Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Ji Yanlang suddenly asked Fang Ying: "You...
The sun was shining brightly outside, and the main room with large windows was very bright. Even if you hid behind the screen, you could see Liu Silang standing in the room clearly.
After reading this, An turned around to talk to Ji Si Niang, but she found that Ji Si Niang and Fang Ying had sat down on the couch in the back. They kept their heads down, not daring to look at her. She couldn't help but sneer and whispered to Cheng, "It's like a piece of rotten mud that can't be helped."
Cheng smiled but didn't answer.
In the outer hall, Mrs. Li praised the Liu brothers for their good looks, then asked what books they were reading and asked Liu Silang a few questions separately.
Fang Ying held Ji Si Niang's hand, which was still cold, and listened to Liu Si Lang's speech. Although he was a little restrained, he was still clear and organized, and his choice of words was appropriate, which made her feel a little relieved.
When Liu Erlang and Liu Silang had left, leaving only the youngest Wulang to eat some snacks, he gently comforted his aunt, "From the way he talks, he seems to have a good temper."
Ji Si Niang felt as if her face was burning. She couldn't nod or shake her head. Just when she was about to raise her hands to hold her face, her third and fourth sisters-in-law came over and congratulated her one by one in a whisper. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide behind her sixth sister-in-law.
Fortunately, the maid came in at this time and asked the ladies to go out to entertain the guests, and Ji Si Niang was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
The Liu family did not stay for dinner, after all, it was their first visit. They saw what they needed to see, talked about what they wanted to talk about, and then said goodbye and left.
After seeing off the guests, Mrs. Li asked the female family members to disperse and called her three sons to ask about their affairs. Fang Ying went back to her room to change her clothes and took a nap on the couch. Only then did Ji Yanlang come back.
"How is it? Do you want this brother-in-law?" Fang Ying asked with a smile.
Ji Yanlang sat down beside her and sighed, "I do feel a little shy. But my second brother said that for a boy of only seventeen, who grew up under the protection of his grandfather and has never experienced any hardships, and who is also the youngest among his brothers, it's not surprising that he's a little shy."
"Yes, and besides, I'm here to see you today. Even if I'm not shy normally, I'll have to be a little shy."
Ji Yanlang said, "That's still much better than being shy. Of course, it's not really a disadvantage. He'll just need some experience in the future. My second brother actually talked to him a little more about studying. He just told mother that Liu Silang's so-called study is probably just a facade."
He laughed as he spoke, and Fang Ying couldn't help laughing too: "Otherwise, how could you still hope to pass the imperial examination?"
"Mother also said that he didn't expect to take the imperial examination. With his family's status, it was impossible for him to take the exam. He just needed to study hard. In the future, he would have a salary thanks to his family background."
"That's right. If he were truly a scholar with solid academic knowledge and the ability to pass the imperial examination, I'm afraid my fourth sister wouldn't be able to handle it."
"Well, so what mother means is that as long as the Liu family agrees, this marriage can be settled."
"Actually, I'm a little worried about that Madam Liu. She doesn't seem like an easy mother-in-law to get along with."
Ji Yanlang said, "I'm not afraid of that. Given our family background, even if she's difficult to get along with, she won't treat Fourth Sister too harshly."
"I'm afraid that Fourth Sister will just accept it and not dare to say anything."
Ji Yanlang laughed, and Fang Ying felt strange: "What are you laughing at?"
"I laugh at how worried you are. You're like a mother about to marry off her daughter." He tilted his head and looked her up and down. "If we have a daughter in the future, I'm afraid there won't be a son-in-law in the world that can fully satisfy you."
Fang Ying thought about it seriously and nodded in agreement: "Indeed. Unless I raise my daughter to have a temper that refuses to suffer any loss..."
Ji Yanlang added: "Like you."
Fang Ying glared at him, and Ji Yanlang quickly smiled apologetically: "That's a compliment. This is what girls have to do. Marrying into a husband's family alone is already very difficult. If you don't stand up for yourself, won't people eat you up even your bones?"
