Chapter 86: Not even half a day late.

"You said you and the head of the family are getting married this year?" Teng Huang asked Li Yue'er, following her like a little tail.

Li Yue'er opened the jewelry box and selected earrings to wear today. After thinking for a moment, she chose a pink jade one, the color of which matched the hairpin she was going to give away today, so they were a matching pair.

Li Yue'er put on her earrings and looked at the gamboge in the mirror. "Yes, she told me last night that she'll get married on the day of Lidong this year. The engagement will be finalized with my mother and the headmaster when they come tomorrow."

The birth date and time, along with the formal betrothal documents, will all be reviewed and approved by the headmaster. The mistress assured her that she would not be shortchanged in the slightest and that she could rest assured.

Teng Huang's eyes widened, and her little face lit up. She put her hands on Li Yue'er's shoulders and said, "Then you will be the mistress of our Qu family from now on!"

She gracefully curtsied, "Teng Huang greets Madam, I pay my respects to Madam."

Li Yue'er felt a chill run down her spine, but she smiled demurely, placing her hands gracefully on her lap. "Get up."

After she finished laughing, she turned to face Teng Huang, raised her face, and held Teng Huang's hand, "Not yet, you can only call me that after we get married."

Teng Huang looked around, chuckled, and shook her hand. "I know, but it's just the two of us in the house right now, isn't it, Mistress?"

Madam Li Yue'er thought Teng Huang was absolutely right!

Teng Huang pressed down on Li Yue'er's shoulder and turned her back to face the mirror. "I'll do your makeup."

Teng Huang bent down with his back to the dressing table to do her makeup. Li Yue'er raised her head and spoke in small movements, "The maids will be moving into the house in a couple of days, but I am not in a proper position now and it is not easy to discipline them. Moreover, given my grandfather's old-fashioned nature, I will definitely say something to the head of the family tomorrow about 'not living together before marriage'."

Li Yue'er's eyes couldn't help but crinkle into a smile as she whispered, "Besides, I also want to go back and stay with my mother for a while, so I'm planning to go back to the academy tomorrow. Are you going to stay at the house to manage things, or are you coming with me?"

The gamboge brush stopped, and the speaker said matter-of-factly, "Then naturally I'll go back to the academy with you!"

Li Yue'er: "But what about the inner quarters?"

Teng Huang didn't care about any of that. "Let the head of the family and Dan Sha worry about it."

Teng Huang lowered his eyes and muttered, "Given the head of the family's personality, her request to marry you was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision. If she had prepared in advance, Dan Sha would have known, but she didn't tell me."

She was so angry that she almost made Yue'er's eyebrows thicker!

Li Yue'er poked Teng Huang's soft waist and asked her, "What's going on between you and Dan Sha? I've noticed you two have been arguing lately."

In the past, Gung Huang would have definitely turned the tables and accused Cinnabar of distancing itself from her, saying it was all Cinnabar's fault. But today, Gung Huang remained silent and evasive.

Li Yue'er could tell at a glance that Teng Huang was guilty. "Aren't you two best friends? Just ask her about it."

She had been preoccupied with her own affairs and hadn't had time to attend to Teng Huang, but now that she felt relieved, she thought of helping Teng Huang out.

Garcinia bit his lip and remained silent.

Li Yue'er discovered that the three of them, master and servant, were all the same; when they didn't want to reply, they wouldn't even bother with a perfunctory or vague answer.

She was too lazy to ask any more questions, "You two go ahead and do your thing."

After putting on her makeup and outer garment, Li Yue'er took the brocade box and went to the backyard.

The servants in the backyard were all there.

Aunt Qiu was very popular in the inner quarters, and Meng Xiaoxiao was also very likable. Today, when they learned that the two were going to recognize each other as mother and daughter, everyone who didn't have anything to do came to join in the fun.

Lin Mu took a day off and bought fruits, melon seeds, and sweet candies, which he distributed to everyone who came.

Li Yue'er handed the brocade box she had prepared to Meng Xiaoxiao, saying, "You've been following me ever since you entered the Qu residence. In my heart, you and Xing'er are no different; you're both my sisters."

Li Yue'er opened the box, took out a hairpin carved from pink jade in the shape of a peony, and inserted it into Meng Xiaoxiao's hair. She said softly, "Now you have a mother and brother who love you more. I'm happy for you."

