6. Recruit him to join
After Captain Wang left, Fan Changyu held his younger sister and sat in the messy house with Carpenter Zhao and his wife, speechless for a long time.
After a long while, Aunt Zhao finally said, "Soliciting money... How can this be an easy thing? In my lifetime, I have only heard of only daughters of wealthy families soliciting money. Who would be willing to marry into a family as poor as ours?"
Fan Changyu remained silent and did not respond.
The solution suggested by Captain Wang was to let her find a live-in husband as soon as possible. In this way, her father would have a son and the family property would naturally belong to her.
But after the Song family broke off the engagement and her reputation as a doomed star spread, it became difficult for her to get married, let alone attract bribes.
The lawyers she had asked for advice before probably knew about her family's situation, so they didn't think bribery was a solution for her.
After all, the world considers marriage as shameful. Once a man marries, he abandons his ancestral name and cannot hold his head up anywhere. Not to mention ordinary people, even those idle ruffians are reluctant to marry.
Carpenter Zhao rested his wrinkled hands on his knees, his wrinkled face looking even older. He sighed and said, "Marriage is a lifelong event. You can't just find someone and marry him randomly. Otherwise, Changyu will suffer in the future."
When Aunt Zhao heard this, she felt even more sad for Fan Changyu. When other girls got married, their parents would carefully select the other person and get to know his character and family background thoroughly before marrying them off in a grand manner.
Fan Changyu has lost his parents and is now anxious to find someone to marry him. Not to mention considering the other person's character, as long as he is not ugly, it will be considered good.
She was about to wipe her tears when she suddenly remembered something. She paused and looked up at Fan Changyu: "Does the young man you saved have a family?"
As soon as she said this, she denied it herself: "No, he didn't. You said before that he fled from the north and he was the only one left at home."
Fan Changyu naturally understood the hidden meaning of Aunt Zhao's words, but he was stunned for a long time.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Aunt Zhao could only make her point more clearly: "He has nowhere to go with all those injuries, how about... Aunt Zhao help you ask the young man what he means?"
Perhaps she already had the idea of matchmaking in her mind. The more she looked at Fan Changyu, the more she felt that she and the young man were a good match. Changyu herself was a capable person, and even if the young man really became a useless person in the future, she could support the family on her own.
Moreover, she went to the Song family for help today but was turned away. Aunt Zhao hated Song Yan, the ungrateful man, so much so that her teeth itched. When she thought that the young man looked more handsome than Song Yan, she felt even more satisfied.
Fan Changyu's mind was in a mess at the moment, and upon hearing this, he just said, "Auntie, please don't ask me yet. Let me think about it carefully first, and then I will ask myself when I have thought it through."
Aunt Zhao knew that Fan Changyu always had his own ideas, so she didn't say anything more after hearing what she said. After she and her husband helped Fan Changyu clean up the house, they went home first.
Changning had the habit of taking a nap in the afternoon, and she was tired from crying before. After she fell asleep, Fan Changyu carried her to the bed.
She also lay down on the bed with her clothes fully dressed, looking at the ceiling with her mind empty.
Song Yan and the man who called himself Yan Zheng, the two of them overlapped in her mind.
Actually, although she and Song Yan were childhood sweethearts and had been engaged since childhood, her memories of the two of them were pitifully few.
Song Yan was always busy. He had been studying hard before he was admitted to the county school. Although the two families lived in the same alley, in order not to disturb Song Yan's studies, she seldom visited him. If she did, it was mostly because her parents asked her to deliver something to the Song family, sometimes meat, sometimes snacks.
At that time, Song's mother treated her very kindly and said that Song Yan studied hard so that she could enjoy a good life in the future after passing the imperial examination.
Later, Song Yan was admitted to the county school, which provided food and accommodation. He spent less time at home, and it became more difficult for Fan Changyu to see him.
Once, she followed her father to the county town for a gathering. Song's mother made a new set of clothes for Song Yan and asked them to bring it to Song Yan.
That was the first time Fan Changyu went to the county school. She felt that the school there was really magnificent. After the doorman passed the message, Song Yan came out to see her. She handed over the new clothes that Song's mother had made for him, and he thanked her indifferently.
A classmate passing by asked Song Yan with a smile who she was, and he replied that she was his sister.
When Fan Changyu returned home that day, she was still feeling depressed. She could sense that Song Yan didn't actually want her to look for him.
His fiancée was the daughter of a pig butcher, which probably made him embarrassed in front of his classmates.
In fact, from that time on, she had thought that if Song Yan didn't like her, she would cancel the engagement with Song Yan, but her parents seemed to like Song Yan very much and thought he was ambitious.
