Chapter 16
Marry Zhu Yun?
Luo Yan choked: "But we're siblings."
After saying that, he realized that the two were not related by blood. Since that was the case, it seemed that there would be no problem with getting married.
No, no, no, they're still children, how did we get onto this topic?
Luo Yan, half shy and half annoyed, slapped his face away and said irritably, "Do you even know what marriage is?"
How dare they speak so arrogantly!
"I know." Zhu Yun took another step and spoke only when they reached a flat path. "Marriage is when a man and a woman become husband and wife, have many children, and can be buried together after death."
"Ah, why have so many children?" she muttered with deep confusion.
"Anyway, we'll have a lot of babies."
When he was nine years old, he went with the divine physician to select disciples. They visited twenty-seven villages, and every household had so many children that they were overflowing. The sick children were buried, and the extras were sold, but there were still many left over.
But those in the martial arts world have some differences.
After recalling the events, Zhu Yun told her: "Most people are homeless and live alone, and they recognize some brothers and sisters of the opposite sex. Whenever there is a grand gathering, they meet up to drink. It's different for aristocratic families. They have estates passed down from their ancestors, and they have a large foundation. I think they love to get married and have many children."
Luo Yan listened with great interest and pressed for details: "Are there more marriages between powerful people, or more like those in storybooks where people meet under less than ideal circumstances and then gradually fall in love?"
"..." He had no idea, so he could only give a compromise answer: "I'll ask around later."
However, he could recount the fact that he had killed both husbands and wives for others, but Luo Yan would surely be terrified if she knew. After thinking it over, she decided to stop there.
Once they got home, the topic of "getting married" was completely forgotten by the two of them.
However, during the same period
A matchmaker was hired to inquire about the Jia family in Qingyuan Village.
A few days later, at dawn, a festively dressed procession marched up the mountain, beating drums and gongs.
Leading the procession was Granny Song, a renowned figure in Hanmei Town, who had arranged countless marriages. Close behind her were four maids, each carrying a tray containing a red booklet, gold ingots, and other items.
Then came eight servants, dressed in red, some carrying live geese, others carrying red boxes, their hands bulging with goods.
Jia Yufang followed the sound and went out of the courtyard, at which point the gongs and drums stopped. But Luo Yan had already been awakened; she stood by the window, hastily draped in her outer robe, listening to Zhu Yun relay the story:
"Master Wang doted on his youngest son the most..."
"Yes, yes, the girl is still young."
"The biggest spectacle in ten years."
"There are people to take care of me in the room, so it's fine if I remarry a few years later."
Luo Yan was amused by his stiff tone, but after a moment she realized, "They've come to propose marriage?"
He tilted his head to listen, and after a moment he understood the whole story—the youngest son of a wealthy man had seen Luo Yan in town, and after returning home he fell in love with her, and his family inquired about her identity everywhere.
"Don't come out." Zhu Yun's face was gloomy as he picked up his sword and headed out.
Luo Yan quickly stopped her: "What are you going to do?"
He guiltily avoided eye contact and mumbled, "Let's go take a look."
"Why would you need to take a sword to see her? Besides, Grandmother isn't even worried, why are you so concerned?"
Before she could finish speaking, her usually gentle and kind grandmother burst out, "You damned old hag! What do you mean, 'youngest son' or 'unicorn son'? How dare you say such things? Everyone knows that Wang guy was beaten and had his legs broken by the father and brother for harassing a respectable girl in the street a few months ago. How dare you covet my granddaughter! Get out of here, all of you! Take your junk and get out of here!"
Immediately following were the sounds of shoes striking someone and the matchmaker's cries for help.
Zhu Yun rarely showed an expression of disbelief, and silently put down his sword. Luo Yan, concerned for her grandmother's reputation, pulled him back into the room and whispered, "We can't let Grandmother find out about us."
