Chapter 135 – The truth draws near (6)
Hearing her response, Mudan mistakenly thought that Li Man was unwilling. She quickly said while crying, “I’m begging you. Other than Li Yan, there’s still Li Mo, Li Shu, and Li Hua. They’re all great. You have so many people to love you. I’m begging you. Please let me have Li Yan. I…” As she said this, she seemed to have remembered something. She quickly took something out from her clothes. It was something wrapped up with a handkerchief. She opened it up in front of Li Man. There were bracelets, earrings, rings, and other jewelry.
“It took me a long time to collect all of this. I’ll give it all to you. If this isn’t enough, I still have five silver taels at home. Once I have more money in the future, I’ll give you more money too.”
She was trying to bribe her? Li Man found it difficult to immediately accept this information. She pushed the jewelry back to Mudan. “Miss, don’t be like this. Let’s just talk calmly. Tell me clearly about you and Li Yan. Wait, no, that’s not the issue. Isn’t it your family that’s the one objecting?”
“Yes, my dad, mom, and older brother are all against this.” Mudan looked very depressed. She looked at her with glassy eyes and continued, “But, my dad and mom have also said that if Li Yan can offer twenty silver taels, they’ll agree for me to marry him.”
“Twenty silver taels?” Li Man didn’t really know how much this amount meant. Still, if this matter could be settled with money, then it wasn’t a big deal. She quickly comforted her, “Don’t worry about it then. Even if Li Yan doesn’t have enough, our family can work together to gather this money.”
“Huh?” Mudan blankly looked at her. “What did you say?”
Li Man placed her hands on Mudan’s thin shoulders and encouragingly said, “I said, you don’t have to worry. Isn’t it only twenty silver taels? As long as the two of you genuinely love each other, our family will do anything to gather up this money.
“You? You -” Mudan was stunned. She couldn’t believe her ears. “Do you really mean it?”
“Of course.” Li Man seriously nodded.
“But…” Seeing how sincere Li Man looked, Mudan suddenly felt guilty. “He… He’s considered your man. Y-you’re just going to -”
Li Man suddenly interrupted her, “Wait, you said he was my man?” Her confused mind still noticed there was something wrong with Mudan’s words.
“En.” Mudan woodenly nodded. “You… didn’t know?” Weren’t they already married? Could the rumors that they hadn’t consummated their marriage yet be true?
“I?” How could she have known this?
“You’re telling me that Li Yan and I are married? He’s my husband? I’m his wife?” Not daring to believe this, she asked several questions to confirm.
Mudan really wanted to say no, but the facts wouldn’t allow her to lie. “Yes.”
“This?” Li Man was too shocked to speak. She had once thought that she was Li Mo’s fiancée, and had also thought that Li Shu was her husband, but she had never dared to consider Li Yan. His actions had always come off as a flirtatious lecher. How could she have known he was her husband?
Err, wait no, that was wrong too.
Li Man abruptly tightened her grip on Mudan’s shoulders and stared at her. “Mudan, tell me everything. When did I marry into their family? Why is Li Mo still not married? What about Li Shu? It’s not just Li Yan. Li Shu and Li Hua also call me wife too. At first, I thought they were just joking around, but now it’s obvious they weren’t. Am I right?”