At the beginning of September, a light autumn rain came quietly, cleaning away the last trace of the summer heat in Shu, and it started to feel a little cooler in the morning and evening.
Yang'an County, Jianzhou, is the prefecture of Jianzhou. Xue Tao's new home is located here. It is a small Linjiang county. In the blink of an eye, it has been almost four months since his father Xue Xun took office as the governor of Jianzhou.
In front of the window, Xue Tao is writing letters to Ai Lang at her desk. She writes a letter to Ai Lang almost every day, but none of these letters are sent out. They are all placed in the small cupboard next to her. There is already a thick
Stacked.
The longing brought by an autumn rain added a bit of melancholy to her. The deep longing pressed in her heart like a mountain, making it difficult for her to extricate herself and find it difficult to distract herself. She had no choice but to write letters to express herself.
of longing.
'Although I am in a small town in the middle of Sichuan, I can still hear the sound of horns on the battlefield, the golden swords and iron horses, and the setting sun like blood. I wonder if Guo Lang is safe...'
At this time, there was a rush of footsteps in the yard. Xue Tao knew that this was Xiaoyu Niang coming, and she quickly stopped writing.
I saw Little Fish Girl rushing into the yard and shouting loudly: "Girl, that Mrs. Liu has come to propose marriage again."
Xue Tao was suddenly upset. Mrs. Liu was the wife of Taichang Qing Liu Tuo. Liu Tuo was from Jianzhou. His parents were old and could not leave his hometown. His wife and several children also stayed in their hometown, except for the eldest son.
He is a county magistrate in Xiangzhou, and his two other sons are studying in Chengdu, one is 20 years old and the other is 18 years old.
The Liu family is also the largest landowner in Jianzhou, owning 300 hectares of fertile land on both sides of the Zhongjiang River.
Not long after Xue Xun took office, he was invited by Taigong Liu to take his wife and daughter to Liu's house for a banquet. However, Mrs. Liu took a fancy to her and learned that Xue Tao had not married yet.
They have already been engaged, but the second son, Liu Tong, has not yet been engaged.
However, Liu Tong also fell in love with Xue Tao and showed great attentiveness to her. This strengthened Mrs. Liu's idea of getting married. On the second day of the family banquet, she took her son to visit and tentatively proposed the marriage of the two families to the Han family.
possibility.
At this time, Mrs. Han was still thinking about Mr. Jade Sword in Chang'an, so she did not agree to Mrs. Liu's proposal, nor did she explicitly reject it. She just said that she needed to discuss it with her husband.
Mrs. Liu also needed to write a letter to tell her husband in Beijing about the incident, so the matter was temporarily delayed. Just when everyone thought the matter was over, Mrs. Liu came to propose marriage again.
Xue Tao stood up angrily and said, "Xiaoyu Niang, let's go out for a walk!"
Xiaoyu Niang hesitated and said: "I think it's best for the girl to make it clear that she is not willing. If the girl is not here, what if the madam just assumes that the girl is willing?"
Xue Tao also felt that what Xiaoyu Niang said was reasonable. He could not escape and should make his attitude clear.
"girl!"
The maid Xiao'e said at the door of the courtyard: "Madam, please come over!"
"I see!"
Xue Tao tidied up his desk a little, put away the half-written letter, and walked quickly to the central hall.
The Xue family lives in an official residence. It must be said that the biggest advantage of being a local official is that the residence is spacious. Changshi is second only to the governor in Jianzhou, and the official residence he lives in is the same as the governor, covering an area of ten acres, not to mention the peace.
The house I rented before was completely different. Even the Xuanyangfang house I just lived in only occupied 30% of the area.
The official residence has three standard entrances, front yard, atrium and back house, plus a west yard, which is a place for staff and retainers. Xue Xun cannot afford to support the Qing guest staff for the time being, and currently only Kang Bao lives in the west courtyard.
The atrium is a place for receiving guests, eating, and relaxing. There is a large courtyard with a flower bed in the middle. There is a pear tree that is at least seventy or eighty years old, and it is covered with yellow autumn pears.
At this time, sitting in the main hall were Xue Tao's mother, Mrs. Han, and Mrs. Liu, who came to propose marriage.
Han's life was quite prosperous in Jianzhou. When she was gathering in the circle of officials and wives in Chang'an, her status was not high and she was looked down upon everywhere. She was looked down upon and looked down upon, and she always wore the same clothes.
Now her husband is the second most powerful person in Jianzhou, and he holds real power. There are many people asking for help from his family, and there is an endless stream of gift-givers. Han has several sets of fine silk dresses, and his family is well off.
, Han bought five or six more maids. Especially at various gatherings, she was always surrounded by all kinds of flattering people, which made her feel even more dignified, and she didn't want to go back to the capital.