Song's mother liked her very much at that time, and often said in front of others that when Song Yan passed the imperial examination, she would have the nerve to ask Song Yan to marry her. Outsiders all praised her for being so lucky.
Fan Changyu only told Song Yan about the cancellation of the engagement in private. Song Yan was reviewing his lessons at the time. Hearing her words, he raised his rare eyes and asked her, "Marriage is a serious matter, decided by parents and matchmaker, and you treat it like a joke?"
Fan Changyu felt that his words must mean that he refused to cancel the engagement with him. After knowing his attitude, she never mentioned the matter again.
Later, her parents passed away, and Song's mother came to cancel the engagement on the grounds that they were incompatible.
Perhaps the death of her parents had consumed all her sorrow, or perhaps she never had many feelings for him to begin with, so when she thought of Song Yan again, she didn't feel sad at all.
As for the man named Yan Zheng who was rescued by her, she knew even less about him.
The other party also knew very little about her, and yet she still asked him whether he was willing to accept the bribe when he was seriously injured and had nowhere to go. There was a sense of seeking a favor and taking advantage of someone's misfortune in it.
Her engagement with Song Yan was made because her parents had shown a favor to the Song family.
Fan Changyu didn't want to go through the same bad experience as the engagement with Song Yan again, but there was really no other way at the moment.
After thinking it over, she decided that she should talk to the man named Yan Zheng and ask him if he was willing to pretend to be a concubine.
All you have to do is protect your property, and after the other person recovers from his injuries, he can stay or leave as he pleases.
If he wanted to leave, Fan Changyu would naturally not stop him. She saved his life, and he pretended to be rich to help her get through the hard times, so now they were even.
If he wanted to stay...Fan Changyu thought about the other person's face that was as clear as the moon and fresh snow, and it didn't seem like she was wronged?
-
In the attic of the Zhao family, Xie Zheng, who had just taken the letter paper from Haidong Qing's feet, suddenly sneezed.
He frowned impatiently, wondering if he could catch a cold.
The pure white Saker Falcon gripped the wooden window sill tightly with its two hook-like claws, tilted its head slightly, and stared at its owner with its pair of intelligent little eyes.
After Xie Zheng unfolded the letter and read the contents, his expression instantly turned ugly, and then a hint of cold mockery appeared at the corners of his mouth.
That man couldn't rest well until he saw his own corpse, so he immediately sent someone to Huizhou to take over his power, and the person he sent was the same person.
The letter was thrown into the charcoal brazier at the corner of the bed and quickly turned into ashes.
Xie Zheng sat leaning against the head of the bed. The cold wind blowing in from the wide-open window ruffled the strands of hair on his forehead, but could not blow away the gloom on his face.
The man who took over his military power in Huizhou probably wanted him dead more than the man in the capital. Now his former subordinates were in danger themselves, so they dared not act rashly, lest that wild dog find their scent and come over.
Until his injuries healed, he could only lie low here and think long and hard.
Xie Zheng glanced at the fresh bloodstains on his collar, and his expression became even more disgusted and impatient.
"Huh?" The Saker Falcon, which had not received any instructions for a long time, tilted its head to the other side and continued to stare at its master with its big eyes.
"Get lost."
Xie Zheng closed his eyes impatiently, his handsome face looked so pale that it rarely showed a hint of fragility.
The Saker Falcon seemed to have heard him say this often, and after receiving the instruction, it immediately flapped its wings and flew away with satisfaction.
-
Xie Zheng really caught a cold.
Fan Changyu had been preparing what he wanted to say to him the whole afternoon, and in the evening he even cooked two side dishes and cut a plate of salted pork head to send to him. However, he called out several times outside the attic door this time, but no one answered.
She was worried that something might have happened to the person inside, so she pushed the door open and found that the person was lying on the bed. However, there was an abnormal redness on his face and he looked drowsy.
Fan Changyu hurriedly called Carpenter Zhao over. After taking the patient's pulse, Carpenter Zhao flipped through his tattered medical book for a long time and wrote out the most conservative prescription for treating colds.
Fan Changyu went to a closed pharmacy late at night, knocked on the door and got some medicine. After bringing it back and boiling it, he gave it to the man to drink. Soon, the man was sweating all over.
However, when Carpenter Zhao was wiping Xie Zheng's sweat and changing the bandages, he found that his wound seemed to have been split open, and there were a lot of blood stains on the gauze, which made him feel a little strange.
-
When Xie Zheng woke up again, it was already the next morning.
The fever has subsided and my head is no longer dizzy, but my throat is still very dry and painful.
