Chapter 32 She and He Became Engaged Xue Yu knew that girls would eventually get married when they grew up...
Xue Yu knew that girls always have to get married when they grow up. Even though he felt a little uncomfortable, Yun Yang was already sixteen years old. If she didn't find a husband next year, there would be no doubt that people would gossip about her.
He must start looking for a suitable family for her.
It seems like I am consciously trying to avoid the inexplicable reluctance in my heart. Why is that?
If you ignore the darkness in your heart, it seems as if it doesn't exist.
Xue Yu counted his colleagues in detail.
He was the youngest person holding a respectable position in the Ministry of Justice. He was eight years older than Yun Yang, so the others were not considered candidates.
Most of the marriages of the children of aristocratic families were arranged early on. Since Yun Yang could not be a concubine, some people who had been familiar to him since childhood were eliminated.
Another important point is that she needs to take back the Yun family's property in a reasonable and legal manner, which is very difficult to do, so she can only find someone from a lower family background.
Regardless of whether Yunjia will come back or not, he cannot take advantage of her weakness and fool her casually. He has to protect her.
So Xue Yu set his sights on the Hanlin Academy.
There are many children from poor families in the Hanlin Academy. They are talented and well-educated, and most of them are still unmarried. They are also the focus of many families' attention when looking for a son-in-law.
Only Hanlin scholars can enter the cabinet. Some follow the cabinet's path, while others just go with the flow and only seek to curry favor with a powerful person in exchange for a peaceful life in the second half of their lives.
This is perfect. We are afraid that people will have nothing to ask for. As long as the other party has something to ask for, Yun Yang has the Xue family behind her, so he can ensure that her marriage will be smooth.
Xue Yu was a man of great initiative, and he went to visit the president of the Hanlin Academy the next day.
Shangguan still looked as upright and elegant as before. It had been a long time since he saw Xue Yu. Looking at the young man in front of him, his demeanor and spirit had not changed, but it seemed that there was a little more impetuousness in him that he had never had before?
The man who used to be so noble, dignified and calm that he could make a group of girls who looked up to him helpless, now the peace and determination in his eyes have almost disappeared.
How could this be?
Xue Yu leaned forward and bowed, "I have something to ask for your help, Master."
After some greetings, he stated his ideas directly. Shangguan expressed his support and immediately wrote down the names and biographies of several people for him. Xue Yu took the paper, but the feeling of uneasiness in his heart did not fade away.
In the evening, Xue Yu returned to Fushan Pavilion with the paper with the name written on it. He leaned in the armchair and sat quietly for a while. Perhaps because the floor heating was burning in the room, he felt more and more annoyed. He put his hand on his clothes and tugged at them, then called Si Qing to open the window.
A cold wind mixed with water vapor from the lake blew in his face. Xue Yu took a deep breath, lowered his eyes and thought for a long time, and the boredom in his heart gradually calmed down.
The Xue family was large, and he had many younger sisters, though none of them had married. Ever since Yun Yang arrived at the Xue residence, she had been somewhat reckless, but mostly innocent and endearing. Her sincerity was especially profound, and even though she sometimes acted imprudently due to her youth, it was still hard to dislike her.
How could I be so reluctant to part with her without realizing it?
My wife's younger sister is also my younger sister. It is inevitable that I will feel reluctant when I think about marrying her to another man.
It must be so.
Xue Yu rubbed his brows, picked up the messy piece of rice paper, and looked at it carefully in the night breeze.
Next to him was the sachet made of medicinal herbs that she had given him on Mid-Autumn Night. The faint bitter scent lingered in his nostrils.
The parchment lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind, casting shadows. The young man's figure was like a pine or bamboo, standing quietly in front of the window for a long time.
The next day, Xue Yu went to Jinxiang Pavilion to discuss the marriage with Yun Yang.
He spoke calmly, placing a stack of rice paper on the edge of the table. "These are the Hanlin Jinshi candidates from the past three years. The married ones were discarded, the wealthy and extravagant ones were discarded, and the ones with improper behavior were discarded. The rest are all here."
He looked indifferent and calm, as if the man who had gone to the Hanlin Academy early in the morning to check out those men was not him.
Yun Yang didn't take it to inspect it, but nodded obediently and said, "I trust my brother-in-law's judgment. He has full authority over the decision."
The room was silent.