Jia Yufang is kind-hearted and has always been respectable in the Luo family. Today, she acted like a shrew in the marketplace for her granddaughter, who is not related to her by blood. She will probably be ashamed for a long time.
Luo Yan felt a lump in her throat, and while teasing her third sister to hide her feelings, she sighed softly, "Grandmother truly loves me."
He was still eavesdropping by the window. Once he was sure the group had left, his tightly pursed lips finally curved upwards. He turned his head and asked, "Want to sleep for another half an hour?"
"Alright." She leaned back on the couch, vaguely instructing, "If Grandmother doesn't mention it, none of us are allowed to ask, anyway..."
The words came to an abrupt halt.
Zhu Yun lifted the curtain and saw that the girl was already curled up and fast asleep. He turned her over, pulled the quilt over her tightly, and then picked up the book "The Fox Spirit and the Scholar" from the bedside table.
Ben Yanyan liked this very much and always praised the scholar in the story for being gentle and considerate. Thinking of this, he stopped and thought that it wouldn't hurt to learn from him.
So when Luo Yan woke up from her nap, she saw Zhu Yun sitting upright at the foot of the bed, his brows furrowed, reading with utmost seriousness—
A storybook.
She must be dreaming.
Hearing the commotion, Zhu Yun lifted his eyelids and said, "Grandmother has gone down the mountain and left some sweet porridge on the stove. I'll bring it to you."
"Have you got a meal yet?"
"No."
"You're so engrossed in your work that you forget to eat and sleep," Luo Yan teased him. "I have two more books; take them if you want to read them."
He remained noncommittal and went to the kitchen to set the table, while Luo Yan got up to wash up.
As for the grandmother, she hurriedly went down the mountain, probably to see Cui Wuyang's trusted confidants left in Hanmei Town, to prevent the Wang family from secretly causing trouble.
The male host, Luo Yan, felt relieved, and with no worries, her mood was as sweet as the sweet rice porridge.
Zhu Yun stared at him for a few moments, then suddenly said, "Give me your hand."
Looking at the young man's fingers resting on her pulse, Luo Yan felt a little uneasy: "Isn't it said that the pharmacopoeia is a fake and only teaches people how to poison, so it won't work on me?"
"..." He straightened his face, his eyes filled with displeasure at being looked down upon. "Taking the pulse and applying pressure to acupoints are the most basic things. They're not taught in the pharmacopoeia."
The implication was that he had already studied it and was quite good at it.
Luo Yan pouted and stroked his hair: "You know so much! You're skilled in both literature and martial arts, and you can even diagnose and treat illnesses."
His expression softened, and he said frankly, "I don't know how to cure illnesses, I just need to check the pulse to see if the medicine I received yesterday has been effective."
Upon hearing this, Luo Yan unconsciously straightened her back, blinked her eyes, and adopted a listening posture.
Zhu Yun's lips curled slightly, deliberately whetting her appetite: "Want another bowl?"
"......"
You want to settle old scores now, huh?
Luo Yan grabbed his forearm, shaking it and pleading, "Tell me quickly."
"Alright." He continued ladling porridge. "The pills are somewhat effective. After two or three more days of this, you can come up the mountain with me to practice archery."
She cheered and rushed over, forgetting that Zhu Yun was sitting on the bench with no support behind him. He was holding a spoon in his left hand and had nowhere to dodge. He used one arm to protect her and fell to the ground with a "thud".
"Hmm?" Luo Yan looked up from his embrace and saw Zhu Yun grimacing, clearly in great pain. She asked in surprise, "You know martial arts, don't you?"
Zhu Yun sneered: "You try it."
"I was wrong, I was wrong." She quickly got up and noticed that his forehead was twitching and the skin around his collar was red from being hit. She asked with concern, "Shall I rub it for you?"
After saying that, she actually reached out to him.
Zhu Yun awkwardly dodged, revealing her burning ears: "Don't touch me like that."
