Chapter 31 Jinjiang First Release Chapter 31 Fang Xiucai is holding...

When Fang Dingquan and his wife heard that "the fortune teller has confessed", their hearts skipped a beat and their palms were sweating.

However, without seeing the evidence, they certainly cannot admit it!

Anyway, they didn't go there themselves, so at worst they can just put the blame on Huang San.

Li Jinque asked, "Shu'er, what are you talking about? Why can't your aunt understand?"

Fang Shu said, "You don't understand? How could you not understand? Why don't you and your nephew take your nephew's horoscope to mine and see what the fortune teller says? I've been working so hard to ensure that all my relatives live a good life. But you two are so unwilling to wish me the best, and you're trying to ruin my heaven-sent marriage. It really breaks my heart."

Fang Dingquan said, "How can you have a marriage destined by heaven? Is it just Yu Qinglong?"

Fang Shu said, "That's right. Even Taoist Master Wuyan from Huihua Mountain said he and I were a perfect match. But the fortune teller from Qingshan Temple lied and said Long Ge'er was unlucky for me. He has such bad intentions, so he must have some ulterior motive. I went to ask, and it turns out someone is behind this. I didn't expect it to be you, my uncle."

When Fang Shu said this, he looked at Fang Dingquan, as if he was very sad, but he already knew the whole situation and told him not to try to deceive him again.

He said, "My nephew has already decided to sue the fortune teller. As for your share of the land, I think it's best to let it go. After the autumn harvest this year, you will pay your share of the taxes and share your share of the burden. From now on, your land will have nothing to do with me."

After saying that, he stood up and walked out, as if he didn't want to say another word.

When Fang Dingquan and Li Jinque saw that he was not willing to negotiate, they immediately panicked.

Fifteen acres of land! That would cost four taels of silver a year! Since they were registered under Fang Shu's name, they were exempt from taxes. They only had to give Fang Shu one tael of silver as a thank you. Three taels less a year, five years would be fifteen taels!

In the countryside, fifteen taels of silver is enough to build a house!

Fang Dingquan quickly grabbed Fang Shu and said, "My dear nephew, why are you so anxious? This, this must be some misunderstanding!"

Li Jinque said, "That's right, Shu'er, you must have made a mistake. How could the fortune teller say that you and that Qinglong brother weren't destined to be together?"

Fang Dingquan said, "That's right, the fortune teller must have made a mistake. Since the old Taoist priest at Huihua Mountain said it was a match made in heaven, then it must be!"

Fang Wu listened and snorted inwardly, "Brother Man and I heard it clearly at the time. The fortune teller said that Brother Qinglong would bring bad luck to my son Shuer. I almost believed it. This is a matter of life, how can he be so careless? We must sue him!"

Li Jinque saw this and quickly took Fang Wu's arm, saying with a smile, "Shu Niang, please don't say that. Shu'er's marriage proposal is a great joyous event. If we report it to the authorities and they torture him and see blood, that would be very unlucky. Besides, there must be some misunderstanding."

Fang Shu said, "In that case, would you like to go to Qingshan Temple with us again, my great uncle and my great aunt? During this time, you and my great uncle must not communicate with anyone. Let's go together. I will then take your nephew's birth chart to the fortune teller. Or, I can compare my birth chart with a few others to see if the fortune teller will say that all of them are unlucky for me, except your nephew."

Li Jinque broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this: "I, hey! I asked my long-term servant to go to Qingshan Temple to discuss fortune-telling. But what I asked him to bring were the horoscopes of my son Lan Ge'er and another man. That man always wanted my son Lan Ge to marry him, but my family was not satisfied, so he came up with this method to ask the fortune-teller to stop him from thinking about it. This must be, this must be a mistake made by my long-term servant. Oh, let me think about it, it must be so!"

Fang Dingquan said: "Yes, yes, we will talk about him in detail later."

Fang Wu said, "But if we don't report it to the authorities, we'll be at a huge loss. We went to the town for divination, and we left a lot of money for incense offerings at Huihua Mountain. We also had to hire a carriage, which delayed my son's precious study time for a day. Shouldn't we ask this guy to make up for it?"

"Yes, it needs to be repaired." Fang Dingquan gritted his teeth, "How much does it cost?"

"At least three taels of silver."

"T-How many?"

"Just renting a carriage costs a fortune, not to mention the incense and divination fees," Fang Shu said. "We must sue him this time. He's been so evil, we need to send him to the yamen and teach him a lesson. Then he'll realize how little three taels of silver means."

If you go to the government office, you will be skinned alive!

Fang Dingquan and Li Jinque knew this, but they didn't dare confront Fang Shu head-on. If the fortune teller actually turned them in, it would be a crime. She had actually asked Huang San to bring her nephew's horoscope with him, telling the fortune teller that if someone matched their horoscope with Fang Shu's, they would say it was a match made in heaven. If Fang Shu's horoscope matched another pair, they would say it was a match made in heaven.

If this really gets brought to court, they will not be in the right at all.

