he entered, he saw his wife and Ruan Songling half-lying on the soft chairs, with his concubine serving them.
Several of his sons and daughters-in-law were being punished to kneel, and his new concubine was being slapped by the maidservant.
Ruan Songling was drinking the bird's nest while she expressed her displeasure about why this wasn't the most precious type of bird's nest.
Seeing this, Father Ruan was even angrier. He walked in with a face full of anger.
Mother Ruan glanced at him. "What's wrong with you, old master? If you want to throw a tantrum, then go out. Those who don't know might think that you're not happy that your daughter has returned to home."
Ever since she had her daughter's support, her confidence had also become stronger.
Not only did she manage to control Father Ruan, but she also managed to control all the concubines in the courtyard.
Her daughter was her source of confidence.
Father Ruan couldn't stand his wife riding on his head.
He couldn't help but walk over and slap her.
"The good daughter you raised is so shameless."
Chapter 534: Encounter
Ruan Songling's heart skipped a beat when she heard her father's words.
She put down the bird's nest that she had been looking down on.
"Father, is there anything we can't discuss nicely?"
Father Ruan looked at her coldly. "You shameless woman. You still have the nerve to ask me to speak properly."
"You're really good. You were obviously divorced by Prince Jin and have to return to your maternal family, but you have the cheek to say that it was only a quarrel and that you went back to your maternal family because you were unhappy. Prince Jin told me everything today. He has already abolished your position as the princess consort and divorced you. It's impossible for him to take you back.
"Not only will you have to use the money and things you had from Prince Jin's residence to repair the road, but our family will also need to gather three hundred thousand taels of silver to repair the road."
"You evil girl, how can you be so shameless? You aren't satisfied with just following Prince Jin. You actually went to Heyang County to find Prince Yi. How did I give birth to such a shameless daughter like you? You even used Prince Jin's power to set fire to an official in the imperial court and the newly-appointed Princess Fubao. Even Prince Jin doesn't dare to do it so brazenly. Look at you, no wonder he divorce you."
Father Ruan didn't expect his daughter to be so bold.
Mother Ruan was about to throw a tantrum, but after hearing what Father Ruan said, she was shocked.
"Are you talking nonsense? How is this possible? Prince Jin dotes on our daughter so much, how could he divorce her?"
Father Ruan snorted. "Ask your good daughter and you'll know if I'm telling the truth."
It wasn't just Mother Ruan who couldn't believe it, even the concubines and illegitimate children in the room were shocked.
All of them looked at Ruan Songling.
Ruan Songling's expression changed.
She was panicking in her heart, but on the surface, she said firmly, "If he wants to divorce me, so be it. Do you think I'm afraid of him? Now that he's gone too far, don't come and beg me to go back in the future."
All this time, she had been thinking that perhaps Liang Yujun had said that he wanted to divorce her in anger because she had gone to find Prince Yi.
She didn't believe him when he said that he was going to flatter her on purpose and then throw her into the mud.
She had been waiting at her maternal family's home for him to personally come and take her back to his mansion.
However, after Prince Jin returned to his residence for so many days without any news, and she was really angry.
Therefore, when she heard her father say that he wanted to talk to him, she silently agreed.
But she hadn't expected Liang Yujun to be serious.
He really wanted to divorce her.
Father Ruan was so angry that he laughed.
He took out the divorce papers and threw them at her. "With Prince Jin's status, he can have any woman he wants. Why would he want a shameless b*tch like you?"
He hated her as much as he had been proud of her before.
She had always been thinking too highly of herself and doing evil acts.
If she didn't stir any trouble and stayed with Prince Jin, this wouldn't have happened.
The key was that she was divorced, and the Ruan family was finished as well.
Ruan Songling picked up the divorce papers and saw that it was indeed Liang Yujun's handwriting, and his seal was stamped on it.
She fell back into the chair and looked a little dazed. "No, he won't do this to me."
"You'd better take it easy. Prince Jin has ordered our family to gather 300,000 taels of silver to repair the road within ten days. Otherwise, our whole family will be exiled. The Ruan family is really screwed because of you, my unfilial daughter."
Ruan Songling was used to being a tyrant in her family, so she was instantly indignant when she heard this.