In order to make it easier for him to pour water, the old couple placed a round stool next to his bed and placed a teapot and stoneware cups on it.
Xie Zheng propped himself up and half sat up. Just as he was about to pour himself a glass of water, the door suddenly opened. The woman came in with a large bowl and said, "The tea is cold. You just got rid of the fever. Don't drink it. I'll make you a bowl of pig lung soup."
Carpenter Zhao said that pig lung soup has the effects of clearing away heat, relieving cough and moistening the lungs. There happened to be a bucket of offal left from the pig that was killed yesterday, so Fan Changyu used the pig lungs to make soup.
Xie Zheng thanked her hoarsely. Since the food this time was not sausage, he took it and drank it without any psychological burden.
But as soon as he took a bite, his expression turned strange.
Under Fan Changyu's gaze, he silently swallowed the pig lung soup and asked, "Did you cook this?"
Fan Changyu nodded: "Yes, what's the matter?"
Although this is the first time I cook this pig lung soup.
Xie Zheng held the bowl but stopped drinking. He said, "Nothing."
It’s just a little hard to believe that this bowl of pig lung soup and the previous pork intestine noodles were made by the same person.
Fan Changyu was still persuading him: "Drink it while it's hot. Uncle Zhao said that pig lung soup can relieve cough and moisten the lungs. It's good for your health."
Xie Zheng: "...It's a little hot. I'll drink it later."
He thought the woman would leave after talking to this point, but she pulled a chair over and sat down: "I don't think I've told you my name yet. My last name is Fan, and my name is Changyu. People in the town call me by my name, and you can do the same from now on."
Xie Zheng nodded indifferently. He had heard the old lady call her and knew her name before that.
He didn't say much, and the room fell silent again.
Fan Changyu felt a little embarrassed to force himself to chat with someone, but thinking of his purpose, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue asking, "You said earlier that your last name is Yan and your first name is Zheng. Which Yan? Which Zheng?"
Xie Zheng replied: "The words that make sense are the words of a gentleman."
As if he felt that Fan Changyu had never been to school and might not understand what he was saying, he dipped his hand in the cold tea in the cup and wrote the two words "言正" (literally "Yan Zheng") of Qingzheng Fangqiu on the round stool beside the bed.
These two characters are composed of one radical from his original name.
His index finger was very long and thin, with distinct knuckles, like a slender bamboo. He should have a pair of hands that were very good at holding a pen, but there were scars of varying depths on the pads and backs of his fingers. It was hard to imagine what he had been through before this.
Even though he used his fingertips as a pen, the words he wrote had a sense of power, and Fan Changyu was inexplicably fascinated by it.
After writing the last stroke of the character “正”, the other person’s deep and hoarse voice rang out: “These two words.”
She suddenly came back to her senses, but was a little hesitant when she spoke again: "You were also a scholar, right?"
His handwriting is very good, and it seems to have more style than the calligraphy written on Song Dynasty inkstones.
Xie Zheng said, "I am just a warrior, how dare I call myself a scholar."
His words seemed to be self-deprecating, but inexplicably they carried a hint of arrogance and mockery, as if he extremely disliked those so-called scholars.
Fan Changyu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "So what did you do for a living?"
Xie Zheng frowned slightly, feeling that she had gotten to the bottom of things today. However, considering that the other party had saved him and was willing to take him in to recuperate, it was reasonable for him to ask more questions.
He thought for a moment and said, "It's not a proper business. I used to work for a security guard."
Unexpectedly, the woman's face suddenly showed a bit of surprise: "This is fate, my father was also a bodyguard when he was young!"
Xie Zheng: “…What a coincidence.”
Fortunately, the other party did not continue to ask him about the escort agency. He clasped his hands together, seemed a little nervous, and asked him another question: "Are you married?"
Xie Zhengshen looked at the woman in front of him. She looked a little embarrassed as he stared at her, but she was not shy.
He couldn't figure out what she meant by asking this question for a moment, so he answered truthfully, "No."
Fan Changyu's hands were almost red from pinching herself, and she finally said with all her might, "Well... I want to ask you for a favor. My family has run into some trouble. After my parents passed away, my uncle wanted to occupy my house. He tried to take the deed yesterday but failed. I'm afraid I'll have to file a complaint with the government. If the government decides that my parents have no children, the house will belong to my uncle. If I want to keep the house, the only way is for me to find a husband as soon as possible."
Xie Zheng's eyelids twitched violently: "You want me to marry you?"
The author has something to say:
Xie Zheng: Who gave me the bad luck buff?
Author (drinking tea): Thank you, this is a wife buff
This chapter continues to drop red envelopes~
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