Chapter 8: Seducing You into Marrying Me
Ever since Lu Yi came that day, Shen Youran has become less and less interested in doing homework.
She told her father that she wanted to go to the Lu Mansion to visit her mother. Her father not only agreed, but also asked someone to prepare some gifts and asked her to take them to her mother.
Shen Youran waited day and night, and finally three days later, the Lu family's carriage arrived. Lu Yi rode beside the carriage and took her to the Lu Mansion.
The Lu family's residence in the capital was not very close to the Shen residence, and the carriage took more than half an hour to arrive.
The mother and daughter had not seen each other for many years, and because they missed each other, they had endless words to say and endless tears to shed. Shen Youran stayed at the Lu Mansion that day, slept with her mother at night, and talked to her intimately.
Ning still hugged her daughter like she did when she was a child, but now her daughter was as tall as her.
"By the way, how come I've never heard your sister mention her engagement to the eldest son of the Pei family?"
"Sister said she wrote you a letter," Shen Youran said, "Didn't you receive it?"
"Perhaps there was an error at the post station. I didn't receive your sister's letter." Ning stroked her youngest daughter's cloud-like black hair while worrying about her eldest daughter's marriage. "Have you met the eldest son of the Pei family? What is he like? What is the Pei Mansion like?"
"I've only seen him once," Chen Youran said, not wanting to admit that it was Pei Langjun she had chosen on behalf of her elder sister that day. "I didn't get a clear look at him, but my sister was satisfied. He was a top-ranked Jinshi in the imperial examination. He's twenty-one this year and an official in Lingzhou. His knowledge and character should be excellent..."
"Pei Jia Dalang's grandfather was granted the title of Grand Tutor after retirement. His father is currently a scholar at the Hanlin Academy. His second uncle is an official in a leisurely government office, and his third uncle is a businessman in Quanzhou..."
Shen Youran's understanding of the Pei family was all heard from his father and elder sister. He only knew the surface and nothing more in-depth.
"In that case, the Pei family should be considered one of the best families in the capital. Your sister has good taste and has chosen a good husband for herself..."
The eldest daughter was smart and independent since she was young, and she grew up to be graceful and dignified. When she was in Xunzhou, many families came to propose to her. Ning originally wanted to find a suitable husband for her in Xunzhou, but the families she chose did not work out for one reason or another. When the eldest daughter was sixteen years old, she suddenly asked to go to the capital to visit her father and sister. Ning originally thought that she would be back soon, but she did not expect that she would be away for two years.
Now even the marriage has been arranged.
Although Ning only knew some things about the Pei family from her youngest daughter, her daughter's biological father, Shen Tingyu, had been an official in the capital for many years and had a deep understanding of the various families in the capital. Since he had agreed to this marriage, the Pei family naturally had no major problems.
Ning was relieved.
"Your second brother..." Ning had always been reluctant to talk about that child, but there were some things she couldn't always avoid. "How do you get along with him?"
"He studies in Quanzhou and seldom comes back. He came back once during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year and stayed for two or three days before leaving again." Shen Youran is the third child in the family. Besides an older sister, she also has a second brother who is her twin.
In Shen Youran's unclear childhood memories, her second brother started to fall ill when her parents divorced. When her mother returned to Mushroom City, she only took her and her elder sister with her, leaving her second brother who was still sick in the capital.
However, no one knew what strange disease my second brother had and it could not be cured. Not long after my parents divorced, my father heard that there was a miracle doctor in Quanzhou who might be able to cure this disease, so he sent my second brother to Quanzhou for treatment and entrusted him to the care of a friend in Quanzhou.
This treatment lasted for ten years.
When I saw my second brother again, he was already fifteen years old and had grown into a handsome young man. However, he did not look like Shen Youran, and when they stood together, they did not look like a pair of twins at all.
Perhaps because they had been separated for many years, he was not close to his father and siblings, so he returned to Quanzhou after only a few days.
After that, he only came back once or twice a year, and stayed for only two or three days each time. Most of the time, Shen Youran would forget that he had a second brother.
Hearing Mother mention this today, I thought she must be missing my second brother very much, so I said, "If my second brother knew that Mother had returned to the capital, he would be very happy. How about I write a letter to Quanzhou and ask him to come back to see you?"
Ning's eyes revealed a hint of sadness: "You don't have to write to him, I don't want to see him..."
"Why?" Shen Youran felt strange, "Why doesn't mother want to see second brother? Isn't he your child too?"
Ning sighed, but didn't explain any further. She simply hugged her daughter and patted her gently, coaxing her like she did when she was a child: "You Ran, be obedient..."