His words really hit the nail on the head. Fang Ying looked at Ji Yanlang curiously: "How did you come up with this?"
"Is there any need to think about this? This is the way the world is." Ji Yanlang acted as if it was a matter of course.
Fang Ying shook her head. "It's precisely because of this worldly reality that parents teach their daughters to be humble, submissive, and obedient, fearing their husbands' families will question their upbringing."
Ji Yanlang snorted coldly, "I want to teach my daughter like I teach my son. If anyone dares to question me, I will beat him so hard that even his ancestors won't recognize him!"
How could he really get angry while talking like this? Fang Ying suppressed her laughter and patted his arm: "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you."
Ji Yanlang didn't say anything at that time. A day later, the Liu family expressed through the eldest princess that they were willing to form a marriage alliance with the Ji family, and asked the eldest princess and her husband to act as matchmakers and discuss a date for the wedding.
Following Li's orders, he and his second brother, Ji Yanshou, wrote a letter to their father to report the matter. After returning to their room and walking around, he suddenly asked Fang Ying, "Do you think it's a good idea to let your daughter learn martial arts?"
Fang Ying: "..." My daughter isn't even born yet, isn't it too early to talk about this now???
This incident was so funny that after Fang Ying told Yue Qing'e about it, she was still not satisfied. A few days later, when she went to talk to Zhou Congshan, she learned it again with her.
Zhou Congshan was delighted to hear this and agreed, "I think it's great. A daughter of a general should learn martial arts."
"..." Fang Ying glanced at her sideways, "Is martial arts so easy to learn? Without hard work, it's just a show-off, useless."
"That's right. Even if we're willing to let her work hard, can she really beat a man?" Zhou Congshan said, shaking his head. "Why not go back to her parents' house and complain, and ask her father to beat her up?"
Fang Ying: “…”
Zhou Congshan was once again amused by his friend's expression. He patted the back of her hand and said jokingly, "Isn't this great? With such a supportive father, your daughter is already luckier than ninety-nine percent of the young ladies in the world."
"That's right, at least you're much luckier than me."
Zhou Congshan was surprised: "Are you not afraid now?"
Fang Ying: “Ah?”
"Having a baby. You never wanted to talk about it before," Zhou Congshan leaned back and looked her up and down. "Now you're actually willing to talk about how to raise a daughter."
Fang Ying was stunned. Yes, she really didn't want to even think about it before, but now... She thought about it carefully and replied, "I'm still afraid, but not as much as before..."
She didn't know how to describe it for a moment, so Zhou Congshan took over and asked, "Do you think it would be nice to give Ji Liulang a daughter?"
Fang Ying immediately shook her head. "What do you mean by giving birth to him? I'm just... just like when we consummated our marriage. I knew I couldn't avoid it, so I just gathered my courage and faced it head-on."
"Isn't that right?" Zhou Congshan looked at her left and right and said, "Before the marriage was consummated, you weren't like this now, still in the mood to joke..."
Fang Ying rolled her eyes and interrupted, "Is there any movement from the King of Qin? Oh, and by the way, have you heard that the King of Wei proposed to the Emperor to move the capital?"
Zhou Congshan stared at her with a smile, picked up his round fan and fanned his friend with it, saying softly, "Just keep talking tough."
"I'm serious. There's a war going on in the north, and the emperor hasn't returned to the capital yet. Are you really going to stay in Luoyang and never come back?" Since he had been accused of being stubborn, Fang Ying decided to be stubborn to the end.
Zhou Congshan said, "No way. Moving the capital is no small matter after all." He paused, then added, "Apart from you, no one else dares to tell me about these things now."
"Where is the King of Qin?"
"Nothing much has happened. Concubine Hui sent a plate of cherries yesterday." Zhou Congshan pointed to the small table. "I didn't want any, but you sent someone to say you were coming today, so I stayed."
Fang Ying then noticed the red cherries on the jade plate on the small table. "The cherries from the palace are indeed bigger than those outside."
