To marry into the family in place of his brother? Impossible!

Song Ping said, "Of course, he's just a dishonest thief. How could he be worthy of you, Qingci? It's clearly a mismatch!"

Zhang Yi quickly added, "That's right, Qingci! How can a country bumpkin like him be worthy of you? If you get married, it'll be embarrassing to take him out in public!"

Zhang Yi gave his uncles meaningful glances.

Several of his uncles also quickly spoke up to persuade him.

The crowd stepped forward, each offering their own advice, trying to persuade Song Qingci to give up her marriage to Jiang Jinhuan.

Song Qingci suddenly spoke up: "You keep calling him a country bumpkin and a thief, is this how you treat Jiang Jinhuan?"

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then Song Ping said, "Isn't that right?"

Song Qingci said, "Country bumpkin? Our Song family, going back three generations, also came from the countryside, right? What? You've only been rich for a few days and you already look down on country bumpkins?"

Song Ping's expression was somewhat unnatural. "But it's true that he's dishonest, isn't it? How can someone like that, with such poor character, be qualified to be our Song family's son-in-law?"

Song Qingci's eyes grew even colder: "How did you find out about his dishonest dealings?"

Song Ping looked completely bewildered and said, "Is this even true? This story has spread throughout our circle, you know. I don't know exactly where it started, but just ask around, everyone knows that the second young master of the Jiang family is a sleazy fellow and was forced to live in the storage room!"

Song Qingci said coldly, "So, you just parroted what others said without even conducting any investigation?"

Song Ping was stunned for a moment: "What does this mean? Is it fake? Impossible, if it's fake, why doesn't Jiang Jinhuan come out to explain?"

Song Qingci suppressed her anger and looked at the group, saying, "Putting aside whether Jiang Jinhuan is that kind of person or not, I don't think you've ever cared about me this much before. Now that I've just announced the marriage alliance, what's the meaning of all of you jumping out to stop me?"

Those people looked rather displeased upon hearing this.

Song Ping said, "Qingci, what are you saying? We're just concerned about you!"

Song Qingci sneered, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. What? Do you want me to spell it out?"

Song Ping quickly said, "Qingci, look at you, we really care about you!"

Song Qingci's lips curled into a sneer: "Aunt, if you won't let me marry Jiang Jinhuan, do you have a suitable alternative?"

Song Ping quickly replied, "Of course, I think Zhang Heng is quite good..."

Zhang Heng, a member of the Zhang family, is Zhang Yi's nephew.

An uncle standing nearby quickly spoke up, "Zhang Heng? Who does he think he is? Our Chu Gang is a promising young talent!"

Chu Gang, his wife's nephew.

Looking at these people, Song Qingci felt disgusted; they were all just looking out for their own agendas.

Both Zhang Heng and Chu Gang represent the forces behind them.

They didn't enter the Song family simply to marry Song Qingci; they were all after the Song family's money.

They just want to seize more profits.

This is why he agreed to the marriage alliance with the Jiang family in the first place. Compared to these people, the Jiang family was the one who was most purely seeking cooperation through marriage.

These so-called family members, however, all wanted to turn the Song family into their private property.

Especially her aunt, who is now trying every possible way to take advantage of the Song family.

At this point, Song's father, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "Enough. The old man has given his approval, and Qingci doesn't object. Let's leave it at that. This matter ends here!"

Song Ping said anxiously, "Brother!"

Song's father looked at Song Ping, his eyes calm.

Upon seeing this, Song Ping turned pale and lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Seeing this, Zhang Yi was filled with anger, but just as he was about to speak, Song Ping grabbed his sleeve.

Zhang Yi reluctantly shut his mouth.

The crowd dispersed.

Song Qingci's face turned ashen: "Who exactly is spreading rumors that Jiang Jinhuan is dishonest?"

Mr. Song frowned as well: "This matter is indeed strange. The public outcry came without warning, catching us completely off guard!"

Mother Song asked, "Could it be that one from the Jiang family?"

She was referring to Jiang Zhe.

Father Song said, "That's a possibility. He spoke ill of Jiang Jinhuan to Qingci back then. If Qingci hadn't sent someone to investigate, he probably would have succeeded. Jiang Zhe's intentions are impure!"

Song Qingci snorted coldly and said, "No need to think about it, he definitely did this. I didn't expect him to have so much power!"

Jiang's mother said, "If Jiang Guodong were to do it personally, he could accomplish this with his connections!"

Mr. Song snorted coldly, "I will personally ask Jiang Guodong about this matter. If he doesn't give us a satisfactory answer, then this cooperation is off!"

While the Jiang family demanded cooperation with the Song family, they also instructed Jiang Zhe to target Jiang Jinhuan.

But now, targeting Jiang Jinhuan is disgusting to the Song family, forcing the Song family to sever ties with the Jiang family.

He has no idea what Jiang Guodong is thinking.

Song Yuanshan got up and went to his study.

Jiang Guodong was completely bewildered when he received the call.

Although he disliked Jiang Jinhuan, he wasn't so despicable as to target his own son.

"My dear in-law, what makes you say that? How could I have done such a thing!"

Jiang Guodong was really anxious. If the cooperation with the Song family fell through, the Jiang family would suffer huge losses.

"Ask your good son Jiang Zhe what he did. Back then, he falsely accused Jiang Jinhuan of dishonesty in front of Qingci. Don't you know about that, even if others don't?"

Jiang Guodong's face stiffened.

He wanted to say that Jiang Zhe wouldn't do that, but then he suddenly remembered the time when Jiang Jinhuan was framed.

That time, he broke two sticks while teaching Jiang Jinhuan a lesson.

In the end, it turned out that Jiang Jinhuan hadn't stolen the item at all; it had been in Jiang Zhe's room all along.

Even the cleaning lady could see it at a glance, so there's no reason why Jiang Zhe wouldn't know.

There's only one conclusion: Jiang Zhe did it on purpose.

However, after learning the truth that time, he put it out of his mind. In order not to make his eldest son Jiang Zhe sad, he didn't even glance at Jiang Jinhuan, who had been lying in bed for two days.

The current situation is very similar to what happened back then, and he now believes that this matter is probably inseparable from Jiang Zhe.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Guodong sighed. "Could it be that Xiao Zhe also likes that girl from the Song family? But if he wants to marry her, he'll have to marry into the family. What about the family's assets?"

He then called Jiang's mother over and told her about the phone call from the Song family.

Jiang's mother was stunned: "Xiao Zhe? He really did that?"

Jiang's father said, "Now what do you suggest we do? Xiao Zhe clearly doesn't want Jin Huan to marry into the family! He definitely has feelings for that girl, Song Qingci!"

Jiang's mother said, "No, we can't let him have his way this time. He doesn't want Jin Huan to marry into the Song family, but the Song family has no shortage of people willing to do so. If someone else marries into the Song family, how many more years do you think the Song family and our Jiang family can continue to cooperate?"

Jiang's father's eyes narrowed. "Go and call Xiao Zhe over. We can't let him cause trouble this time!"