The two little brothers' childish words often made Lechen laugh. She bent down and kissed Xiao Yuer, then turned sideways and kissed them.
They are so smart. They are determined to carry out the tasks assigned to them by their father and mother and make sure they curry favor with grandma.
Miss Chu and Chen Dabao leaned obediently beside Chen Afu, listening to their two younger brothers talking nonsense and laughing along.
In the afternoon, Uncle Wang Cheng and Mrs. Wu came first with their younger brother and younger sister Wang. Then, the adults from the Fu, Qin, and Wang families came with their children, and even General Fu came to show his respect.
The men, accompanied by Chu Lingqi, were entertaining guests in the outer courtyard, while Chen Afu and Song accompanied the women and children in the main courtyard.
After dinner, when the guests left, Chen Ahfu gave Song a brocade box and said, "Thank you, my second brother and sister-in-law. These days, I have been helped by you and my second uncle."
Song smiled and said, "We are brothers, and we are sisters-in-law. We should help each other. Why are you so polite, sister-in-law?"
Chen Afu smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. Even among brothers, many sisters-in-law still try to undermine each other..." What she didn't say was that your mother-in-law, Mrs. Li, is just such a person.
Song also understood what Chen Ahfu meant and smiled. She opened the brocade box and saw a gold filigree inlaid turquoise hairpin and two wine cup-sized gold sparrow hairpins inlaid with pearls, which were made by the Jitai Silver House in Beijing. Song estimated that all her jewelry combined were not as valuable as these few pieces of jewelry.
He hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, these jewels are too valuable. How can I bear to give them to you... If my father knew that I wanted such good things from you, he would scold me."
Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "I gave it to you, just keep it. This is a matter between us sisters-in-law."
Song really liked these pieces of jewelry so much that she put them away with a smile and said, "Thanks to my sister-in-law, Shopkeepers Zeng and Luo often give me some rare items. Now the shop is doing very well. We have made a net profit of more than 100 taels of silver in less than a year."
The Song family ran a small cloth shop. Shopkeeper Luo would give her some silk from Jiangnan at a reasonable price, while Shopkeeper Zeng would give her some imported Korean cloth or cashmere blankets.
The two sisters-in-law talked for a long time. Chu Lingqi came to the main courtyard to call for people and then took Song mother and son away.
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the government office opened its seal. At noon on the tenth day, Chen Shiying and his family rushed back from the capital. As soon as they came back, they asked someone to bring a letter to Chen Afu, asking her to bring her children to dinner. By the way, they also took back the gifts sent to them by the Marquis' Mansion, the Ruiwang Mansion, and the Jiang Mansion, as well as the letter from the old Marquis Chu.
Chen Afu waited until the early afternoon, and thought they should have packed up, so he happily took the five children to the Chen family.
When I went to the main courtyard, I saw that Chen Shiying didn't look very good and Jiang's eyes were a little red and swollen.
The couple was angry!
It turns out that Jiang has always been accommodating Chen Shiying without principles. What happened today?
When they saw Chen Afu's family coming, they all smiled and greeted the children. Jiang held Xiao Yu'er over again and said with a smile, "Oh, grandma's granddaughter has grown up a bit and looks more like grandpa."
After hearing what Jiang said, Chen Shiying looked at Xiao Yuer a few more times, and a smile appeared in his eyes.
Soon, Chen Yuqing, Chen Yulan, Chen Yuxia, and Chen Yuchao came. Chen Yuchao was not as strong as Yuge'er and Chaoge'er, and he could not walk steadily, so he had to be led by an adult. However, he could speak a lot and recite a few poems.
They talked for a while, and when Chen Afu saw Jiang winking at her, she followed Jiang to the side room.
It turned out that Jiang's family had introduced Chen Yuqing to a family with good conditions. Her grandfather was a third-rank official in the Inspectorate, and her father was also a prefect, serving in Liaozhou. The young man was also very good at his studies and had passed the examination for a scholar. He would take the examination for a juren this autumn. He was half a year younger than Chen Yuqing, and was seventeen years old this year.
Chen Ahfu said, "The conditions sound good, but father doesn't agree?"
Jiang sighed and said, "Your father disagrees. He said that the young man is not good-looking, short and fat, and is not worthy of Qing'er."
Chen Ahfu laughed and said, "My father is handsome, so he has higher standards for his son-in-law."
Jiang was also amused and said hesitantly, "This young man... Well, it's not that your father has high standards, this young man is half a head shorter than Qing'er. I think, what's the big deal about being short and fat? As long as the young man is good and his family is good, Qing'er won't suffer if she marries him. Qing'er is already eighteen years old. If she continues to be picky, I'm afraid..."
As they were talking, Chen Shiying walked in. He said, "Mr. Feng has a weird temper and is very particular about rules. Even if Qing'er marries into his family, it doesn't mean that she will have a good life. And that boy from the Feng family is too..." He felt that it was not good for a man to comment on someone else's appearance, so he stopped talking, frowned in disdain, and said, "How can I, Chen Shiying, find such a son-in-law? It's better to find a handsome, talented, and good-natured boy from a poor family. I was born in a poor family, but I didn't let my wife and children suffer."
Jiang said, "How many poor boys with noble character are there like you? It's hard to find one even with a lantern. I'm afraid of finding those poor boys who only think about their wives' dowries every day. Dozens of people in their family want to live on that little dowry, and Qing'er's life will be miserable in the future. I heard that there are many such families..."
Jiang was a strong mother and disobeyed her husband for the first time.
After hearing the conditions of the young man from the Feng family, Chen Ahfu was not too fond of them. Although Chen Yuqing was only average-looking, she was definitely not ugly and had a good figure. It was a pity for her to be paired with a man like that.
It's not that Chen Ahfu must judge people by appearance, it's just that the two sides don't know each other well and have no emotional foundation, so of course he has to look at appearance first. He also thought that the ninth prince would soon be appointed as the crown prince, and maybe the emperor would issue an edict as soon as he went to court tomorrow.
If this happens, not only will the Chu family rise completely, but Chen Shiying will also have a bright future. She will also be the eldest sister who raised the prince's brother. These three benefits will always outweigh the bad influence of Old Lady Zhao and Chen Yuhui on the Chen sisters. In this way, Chen Yuqing's marriage should not be too difficult, at least she will not have to find such a marriage.
Then he said, "Don't worry, mother. Wait a little longer. Hasn't the young man from the Feng family passed the imperial examination? Let's talk about it after he passes. It's better not to let him fail the imperial examination. He is short, fat and incompetent. Such a person is certainly not worthy of being the son-in-law of a tall, handsome and capable father."
Chen Shiying laughed. He originally wanted to say that even if that person passed the imperial examination, it would not be a good idea. But he thought that there was still more than half a year left, and maybe he could meet someone suitable again. Moreover, the trend in the court seemed to be extremely favorable to the Ninth Prince. He nodded and agreed.
Jiang also laughed. If the boy from the Feng family didn't pass the imperial examination, he would really be useless except for his family background.
Chen Shiying handed a letter to Chen Afu and said, "This is a letter from your old relative."
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