Because her parents had died, the children in the village wouldn't play with her, thinking she was bad luck.

“Sure, you can come whenever you want,” Qiao Lian’er said generously.

After that dinner, the news of the engagement between the Qiao family and Mu Xinghe spread throughout the entire village.

For a time, everyone thought the Qiao family had gone mad.

She actually got engaged to someone who had no parents, failed the imperial examination, and had no future.

Moreover, the Mu family only separated after Mu Xinghe's father died. Since there were only three people, including the mother and her two children, they were only allocated three mu of land.

Now that Mu Xinghe's mother is dead, those relatives are eyeing his three acres of land. Mu Xinghe and his sister can't cultivate it, so they will take it sooner or later. This family has no one to rely on.

What exactly is the Qiao family after?

Isn't this making my daughter suffer?

Everyone was discussing it, unable to figure it out.

"Fourth Brother, what's going on? Why did the Qiao family agree?" someone asked Zhao Laosi.

Zhao Laosi also shook his head: "You're asking me? Then who should I ask?"

It seems even Zhao Laosi was confused.

"Do you remember what happened before? Lian'er took all the rice in the house to sell, saying he would buy it back when he needed it."

"I thought she had some considerations, but now that the Qiao family has done something so stupid again, is their family going downhill?"

The Shen family.

Madam Liu burst into laughter: "You have eyes higher than the sky, refusing to marry our Shenliang. I thought you'd find a good family to marry into, but it turns out you just married a man with no parents. You have no future, no land. Are you going to starve after marrying into this family?"

The Shen family members all felt much better after finally venting their anger.

Shen Laoda pondered, "That girl was engaged to our Shen Liang. She must have approached Mu Xinghe because no one else wanted her."

"That's right. The Qiao family may not say it, but they must have looked at many families in private. No one was willing to marry Qiao Xi'er, so they had to settle for second best."

Tao said sarcastically, "Which family wouldn't feel uncomfortable if a girl who has been engaged has also liked another man?"

"That's great. The Qiao family has pushed Qiao Xi'er into a fire pit. Let's wait and see how that girl ends up crying out to heaven and earth in vain, suffering for the rest of her life."

The villagers were abuzz with gossip, but the Qiao family continued as usual.

Three days later, Qiao Dayong returned.

He is now able to move around like a normal person, but he needs to do it slowly and carefully.

Seeing her family finally all together at home, Old Mrs. Qiao sighed inwardly, "The money from escorting goods is really hard to come by."

I heard that my younger sister is also engaged to Mu Xinghe, who has already passed the imperial examination and become a scholar. I think this is a good match.

"Next, we'll reach the final stage," Da Yong said with a smile.

"Let's take care of your business first. You still need to rest for a few more days. By then, the house will be almost finished. You, your father, and your fourth uncle can go to Lingjia Village to set a wedding date," said Madam Feng.

"That girl must have come to see you again these past few days."

"Yes, they go every day and bring me meat porridge."

Suddenly, there was a banging of gongs and drums outside the village, and everyone in the village came out to see what was happening.

Then a group of constables entered the village. They were wearing red and black uniforms, and the mallets they used to strike the gongs were also tied with red cloth, so it seemed that they had come to announce good news.

"What's going on? Who has good news?" Everyone asked, but they couldn't get an answer.

The constables headed south of the village, and everyone followed, with more and more people joining them.