As usual, Yanrong brought a brocade stool and placed it in front of the kang by the window. Madam Wen thanked her with a smile, bent her knees to greet Eleventh Lady, and half sat down.
Eleventh Lady told Madam Wen that Fang Jie'er had been chosen as the Crown Prince's Consort.
Madam Wen was not disappointed after hearing this. She pondered for a moment and said with a smile, "So now we have to choose one from the Zhuo family or the Li family?"
"That's not true." Eleventh Lady told Madam Lin about her matchmaking for Shao Zhongran. "... Before, not to mention Madam Lin, even I felt that it was not safe, so I wanted to cancel this marriage." Then she told Madam Wen about her chance encounter with Shao Zhongran and Madam Lin's renewed matchmaking.
Madam Wen was shocked when she heard this and tightly grasped the hem of Shiyi Niang's skirt: "What should we do?" Her face turned slightly pale, "Isn't Madam Lin saying anything nonsense?"
"No." Eleventh Lady was not worried about these things. "If Madam Lin had this intention, she would not have said it in front of me. She only needs to formally invite a matchmaker to propose marriage. With the fan incident in the past, Shao Zhongran's family background is also a good match. The Marquis will consider the overall situation and will most likely agree to this marriage."
Madam Wen was so concerned that she kept nodding her head after hearing what Shiyi Niang said. Then she thought that Shiyi Niang had always been indifferent to the other madams, neither particularly close to any of them nor particularly distant from any of them, and even kept a distance from them. So when she heard Shiyi Niang's tone of voice hinting at a negotiation, she thought that Shiyi Niang wanted her help with some accounting matters. Now it seemed that she wanted to talk to her about Zhen Jie'er.
A slight warmth flowed through her heart, but when she thought that this matter was related to Zhen Jie'er's future, and that her third sister-in-law had sent someone to bring a letter asking about Zhen Jie'er's marriage two days ago, the warmth disappeared in an instant.
"So what do you mean?" She looked at Eleventh Lady with a hint of caution.
Xu Lingyi first did not return home all night, and then burned the letter sent by Lin Bo in front of him. Under such circumstances, he still took the time to visit Shao Zhongran, which was enough to show how much he valued Zhen Jie'er's marriage.
This suddenly made her feel a little nervous.
Love between men and women is like drinking water, only the person knows whether it is hot or cold, which cannot be felt or replaced by others. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many infatuated women, grudges and hatreds in the world. Whether it's Shao Zhongran or Li Ji, they are just flowers in the eyes of each other, and she and Xu Lingyi just like them. What about Zhen Jie'er?
What kind of boy does she like?
Would she be willing to live a life of peace with an ordinary husband, children and a warm bed? Or would she rather endure loneliness and be the woman behind a successful man? No one knows. But she couldn't discuss this question with Zhen Jie'er. First, Zhen Jie'er was young and might not understand some things. Second, it was not in accordance with etiquette. She didn't want to destroy Zhen Jie'er's understanding of the education she received.
"The Marquis went to see Shao Zhongran yesterday." She pondered, "He also said that he looks like our sister Zhen. But he is not as calm and generous as the second son of the Li family. Let me find time to go and see the second son of the Li family."
Marriage requires a good match between the two families. If you are not satisfied with the man's family background, you can just reject it. When it comes to the stage of seeing each other, it is time to choose a child. It is just a short meeting, and generally the best side will be shown. Unless the child has physical defects or a really bad character, it is difficult to really see anything. Although she has never met Li Ji, she has met Shao Zhongran. According to Xu Lingyi's words, Shao Zhongran may be better than Li Ji in appearance, but he is not as calm and restrained as Li Ji in dealing with people. The reason why Xu Lingyi is interested in Li Ji is because of Li Ji's excellence rather than his background. Once she sees him, she can't raise a convincing question - a daughter-in-law should unconditionally obey her mother-in-law, and a man taking a concubine is a sign of a wealthy and capable family. Otherwise, why would those scholars who have studied hard for ten years take a concubine as the first thing after being nominated for the imperial examination? The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law problem and the concubine problem are not problems at all in the eyes of men, but it makes people feel ridiculous when they talk about them. On the contrary, it is more acceptable to despise one's family background and financial situation.
Men cannot understand these things, but in the eyes of the women in the inner chamber who deal with domestic affairs every day, these are huge problems and should be avoided if possible.
Of course, Madam Wen also knew these principles.
Her expression was somewhat uncertain.
The Xu family looked down on Concubine Wen, which was determined by the historical emphasis on literature over business. Eleventh Lady did not have such a preconceived notion. In addition, she had been in contact with Concubine Wen for a long time and found that she was not only flexible and agile, but also diligent, serious, down-to-earth, and committed to her promises. She had some qualities of a senior manager. Compared with Concubine Qin and Qiao Lianfang, Eleventh Lady felt that Concubine Wen's style of doing things made her more familiar and more able to grasp the context.
