Bride Swap Backfire: My Cousin's Rebirth Made Us a Power Couple-Chapter 48 - 39: Breaking the Engagement (Part 3)

The young couple didn’t care about the rain. They hastily hitched up their oxcart and hurried toward the Zhao Village.

But the roads were slick and Miaohua was newly pregnant. Though they were anxious, they didn’t dare be the least bit careless.

Moving at a snail’s pace, the journey that normally took less than an hour ended up taking them over two hours to complete.

Once they returned to the village, they didn’t dare go straight to the main branch’s house. Instead, they rushed home to change out of their wet clothes and drink some ginger soup to warm up. Only when they felt warm again did they head to Zhao Jing’s house.

Naturally, Zhao Jing wasn’t home, so they went looking for him at Mr. Zhao’s house. They came up empty there as well. It was only after asking Mrs. Zhao that they learned Mr. Zhao had gone to the Chen family’s main house to preside over the annulment of Zhao Jing’s engagement.

’How could they let the Chen family off so easily?’

’The Chen family was so two-faced, treating the Zhao family like fools. If we don’t teach them a lesson this time, they’ll be shitting all over us in the future!’

The pair quickly explained the matter to Mrs. Zhao, and rushed right over with her in tow.

"You’ve done nothing to wrong our Zhao family? Old matriarch, if you’ve got the guts, then swear to the heavens that if even one word you’ve spoken is a lie, all of your children and grandchildren—no, all the children and grandchildren of your third branch—will die a horrible death!"

Anger flushed Chen Lin’s face. Rolling up his sleeves, he went to shove Miaohua. "You shameless hussy, what are you spouting?!"

There was no way Zhao Tang would let his wife be bullied. He was a tall, sturdy man in the prime of his strength, and he charged forward, pinned Chen Lin down, and gave him a savage beating.

"Murder! Help!" Mrs. Li shrieked. "The Zhaos are using their power to bully us! They’re going to beat a member of the Chen family to death!" As she screamed, she lunged forward and clawed viciously at Zhao Tang’s face.

Chen Dachang and Mr. Chen rushed to break up the fight, while the three Mr. Zhaos hurried to pull their own people back.

Zhao Jing and De’an were called over to help pull everyone apart. The old matriarch tried to use the chaos to slip away, but Mrs. Zhao leaped from her seat and blocked her path.

The main hall instantly descended into chaos.

Seeing that the two elderly women were about to come to blows, Xu Suying, Chen Wanqing, and Miaohua couldn’t stand by any longer. They all rushed over to pull the two apart.

As for Chen Wanyue, she had slipped away long ago while no one was paying attention.

’The goal of annulling the engagement has been achieved. What happens next has nothing to do with me.’

’I need to go home and rest, and wait to become a beautiful bride. I also have to go to the mountain to find that treasure chest and secure a brilliant future for myself.’

’My ambitions are grand, and my future is limitless.’

’I’m destined for a better life. I refuse to associate with this rabble who only know how to brawl and can’t go three sentences without spouting ’bullshit’.’

Not long after Chen Wanyue left, the chaos in the hall was brought under control.

Mr. Zhao’s face was dark as he pointed at Mrs. Zhao and the defiant-looking couple, Zhao Tang and Miaohua. "You come here and immediately start trouble! You should at least explain yourselves first. What deception? What outrageous bullying? You say nothing and just start throwing punches, and you think you’re in the right?"

"You old coot," Mrs. Zhao retorted. "Just wait until you’ve heard the whole story. Let’s see you eat those words then."

"Aunty, don’t rush. I’ll explain."

Miaohua stepped forward and, in a sharp, clear voice, recounted their encounter with Mrs. Wang, the matchmaker.

She stressed that the Li family and the old matriarch had colluded long ago, keeping even Mrs. Wang in the dark about the "marriage swap."

Mrs. Wang only found out at the last minute that the Li family was no longer getting engaged to Wanqing from the Chen family’s main branch, but had instead set their sights on Chen Wanyue from the third branch.

"Uncle, do you hear this? Isn’t it completely absurd? There’s probably nothing more absurd in the whole world! Let’s not even mention how faithless and fickle the Li family is. Let’s just talk about Chen Wanyue. She’s been engaged to our Jing for seven or eight years! They never once refused the festival gifts Jing sent them every single year. And now? Now that Jing’s mourning period is almost over and it’s time for their daughter to marry into our family, they suddenly decide to back out!"

"It’s not that they can’t back out. A marriage is supposed to be a joyous union between two families. If we really let someone with a disloyal heart marry into our home, Jing would be the one to suffer in the end."

"But if you’re not satisfied with the match, you should annul it openly and honorably! Promising one girl to two families... if word of this gets out, you’ll be the laughingstock of the town!"

The more Miaohua spoke, the angrier she became, so furious that the hairs on her head felt like they were standing on end.

’Thinking back now, just two days ago, the old matriarch had come to Zhao Jing’s house. I greeted her, and she had looked so awkward.’

’At the time, I didn’t think much of it, just figured my enthusiastic greeting had startled her. But looking back, she must have already been planning to break the engagement. That’s why she looked so guilty when she saw us.’

’Pah! What a shameless old woman.’

’And to think that for all these years, Jing’s mother treated them with her whole heart! Whenever she had anything good, she would send a portion to that old couple.’

’Looking at it now, all those nice things would have been better off fed to the dogs.’