Chapter 45: Was Gui Jiling also being treated similarly by Lin Zhiyi?
Chapter 45
Jingyue returned from class again and was blocked by Lin Zhihua at the gate of Bitong Courtyard.
The girl who used to be pretty and lively, now hung her head, looked listless, and kicked pebbles with her feet to vent her anger.
Jing Yue had come to accept her new identity more readily than she had two days before, so she naturally started teasing, "Who messed with Fourth Sister? Tell me, and I'll help her vent her anger."
Lin Zhihua followed him into the main hall and said with a pout, "Dad and Mom, please go and help me vent my anger."
Jing Yue: “…”
Seeing her brother's innocent face, Lin Zhihua took a moment to digest the news before calming down and speaking again. "Weren't Mom and Dad originally looking for a husband for my eldest sister? I didn't expect them to include me. I thought my second and third sisters would be ahead of me. But Mom and Dad actually bypassed them and came to discuss it with me."
Jing Yue understood the Marquis and his wife's urgency: "Is this worth getting angry, Fourth Sister? As long as she can find a husband of her dreams, that's enough. The timing, the order of seniority, are just empty formalities. Since Father and Mother have done this, they certainly don't mind it, and naturally, my eldest sister and the others won't mind either."
Lin Zhihua held her chin in her hand and sighed, "But I'm not mentally prepared yet. Yuanyuan, how did you prepare yourself mentally?"
Jing Yue paused and simply quoted the emperor's will: "Your Majesty has granted the marriage, and the princess is marrying. Do I still need to prepare myself mentally?"
Lin Zhihua thought about it and accepted this explanation. She suddenly became curious and asked, "What do you think of the Yongsheng Marquisate? You and Xie Junxing both studied at the Imperial College. Did you have any contact with each other? What is he like? Is he really as romantic and affectionate as the rumors say?"
Jing Yue remembered what Zhou Mingyan had told him about shoveling snow at the Imperial College at the beginning of the year, and said, "He does love to smile, is very polite to women, and has a passionate look. But he hasn't really had any real relationship with any woman. Fourth sister, do you still remember the birthday present you gave me last year?"
Of course Lin Zhihua remembered.
"During the heavy snowfall at the beginning of the year, I brought the mechanical tiger beast to the Imperial College. Xie Junxing loved it. He was the first one to rent it, and after class was over, he rented it again and played with it for an hour. He even asked me if I wanted to sell it. I told him it was a birthday present from you... and then he gave up. I guess he secretly admires Fourth Sister?"
Lin Zhihua blushed slightly: "Ah? There is such a thing?"
She remembered what her mother had told her about her childhood at Yuhuatai, and a handsome young boy slowly emerged in her mind - could that man be Xie Jun?
"Did he really go to Yuhuatai when he was a child?" Lin Zhihua murmured.
Yuhua Terrace was built by the Ministry of Industry ten years ago. Jingyue had no idea that Lin Zhihua was involved in the project and was very surprised: "Fourth sister has been there too?"
"I went there with my dad when I was nine years old. I drew a few blueprints. They were very childish, but it was a very valuable experience for me. It was also a huge motivation that has supported me to where I am today." Lin Zhihua said casually, her mind still thinking about the young man. She seemed to have argued with him several times when she was a child.
"So the fourth sister said he had been there too because he was remembering something old?"
"Um."
Jing Yue understood - Xie Junxing's uncle worked in the Ministry of Industry, and when Yuhuatai was built, he might have brought his little nephew with him.
"If Fourth Sister is interested, you can agree to this marriage. There is no rush to get married. Let's get engaged first and observe for a while. If you don't like it, you can cancel the engagement." Jing Yue herself had been a prince consort three times, so her ideas in this regard are quite advanced.
Lin Zhihua became distressed again: "But I heard from mother that my elder sister admires young Marquis Xie."
"So what? She admires Young Marquis Xie, not Xie Junxing."
"Are my elder sister and I both going to marry into the Xie family?" Lin Zhihua widened her eyes.
"If we are truly in love, then why not?"
Lin Zhihua was confused by his calmness.
Is it really possible?
Wouldn't people suspect that the two families are too close?
Jing Yue said gently, "Fourth sister, don't worry about anything else. Just ask your heart—are you willing? As for the rest, Dad, Mom, and I will take care of your worries."
He had also heard from Lin Zhiyi how much she cared for her fourth sister. The eldest sister was loved by her maternal grandparents, the second sister was loved by her master, the third sister and she were loved by their parents, but the fourth sister received much less love. Fortunately, the fourth sister was generous and lively, immersed in the art of machinery, and didn't care at all.
However, not caring does not mean that she has never been sad or retreated.
Perhaps subconsciously, she still wouldn't compete with other sisters for better connections and resources.
Being contented with oneself may sometimes just mean that one is not satisfied.
Jing Yue had been in the palace for seventeen years, and he had a lot of free time. Occasionally, he would speculate and analyze people's hearts, whether it was his father, the court officials, the concubines, the palace servants, or the common people...
He sees it as a pleasure.
So, at this moment, he could understand Lin Zhihua.
These words made Lin Zhihua's eyes sore and she almost cried.
She calmed herself down by drinking tea and felt particularly happy again.
Although I sometimes envy my third sister for being treated with special care by her parents and eldest sister, she is not bad either.
Her father had taken her to Yuhuatai and encouraged her clumsy and childish suggestions, never scolding her for staying at home just because she was a girl. Her mother had asked for her opinion because she and her eldest sister might marry into the same family. She could eat whatever delicious food her third sister had, and it was easy to get pocket money from her eldest sister. Her second sister also protected her, and when she was a little younger, her second sister loved to carry her around to play. And her youngest brother had grown into a man, and knew how to comfort and support her...
She feels very happy to be born in the Lin family. It’s worth it!
After Jing Yue sent Lin Zhihua away, she took a bath, changed her clothes, sat at the table, played with Yuanbao for a while, then picked up her pen, dipped it in ink, and wrote a reply to the "princess".
The main purpose was to tell Lin Zhiyi about the important matters in the Marquis' Mansion in the past two days.
She cares especially about her four sisters.
Especially their marriages.
After receiving Jing Yue's letter, Lin Zhiyi couldn't help but sigh softly - in this era, they could not escape the fate of getting married early.
However, compared with other girls from aristocratic families, the four daughters of the Ding'an Marquis's family are already lucky enough.
The people chosen by the Marquis and his wife for the eldest and fourth sisters were also good.
However, after all, she has not personally verified the other party's character.
There may be some truth to the rumors.
Alas, why isn’t it raining yet? She wants to change back.
However, how can mortals interfere with when God wants it to rain?
Lin Zhiyi could only pick up her pen and continue to ask Jing Yue to help her and her sisters study the personalities of spies Xie Junnuo and Xie Junxing, and how they interacted in private.
She is the president and CEO and has extensive experience in evaluating people, so she listed a few questions for Jingyue and gave him a chance to try them out.
Jing Yue received another reply from Lin Zhiyi and was quite surprised to see the methods of testing people.
——This young marquis has so many weird ideas.
He couldn't help but recall whether he had also been tested and investigated by Lin Zhiyi using a similar method before...
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