Han wore silk, ate oil, pampered herself, and gradually developed the aura of an official wife. She also learned the rules of an official wife in dealing with people. It can be said that she was the one who changed the most among the three members of the family.
Although her husband repeatedly warned her not to accept financial gifts from others, Han still refused all kinds of small favors, such as a few taels of silver, a few bolts of silk, a few loads of pork, a few kinds of game, a few baskets of mountain products, etc. Of course, the truly large financial gifts
She couldn't receive it either.
Mr. Han was drinking tea and listening to Mrs. Liu praising her son with a smile.
"I'm not specifically praising my son. My Erlang has a handsome appearance, good character, and a gentle personality. He studied in Chengdu, and all the great scholars in Chengdu praised him. They all said that he can inherit his father's business and will become a high-ranking official in the imperial court sooner or later. By the way,
He plans to go to Beijing next spring to take the exam. This kid has been studying hard in recent years, so there should be no problem with getting on the gold list."
Han said with a smile: "Young Master is indeed very outstanding. I believe that there is a long queue of people who want to marry with your family. However, marriage is also about fate. We are all people who have been there, so we should have a deep understanding of it, right? Mrs. Liu?"
Mrs. Liu's smile was a little stiff and she reluctantly said: "My second son fell in love with your daughter at first sight. I think this is their fate."
Han secretly despised her. There were so many people who fell in love with her daughter at first sight. Even Master Yujian, one of the four great princes in Chang'an, came to recommend himself. A young man from a small county also wanted to have an idea of her daughter?
When it comes to the Liu family's marriage proposal, she and her husband have the same attitude. They cannot marry the Liu family. The husband respects his daughter's choice, but the Han family looks down on the Liu family. With the jewel of Mr. Yujian in front of them, all
The people who came to ask for marriage all looked gloomy.
However, Liu Tuo was Taichang Qing after all, a high-ranking official in the imperial court, so he could not offend anyone.
Han said: "Our family takes family status very lightly, especially my father's attitude is more open-minded. As long as the daughter is willing, he has no objection. That's what I mean by fate. It depends on the child's attitude."
"Hey! What do children know? They obey the arrangements of their parents. This has been the case since ancient times. The words of the matchmaker are the orders of the parents. I don't think it is necessary to pay too much attention to the children's ideas."
Mrs. Liu could see that Xue Tao was indifferent to her son's attentiveness, so she knew that she was not willing, so she did not want to ask for Xue Tao's opinion, as long as Han and her husband Xue Changshi agreed.
At this time, Xue Tao walked in, bowed to his mother, and gave Mrs. Liu a Wanfu gift.
Mrs. Han smiled slightly and said: "The second man of the Liu family is deeply in love with you, and Mrs. Liu also likes you very much. You are not young anymore. Do you think this bride can make the decision for you?"
Xue Tao shook his head decisively and said, "My daughter won't agree!"
Mrs. Liu's face suddenly became a little uneasy, and she said coldly: "Miss Xue means that my son is not worthy of you?"
Xue Tao bowed to her, "Xue Tao's ideas are not that worldly, and I never look at any family background. As long as I like him, even if the other person's family is poor, even if he is a down-and-out scholar, I will be willing to marry him. Maybe the son is very good, but
I feel like it’s not for me.”
"Tao'er, don't be rude!"
Mrs. Han's face darkened and she said, "I really shouldn't have called you here. You should get out quickly."
Xue Tao saluted Mrs. Liu again, turned around and left quickly.
Mrs. Han quickly said with a smile: "The child is not sensible. Madam, please don't be the same as her. I will ask her to apologize to Madam later."
Mrs. Liu was helpless. Of course she couldn't show that she had the same knowledge as the younger generation. She had to say: "I won't take it to heart what your wife says. I just hope that Madam and Xue Changshi can give a clear explanation. If this marriage can happen,
I can also arrange for a matchmaker to come to your door. If it doesn't work out, it would be best if you can give me an explanation so that I can give an explanation to my master. He is very serious."
What explanation could Mrs. Han give her? She said she was not worthy of her family status, but her family's family status was higher than her own. She said that her son's talent was shallow, which was even more unacceptable. After much deliberation, delaying tactics were the most appropriate.
"Isn't your son going to take the imperial examination next year? I think he should be allowed to concentrate on his studies until he reaches the top high school. Maybe he won't like my Tao'er anymore. Madam Liu, I think the future of your son is more important at this stage. He will go to the top high school.
, I believe that my Tao'er has also changed his mind. Wouldn't it be a matter of course for us to talk about marriage by then?"
This was so high-sounding that the other party could not find a reason to refute it for a moment. Mrs. Liu rolled her eyes and could only say bitterly: "Okay! Then I will leave today."