The twins born to Xiao Chen were already twelve years old. The elder brother, Zheng Boyun, was fond of literature and art. The Zheng family had opened a family school in the capital for their children and hired several famous Confucian scholars. Many children from prominent families came to study there. Zheng Boyun had a good relationship with several young men in the school and they often held poetry gatherings together.
Zheng Boyun only liked poetry and disliked the eight-legged essay. He had been taking the preliminary examination for the imperial examination since he was eight years old, but he had never passed. Little Chen was getting impatient. Zheng Boyuan had passed the preliminary examination on his first try. It was unreasonable for children born to the same father to be so different.
Later, Madam Chen realized that her son's ambitions lay elsewhere, and she panicked. Zheng Boyun had always enjoyed organizing poetry gatherings with his classmates, but Marquis Pingxi didn't seem to care much about his son's hobby. He himself was a pleasure-seeker. Madam Chen spent her days chasing after Zheng Boyun to read and write, which Marquis Pingxi found somewhat distasteful, but he didn't say anything.
Du Mama naturally knew the source of the conflict between the mother and son. She stood with her head down, listening to Madam Chen vent her dissatisfaction until Madam Chen sat down at the table and began to wipe away her tears. Only then did Du Mama come over and whisper, "Madam, I will send someone to invite the young master back right away. Our young master loves his sister the most. He will definitely come back if he knows that our young lady is in trouble."
Madam Chen sat slumped at the table, looking at her daughter lying on the bed. She sighed deeply and said to Granny Du, "Send someone to summon the young master back, and then go back to the manor to check. From yesterday until now, we haven't received any news from the manor. Could something have happened?"
Du Mama agreed and said to Madam Chen, "Please don't worry, Madam."
Xu Zhi got up early in the morning, and after having breakfast, she took Zheng Yuanyuan to the Yongning Marquis's residence.
The Yongning Marquis's residence was all ready, just waiting for Xu Zhi to bring Zheng Yuanyuan over.
Xu Gui got up early in the morning. After her personal maid helped her comb her hair, she said, "Sixth Miss, our Ninth Miss is coming back today. You should wear some more expensive jewelry."
Xu Gui looked at the somewhat blurry figure in the bronze mirror and said, "Since Ninth Sister is back today, she will naturally be the most eye-catching person. Why should I wear such expensive things?"
The maid said, "But Miss can't just go there all plain-looking."
Xu Gui sighed and said, "I think this is fine. What is Third Sister doing right now?"
The three sisters lived in a courtyard, which was a three-section courtyard. Each girl lived in one section, and the third girl, Xu Mian, lived in the first section.
The maid said, "I went to fetch water for washing my face just now, and I saw that the Third Miss was already pouring out the water. She should be having breakfast now."
Xu Gui said, "Have someone deliver my breakfast to Sister San's place. I'll go to Sister San's room to eat breakfast."
The maid said, "I heard from the older sister in the Third Miss's room that the Third Miss has been busy embroidering her dowry these past few days. It seems that even when the Seventh Miss went, the Third Miss didn't have time to attend to her. Miss, what's wrong?"
Xu Gui said, "I'm just going to have breakfast with you. I'm not like my seventh sister who pesters my third sister to do this or that. I won't delay your work."
Watching Xu Gui's retreating figure as she walked out of the room, the maid could only go downstairs and have someone bring the breakfast from the main kitchen to the room of the third young lady, Xu Mian.
Xu Mian had already set out breakfast and was about to eat when she saw Xu Gui arrive. She quickly invited Xu Gui to sit down and asked someone to bring Xu Gui a bowl and chopsticks.
Xu Gui looked at her sister, whose wedding date had been set, and saw a gentle smile on her face, knowing that her sister was very satisfied with the marriage.
A few days after returning from Ganzhou, the family told us that the marriage of the third daughter of the family had been arranged. The third daughter was to marry her cousin, who had returned to his hometown.
Xu Gui didn't quite understand at first. Although Xu Mian was a daughter of the second branch of the Yongning Marquis's family, she was still a daughter who came from the Marquis's family. Why should she marry her cousin from her maternal family? It wasn't that her maternal family was bad. Xu Gui always felt that marriage should be a matter of equal social standing. Whether it was the man or the woman, if one of them had a higher social status or family background, it would always cause all sorts of trouble.
After the engagement was settled, they started the traditional six-rite process at an unprecedented speed, and within a few days, the wedding date was set. Both parties were of marriageable age, and the wedding date was set for this autumn.
With the wedding date set so close, everyone in the manor immediately became busy. Her mother was busy preparing her sister's dowry, and the lady of the house, who was in charge of the household affairs, was also busy preparing Xu Mian's dowry. As for Xu Mian, she locked herself in her room and spent her days embroidering her dowry.
Xu Mian was very good at embroidery. She planned to embroider her own wedding dress, as well as the shoes she would wear when meeting her in-laws, and the veil and pillowcases. Xu Mian wanted to prepare everything she needed for the wedding herself. Chen Shi advised her not to work so hard, but Xu Mian did not listen. Xu Mian felt that her heart was particularly calm when she did these things.
Looking at Xu Mian's face, Xu Gui asked, "Third sister, did you stay up very late again last night?"
Xu Mian said, "No, I went to bed around midnight. Why did you decide to come and have breakfast with me?"
Xu Gui said, "Ninth Sister is back! Third Sister, did you miss Ninth Sister?"
Xu Mian said, "Of course I miss her. I heard that Ninth Sister is going to Yuezhou soon. I just don't know when we'll be able to meet again after this separation."
Thinking of her sisters at home, who used to play and laugh together, but after getting married and moving far away, she could only see them once in a long time, some even once every few years. Not only did Xu Mian look unhappy, but Xu Gui was also silent.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