*
From then on, Shen Youran would often visit the Lu Mansion, sometimes staying for a day or two. Lu Yi would always pick her up and drop her off. On the way there, Lu Yi would tell her stories about his mother's past. Over time, the two of them became familiar with each other. Shen Youran initially called him "Lu Langjun", but later changed to "Lu Da Ge". He laughed and said, "Your sister used to call me 'Axiong', why don't you call me 'Axiong' too in the future?"
Shen Youran didn't think too much about it: since the elder sister called him that, it should be right for him to call her that.
Lu Yi is not related to her by blood, but treats her kindly, while her half-brother is not so friendly to her.
After my mother remarried into the Lu family, she gave birth to another child, a boy named Lu Nian. He is six and a half years old this year, about the same age as Shen Youran's fourth sister, but much more annoying than Shen Yumian.
Shen Yumian is the child of her stepmother Wei. She used to follow her around happily, calling her sister and praising her for being so pretty.
It was nothing like Lu Nian now. Every time she saw her, she would stare at her and shout, "Sister, you are so annoying. You are such a grown-up and still want to steal my mother from me. Shame on you..."
Shen Youran didn't want to argue with a child, but after being despised by him many times, she started to argue with him: "What do you mean I'm trying to steal your mother? She's my mother!"
Lu Nian jumped up and down and said, "No, this is my home, not yours. Your mother is in your home, and my mother is in my home!"
Despite his young age, he actually left Shen Youran speechless.
Yes, this is the Lu family, and her surname is Shen.
Because of this incident, Shen Youran didn't go to the Lu family for seven days. Unexpectedly, Lu Yi came to the mansion to find her and asked her why she didn't go to the Lu family these days. Was she sick? Her mother was very worried about her.
Shen Youran twisted her handkerchief and awkwardly explained the reason.
"So that's why," Lu Yi concealed the joy of success in his heart, and his face remained kind as he comforted him gently, "Fifth brother is young, don't take his words to heart. If you want to be with mother forever, I have a way to make Fifth Brother no longer reject you..."
"What method?"
The man suddenly moved closer to her, and with a hint of coaxing, he whispered, "If you marry me, then mother will be both your mother-in-law and your own mother. Fifth brother will naturally have no reason to chase you away."
After saying this, he stood up and looked down at her confidently, thinking that after spending so much time together and with her mother's inducement, she would not refuse.
Even if she refused for the moment, it was just the shy and instinctive reaction of a little girl.
He could always coax her into agreeing with a few more words.
As he expected, the little girl was stunned for a moment, and then her face quickly turned red. She twisted the handkerchief in her hand and didn't dare to look at him: "No."
Lu Yi admired the prey in front of him that was sure to be caught: "Why not?"
"You are the brother. Brothers and sisters cannot get married."
"But we don't have the same father or mother, so we're not really brother and sister."
"That won't work either. My mother is also your mother, and my sister is also your sister. So, you and I are brother and sister. I can't marry you. It would disrupt the moral order..."
"You're overthinking it. Your last name is Shen, and mine is Lu. We can get married without disturbing the moral order."
"I just can't," Shen Youran insisted, his tone becoming a little more firm. "I call you brother, and I treat you as my brother. How can a sister marry her own brother? This is too absurd..."
Shen Yunshu had also said this to him.
Unlike the ignorant Shen Youran in front of him, Shen Yunshu looked at him with strong disgust in her eyes when she said these words.
For a moment, Shen Yunshu's face overlapped with the person in front of him. Rejected again, Lu Yi was furious and suddenly grabbed the other person's slender arm, forcing her to look at him. His eyes were gloomy, "I will solve all the problems. You just need to say yes..."
Shen Youran was frightened by the other party's sudden change in expression. His grip on her arm hurt so much that she struggled but couldn't break free. She had no choice but to kick his calf. When he relaxed due to the pain, she was able to break free from his shackles.
"I don't want to." She said this and quickly ran away from him.
Looking at her panicked back, Lu Yi realized that he had lost his composure just now and must have scared her.
However, this did not hinder his plan. He had no intention of marrying a substitute. What he wanted was to send the news that he was going to marry Shen Youran to Shen Yunshu.
If Ah Shu knew that he was going to marry her sister, she would definitely come to see him on her own initiative.
*
Danruo and Qinghe were originally embroidering handkerchiefs and chatting under the eaves, but they saw that under the crabapple tree in the yard, the third lady and the eldest son of the Lu family, who were chatting, seemed to have an argument. They were about to go over to take a look, but saw their own girl running over in a panic, pulling them into the house and telling them to close the door tightly.