Furthermore, they didn't dare to initiate the process of registering the land under Fang Shu's name, as it was forbidden in the first place. If discovered, both parties would be severely punished. Not only would they have to pay compensation, but they would also offend the entire clan.

Li Jinque was regretting it so much that his intestines turned green.

Fang Dingquan also regretted it a lot. Mainly because they really didn't expect Fang Shu's family to go to someone else to settle the score!

Fang Dingquan said, "Shu'er, this, after all, is a happy occasion, why do you have to make such a big fuss?"

Fang Shu said, "If the fortune teller compensates me with three ounces of silver, I will not pursue the matter. Otherwise, I will file a lawsuit when I return."

Li Jinque felt a headache when he heard the word "complaint." This Fang Shu was a jerk, always nagging at one thing.

She said stubbornly, "How about this: we'll let the farmhand who spread the wrong message pay the three taels of silver. After all, it was his fault. Shu'er, don't pursue the matter any further. My family's fifteen acres of land will continue to be registered in Shu'er's name. It's always better to have a harmonious family wedding. What do you think, Shu'er?"

Fang Shu said, "Well... well, since my aunt has said so, I can't be too drastic and let the fortune teller off this time. But can the farmhand afford to pay the compensation?"

Li Jinque said, "If he can't pay it back, I'll make him work for my family for the rest of his life. Don't worry, Auntie will never let Shu'er suffer any loss."

Fang Shu waved his fan and said, "Okay, then I'll listen to my aunt. But I want the money now. This has already delayed a lot of my work."

Li Jinque's flesh was in so much pain that it was about to bleed. She stamped her feet fiercely and said, "Okay! Wait a minute!"

Not long after, a tall, dark-skinned man came out and said to the other side, "Scholar, I'm so sorry. It was all because of my momentary confusion that I caused such a big trouble."

Fang Shu weighed the silver and naturally didn't believe that it was the fault of the person in front of him, so he said, "Since you know you've repented, then forget it. Uncle, aunt, I'm leaving."

Fang Dingquan asked, "Are you leaving before you eat?"

Fang Dingman said, "We are in a hurry to go back and prepare for the betrothal. We won't eat anymore!"

The family of three came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

When Fang Dingquan and Li Jinque thought about the three taels of silver, they felt as if a piece of their heart had been cut out.

"This is all your bad idea!" Fang Dingquan pushed his wife hard. "Why not just take Lan Ge'er to show Fang Shu? Lan Ge'er is beautiful. Maybe Fang Shu will never forget her after seeing her."

"We were in such a hurry that we didn't have time to call Brother Lan! What's the point of you being so mean to me?" Li Jinque said, "Why did you think of going to another place for divination? Is Yu Qinglong really that good? How could this bunch of fools treat a piece of dirt as a treasure?"

"Who knows! What should I do now? Not only did I not accomplish anything, but I also lost so much money!"

In order to persuade the fortune teller, they also gave him a thank you gift, and together with the compensation to Fang Shu, it amounted to four taels of silver.

Li Jinque said, "No! I have to go to Qingshan Temple to find that damn old man! He took so much money and still dared to sell us out!"

Fang Dingquan said, "Don't do it. If you offend him again, he might secretly cast a spell on us. How could we possibly handle that?! And don't you think this is strange? If it's really like Shu'er said, that they went to the town and then to Huihua Mountain, how would they have time to go to Qingshan Temple? Is he trying to trick us?"

Li Jinque thought about it and it seemed to be the case. But the money had already been given! Could it be recovered? Obviously not.

This was basically Fang Shu warning them.

What about "people should not be too greedy" and "it is unreasonable to want the moon after getting the sun"...

Li Jinque bit her lip and said, "Then we'll have to bear this loss. But we must not mention the idea of ​​a closer marriage in the future. I also think we can't think about taking Lan'er to see him. If this really angers Fang Shu, we'll have to pay four taels of tax every year."

She now suspected that Fang Shu asked her to pay three taels of silver because he knew she had given the fortune teller one tael of silver. So the total of four taels was exactly one year's land tax.

Li Jinque broke out in a cold sweat at the thought. She wanted to know, what was it about Yu Qinglong that made Fang Shu so precious?

However, after Fang Shu and his family left, they continued to prepare the betrothal gifts.

Although there were some setbacks, at least he didn't miss Yu Qinglong. Fang Shu was grateful. Besides, he and his mother hadn't spent a single tael of silver on renting the carriage and going to the fortune teller. With the extra two taels, he could buy more things.

Fang Wu said, "We haven't gotten married yet, so don't buy anything rashly yet. We'll go to your second cousin's house later and ask your second cousin's father about it. When we propose, have your second cousin bring someone to Qinglong's house."

The eldest uncle is marrying a girl, but Yu Qinglong is a boy, so it would be more appropriate to ask the second uncle to propose marriage.

According to local custom, the betrothal gift must be presented by a well-off elder in the man's family. My second cousin's father was also a boy, and he married his second cousin. Now he has two children, a harmonious family, and a very happy life.

Fang Shu also felt that this person was the most suitable candidate, so after preparing the betrothal gifts, he went to find this person.