"I'll help you up, okay?" Luo Yan didn't mind his sudden awkwardness. Seeing that his cuffs and hem were covered in mud, she advised, "Change your clothes."
"Um......"
His tailbone hurt, and he couldn't rub it in front of Luo Yan, so he could only limp back to his room.
The two of them did not usually pay attention to the separation of men and women, because in the era in which Luo Yan lived, tank tops and shorts were commonplace; Zhu Yun, on the other hand, was raised in a free-range manner and no one taught him worldly etiquette.
Therefore, Zhu Yun went around the screen to change his clothes as usual.
But when he vaguely saw the girl's figure through the landscape embroidery, he stopped undressing and blushed.
Why do I feel embarrassed?
Unable to figure it out, he said in a noticeably weak voice, "Yanyan, you go out first."
"ah?"
"Just get out of here first." Zhu Yun's Adam's apple bobbed as it gradually appeared. "I'm begging you."
Luo Yan glanced at the screen suspiciously and asked worriedly, "You sound strange. Have you caught a cold?"
This time, Zhu Yun remained silent. She stuck out her tongue, picked up the geography book, and went to the yard to sunbathe.
When Jia Yufang returned home, wiping away her sweat, she found her children, who were usually inseparable, were far apart.
One woman leaned against the window, whittling something in her hands. Another woman squatted by the door, playing with her cat. Hearing footsteps, she immediately stood up to greet them: "Grandma, did you bring me anything delicious?"
"I brought it."
Jia Yufang carried three bundles: hot food, fashionable jewelry from the capital, and new clothes for Zhu Yun.
He's grown a lot taller lately.
Let's not dwell on the unpleasant events of the morning, lest they offend the children's ears. Jia Yufang simply said she was going to town to visit an old friend, and told Luo Yan to come along, relaying the message:
"I've conveyed your message. Guard Ning couldn't make the final decision, so he decided to return to the capital to report. The rest of us have rented houses to live in. If we need money or manpower, just let us know."
Luo Yan understood that her grandmother was trying to comfort her indirectly, so she nodded hurriedly and picked out a kingfisher feather hairpin from her jewelry: "Grandmother, please help me put it on."
Luo Yan's complexion has been getting better and better lately, and there is a hint of her former master in her eyes.
Jia Yufang wiped her eyes and asked earnestly, "Yan'er, do you really not want to go to the capital? With the Ye family and His Highness there, they can find you a good young man."
“I don’t want to,” she emphasized. “If my parents knew from beyond the grave, they certainly wouldn’t want me to live a life of uncertainty anymore.”
"good."
Jia Yufang seemed to have made a major decision, her shoulders relaxing. "The doctor gave me a few packets of tonics. Please deliver them to your Aunt Cui's house for me. Oh, and ask Yun-ge to help me move a soy sauce jar."
Luo Yan, unsuspecting, grabbed the tonic and ran out the door.
When Zhu Yun entered the east kitchen, he saw no soy sauce vats. He realized that Jia Yufang had deliberately sent Luo Yan away, so he said directly, "Please speak."
The young man in front of me was tall and good-looking, a bit cold-hearted, but quick and efficient.
She looked around with increasing satisfaction and asked with a smile, "Is there anyone else at Yun-ge'er's house?"
"No."
Jia Yufang's smile deepened: "Are you engaged?"
Zhu Yun's raven feathers trembled slightly, and she vaguely caught a glimpse of a message. She answered crisply, "No."
"That's good." She took a deep breath. "You and Sister Yan are about the same age and share similar interests. I'm thinking that if you're willing, why not give it to Sister Yan..."
Since she had never been a matchmaker, it was difficult for Jia Yufang to speak. She held the words on the tip of her tongue, turning them over and over, but couldn't bring herself to say them.
But Zhu Yun said, "I'm willing."
"Um?"
"You don't want me to be Yan Yan's childhood sweetheart." He remained calm, but his pupils shone brightly as he clearly said, "I'm willing."
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