"What happened, young lady?" Dan Ruo asked, looking bewildered. "Did Mr. Lu say something to scare you?"
"He...he asked me to marry him," Shen Youran rubbed his frightened chest and muttered, "What a rotten idea..."
After hearing this, Danruo and Qinghe looked at each other in surprise: This is no small matter. Regardless of whether Lu Yi has good intentions or ulterior motives, this matter must be reported to the head of the family.
After Shen Tingyu knew about this, he thought that Lu Yi had taken a fancy to his third daughter. Although he disliked Lu Yi, it would not be a bad thing if his third daughter really married into the Lu family. After all, the third daughter was not as gentle and virtuous as the eldest daughter. If she married into another family, she would inevitably be bullied by her uncles, aunts, and sisters-in-law. But if she married into the Lu family, with her biological mother's help, her life would definitely be much better.
However, regarding the marriage of his third daughter, in addition to his father's approval, the eldest daughter also needs to be informed.
Shen Tingyu then sent someone to go to Pei's farm and inform Shen Yunshu about this matter.
At that time, Shen Yunshu had lived in the Pei family's farm for nearly a month. During this period, she went to pay her respects to Madam Pei every day, talked and took walks with her, and often visited the recuperating Master Pei. When the old man was conscious, she played chess with him. It was said that using his brain frequently in this way would help alleviate his condition.
Mrs. Pei treated her increasingly close and was reluctant to let her leave, so she stayed there day after day.
That day, she went to accompany the old man as usual. When she passed by the glass flower room, she saw a beautiful maid holding freshly picked lilies in her arms, her face flushed, looking forward to something...
The shy expression on the pink face was very familiar. Shen Yunshu had seen it on the faces of other maids. As expected, she was expecting Pei Huaian, the seventh son of the Pei family, who would pass by here.
There were footsteps approaching behind her. Judging from the voice, it was a man, probably Pei Qilang, whom the little maid had been waiting for for a long time.
Shen Yunshu didn't want to interrupt this embarrassing situation. It happened that the locust tree forest and bamboo sea were very good for hiding. She found a thick locust tree to hide her body, but she couldn't resist her curiosity and stuck out half of her face to see the next show.
It turned out to be Pei Huaian, wearing a robe with narrow sleeves and a cross collar with ink-and-wash branch and leaf patterns. He was as elegant as jade and was walking slowly on the bluestone path.
When the maid saw him, she immediately walked towards him with her head lowered, holding the lily in her arms.
The path is not wide and can barely accommodate two people.
Pei Huaian was the master, so he naturally would not take the initiative to give way to the maid, but when he saw the little maid rushing towards him without even raising her head, he subconsciously dodged.
The little maid originally wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she missed and twisted her ankle and was about to fall.
Fortunately, Pei Huaian grabbed her and the little maidservant did not make a fool of herself in front of him.
However, although Pei Huaian helped her, he did not let her off the hook: "Don't throw yourself into my arms again, I won't eat grass near my home!"
The redness on the maid's face faded away like a thread, and then her face turned pale, frightened like a quail: "Seventh, Seventh Master, you misunderstood. This servant, this servant did not mean that..."
"No, that's the best." Pei Huaian waved his hand impatiently, "Don't appear in front of me again."
The maid ran away in tears.
Pei Huaian didn't leave. Instead, he turned to look at Shen Yunshu. His beautiful phoenix eyes gave her a resentful look: "Sister-in-law, have you seen enough?"
Caught red-handed, Shen Yunshu blinked awkwardly, walked out from behind the locust tree, and greeted him casually: "Good morning, are you going to see your grandfather? Let's go together..."
Pei Huaian was still dwelling on what had just happened: "Sister-in-law clearly saw her before me, why didn't she warn her? Instead, she hid and watched the show?"
"How would I know she was going to bump into you?" Shen Yunshu had originally thought the maid was just trying to create a chance encounter, never expecting her to bump right into someone's arms. "Maybe she bumped into you by accident..."
But Pei Huaian insisted that the other party did it on purpose: "She is the sixth maid to bump into me this month. Previously, another maid spilled tea on me. It's a pity that my cloud brocade robe was stained with tea stains and cannot be washed out. Every inch of brocade is worth a lot of money. Even if I sell her, I can't afford to compensate her."
"Then what did you do with her?" Shen Yunshu glanced at him. "Did you really sell her out?"
"Selling her won't help, so I scolded her and told her to stay away from me." Pei Huaian snorted, "Luckily my father is rich. I'll ask him to buy me another piece of brocade later..."
Shen Yunshu smiled: It turns out that he is a boy with a tough mouth but a soft heart.
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