After a while, Yun Yang heard Xue Yu's voice, which was unclear, "I will be the one to decide who you will rely on for the rest of your life."
"Yes." Yun Yang didn't think it was wrong.
Xue Yu, "Okay."
After saying that, he stood up and left.
He didn't know what he was angry about. He had carefully selected the person for her, but she said it was all up to him without even looking at him. He didn't know whether he should be grateful that she trusted him too much, or be annoyed that she treated marriage as a joke?
Walking all the way to the edge of Qinghu Lake, Xue Yu raised his hand and tugged at his clothes to relieve the inexplicable depression. The faint fragrance was still in his nostrils, lingering and captivating.
What kind of exotic fragrance does she use?
The cold wind blowing from the lake made people sober up. Xue Yu was used to introspection. After thinking for a while, he suddenly realized that the reason for his emotional fluctuations and uneasiness was that the subtle thoughts in his heart had come to nothing.
He came back to his senses in shock, his eyes changing drastically.
He actually hoped to refuse to marry someone else!
*
After Xue Yu left, Yun Yang frowned and thought for a moment. She really didn't know why she had made her brother-in-law angry again. Didn't they talk it out last night? Why... not only did he give her a cold face, but he also left before he finished talking?
The look he gave her before he left was deep and profound, his thin lips curled up as if he was smiling, but that smile held an inexplicable coldness.
Is it cold or angry?
She asked herself whether she had done anything wrong or said anything wrong.
And why did he take the stack of papers with him when he left?
Didn't we agree to introduce some young talents to her?!
After dinner, Yun Yang strolled through the mansion to digest his food. Passing by the gatehouse, he saw the coachman reining in the horses and casually asked, "Who's going out?"
The driver replied, "It's the young master. He went to the outskirts of the capital to investigate a case and hasn't been back for about half a month."
Yun Yang felt that the suffocation in his chest had dissipated. His brother-in-law had been in a bad mood recently, which must be due to the backlog of cases. Now, he had gone out to handle the case!
Thinking of this, my whole body relaxed, but then I thought, wouldn’t my marriage have to wait a little longer?
Well, just wait, there’s no rush.
After Xue Yu left, things got better and better. The Fourth Lady actually arranged several marriages for her!
Yun Yang initially thought that Xue Yu had instructed this before he left, but after talking with the Fourth Madam, she realized that this was not the case. The Fourth Madam loved to be a matchmaker and could not bear to see a young woman like her alone. She said, "Don't blame your brother-in-law for being so busy. Your sister-in-law is already sixteen years old and he hasn't found anyone else yet. If she stays for another year, she will become an old maid, and then we will have to ask someone else to choose."
Yun Yang told the Fourth Lady that she wanted to find someone who could go back to Youzhou with her. The Fourth Lady thought for a moment and rearranged the resources of the young men in her hands.
The fourth lady was very proactive. Two days later, she had arranged for all the sons of noble families to come to her house as scheduled.
Yun Yang first looked at each other from behind the screen. Through the gauze screen, the shadows were hazy and there was nothing that was not clear.
And how could one tell a person's character just by looking at them? This was someone she was going to live with for the rest of her life, and her circumstances were special, so it was even more important that this person had a high moral character...
The Fourth Lady thought about it and realized that it was true. Not everyone was as lucky as her. She could tell that Fourth Master Xue only had eyes for her just by looking at him.
In the following days, the mansion arranged a small family banquet, entertaining one person a day, and including pitching pot competitions, drinking wine from the flowing water, reciting poems and writing essays, so that they could examine each other from the inside out.
The Fourth Lady thought that Yun Yang's father had passed away and his mother had disappeared, and he was waiting for Yun Jia to return. If he knew that it was she who found a good marriage for Yun Yang, he would definitely remember her kindness.
Xue was kindhearted and never bullied Yun Yang, who was alone and weak.
When Xue Lingjun returns and learns that she has done such a great thing for him, he will definitely reward her handsomely!
After these days in the capital, Yun Yang has become no doubt an ordinary lady. She smiles without showing her teeth, moves dignified and gracefully, and has a pretty face. She watches with cold eyes as the dandy young men show off their fists and feet in front of her, or show off their irrelevant poems and essays.
The Yun family's private wealth is certainly not enough for a noble family.
The illegitimate sons of nobles came to see her simply because they were attracted by her relationship with the Xue family.
As long as the engagement between the Xue and Yun families exists and Xue Yu does not divorce his wife, Yun Yang will be valuable.
