Chapter Eighty-Seven: Proposing Marriage (Three)

  The next day, the Tao mansion was swept clean, and the main room of the big wife's house was filled with many decorations. Ronghua went to pay respects to the big wife early in the morning, but was welcomed by the big wife herself. The big wife had a joyful expression on her face, "I'm going to your second sister's place, do you want to come along?"

  Ronghua hadn't responded yet when the old lady started walking forward, so Ronghua had no choice but to follow.

  Choi Jae's servant held up several sets of clothes, with a flattering expression on his face. "Second Miss is indeed a lucky one. Just look at how beautiful she'll be when she wears these clothes."

  Everyone arrived at the Yao Hua courtyard, and Mrs. Tao was even more busy, Yao Hua was being attended to by the maid to put on her clothes, Mrs. Tao looked with joy, Yao Hua responded to Mrs. Tao's smile, but her face still showed a hint of reluctance.

  The mistress still arranged everything in the Jade House from top to bottom like a treasure, only then did she leave with peace of mind.

  The weather is exceptionally good, and the sunshine has shone into the courtyard early on, making people feel warm and cozy.

  Ronghua returned and Jinxiu begged Ronghua to teach her how to play chess. Since there was nothing else to do, Ronghua took the chess manual and seriously began teaching.

  Mugwort had just brought a small stool into the courtyard to work when she saw Yaqin leading a woman in a parrot-green jacket over to Madame's side, the petals on her silk embroidery barely stitched with two needles.

  Mu Ge took a glance and this woman was the one who came to the mansion with Gu Gongzi last time, she couldn't help but purse her lips tightly.

  Yaqin said: "Madam is busy, let me take the lady around."

  Mu Ge's heart couldn't help but sneer, what kind of person is called a lady? Even the first wife didn't have such a formal title. The first wife had carefully arranged the mansion today to welcome others and was unwilling to talk to this woman, so she let Ya Qin take this woman for a stroll in the garden, but it wasn't clear where they should go, and they ended up leading her to the eighth young lady's courtyard alone.

  Once is not enough, and then comes the second time.

  The woman smiled slightly at Mugunghwa and tiptoed to look inside, then said with a smile: "Miss Ba's yard is not small, it's even a suite yard."

  "This isn't our young lady's courtyard, it's just a temporary place we've moved into."

  The woman let out an "oh" and continued walking forward.

  "Is there anything nice to see over here? The plum blossoms in the courtyard have bloomed, and this year's plum blossoms are particularly flourishing. Nobody wants to pick any branches to put in a vase. Why don't we go take a look at the plum blossoms instead?"

  The woman said: "Plum blossoms are indeed common, but I have never seen a young lady's embroidery room."

  Mu Ge smiled repeatedly, "Although the young lady's embroidery room is not to be entered casually, but since it is a guest in the mansion, it shouldn't be blocked either. It's just that the young lady is playing chess and doesn't want to be disturbed."

  That woman understood Mu Ge's meaning, but she had always been unable to stand up straight in front of people. If it weren't for her distant cousin Gu Ying giving her some silver to make this trip, she wouldn't have been able to enter the mansion of the fifth-rank official. Thinking this way, Mu Ge's sarcastic words didn't bother her, and she smiled, "There's no other meaning, I just heard the madam say that Miss's needlework is exceptional, so I especially wanted to take a look."

  The wooden club looked up and down at the woman a few times, "But unfortunately, Miss had done some things before, which made people want to leave. I said early on that it was impossible to give, Miss's things are not something that anyone can take."

  Mu Ge's words were like needles. Ya Qin furrowed her brow and gave Mu Ge a displeased look.

  The woman couldn't find any other excuse and had to temporarily follow Yaqin away with a sullen face.

  Mu Ge returned to the house, sat on the chair and was in a bad mood. "Who knows what Yaqin brought her here for? What if she took something to ruin our young lady's reputation, or said something unpleasant, who knows what kind of trouble might arise."

  Ronghua smiled, these things can't be prevented, the marriage of children and daughters can be used to gain benefits, let alone a concubine. Today, the mansion obviously has guests coming, but the first wife still keeps this woman, the purpose is obvious, it's to make Gu Ying completely give up the idea of marrying other young ladies.

  Yan Hua and she were both born out of wedlock.

  It can be seen that this woman came to the mansion today to discuss with the first wife about marrying off their daughter.

  The only legitimate miss in the mansion is Yaohua. Using what's in your own hands to gain the greatest benefit, that's the true nature of a rogue.

  It can be inferred that today is probably the day when the Marquis's family will come to propose a marriage.

  ……

  It was daytime when someone outside reported, "The wife of the Right Vice-Director of the Censorate has arrived."

  The old lady finally breathed a sigh of relief, hastily stood up and called out to the servant, "Quickly invite her in."

  The old woman saw Madame rushing around in a flurry and quickly turned her head to run away.

  "Wait a minute, what's the hurry?"

  The old woman who was reporting suddenly became dizzy and disoriented, her mind elsewhere as she took a step forward, but her feet tangled together and she fell to the ground.

  The lady laughed and scolded, "Useless thing." She tidied up her clothes and strode out.

  Madam Ren, the wife of the Right Vice-Director of the Board of War, shared the same ancestral home as the Grand Madam in Fengtian Prefecture. They had met a few times at banquets hosted by the Minister of Personnel's residence and got along well despite Madam Ren being a woman of few words. Today, entrusted by the Xue family, she was more than happy to pay a visit. Upon seeing the Grand Madam come out to greet her, Madam Ren hurriedly smiled and approached her. The Grand Madam invited Madam Ren into the house, and they chatted about domestic trivialities. The Grand Madam said, "It's been some days since we last met, and I was just thinking of visiting you."