Meng Xiaoxiao's big eyes were very clear. She held the brocade box in one hand and touched the hairpin with the other. "Sister Yue'er, although I have a mother now, you will always be my Sister Yue'er!"

Li Yue'er: "Of course, you can tell me anything. I'm a little more expensive than you, and I'm very decisive. Just come to me!"

She has finally let go of it, and now she can talk about her past wealth and status quite naturally.

Meng Xiaoxiao happily opened her arms and hugged her, affectionately nuzzling her hair, "Okay!"

Meng Xiaoxiao is only acknowledging a mother; she will still live in the Qu family mansion in the future. Her life will remain the same as before. So for her, today is just a formality to make things a bit more lively.

And since she loves lively atmospheres, she was in a great mood.

The cook, Aunt Zhou, came over and urged us, saying softly, "Hurry up, hurry up, the auspicious time we asked for has arrived. Come and serve tea."

Li Yue'er nodded to Meng Xiaoxiao, signaling her to come over.

Meng Xiaoxiao, however, took Li Yue'er's hand and led her behind Aunt Qiu. Then she walked up to Aunt Qiu, lifted her dress, knelt on the prayer mat in front of Aunt Qiu, kowtowed to Li Yue'er, kowtowed to Aunt Qiu, and finally called out in a clear voice, "Mother!"

She shouted without any hesitation, and everyone in the room burst into laughter. Even Aunt Qiu's eyes crinkled with laughter as she softly responded, "Yes~"

When Meng Xiaoxiao first started working for her, everyone thought she was trying to match Meng Xiaoxiao with her son, Lin Mu.

Some people even think that she is nice to Meng Xiaoxiao for this reason.

But she refused. She simply liked Xiaoxiao and wanted to adopt her as her daughter.

Li Yue'er has her own mother, so it's not appropriate for her to become her godmother. Besides, given the relationship between their two families, they don't care about such titles and empty names. But Meng Xiaoxiao has no parents, and if she leaves the Qu residence and gets sold, she might even help the seller count the money.

Aunt Qiu couldn't bear to see her suffer, so she asked her if she would be willing to be her daughter. As long as she was around, she could live a carefree life.

Seeing that Meng Xiaoxiao agreed, Aunt Qiu had someone calculate the auspicious time and set the tea ceremony for today.

It was a small matter, but everyone was willing to come and support the mother and daughter, which made it seem so lively.

Aunt Qiu took the tea from Meng Xiaoxiao, drank it, put it aside, and then helped Meng Xiaoxiao up.

Lin Mu stood to the side, "Little sister."

He then handed her a gift, a finely crafted silver bracelet.

From now on, Meng Xiaoxiao will have her mother and brother to protect her.

Meng Xiaoxiao put on the bracelet, took the bamboo basket from Lin Mu's hands, and distributed melon seeds to everyone.

Seeing everyone laughing and joking, Aunt Qiu turned to Li Yue'er, mysteriously took out a piece of good candy from her purse, and quietly put it into her palm.

Li Yue'er stuck out her tongue, smiled and took the candy, then muttered in a coquettish tone, "I'm not a child anymore, and you still specially saved a piece of candy for me."

Despite saying that, she honestly peeled a piece of candy and stuffed it into her mouth, her eyes crinkling with sweetness.

Aunt Qiu said, "Even if you grow up to be an old maid, you'll still be a child to me."

She reached out to tidy Li Yue'er's hair, which had been messed up by Meng Xiaoxiao, and felt a mix of emotions.

When she first pointed Li Yue'er down this path, she truly never dared to imagine that she and the head of the family would have such a future. The Qu residence was thoroughly cleaned today, and even new lanterns were installed, all in preparation for the engagement of the two tomorrow.

Aunt Qiu didn't need to ask any more questions. Just by looking at Li Yue'er's complexion, she knew that the head of the family treated her very well. She smiled and said, "I haven't seen your mother for half a month. When she comes over tomorrow, I'll have to talk to her for a while."

Li Yue'er took Aunt Qiu's arm and said, "Okay."

.

Li Yue'er lost her father, and apart from her mother, there were no other elders in her family. Today was her engagement day, so the headmaster acted as her maternal grandfather, bringing his wife along to support her.

He had a stern face and didn't talk much, clearly disliking the Qu family. Even though he knew the old lady, he visited the Qu residence very few times.

Now, after entering the Qu residence with his wife and Madam Ming, he rarely speaks and appears very serious.

This serious-looking old man had a red string tied around his white beard.

