Xiao Yunying sat down before peeking out: "Okay, give it to me."
Luo Yong tossed the oil paper package to his subordinate: "Don't just accept anything that goes into your mouth. How do you know if there's anything that shouldn't be in it?"
Xiao Yunying glanced at the backs of the two brothers who had already ridden away on horseback: "Impossible, with you here, that child shouldn't dare to do it."
"child?"
"At thirteen or fourteen years old, what else are they but children?"
Luo Sheng disagreed, saying, "Here, someone his age is old enough to be engaged."
"Why don't you just say that people can get engaged even before they're born here?" Xiao Yunying looked at his expression and suddenly realized something: "You're not jealous, are you?"
"Nonsense, why would I be jealous of a child?"
Xiao Yunying laughed: "Now you're saying he's a child."
Luo Sheng's expression froze: "Lower the curtain, we should set off."
"Alright."
She didn't argue with Luo Sheng about this trivial matter, but instead lowered the carriage curtain and picked up a storybook to read.
Because the waterway was shortened, the return journey was longer than the way there.
By the time I got home, more than half a month had passed.
Everyone in the family gathered around her with concern, but when they learned that she was pregnant, they dispersed to avoid crowding her.
Xiao Yunying asked about the Chen siblings and the Zuo siblings, and learned that they were all fine. The Zuo siblings had also returned to the capital. Then, she excused herself, saying she was a little tired, and went back to her room to lie down, leaving all the questions to Luo Sheng to explain.
When the children returned in the evening, Xiao Yunying was still struggling with how to tell them that she was pregnant, but Luo Xin, that quick-tongued little girl, blurted it out first.
She was young and didn't understand adults' thoughts, so she naturally had no worries. But Xiao Yunying was worried that the three brothers would overthink things.
Especially since Luo Chen is a thoughtful person, she was afraid that the child would get stuck on something.
Fortunately, the three Luo brothers showed no other expression besides surprise. Luo Li even went back to the house happily to get the silver he had saved, saying that he was going to buy a gold lock for his younger brother.
Upon hearing this, Luo Xin hugged Xiao Yunying's leg and said, "Mother, I don't want a younger brother, I want a younger sister. I can buy flowers for my sister to wear."
For the first time, Luo Li did not go along with Luo Xin's words: "No, I want a younger brother. My eldest brother and second brother both have younger brothers, but I don't."
Then the two children started arguing about it.
This left Xiao Yunying both amused and exasperated, as if she could decide whether she would have a boy or a girl.
——————
Because of her pregnancy, Madam Luo and Mu Lianrong quickly set a date for the belated ceremony.
Initially, the date was set for the same day as Xiao Yuntao, but Xiao Yunying felt that this would steal the limelight from her third sister, so she chose a date six days later.
A woman's marriage is a major event, and she hoped that Xiao Yuntao would be the protagonist on that day, receiving everyone's blessings, and that she wouldn't have half or even more of them taken away because of her.
On her wedding day, she sat on the dressing table at her parents' home, looking at herself in the glass mirror that her parents had asked Chen Yuancheng to buy at a high price. She felt sorry for the money spent, but was also surrounded by happiness.
Then she was manipulated like a puppet, having her face made up and her hair styled.
She turned her head and asked with a smile, "Mom, other people are reluctant to let their daughters go when they get married, and some even can't help but cry. How come you seem to be doing nothing?"
Mu Lianrong straightened her head: "This isn't your first time getting married. Besides, it's so close to home, what's there to be reluctant about?"
Xiao Yunying thought for a moment and said, "When I got married for the first time, you didn't seem that reluctant to let me go."
Mu Lianrong put a hairpin in her hair: "The first time you insisted on going to that fire pit to suffer like a stubborn person, I was already angry enough, and you still expect me to be reluctant to let you go?"
Xiao Yunying pursed her lips, and it seemed to make sense.
After she was dressed up, Chen Yuanyao and Cheng Yue arrived. The group of girls chatted idly in the room, and Mu Lianrong found an excuse to go out to entertain the guests.
She stood at the door, listening to the laughter and chatter coming from her daughter's room, and her eyes welled up with tears.
Her daughter is really getting married this time.
A woman outside called out to her, "Where is she, sister-in-law? Come quickly and record the gift money!"
Mu Lianrong wiped her eyes with her sleeve, answered "Coming," and then pretended nothing had happened before leaving the house.
As evening approached, Luo Sheng and his entourage officially arrived to welcome the bride.
Xiao Yunying heard the music getting closer and then further away. After waiting for a while without seeing anyone, she asked Chen Yuanyao, who was standing next to her, "What happened? Did he leave again?"
Chen Yuanyao listened intently and said, "Yes, the sound is getting farther and farther away."
At this moment, Fang Rou walked in: "My goodness, Yun Ying, is Young Master Luo such a wealthy person? He carried thirty-six loads of betrothal gifts, which circled the village once."
Chen Yuanyao continued peeling longans: "Only thirty-six loads, how can that be considered a lot?"
"How could there not be many? All thirty-six pallets were opened, and they were filled to the brim with gold and jewels. There wasn't a single piece of stuff that took up space or was just for show."
Chen Yuanyao then became interested, put down the longan and said, "I'll go out and take a look."
Cheng Yue and Xiao Yuntao also went out to see out of curiosity.
After a while, they returned together, discussing the matter animatedly. They said that Xiao Shanhai and Mu Lianrong were both happy and worried, and were discussing what to do in the front yard.
"From what Aunt Mu said, Young Master Luo didn't tell them he would bring so many betrothal gifts. Although the large amount of betrothal gifts shows that Young Master Luo values you, the dowry your family prepared for you is not enough for that whole chest. Even if you sold your house, you still wouldn't be able to raise enough dowry."
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