  Mrs. Ren also said: "Mrs. Tao and I thought of the same thing, but these days have been busy and didn't have time. It wasn't until today that we finally had some free time, and without saying a word beforehand, we came."

  "Whenever you want to come, just come over, no need to notify us. In the future, when we have time, we'll go back to Fengtianfu together. It's nice to have company on the road and not feel lonely," she said with a sigh, "I don't even know what Fengtian is like now."

  Talking about hometown, Mrs. Ren was also infected with emotions, "Yes, it's been several years since I last went back."

  The lady seemed to have suddenly thought of something, "What a coincidence, my nephew had someone bring me a jar of Korean kimchi recently, and when the madam was leaving, I gave her some."

  Mrs. Ren smiled politely, "How can I be so presumptuous." Her eyes curved into a smile, though.

  ……

  Outside the door, Ya Qin took the woman to finish touring the garden and was about to return to Madame's house when she heard a maid in the courtyard say: "There is a guest at home who is talking to Madame in the room, you can wait for a while."

  Ya Qin's face gradually relaxed and she led the woman to sit down beside the courtyard.

  After a while, he deliberately pretended to be busy and let the woman sit alone.

  The window of the big wife's house is open, and if you walk quietly past it, you can hear the sound of people talking inside.

  Ya Qin hid in the corner again, watching as the woman looked around cautiously before carefully walking over to the window.

  ……

  After drinking another cup of tea, Madame Ren changed her tone and said, "There's still one more serious matter today. I just hope that what you want me to do will go smoothly."

  The lady didn't understand what was going on and put down her tea, asking: "What's wrong?"

  Madam Ren smiled and said, "But it's a good thing. Do you know Madam Xue of Anguo?"

  Madam said: "Of course I know her, just a few days ago I went to the Hou Mansion as a guest."

  Madam Ren smiled slightly, "It seems that's how fate is decided. Today, I've come at the behest of Madam Xue to propose a marriage between our families. The Xues have taken a liking to your family's daughter."

  Although the window paper was not torn before, such things are generally tacitly agreed upon by both families. The man's side would entrust someone to propose, while the woman's family would still pretend to be unaware and only agree after careful consideration.

  Mrs. Ren spoke for a while, and Mrs. Daitai's face became more and more gentle, with a smile gradually emerging from the corners of her eyes.

  Mrs. Ren's next words left Mrs. Dai somewhat bewildered.

  Madam Ren said: "I heard that your family's Eighth Miss is of good birth, knowledgeable and well-mannered, a rare talented lady from a prestigious family."

  The lady was taken aback, where did this come from? How could it be related to Ronghua, and what does "good birth" mean? Ronghua is a bastard child, how can you talk about his "birth"?

  The old lady did not utter a word, and Madame Wang smiled again: "If Mrs. Tao thinks it's suitable, she'll write down the eight characters of Miss Baoyu's birth for me."

  Mrs. Bao finished speaking, and Mrs. Lai looked puzzled: "Eighth Miss?"

  Madam Ren smiled and said: "What Madam Xue asked me to bring up is the Eighth Miss of the mansion."

  Mrs. Ren's words were like a thunderbolt, exploding with a loud "boom" above Mrs. Tai's head, causing her to suddenly feel all the blood draining away, leaving only numbness and chilliness throughout her body, her heart racing wildly in her chest, her face twitching uncontrollably several times in front of Mrs. Ren.

  Mrs. Ren looked over in puzzlement, "What's wrong, ma'am? Are you not feeling well?" When Mrs. Xue started talking to her, she was also taken aback, unexpectedly choosing the eighth young lady born out of wedlock over the second young lady born within wedlock.

  Not to mention the distinction between birth order and age, it seems that the second young lady of the Tao family has some problems in certain aspects.

  The second young lady is the biological daughter of Mrs. Tao, and such a good marriage has fallen into the hands of her illegitimate daughter. Mrs. Tao must be uncomfortable in her heart. Thinking of this, Madame Ren suddenly felt pity.

  Seeing such a look in someone's eyes, and thinking of Yao Hua's flower-like face when she wore new clothes this morning... Madame was suddenly pulled hard, like her heart had been grasped, and it took her a long time to stop her trembling lips. She mustered up the courage to ask, "Why mention Eighth Miss? Our Eighth Sister is still young."

  Mrs. Ren was surprised, "The eighth young lady has not yet reached adulthood?"

  The old lady paused for a moment, her cheeks twitching violently again, "That's not it."

  Madam Ren smiled and said, "That's it, it's not small anymore." She then added, "What do you think, madam? If possible, I'll return to the marquis' residence and settle this matter as soon as possible."

  The big wife closed her mouth, and her eyes were dark and gloomy.

  Madam Ren advised from the side: "If you ask me, a family like the Hou's should make Lady Tao feel at ease."

  Years ago, the concubine and Zhao Xuanhuan had an affair in secret. Now that such a thing has happened again, she cannot just let it go so easily. Last time she was able to resolve it quietly, this time she must be able to do the same.

  The old lady swallowed a mouthful of air, and floated up an uncoordinated smile. Her cheeks were still twitching non-stop. "Don't worry is don't worry, it's just that my eighth sister at home has been ill recently. When the master comes back tonight, I'll discuss with him again."

  Today is my brother's wedding day, many things to do, no update today, will update tomorrow.

  The net for tomorrow is still unknown.

  Hope to solve it at the internet cafe ~