"How did I harm the Ruan family? Without me, would the Ruan family be where they are today? Can you become a high-ranking official in Northern City and be flattered by others? Without me, would those in this family have such an easy time? Don't make it sound like you're all innocent."
Father Ruan was so angry that his entire body was shaking.
He pointed at her and said, "Good, you're really good. From today onwards, my eldest daughter-in-law will be the housekeeper for the time being. You two should reflect on your actions."
After he finished speaking, he flung his sleeves angrily and left.
He knew very well what kind of person Prince Jin was.
He had given them ten days.
If they could not gather 300,000, they would definitely be thrown into exile.
His heart was bleeding, but he had to do it.
He gathered all the silver in the house, and there was only about two hundred thousand taels.
Thus, he was busy counting the properties and wanted to sell them to get another hundred thousand taels.
In the backyard, Father Ruan's concubines, illegitimate children, and women did not expect Prince Jin to divorce Ruan Songling.
All of them were gloating in their hearts.
He no longer cared about her and her daughter.
However, as they were afraid that Prince Jin would suddenly come to pick them up again, they did not fall out with them and left the backyard one after another.
Father Ruan's concubine's eldest son and daughter-in-law also quickly took on the authority to manage the household.
As Mother Ruan hugged her daughter and cried, she also complained that her daughter was too pretentious.
Therefore, she continued to persuade Ruan Songling to coax Prince Jin.
At first, Ruan Songling didn't agree, but she found that her treatment at home had plummeted.
Other than the regular three meals a day, she didn't have any other things to eat.
The attitudes of the concubines, illegitimate sons, and their wives, who usually flattered her, had also changed.
Ruan Songling had no choice but to accept the reality.
She took the initiative to leave her maternal family's home and go to the Prince's mansion, preparing to give in to Prince Jin.
On the way, she heard many commoners talking.
"Have you guys heard? Prince Jin divorced her princess consort and even demoted Ordinary County Princess into a commoner and chased her out of his residence."
"I heard about it two days ago. This news came from Prince Jin's residence."
"That's great. Liang Mingmin liked to use Prince Jin's residence to do whatever she wanted. I heard that the Ruan family had caused many deaths in the past. The two of them deserved it."
"Madam Ruan also wanted to burn Princess Fubao, who was conferred this title by the emperor. She was the disciple of the old immortal who had offered two high-yield seeds. Madam Ruan was really bold."
"That's right, that's why she got her retribution."
Whether it was the aristocratic families or the commoners, everyone in Northern City had been gossiping about this matter.
Moreover, they all looked like they were watching a good show and felt that the pair of mother and daughter deserved it.
The things that the two of them had done in the past were really unpleasant and had even offended many people.
Ruan Songling listened to these people's discussions.
If this happened in the past, she would have already asked the guards to beat these people to death.
However, when she returned, all the guards protecting her in Prince Jin's residence had left.
The servant girl that Prince Jin had given her had also left.
She couldn't do that even if she wanted to.
She secretly remembered it and thought that when she returned to the position of a princess consort, she would definitely settle the score with these people.
However, it was wonderful to imagine it, but when she arrived at Prince Jin's residence, she couldn't even enter the door.
The butler, who was usually as respectful as a dog to her, had completely changed his attitude.
Not only did he not bow, his expression was ugly, and he was even mocking her.
Liang Yujun refused to see her either.
She even met some maidservants and manservants who went out to do business, and they even looked at her coldly.
After she married Prince Jin, she had never experienced such an encounter.
She was so angry that she almost fainted.
She felt even more embarrassed, so she returned to her maternal family's home.
Father Ruan and the others also knew about the treatment she received at the entrance of Prince Jin's residence, so they were completely certain that Prince Jin had really given up on Ruan Songling.
In particular, Prince Jin also released the news of divorcing his princess consort and removing Liang Mingmin from his residence.
Recently, not only was Father Ruan being bullied by his boss, but he was also being picked on by his colleagues who used to be suppressed by him.
He was also busy selling his family property and was suffering unspeakably.
He blamed all of this on Ruan Songling.
It also caused their family to reduce the expenditure on Ruan Songling and the others. No matter how much trouble they stirred, they didn't care.