Free Web NovelChapter 1502: Mingzhu Side Story 4
Mingzhu opened her mouth and said, "Going all the way to Sichuan and back, it’ll take at least a year. Is Cousin really willing?" It would be a miracle if An Zhichen were willing.
Yueyao lowered her voice and said, "He’s not willing. I’ll just sneak out on my own."
Mingzhu pressed a hand to her forehead. "Do you think you’re still a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl, sneaking out like that?" How was this someone’s grandmother? Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was an underage girl.
Yueyao said softly, "I’m only telling you this. Don’t you go repeating it." Yueyao really was planning to go see Sichuan and Yunnan. These past years she had been stuck in the Capital City; all those beautiful landscapes her teacher had described, she hadn’t visited a single one. Yueyao had always felt that to be a regret.
Mingzhu chuckled lightly. "Fine, I’ll keep your secret." Mingzhu didn’t take Yueyao’s words seriously. Even if Yueyao wanted to go out, An Zhichen would press her down and not let her.
The two of them whispered back and forth for quite a while, and only after lunch did Mingzhu head home.
Xiang Wei came in and said, "Mingzhu has lived in your shadow all this time and still hasn’t been affected. Thinking about it, that really isn’t easy."
Yueyao couldn’t help laughing. "You make me sound terrifying. By the way, you heard what I just said to Mingzhu. This time, I really am going out for a trip." Yueyao had wanted to go out before, but she hadn’t been able to let go of Brother Feifei’s situation and kept putting off her plans. Now that Brother Feifei had finished his examinations, and was about to get married as well, Yueyao felt she had nothing pressing on her anymore and could finally go wander about.
Xiang Wei smiled and said, "I heard. But for now, let’s not let the Earl get wind of it, otherwise we definitely won’t be able to go."
When Brother Feifei got married, the guests who came to offer congratulations practically wore down the threshold. This time not only did the younger daughter-in-law, Madam Ping, help out, even the Princess came forward to help entertain the guests. Of course, the ones the Princess greeted were all Madams from noble families.
Mingzhu’s gaze, however, fell on those young ladies still waiting to be married. She still had two sons whose marriages were unresolved—Lao Wu was already of marriageable age, and for Lao Liu they had to start preparing early too.
Just when Mingzhu was fretting over her sons’ marriages, Lao Wu, Brother Qiqi, told her he had taken a fancy to a certain girl. When Mingzhu learned the girl’s identity, her expression changed.
Niu Yanghui was also very surprised. "Brother Qiqi has his eye on a Shen Family Lady? From the Shen family’s main branch or second branch?" If you don’t have sons you want sons, and once you have many, they’re a headache. Six sons— the first three had all earned their own titles in the examinations and then gotten posts. Lao Si was at present still only a Juren, and no matter how many times he sat the exams, he just couldn’t pass; Niu Yanghui was already thinking about buying him a title. As for Lao Wu and Lao Liu, Niu Yanghui didn’t even know what to say. Lao Wu, Brother Qiqi, was still just an ordinary commoner with no title, while Lao Liu was already a Scholar. Precisely because Brother Qiqi was a nobody, stuck in the middle, and Mingzhu refused to lower her standards, his marriage prospects were extremely difficult.
Mingzhu said, annoyed, "Shen Congwen’s daughter." Shen Congwen had one Legitimate Daughter, but she was already married. At present he had two daughters still unmarried, both of them children born out of wedlock.
Niu Yanghui thought for a moment and said, "If the Shen Family Lady is a decent girl, just let him have his way!" Lao Wu was neither good at the civil path nor the martial, and in this lifetime would probably only be a rich idler. So regarding his marriage, Niu Yanghui didn’t have high expectations. And Shen Congwen was now the Left Vice Minister of Punishment, a Third Rank official. For Lao Wu to marry a daughter born of a concubine from his family wouldn’t be beneath them.
Mingzhu stared and said, "What did you say? You want Brother Qiqi to marry a daughter born of a concubine from the Shen family?"
Niu Yanghui said, "If Brother Qiqi were promising in his own right, I naturally wouldn’t let him marry a daughter born of a concubine. But you have to look at Brother Qiqi’s situation. At his age, he still can’t even pass the Scholar exam. And you still want him to marry a Legitimate Daughter from some grand noble house?"
Mingzhu muttered, "No. It’s fine if it’s some other family, but not the Shen family."
Niu Yanghui didn’t insist that his son had to marry a Shen Family Lady; he only wanted Mingzhu to lower her standards. If they went by Mingzhu’s demands, Brother Qiqi was afraid he’d never get a wife.
Unfortunately, whether Mingzhu agreed or not was useless—Brother Qiqi had set his heart on marrying the Third Young Lady of the Shen Family, and even declared that if they didn’t let him marry the Third Young Lady of the Shen Family, he’d rather stay a bachelor for life. This matter grew so big that even Yueyao heard about it.
When Yueyao heard, she didn’t comment. Other people’s family affairs were something she definitely wouldn’t interfere in.
Not long after, though, Mingzhu came over to Yueyao and brought the matter up. Her son was swearing up and down that he had to marry that girl, ready to live or die over it, and nothing she said made a difference, so Mingzhu had come to Yueyao to ask for advice.
