After the bridal sedan chair left, Xu Di led his brothers back to his own home. It was already noon, and many of those who had come to see the bride off stayed for a meal. The Xu family had already set up many tables of banquet food in the front and back yards.
After having dinner with the ladies, Zhang Zhaoci managed to see them off before returning to his own courtyard. He lay down on the bed, feeling utterly exhausted.
After seeing the guests off, Xu Rao went to the backyard, where he wanted to lie down on the bed and get some rest.
Zhang Zhaoci was surprised to see Xu Rao in the backyard and asked, "Why did you come here?"
Xu Rao said, "I'm tired, come and lie down to rest for a while."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "Isn't there a couch in the study in the front yard?"
Xu Rao waved his hand and said, "There are too many people coming and going over there, it's too noisy. I told Xu Di to take care of things first, I'll rest for a bit."
Knowing that Xu Rao hadn't slept well for several nights, Zhang Zhaoci said, "Then let's lie down on the kang (heated brick bed) for a while. It's just the family having dinner tonight, so we don't need to make a fuss about entertaining them."
Xu Rao took off her boots and lay down on either side of Zhang Zhaoci. Zhang Zhaoci sighed and said, "I'm realizing now that it's better to have a son than a daughter here."
Xu Rao said, "Yes, if you have a daughter, you should marry her off. If you have a son, we should find him a wife. One is sent out, and the other is brought home. Of course, it's better to raise a son."
Zhang Zhaoci said, "That's exactly the point. Luckily, we only have one daughter."
Xu Rao said, "Yes, if there were three or five of them, and each of them was this sad to be sent off to their wedding, it would be unbearable."
In the evening, Li Yuexi once again arranged for everyone in the family to have dinner in the side hall. After dinner, everyone, who had been busy all day, went back to their rooms to sleep.
Xu Gui lay in bed, thinking about Lu Mingzhang, whom she had met during the day.
Lu Mingzhang was a child of the Ningguo Duke's family in the capital. Although he was the son of the Duke of Ningguo, he was an illegitimate son, and his aunt was an unfavored aunt.
Xu Gui was able to get to know Lu Mingzhang because Xu Gui's mother, Chen, was related to the Lu family. Chen's cousin married the younger brother of the Duke of Lu. Chen's cousin was sentimental and often invited Chen and her children to visit the Duke of Ningguo's mansion, hoping to help Chen alleviate her sadness of missing her family.
When Chen's parents and brothers moved from the capital to their hometown, Chen was saddened and cried to her cousin several times. At that time, Xu Gui was young and only remembered that her mother took her to the Duke's Mansion. The Duke's Mansion was larger and more magnificent than the Marquis's Mansion. Xu Gui was taken by her cousins to play in the garden of the Duke's Mansion, and that's how she met the children of the Lu family.
Xu Gui and Xu Ju are twins. From a young age, Madam Chen liked to dress the two children up exactly the same. After they were taken to the Duke's Mansion, the children there liked to play a game of identification. The five- or six-year-old children, with their delicate features, were surrounded by everyone trying to figure out who was the older sister and who was the younger sister.
Xu Gui didn't want to play, but because these were her aunt's children, she suppressed her impatience and let the children from the Duke's mansion play with a cold smile. Everyone made mistakes, but Lu Mingzhang didn't. In the end, Xu Gui was very curious about Lu Mingzhang because she, her sister, and her mother sometimes made mistakes, so why was he the only one who didn't make mistakes?
Lu Mingzhang was several years older than Xu Gui. After that, Xu Gui never saw Lu Mingzhang again when she went to the Lu family. She heard from Lu's cousins that Lu Mingzhang had joined the army. At that time, Xu Gui thought that what Lu Mingzhang did was actually quite good. He was just a son of a concubine, and the future title of the family had nothing to do with him. His concubine was not favored, so he was naturally not favored either. Even if the family were to be divided in the future, he would not get much. By joining the army and earning a title, he could not only live a better life, but also have his wife and children be granted titles and privileges. It was better than doing nothing under the protection of the Marquis's mansion.
Xu Gui didn't really remember what Lu Mingzhang looked like, but after seeing Lu Mingzhang's face clearly today, Xu Gui felt as if a stone had been thrown into her heart, causing many splashes of water, and the ripples continued until she went to sleep.
Xu Gui usually doesn't like to keep things to herself, but today, for some reason, she started thinking about things from her childhood.
When Xu Gui was a child, Lu Mingzhang always recognized her, so he joked that Xu Gui should be his wife. At that time, Xu Gui was only five years old. The young boy, who was about ten years old, had a proud and arrogant air about him. Xu Gui was annoyed by this for a long time. Who knew that she would never see the young boy in the Lu family again.
Xu Gui was probably a little disappointed at that time because the only person who could recognize her was gone. From that time on, Xu Gui was unwilling to go to the Lu family with her mother. The cousins in the Lu family actually looked down on her and her sister. Although Xu Gui was not a talkative child, she could feel that the children in the Lu family looked at them with some contempt when they arrived.
Almost ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Xu Gui never expected to run into the boy from back then here. But the thought that he was coming to her house to propose marriage made Xu Gui find it somewhat ridiculous. Could marriage really be decided by a few playful words from childhood?
On the Xu family's side, some people fell asleep as soon as they got off work after a long day, while others couldn't fall asleep even in the middle of the night. What about the Hexi side?
The small courtyard that Zheng Boyuan rented has been renovated. The nannies and servants in the house are all doing their jobs. There are no relatives of the Zheng family in Hexi. The only person sent by the old lady of the Zheng family to accompany those things from the capital is an old steward, just in case Zheng Boyuan's marriage is not handled well.
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