Yun Yang is no longer an innocent girl who has never experienced the world.
The most difficult thing to understand in this world is the human heart. Her sister has not returned yet, so she has to think a lot. What if Xue Yu and her sister are not on good terms? Does she really want her sister to swallow her anger and suffer grievances for the sake of a husband's family who wants to curry favor with her?
As early as after her father's death in Youzhou, Yun Yang knew that with her intelligence and knowledge, if she had not had her brother-in-law to protect her, she would have been eaten up by those so-called relatives without leaving anything behind.
The crushing of power is so simple. As long as her brother-in-law Xue Yu and the Xue family are there, they will look up to her and her future will be guaranteed.
But this is mixed with the feeling of seeing through but not speaking out the interests, which is too eager.
She is looking for a husband. She doesn't ask for a soulmate and an equal husband. At least when they look at each other in the Red Luan tent, she shouldn't have any dirty thoughts in her mind.
After a few days, only a young man named Song was stunned at the first sight of her, and he didn't even dare to get close to her. If she asked him something, his face would suddenly turn red and he would stammer and couldn't answer clearly.
Even if Yun Yang no longer cared about Feng Yue, she knew that Young Master Song liked her and fell in love with her at first sight.
The young man's love affair was too obvious.
Yun Yang looked at the outer robe that had been placed on the low table at some point in time. Young Master Song's panicked and shy expression caught her eye, and the look in his eyes when he looked at her was filled with an intensity that was difficult to conceal.
She suddenly realized something. In matters between men and women, one can control a man by using his liking for oneself, making him put her preferences first, making him laugh and cry for her, so that he can cherish her more.
So, Yun Yang slowly found a relaxed posture in front of Song Fanghe.
She likes this feeling very much. She doesn't have to please others or feel restrained, and she often feels at peace.
Yun Yang thanked the Fourth Madam and said clearly that she had taken a fancy to the young man of the Du Shui Qing Li Si family.
The Fourth Lady thought about it and decided that Du Shuiqing Lisi was only a fifth-rank official. Although his official position was a bit low, he would be a good match for Yunyang. If Yunyang married out of the Xue Mansion, it would not be a marriage downgraded, and her husband's family would treat her as a treasure, holding her in their hands and cherishing her.
The most important thing is that the little girl's eyes curved when she talked about Mr. Song, and her affection from the bottom of her heart could not be faked.
The Fourth Lady thought of the elegant young master's handsome features, and then looked at the clear-eyed girl in front of her. She felt relieved. They were a perfect match, and being a matchmaker was a good deed.
In the next few days, the Fourth Lady made several appointments with Mrs. Song to have tea in the suburbs, and both sides brought their children.
The Fourth Lady brought Yun Yang and her little daughter with her mainly to provide a cover for Yun Yang to meet Song Fanghe so as not to insult Yun Yang's reputation. Even if the marriage failed for various reasons, there would be no gossip in the future.
Hey, what are you thinking about? How could it not work? The fourth lady covered her heart with her hands, and the smile on her face was a little awkward.
The teahouses on the outskirts of Shangjing are very elegantly built. It is hard to find a seat by the river. Not only are there music and dance to entertain the guests, but there are also often elusive immortal poets and ghost poets who come to visit.
Yun Yang and Song Fanghe walked along the lush flower path to the river bank. The weather had become hot after a snowfall earlier, but Song Fanghe still had a purple gold hand warmer in his cloak and was hesitant to give it away.
Yun Yang chuckled and pointed at his half-open hand warmer, "Aren't you hot?"
He looked at her without saying a word, just smiling, his handsome face red as if bleeding. It was not until the hand warmer became hot that he handed it to her blankly, "I was worried that you would be cold, Miss Yun, so I brought this for you..."
Seeing him calling her Miss Yun and yours so inconsistently, Yun Yang said frankly, "You can just call me Yun Yang, or Yang Yang."
The corners of the boy's lips couldn't help but curl up, his eyes focused, his voice trembling slightly, "Sister Yangyang, my nickname is Xiaorun, you can just call me by my nickname."
Only close people or elders can call each other by nicknames. When young men and women exchange nicknames, it means they are in love.
Yun Yang repeated softly, "Xiao Run..."
The word Lingjun suddenly came to mind.
Ah, that’s my brother-in-law Xue Yu’s nickname.
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