Three days later, a major event happened in Shangxi Village.

Someone has come to propose to us!

A mule cart and an ox cart were loaded with betrothal gifts: cloth, wine, rice, flour, leather, some medicinal herbs, spices, and six taels of silver.

Six people arrived in total. One was Fang Shu's second cousin, Fang Zhou. Another was Wu Sheng, someone Yu Qinglong knew. It looked like three of the remaining four, like Wu Sheng, were here to help with the moving. Fang Zhou said, "This is my younger brother. He has a family with many children, and they're all very happy together. We're here to present the betrothal gifts. May Long and my son Shu have many children and a happy life together."

Fang Zhou was a very friendly-looking person, sharing the same surname as Zhou Yuehua and a similar personality. He smiled and said, "Here is the engagement letter and gift list. Please keep them."

Zhou Yuehua took it, feeling somewhat stunned. He knew Fang Shu valued his youngest son, but he never expected the Fang family to send so many things, enough to fill two carts.

The neighbors outside saw what was happening and came to watch the fun. Mrs. Zhang Wang, who was the most talkative, saw a car coming from afar and heading towards Yu Dayou's house, so she hurried over to join in the fun: "Young man, whose family is coming to propose marriage? It's so generous."

She was asking about Wu Sheng.

Wu Sheng said, "It's the home of Mr. Fang Dingman from Xiaxi Village. His son, Mr. Fang Shu, a scholar, is getting engaged to the third son of this family."

Zhang Wang's eyes widened. "Mr. Fang! Are you engaged to Brother Qinglong?!"

Wu Sheng said, "That's right."

The neighbor who lived next to Yu Qinglong's house also heard it and said: "Is this true?!"

Wu Sheng said, "How could it be false? Mr. Fang and I grew up together, and I've come here to present the betrothal gifts on his behalf. The Fang family takes this marriage very seriously."

How much did he take it seriously? Even when it was dark and he was still asleep, Fang Shu ran over to shake him awake and repeatedly told him that he must say a few more words when he arrived in Shangxi Village to let everyone in the village know that their Fang family was very satisfied with this marriage!

Wu Sheng was completely convinced.

The Yu family knew that the Fang family would come to propose marriage today, so they prepared wine and food in advance. They wanted to treat the people who came to deliver the betrothal gifts to lunch, return the gifts, and then send them off.

The yard is busy at this moment. The family is moving the prepared wine and food out. There are tables and stools in the yard, and a fire is burning in the stove, and food is being cooked.

Doctor Mo's family came to help, as did Erban's family, along with the Bai family and the second branch of the Yu family. There was plenty of manpower. At first, the villagers had only heard about some happy event, but they hadn't learned what it was. Now they knew: Yu Qinglong, after three failed attempts at marriage, had actually gotten engaged to the scholar!

Yu Qinglong sat in his room and didn't come out - it was said that this was the rule. When the fiancé's family came to pay the betrothal gifts, the bride had to stay in the room and could only see the elders from the fiancé's family and no other outsiders.

It just so happened that the shoes he wanted to give as a return gift were not finished yet, so he sat in the house and worked hard on them.

Others were making shoes, but he looked like he was going to poke the shoes to death.

Bai Wanqiu wiped his sweat frequently as he watched: "Slow down, slow down, it won't take a while. You managed it before, so you can do it this time too."

Yu Qinglong said: "Who would have thought his feet were so big."

When he had made it, he thought one size larger would be enough, since his feet were not small after all. Unexpectedly, Fang Shu's feet were two sizes larger than his! He only found out about this when matchmaker Zhou came and told his father about it.

He was anxious because he couldn't start over and make a new pair.

Bai Wanqiu said, "Come on, get the next one. I'll hide the thread for you."

Yu Qinglong quickly changed hands and sewed the next one. Actually, it was almost done, but if he needed it someday and he hadn't finished it, it would not be good.

He worked hard and finally finished making a pair of shoes. But he thought they were a bit ordinary, no different from other shoes made by others, so he called Liang Mo and asked, "Mo'er, are the people outside still eating?"

Liang Mo said, "We're eating. Half of the food is still there. We said we should wait until it's cooler before going back."

Yu Qinglong wasted no time and simply embroidered a small tree on the right shoe. Although it was only a simple outline, it was easy to tell what it was and it was very cute.

He has a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder, so he embroidered both sides, right next to the shoe opening, where it is least likely to wear out.

That evening, Fang Shu received the shoes. He was so impressed by the small tree on the shoes that he tried them on the kang several times!

Just the right size, so comfortable!

At night, Fang Xiucai slept with a pair of shoes in his arms.

No, he didn't even sleep!

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Author's words: Fang Shu: The shoes my husband made for me are mine alone in the world [shy]

Qinglong: Then just hold it while you sleep, we can sleep separately [smirk]

Fang Shu: That won’t do. At most, I can hold you in my arms while you sleep with your shoes on. [Let me see]

Qinglong: [question mark]

Fang Shu: We are getting married soon, please give me some nutrition and comments to enrich our new life [shy]