It was as if her mother was wearing a light-colored new dress, her younger sister had tied two buns with red ribbons, and the headmaster's wife was wearing a dark red outer robe.

Seeing that Li Yue'er was staring at the headmaster, Madam Shan quickly whispered, "Little Yue'er, don't mind him. He was just afraid that his words might have offended you and put you in a difficult position, so he kept quiet."

Li Yue'er's heart warmed. "That's not what I meant. I was looking at Grandpa Shan's beard. He even tidied it up a bit before coming over today."

The headmaster's wife immediately smiled, took Li Yue'er's hand and gently patted the back of her hand, "Good child, you are so thoughtful and considerate."

They even observed this.

Li Yue'er's eyes were a little hot. "I am very grateful that you and Grandpa Shan could come."

Li Yue'er knew how deep the headmaster's prejudice against merchants was, but today, for her sake, the headmaster rarely put aside his prejudices. He not only tidied his beard but also nodded to the mistress and greeted her as "Head of the Qu family."

Li Yue'er looked at her mother, "Mother."

Ming smiled at her.

She stood next to the headmaster's wife, holding Li Xing'er's hand.

Having seen the world, Ming was poised and confident. Although Li Xing'er was reserved and shy, she was not timid or afraid of strangers. After seeing Teng Huang, she became even less afraid.

Teng Huang trotted over happily, bent down, and pinched Li Xing'er's little face with both hands, "I see you again."

Li Xing'er giggled.

"Come on, let me take you to play for a while." Teng Huang picked up Li Xing'er and took her to find Meng Xiaoxiao to play.

April in the human world is the most warm and pleasant time of year.

When the spring breeze blows, pear blossoms in the courtyard drift down and land on the marriage contract on the table by the window.

The headmaster frowned slightly, gently plucked away the petals, blew the ink off the paper, turned to look at Qu Rong and Li Yue'er, and put one hand behind his back. "You two take a look. If there are no problems, then put your handprints on."

Qu Rong rolled up her sleeves, and without even looking, pressed her thumb into the inkpad.

Li Yue'er said to her softly, "Don't you even look closely? Aren't you afraid I'll conspire with the headmaster to sell you out?"

Qu Rong glanced at her sideways, and whispered with a smirk, "What you should be worried about is that I'll conspire with the headmaster to sell you out."

Li Yue'er wasn't afraid, because the headmaster doted on her the most. He examined the marriage contract more carefully than she did, and even went to look at her indenture again and again, just in case Qu Rong "cunningly" tampered with it and kept her in the Qu residence forever.

After both of them pressed their handprints, the headmaster, stroking his goatee tied with a red string, spoke, “Make two copies. My side will keep one copy, and your side will keep one copy. If your relationship changes in the future, when you separate, make two copies in the same way.”

The headmaster's wife glared at him, then secretly pinched the headmaster's side.

On such a good day, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak!

Li Yue'er went to see the mistress, but the mistress seemed to have only heard the words "in the future," and then acted as if she hadn't heard anything after that. Her eyelids didn't even twitch; she just carefully put away the marriage contract, "..."

The headmaster, feeling pain, stopped saying those unpleasant things and instead said, "According to the rules, you two cannot meet before the marriage."

Madam Ming took Li Yue'er's marriage contract, nodded, and said gently, "This is how it is on our side."

It wasn't that the headmaster wanted to make things difficult for the two of them.

Qu Rong, “?”

Qu Rong immediately pursed her lips and frowned, looking at Li Yue'er.

Li Yue'er looked up at the roof beam. Hmm, the mistress only thought she'd been home for two days and then returned, but she didn't know that according to the rules, they couldn't see each other for the next six months.

Qu Rong frowned as she gazed at the long mountain.

The headmaster said sternly, “She will come back to the academy with us today, and when she gets married on the day of the Beginning of Winter, she will come to your Qu residence.”

Teng Huang led Li Xing'er back, and upon hearing this, immediately raised his hand, "Me too! Me too! I want to go to the academy to take care of the future mistress!"

Dansha, standing next to Qu Rong, suddenly looked up at Teng Huang, "?"

Teng Huang didn't look at her.

The headmaster sat in his chair, not even drinking tea, his face stern and unyielding. "Since you're coming along, pack your things."

He clearly planned to take the two of them with him later; he couldn't be even half a day late.

Qu Rong, "..."

cinnabar,"……"

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Cinnabar: ...When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer? [Clown]