Chapter 1052 Is it proper or not?
When the couple arrived at the market, it was almost noon, and the long street was still packed with people.
Yingcheng is peaceful this year with stable grain prices. The people have long since escaped from dire straits and are all in high spirits, ready to have a good New Year.
At the market, there were all sorts of trinkets, and scholars would be stationed there writing couplets and Spring Festival couplets.
“My husband, seeing these scholars reminds me of my elder brother.”
Back then, the family was struggling financially, so Lin Yuesha devised a plan for her stepbrother to do manual labor to earn money.
Writing Spring Festival couplets in winter is not easy; the ink almost freezes.
Selling Spring Festival couplets at the market doesn't earn much money. After deducting the cost of red paper, writing brushes, ink, and paper, you could have made more, but you can't resist the price gouging by some people, which eventually leads to a price war.
Qi Heng's eyes were deep; as someone directly involved, he felt it most keenly.
"The path of reading is not so easy."
After ten years of hard study, only a handful of people pass the imperial examination and become scholars; most scholars stop there.
Hu Mian was quite learned, but he failed the imperial examination to become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).
In the entire city of Yingcheng, there were not many people who had passed the imperial examinations. Hu Mian did not have a proper mentor, and he could not even buy a few good books. Even if he used all his family's resources, he could only stop there.
It is difficult for children from poor families to achieve success. Even with diligent study and hard work, without a mentor, it is very difficult to even reach the threshold of becoming a scholar.
"So after passing the imperial examination, Lin Shusheng abandoned his wife and daughters and became the son-in-law of the Qin family!"
Lin Yuesha's first thought was of her scumbag father, Lin Shusheng. With Lin Shusheng as a cautionary tale, she did not like scholars.
“My lord, that’s why I don’t approve of Sister Qing’er marrying into the Hu family. If the Hu family finds out her identity, won’t they scheme against her?”
The Hu family is not wealthy, and Hu Mian does not have the funds to continue taking the imperial examinations. If Zhang Qing'er marries Hu Mian, she will probably have to pay that amount.
If the Hu family knew how to be grateful, that would be fine, but the fact is that most people would think that using a woman's dowry is right and not ashamed of it.
If Zhang Qing'er doesn't want to pay, she will definitely be criticized.
Zhang Qing'er didn't care, but what if the Hu family plotted against her behind her back?
Perhaps Lin Yuesha was overthinking it. She had seen it before; He Xing had schemed against Jiang Baozhu and almost swindled the Jiang family's fortune.
To put it another way, what if Hu Mian uses Zhang Qing'er's dowry to pass the imperial examination, become a Jinshi, and rise to a high position, only to end up with a wife who dies after he gets promoted and makes a fortune?
"Won't."
Qi Heng grasped Lin Yuesha's hand and said decisively.
"Human hearts are unpredictable."
Lin Yuesha puffed out her cheeks. She was talking about a very real issue: you should always prepare for the worst.
"But when you become powerful enough, you can control people's hearts."
Qi Heng patted Lin Yuesha's head. His wife was always like this, loyal to her sisters and friends, and always thinking of others.
The height the couple stood at was enough to protect their family and friends, and none of the things Lin Yuesha was worried about would happen.
"Okay, I don't believe Hu Mian, but I believe you, and I believe in myself."
Qi Heng's few words of encouragement made Lin Yuesha feel much more relaxed. She took Qi Heng's hand, and the couple walked hand in hand.
"This is indecent!"
Behind him, a middle-aged man with a small mustache said disdainfully, "Pulling and tugging in the street, what kind of behavior is that? Only girls in brothels would be so shameless."
"none of your business!"
Normally, Lin Yuesha is too lazy to argue with people, not because she is weak, but simply because she is lazy.
However, it was her freedom to hold hands with her husband. The etiquette of the Great Qi Dynasty did not stipulate that husbands and wives could not hold hands or pull each other.
It's her freedom to do whatever she wants, so why should moral guardians keep nagging?
Lin Yuesha stopped, turned around and retorted to the middle-aged scholar.
"Her words are frivolous and unrestrained, and she uses foul language; she is simply unworthy of being called a woman."
A woman should be gentle and refined, and should not smile while showing her teeth. She should never use vulgar language!
"I'm happy to do it, what's it to you? Mind your own business."
Lin Yuesha hates people who talk without understanding the situation and who point fingers at others. If she were to seriously argue with the middle-aged scholar, she could talk for an hour without running out of words.
Is it not normal for a couple to have some intimate gestures? They didn't perform marital relations in the market, so it's not out of line at all.
"Sharp-tongued and quick-witted."
The middle-aged scholar blew on his beard and then brought up the topics of female precepts and virtues.
Qi Heng didn't say anything, but instead took action to solve the problem. He suddenly hugged Lin Yuesha, kissed her on the lips, and said to the middle-aged scholar, "We are a proper couple."
Even if a respectable couple does something improper, they are still considered respectable.
The pedantic moralists, of course, would never understand the sweetness of it all, especially since Qi Heng had become addicted to it and kept looking for an opportunity to sneak up on it a second time. He had to thank the meddlesome middle-aged scholar for this.
"This is morally reprehensible; people's hearts have lost their ancient virtues!"
The middle-aged scholar was thoroughly amused and forced to force a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"If you don't want to see it, you can gouge your own eyes out."
After Qi Heng finished speaking, he kissed her again.
There were vendors selling flower pots ahead, and the couple moved forward with the flow of people.
Lin Yuesha took out a small bronze mirror and vaguely saw the red mark on the corner of her mouth, revealing a thoughtful expression.
She suspected that Qi Heng had done it on purpose, deliberately taking advantage of her!
"How could that be? We are a legitimate married couple."
Qi Heng vehemently denied it. He pursed his lips, feeling a faint sweetness on them. His wife must have eaten candy.
"yes."
Lin Yuesha was persuaded and stopped dwelling on it, but she missed an opportunity to uncover the truth.
"Sachets, pouches, purses, embroidered handkerchiefs—these are all the finest goods from the South!"
The peddler's calls immediately attracted young women and wives to gather around, all interested in the embroidery patterns from the south.
"Of course, all my goods come from the south. You should know that a round trip costs more than thirty taels of silver, and that's only after I've saved up by living frugally."
The peddler, all smiles, was trying to sell his wares when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
"I'm not selling it anymore! I'm not selling it anymore!"
The peddler thought to himself, "This is bad news. The sucker I was cheated out of yesterday is coming to my door!"
He would fire a shot and then move on to another location, walking for more than an hour specifically to find a market he had never been to before, only to find himself facing an unexpected enemy.
Fifty taels are already in your pocket; once you've eaten the fat, who can spit it out?
The peddler picked up his carrying pole and was about to push through the crowd.
"Why are you leaving? We haven't even made a choice yet. Are you going to turn down business opportunities?"
The crowd quickly stopped the peddler. It was almost the end of the year, and everyone had some money in their hands. They also wanted to buy some novel trinkets.
"I'm not doing this anymore, my wife is giving birth, I have to go home."
The peddler stood up and was about to run away when he regretted going out to do business today. He had been too arrogant!
"Your wife won't be able to give birth anytime soon, wouldn't it be better for you to earn some money and buy her some eggs and chicken to help her recover?"
The experienced old woman immediately stopped the peddler, refusing to let him leave no matter what she said.
The peddler, surrounded by people, shrank back, looking like he was about to cry but had no tears.
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