It is said that after Xu Jing finished all his work and planned to go back to rest, he was "kidnapped" by Bai Shinian on the way.

Bai Shinian said as they walked. "Li He has come to send some beauties to you, sir. If you are not busy now, come with me to see them. If you like them, you can stay and serve me."

"Are you serious?" Xu Jing stopped and raised his hand to hit him. Bai Shinian immediately put his hands on his head to protect his face. "Master, please don't do it. I just heard from Zang Yun that there was a letter from my hometown."

"What do you mean?" If Bai Shinian hadn't believed it, Xu Jing would have almost forgotten the Jiang family.

Bai Shinian chuckled and said, "The old master asked how the master is doing, and even mentioned in the letter that he wants to be a matchmaker for the master."

As the saying goes, a gift from an elder should not be refused. In ancient times, filial piety was the guiding principle for governing a family. If he had shown even the slightest rebelliousness, he would have been unable to hold his position as an official.

Xu Jing stared at him and asked, "What else did you say?"

"I've picked out a few suitable candidates for you: the third daughter of the Minister of Personnel, the fourth daughter of the noble Hai family, and the daughter of the wealthy Yong'an Marquis family in the capital. They're all incredibly beautiful, and Zang Yun even brought their portraits. If you have time, please take a closer look, Master?"

Xu Jing smiled faintly and said, "Those girls you mentioned are all dainty young ladies from the capital. Would their parents be willing to marry their daughters off to the border?"

"I'm willing to give it up." Bai Shinian also smiled. "Master, you don't know how popular you are now. You're only 25 and already a fifth-rank prefect. The other Jinshi scholars from your batch are still wandering around in the local areas, with no hope of promotion.

"In addition, the Minister of Personnel in the capital and the eunuch Fu Yao have both praised your resourcefulness and talent. You will surely rise to a higher position in the future and have a bright future. If you hadn't been employed in Jianzhou, I'm afraid the Jiang family's door would have been broken down by matchmakers."

It's not that they have been worn out, but that they have been replaced several times a long time ago.

The Jiang family has three branches. Old Master Jiang is still alive, but he retired a long time ago. He has three sons and one daughter.

The eldest son of the family was doing business in his hometown of Jiankang and had long been wealthy.

The second and third wives were both in politics. The second uncle was of average talent and was currently a county magistrate. Fortunately, his sons were very hardworking and all three of them passed the imperial examinations. One of them even became a Jinshi and is currently working as an editor in the Hanlin Academy.

The third house, where Jiang Xuqing was from, was the current fourth-rank official in the Dali Temple. His first wife, Zhang, died after giving birth to a daughter. His second wife, Qiu, gave birth to two sons and a daughter, as well as three concubines. However, after Qiu ascended to power, she took care of everything. To win over Jiang's heart, she gave her maidservant, who came with her as a dowry, to Jiang's father. After Jiang Xuqing was born, she drugged the maid, rendering her infertile. A few years later, she developed depression and died young.

Jiang Xuqing is a bastard's son, born to Qiu's maidservant. He has a low status and is not valued by his biological father. He has always been an invisible figure in the Jiang family.

Fortunately, no matter how little he was valued, he was able to continue his education. Of Jiang Dad's three sons, two passed the imperial examinations, bringing honor to the family.

The eldest son would inherit the family business in the future, so naturally everything was prepared for him. The family spent money to send him to Kunshan, which was under the jurisdiction of Gusu, to serve as the magistrate of the county.

Jiang Xuqing also became a fellow Jinshi. Logically, he could have spent some money and used some connections to get a lucrative job.

But the second wife Qiu was afraid that Jiang Xuqing, the brat, would avenge his mother after he gained power, so she wanted to strike first and cried and made a fuss in front of Jiang's father. In addition, Jiang's father had a big quarrel with the man who provided the money and broke off all contact with him. So Jiang's father did not give Jiang Xuqing any money and let him be sent to the border by the court.

Being assigned to a frontier post these days was practically exile. The Qiu family and the others thought Jiang Xuqing would never be able to rise again. Unexpectedly, the tide turned. The eldest brother, Jiang, the magistrate of Kunshan County in Suzhou, didn't get a promotion, while the third-born Jiang Xuqing was promoted to the fifth-rank prefectural governor at the age of 25.

This had really caused a mess. During the ancestral worship ceremony, Grandpa Jiang scolded Qiu, saying that she was short-sighted and had no ambition to revitalize the family. Instead, she suppressed the illegitimate sons, exploited the eldest daughter, controlled the master of the family, and delayed the future of the brothers. If it weren't for the fact that Qiu had given birth to children for the Jiang family, he would have divorced her long ago out of jealousy.

Mr. Jiang ignored Qiu's crying and making a fuss and personally decided to choose a marriage partner for Jiang Xuqing.

Before, Qiu was jealous that Jiang Xuqing passed the imperial examination while her second son failed, so she never worried about his marriage and didn't even arrange a maid for him.

Even if someone came to propose marriage to Jiang Xuqing after he won the marriage, Qiu Shi would always tell the matchmaker to turn down the offer on the grounds that Jiang Xuqing had a strange personality, liked to drink, and would beat people when drunk.

It's not that Father Jiang didn't arrange a maid for Jiang Xuqing. Qiu had a conditioned reflex when she saw the maid, fearing that the same thing as Jiang Xuqing's mother would happen again.

In order to make Jiang Xuqing "childless", she found a maid to seduce Jiang Xuqing, and then took her family to catch him in the act. As a result, when Jiang Xuqing was about to do something unspeakable with the maid, he was caught and became weak on the spot.

Afterwards, Jiang Xuqing was whipped and beaten half to death, forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days before being released. For the sake of his reputation, he beat the maid to death, and this severe blow also left a shadow on Jiang Xuqing's attitude towards women.

In order to sabotage Jiang Xuqing's marriage, Qiu deliberately spread rumors that Jiang Xuqing was impotent.

After this incident, who would dare to marry a man who is a domestic abuser and impotent?

So Jiang Xuqing's marriage was delayed. If this promotion had not caused a sensation in the court, who would care about the life and death of a bastard in a mansion?

Old Master Jiang scolded Mrs. Qiu and Uncle Jiang the Third, saying that if they didn't take care of the situation, he would adopt Jiang Xuqing to the second uncle's family.

Of course, the second uncle wanted to have a capable person from his own family. He fully supported Jiang Xuqing's adoption, but the third uncle Jiang disagreed.

The two legitimate sons were doing worse than the other, and the illegitimate son, who had finally made a good fortune by accident, had become successful. Why didn't he do everything he could to cultivate him well and instead pushed the benefits away?

So he and Old Master Jiang decided to choose three marriage proposals for Jiang Xuqing, saying that it was up to him to choose, but in fact, no matter who he chose, it would be Jiang Sanfang who would enjoy the benefits.

Since ancient times, children's marriages have been decided by their parents and matchmakers. Even if Jiang Xuqing has grown stronger, he still has to submit to his family.

The Jiang family had a very shrewd plan. If it had been Jiang Xuqing, he would have just accepted their arrangement. But Jiang Xuqing was dead, and it was Xu Jing who traveled through time.

Xu Jing patted Bai Shinian's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Have you ever told Zang Yun that I'm impotent?"

"Ahem." Bai Shinian nearly choked to death on his saliva. After rubbing his ears to make sure he had heard correctly, he was stunned. "Sir, is this true?"

"It's absolutely true." Xu Jing pointed to the area below with a half-smile and said, "Mother only left after confirming that I wasn't capable. How come she's going back on her word now?"