When Zheng Yuanyuan saw Lin Zhijing, who had become much thinner, standing in front of her, she was stunned for a long time before covering her mouth and sobbing.

Lin Zhijing was at a loss, unsure whether to wipe Zheng Yuanyuan's tears first or to comfort her and stop her crying. Zheng Boyuan waited until Zheng Yuanyuan had cried enough before saying, "I've found the person for you. You two should take this opportunity to discuss your plans."

Zheng Yuanyuan wanted to hold Lin Zhijing's hand, but felt embarrassed because her brother and sister-in-law were there. So she stood in front of Lin Zhijing and asked worriedly, "Sister-in-law said you've been sick for a long time. Are you feeling better now?"

Lin Zhijing smiled and said, "Madam Zheng helped me find a doctor and helped me recuperate for a long time. I'm fully recovered now. I was wrong. Because of my pitiful pride, I insisted on waiting until I made something of myself before coming to find you. I didn't think things through for you properly, so please don't blame me."

Zheng Yuanyuan quickly said, "I don't blame you. Really, it's not easy for you to get to where you are today. You should work hard from now on. You once told me that you have a lot of ambitions, but because of your family's situation, you are busy with household chores all day long. Now that you have the opportunity, you should naturally work hard."

Lin Zhijing looked at Zheng Boyuan apologetically. Zheng Boyuan was furious. His sister was sensible, but she was so sensible in front of a man who had ulterior motives towards him. Zheng Boyuan was really annoyed.

Lin Zhijing bowed to Zheng Boyuan and said, "Brother Zheng, I came here today to discuss my marriage with Miss Zheng with you and Madam Zheng. I am very sorry for coming here. If you agree to our marriage, I will go back and ask a matchmaker to come and propose marriage."

Zheng Yuanyuan was surprised by Lin Zhijing's directness, and her face flushed instantly. She looked at Zheng Boyuan expectantly, which made Zheng Boyuan even angrier. However, Zheng Yuanyuan's situation had already made the family disregard formalities. Xu Zhi knew very well that a mental illness requires a mental cure. Now that the cure was finally here, if things weren't settled quickly, any mishaps would ultimately hurt Zheng Yuanyuan.

Xu Zhi gave Zheng Boyuan a wink, and Zheng Boyuan, of course, understood. He turned away angrily, and Xu Zhi could only say to Lin Zhijing, "Young Master Lin, since you two are both interested, there's no point in us stopping you. How about this, after you go back, you ask a matchmaker to propose marriage. After you two are engaged, you should prepare for the provincial examination the year after next. As for when to get married, we can discuss that later. What do you think?"

Lin Zhijing bowed deeply to Xu Zhi and Zheng Boyuan, saying, "Thank you, elder brother and sister-in-law."

Zheng Boyuan felt sad. He wanted to say that they weren't engaged yet, and that he and Azhi were the elder brother and sister-in-law. But seeing Zheng Yuanyuan's face flushed with excitement, he knew that his younger sister was determined to marry him. Oh well, Lin Zhijing didn't have any other support right now. Even if she passed the imperial examination and became an official, she would still have to rely on his relatives. He wasn't worried that they would treat his sister badly. It was better than letting his sister marry one of those playboy sons of wealthy families in the capital.

Lin Zhijing talked with Zheng Yuanyuan for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Zhi had the kitchen prepare dinner and warm some wine. However, Lin Zhijing's alcohol tolerance was really poor. After only a few drinks with Zheng Boyuan, she grabbed Zheng Boyuan's sleeve and cried as she recounted how she met Zheng Yuanyuan. She said that after learning about her identity and finding out her father's words at home that he wouldn't give her a way out, she had given up hope. Who knew that she would be rescued by her sister-in-law? Lin Zhijing cried sadly. Zheng Boyuan thought about how he and his sister had lived a similar life in the Pingxi Marquis's mansion and couldn't help but feel sorry for Lin Zhijing. He thought that he should help his brother-in-law. He had suffered so much before, and now that he had hope and something he wanted to do, someone should help him.

When it was time to sleep that night, Zheng Boyuan tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. Xu Zhi was also unable to sleep because of his disturbance, so she asked him if something was wrong.

Zheng Boyuan thought for a moment and said, "Azhi, I've thought about it for a long time and I think we should help Zhijing find a good place to study. I haven't asked my father-in-law for anything all these years. What do you think about me asking him to write a letter of recommendation for Zhijing?"

Xu Zhi asked, somewhat puzzled, "They're all relatives, why does Father have to write a letter of recommendation?"

Zheng Boyuan explained, "It's precisely because we're relatives that we have to follow Uncle Ru's rules. Uncle Ru's academy is now on par with my maternal uncle's academy in Jiangnan, and many people want to study there. To avoid trouble, Uncle Ru set this rule so that he wouldn't accept students he didn't want. Recommendation letters aren't something you can just write casually. A recommendation letter isn't just about introducing someone to the academy; the most important thing is the introduction itself. If the person recommended to the academy isn't talented or is an incompetent person, wouldn't that be a slap in our own face?"

Xu Zhi smiled and said, "Of course I know that a letter of recommendation can't be written casually, but my father can't just write a letter of recommendation casually either. He has to meet the person first before deciding whether to write a letter of recommendation, right?"

Zheng Boyuan smiled and said, "That's right, that's exactly what I meant. I want Zhijing to go to the capital, not only to let her great-aunt see the man Yuanyuan is going to marry, but also to let the people of the capital know that my sister has found a good match."

Xu Zhi said with some worry, "Won't people recognize us if we go back to the capital?"

Zheng Boyuan laughed and said, "How could it be so easy to recognize? Lin Zhijing told me during dinner tonight that Bai Mi had done something to his face. It's not very obvious now, but it will become more and more obvious over time. Zhijing said that Bai Mi figured it out herself when she was learning surgery from her mother-in-law. At that time, Bai Mi didn't dare to operate on his face. It was Zhijing who begged her to do it."

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