Zhou Congshan pushed it in front of her and asked her to taste it, saying, "I heard that because the emperor is away, the palaces didn't get much. Concubine Hui gave a plate to our family, and only Concubine Zhang gave some to her family."
Fang Ying ate two cherries and nodded in praise, "It's sweet and sour, very delicious. You should try it too." She wiped her fingertips with a handkerchief and asked, "Prince Qin has investigated the Medical Officers' Office. Concubine Zhang should have heard about it by now, right?"
Zhou Congshan plucked the cherry stems twice and replied, "Yes, they also summoned the imperial physician twice on the pretext that the Prince of Wei's daughter was ill—and it wasn't the same physician both times."
"How do you know?" He just said that apart from her, no one dared to tell what was happening outside.
Zhou Congshan said, "Last time you left, I asked someone to keep an eye on her. If there's any news, report it to me immediately." She leaned closer to Fang Ying and said, "I can still use the people my aunt left behind."
"Then... have you sent a message to your father?"
"He's not in the capital, out of reach. What's the point of sending him a message?"
Fang Ying smiled: "Aren't you afraid that once your father finds out, he'll stop you from interfering?"
Zhou Congshan readily admitted: "That's also a consideration."
"I think your father may have already known that Prince Wei proposed to move the capital. If I were the Prince of Qin, I would definitely be determined to investigate the Medical Officers' Office thoroughly."
"But he's only the prefect of Kaifeng. He doesn't have the authority to investigate the Medical Officers' Office. Besides, the Medical Officer and the Deputy Medical Officer are both with the emperor in Luoyang..."
"So we need to find help." Uncle Zhou is now the natural ally of the King of Qin. This also involves the death of Crown Prince Zhaoyi. Who else can he turn to if not Uncle Zhou?
Zhou Congshan, however, felt that the King of Qin was always cautious and would not communicate with her father privately, especially under such circumstances.
After listening to her opinion, Fang Ying suddenly remembered something: "The other day when we discussed the news of the capital relocation, we all thought it would be reported back to Tokyo so quickly..."
"We?" Zhou Congshan said mischievously, "Who are we?"
"...Who else could it be?" Fang Ying picked up her fan, patted her friend's knee, and continued, "They even pointed out that it was Prince Wei who proposed it. It's really strange, as if someone is deliberately instigating a quarrel between the brothers. But I can't think of who it is. Logically speaking, there are no other princes below Prince Wei and Prince Qin who could compete, and they are all in the capital and have never accompanied the emperor..."
Zhou Congshan seemed to be thinking: "The princes are not here, but the royal brothers are here."
Fang Ying didn't understand: "Huh?"
Zhou Congshan glanced at the door curtain, leaned closer to his friend, and whispered, "Don't you know? When the emperor proclaimed himself emperor, Empress Dowager Liu felt that my cousin was young and sickly, and was worried about the instability of the country. She proposed to make the King of Chu the crown prince."
Fang Ying took a breath and said, "Is that true?"
Zhou Congshan nodded: "I heard it from my aunt and grandmother myself."
"I've never heard of this, and Ji Liulang doesn't seem to know about it either. Is this matter confined to the inner sanctum of the palace and never spread outside?"
"Perhaps a few trusted old ministers also know about this, but no one dares to spread it—the emperor won't allow it, and they have little friendship with the King of Chu, so naturally they don't approve—if it gets out, it will end badly."
No wonder, "Do you think it's the King of Chu this time?" This is too shocking.
Zhou Congshan frowned. "I don't think it should be him. The King of Chu has been quite obedient these years. But if you think about it, it seems there is no one else besides him."
The Luoyang emperor, besides the Prince of Wei, also brought along his brothers, the Prince of Chu, the Prince of Cai, and the Prince of Qi. The Prince of Cai was a brawny warrior with no wisdom, while the Prince of Qi was a drunkard and a womanizer, rarely participating in government affairs. Only the Prince of Chu, trusted by the emperor and possessing both cunning and strategic skills, was he truly the one? What was he planning?
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