Mrs. Hou thought for a while and said: "There is nothing difficult to deal with. Let's just say that the marriage contract made by Mr. Hou before his death was placed in a brocade box.
The old Marquis gave his last instructions that Le Geer should not be opened until he is old enough to discuss marriage. We have no choice but to comply with the old Marquis's last wish.
It's at your Majesty's place, I have to go and report it to your Majesty, so that she knows what's going on."
Shi Jingyang lowered his head and rubbed Mrs. Hou's face, "Mom, you are so kind."
Mrs. Hou said with a bluffing face: "When did I feel bad?"
Shi Jingyang smiled and said: "Okay, okay, grandma is the best."
Seeing that his wife agreed, the Marquis finally felt relieved.
Said: "Brother Le will go to the Gyeonggi camp to be the consul next. Time is tight. Madam first goes to the palace to report to the empress, and then invites the counselor to go to the Ning family to propose marriage."
Mrs. Hou was stunned and asked: "Isn't Brother Le the consul in the East Palace? Why are you going to the Gyeonggi camp again?"
The Marquis said: "Here in the East Palace, Brother Le is only a temporary consul. We are the home of a military general. Sooner or later, Brother Le will have to go to the military camp."
After hearing what the Marquis said, Mrs. Hou asked no more questions, "Okay, I will go to the palace to see the empress, and then go to the Duke's Mansion to talk to my mother about Le Geer's marriage. The matchmaker will wait for me.
We'll start things again when the government comes back."
After seeing Mrs. Hou off, Shi Jingyang turned his head and bowed deeply to Mr. Hou, "Thank you very much, Dad!"
The Marquis glanced at him, turned around, walked to the desk and sat down, pointed to the seat opposite, "Sit down."
Shi Jingyang first poured a cup of tea for Mr. Hou, then walked over and sat down.
The Marquis picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea, and said: "It has basically been decided that Xu Guanjie will be transferred to the imperial palace as a bodyguard.
Your trip to the military camp this time coincides with the big drill at the end of October. This drill is mainly about flag and drum drills and troop formations. You must cherish this opportunity and practice yourself well.
Shi Jingyang understood what his father meant and bowed in agreement, "Thank you father for your advice. My son has taken note of it."
"Go and do your work!" Mr. Hou reached out to pick up the book on the table and lowered his head to look at it.
Shi Jingyang bowed and said goodbye.
After Shi Jingyang exited the room, the Marquis leaned back in his chair and sighed slightly.
Although he and Ah Rong agreed on their son's marriage, the Chengguo Palace...
Alas, Sister Yi was raised by her mother-in-law. With her mother-in-law's protective temperament, I'm afraid it won't be that easy for her to get through.
Madam Hou came out of the palace and went directly to Duke Chengguo's Mansion.
Mrs. Cui had just gotten up from her lunch break, and Mrs. Li was serving her some bird's nest porridge.
After hearing the servant's report, Mrs. Cui and Mrs. Li were both stunned. After they looked at each other, Mrs. Cui handed the bowl in her hand to Aunt Qiao beside her and said, "Please come in."
After the servants left, Mrs. Li asked: "Mom, why did my sister-in-law come here at this time?"
Mrs. Cui was also puzzled, shook her head and said, "I don't know either, let's wait and see."
Mrs. Li had a bad feeling in her heart. She always felt that nothing good would happen if her sister-in-law came here at this time.
After a while, the servant led Mrs. Hou to Fu'an Hall.
Mrs. Hou first greeted Mrs. Cui and then Mrs. Li.
When the servants served tea, Mrs. Cui looked at Mrs. Hou and asked straight to the point: "Why did Ah Rong come here at this time? Is there something wrong?"
Mrs. Hou took a sip of tea, put the tea cup on the table, and said with a smile: "There is a difficult matter that I need to discuss with my mother and sister-in-law."
Mrs. Hou was worried and spoke with some caution. Her mother's temperament was too strong. Ever since she was a child, she had to be very alert when speaking in front of her mother.
"Troublesome thing? What's the matter?" Mrs. Cui asked.
Mrs. Hou said the speech she had prepared in advance, and while speaking, she looked at the expressions of her mother and sister-in-law.
Before Mrs. Hou finished speaking, Mrs. Cui slapped the table hard and glared at Mrs. Hou angrily.
"How many years has it been since the old marquis in your house? Now it's time to talk about it. Since we have an engagement, why did you go there earlier? Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Mrs. Li took over the words, "Yes, his aunt, are you not satisfied with our artistic sister, so you found this excuse to stall us.
You have watched Sister Yi grow up, how can she not compare to that young lady from the Ning family?"
Mrs. Hou thought that her mother and sister-in-law would be unhappy, but she did not expect that her mother and sister-in-law did not believe in the marriage contract at all.
"Mother, sister-in-law..."
Mrs. Cui raised her hand to stop Mrs. Hou from talking, and said impatiently: "Arong, you don't need to say more. If you still recognize me as your mother, you will discuss the marriage between Brother Le and Sister Yi as soon as possible."
As soon as Mrs. Cui said this, Mrs. Hou was really embarrassed.
"Mother, the engagement is true. How dare my daughter lie to you about this? The engagement is now in the master's hands."
Mrs. Cui slapped the table twice, "So what if we have an engagement? Brother Le is the grandson of the old Marquis, and also my grandson. You go back and tell Brother Le that if he doesn't listen to me, he will be unfilial."
"Mother, what are you doing?" Mrs. Hou asked in fear.
Mrs. Cui said: "A Rong doesn't need to say more, I already understand what I mean. Go back and tell Brother Le that if he still recognizes the family relationship in the Duke's Mansion, he will find a matchmaker to come to propose marriage and marry Sister Yi as soon as possible.
Marry her back and live a good life with Sister Yi from now on. Aunt Qiao, send my sister-in-law back."
"Mother!"
"Sister-in-law, please!" Aunt Qiao bowed and said.
Mrs. Hou still wanted to argue a few words, but after thinking about it, she let out a long sigh and blessed herself with Mrs. Cui, who was looking up at her, and then blessed herself with Mrs. Li before turning around and walking out.
When Shi Jingyang heard that Mrs. Hou had returned home, he eagerly went to his father's study.
Manager He was standing under the veranda when he saw Shi Jingyang coming over. After bowing to him and saluting him, he planned to go into the house to report.
Shi Jingyang stopped him and said, "Uncle He, no need to report, I'll go in directly."
Shi Jingyang walked to the door and couldn't help but slow down when he heard his mother sobbing.
"Mother, why is she like this? Sister Yi is her granddaughter, and Brother Le is also her grandson. She manipulates Sister Yi in everything and thinks about Sister Yi. Why can't she think about Brother Le? Master Hou?
I don’t know how sad I felt physically and mentally when my mother said those words.”
"Okay, don't be sad. Let's try to persuade Brother Le later." Mr. Hou persuaded him warmly.
"No! I will not give in on this matter.
My mother is partial. From childhood to adulthood, she has only seen her sister and brother. I have suffered enough injustices, why should I let my children suffer the same injustices?
Men in other families have three wives and four concubines, but men in our family cannot take concubines, and they cannot divorce their wives. Once married, they are for life.
If Brother Le marries someone he doesn't like, he won't even have anyone to talk to for the rest of his life, which is pitiful to think about.
Therefore, when it comes to marriage matters, I want Brother Suile to marry the person he wants to marry."