"I saw that Master Shao had a kind of gentleness that is unique to children of aristocratic families, and I also heard from Grandma Lin about the reason why the Shao family proposed marriage." Eleventh Lady thought for a while and said frankly, "Since he can discover the goodness of Zhen Jie'er through these little things, he is not only careful, but also treats people with a friendly and cheerful attitude. You know, Zhen Jie'er was dressed simply that day, and there was a girl like Fang Jie'er present. If someone is suspicious, he might guess that Zhen Jie'er is trying to curry favor with Fang Jie'er. What kind of family raises what kind of children, and the Shao family must be a kind family. Later, I heard the Marquis talk about Master Li, and I felt that Master Li was also a very outstanding person. For a while, I was a little undecided. As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. I am unsure, so I came to you to discuss it. If you have anything to say, just say it directly."
Madam Wen looked at Eleventh Lady, her lips twitching, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
There is a huge difference between the two people in terms of identity, status, and power, and since it concerns Zhen Jie'er, it would be a problem if she spoke without any hesitation.
Eleventh Lady drank her tea quietly, waiting for her to speak.
After a long while, Madam Wen stammered, "Madam, can you let me meet the two gentlemen first?"
Eleventh Lady looked at Madam Wen in astonishment.
There was a gleam of determination in Madam Wen's eyes.
"I also know that what I said is not decent." Her voice was a little low, but very calm and composed. It can be heard that she has thought it over carefully. "There are some things that I am not afraid of you laughing at me when I tell them. When I was in the Wen family, I was the most loved by my grandfather. At that time, I was young and often accompanied my grandfather. Occasionally, I would go to the shop with him. I also went to Xuantong Mansion once. I dare not say that I know people, but I have received his teachings. If I meet the two gentlemen secretly, I will feel more at ease."
Another surprise for Eleventh Lady.
This request is indeed outrageous!
Madam Wen knew it very well.
She looked at Eleventh Lady with an extremely frank look: "Everyone says that life depends on people. But I think that no matter how smart and capable a person is, he or she still needs fate. Choosing the right person at a critical moment is fate."
Eleventh Lady remained silent.
Thinking of what happened to Madam Wen.
Did she ever complain about the unfairness of fate?
"Whether it's Master Shao or Master Li, they all come from the military," Madam Wen said tactfully, "Young men from such families will go to the military camp to gain experience when they are young. And you can't bring your family to the military camp... unless you become an assistant minister or a minister of the Ministry of War."
The positions of assistant minister or minister of the Ministry of War were usually held by civil officials. The positions of assistant minister and minister of the Ministry of War were honorary positions for military officers.
That will take many years to come!
Everyone has blind spots when looking at things.
Eleventh Lady immediately decided to find a way to take Madam Wen to see Shao Zhongran and Li Ji.
She said slowly, "I can think of a way to secretly visit Master Shao, but to secretly visit Master Li..." Then she thought of Madam Li's eager gaze, "I'm afraid it will be difficult!"
Seeing that Shiyi Niang did not scold her for her wild ideas, Madam Wen was delighted, but then she became worried again, "Then, what should we do?"
Eleventh Lady had no idea for a moment.
"How about we go and see Master Shao first? Master Li... and then think of a solution!"
It's better than sitting in this state of worry.
Eleventh Lady immediately called Hubo over and said, "Go and tell Grandma Lin that I want to ask Master Shao to help me paint a central hall painting of lily of the valley. I'll go pick up the painting myself tomorrow afternoon. Is it too late?"
Amber left immediately and came back two incense sticks later: "Grandma Lin said that you can just go get it when the time comes."
Eleventh Lady and Madam Wen both breathed a sigh of relief.
Madam Wen stood up and left.
Qiuhong saw her eyebrows light up with joy, and immediately went to greet her, whispering: "Just now, Madam Wen San sent someone to ask about the eldest daughter's marriage. She also said that now the Wen family's business is getting bigger and bigger, and they need more and more cash. If this marriage can be completed, the man promised to give the Wen family one million taels of silver for one year, without interest. In this way, the 180,000 taels of silver owed to you can be repaid to you immediately!"
Madam Wen smiled coldly and interrupted Qiu Hong, "Don't mention this matter anymore. No matter how poor the Wen family is, they can't live without my 180,000 taels of silver. If they only mentioned the eldest daughter's marriage, I'm afraid I would still think they were sincere. Now that these two things are mentioned together, I can tell what they are up to even if I'm a blind man. What's more, I originally thought that Madam was very capable, and I was afraid that she would obstruct the eldest daughter's marriage..." As she spoke, her voice dropped a few degrees, "Now it seems that she is a person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment and is easy to get along with!"
Qiu Hong heard the hidden meaning in these words and asked curiously: "Did the Madam say anything to you?"
Although it was thoughtful, the matter was too important, so Madam Wen did not answer, but only instructed her: "Remember to write back to Madam Wen San tomorrow. Tell her that I can't decide on the eldest daughter's marriage. Let her go find the Marquis and the Madam."
Madam Wen is where she is today thanks to the Wen family.
Qiu Hong couldn't help but worry when she heard this: "What if Third Grandma..."
Madam Wen waved her hand and interrupted her: "The eldest daughter is married, what else do I need to ask of the Wen family? As for Madam Wen San, just reply as I say."
"Yes!" Qiu Hong smiled, "Then I'll go and give Granny Wen San a reply early tomorrow morning!"
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I’ll post a draft first…⊙﹏⊙bSweat!
PS: I have a day off tomorrow, so I will update twice today. But it's a bit late...