Chapter 45 Token of Love
After a while, Chen Feifei was called out by the maid.
When Chen Feifei saw Jiang Yulang, who came to propose marriage so sincerely with a generous betrothal gift, her face turned red uncontrollably.
When Mr. Chen saw his daughter's appearance, he immediately understood what she was thinking, so he called his daughter aside.
"Fei Fei, our family is not well-connected to the General's Mansion. Are you really willing to marry into their family? If you don't live well after marrying into their family, our small Chen family cannot compete with the General's Mansion. I'm afraid we can't help you..." Mr. Chen looked at his daughter and sighed with some embarrassment.
If their daughter married into the general's family and had a hard time living there, they would probably be powerless to do anything about it.
But Chen Feifei said to Master Chen in a comforting tone, "Dad, if I don't marry General Jiang as my principal wife, I will have to marry the second young master of the Duke's Mansion as his concubine. However, I heard that the second young master has a jealous wife at home. If I marry him, I will have to compete for favors with others. If I offend the principal wife, then......"
Chen Feifei looked at the betrothal gift and continued to say to Master Chen: "Just looking at the attitudes of Second Master Pei and Young General Jiang, there is a difference. That day, when Second Master Pei came to propose marriage, he came empty-handed, and between the lines, every sentence was because of my reputation, for the face of the Duke's Mansion, implying that marrying into the Duke's Mansion is our up-and-coming. Today, Young General Jiang came to propose marriage, but he did not mention my reputation at all, only said that he would be responsible for me, and even brought a generous betrothal gift. Comparing them like this, isn't the attitude of the two people obvious?"
After hearing what his daughter said, Mr. Chen suddenly understood. If he did not agree to Young General Jiang's words, then his daughter would not be able to marry into a good family in the future, as the Duke's Mansion had just broken off her engagement.
Moreover, the Duke's mansion marriage was cancelled by the Duke's master. Even if the second son came to ask for marriage, his daughter might not have an easy life if she married into the Duke's mansion. There was a bit of gambling in the marriage of a woman, and now that things had come to this, he could only pray that his daughter would have good luck and that the son-in-law would not change his mind in the future.
After thinking about it, Mr. Chen agreed to the marriage. So, the marriage between Chen Feifei and Jiang Yulang was settled.
On the other hand, Pei Jingyuan still doesn't know that the Duke has helped him break off the engagement.
Pei Jingyuan thought there was no problem at the Chen Mansion, so he went to do his own thing. These days, he happened to be out of town on a case, so he didn't return to the Duke's Mansion for the time being.
Ever since Xu Qingyue ran away angrily last time, Pei Jingyuan has never gone to look for her.
Now, she is in her third month of pregnancy, and the morning sickness is very severe, so she rarely goes out to cause trouble for Xu Qingyan.
During her pregnancy, she was well fed and well cared for in the Duke's Mansion. However, due to morning sickness and her bad mood after the quarrel with Pei Jingyuan, Xu Qingyue lost a lot of weight.
On this day, Xu Qingyue finally felt less uncomfortable. She was lying on the couch to rest when suddenly her personal maid Fangdong walked in from outside in a panic.
Fang Dong said to Xu Qingyue anxiously, "Second Young Master's Madam, something bad has happened! Your cousin is here and is clamoring outside to see you."
"Cousin? Lin Yanbang? He doesn't have the ability to pursue Pei Jinyu, so why is he looking for me? Go and tell him that you don't want to see him." Xu Qingyue cursed at the maid in a bad mood.
"But... he said that if you don't meet him, he will tell the Duke and others that you deliberately tried to match him up with Pei Jinyu." Fang Dong said to Xu Qingyue with some difficulty.
"What! He dares!" Upon hearing this, Xu Qingyue immediately sat up from the couch in shock, with a hint of anger on her face.
However, after Xu Qingyue finished speaking, she felt panicky again, fearing that if she pushed Lin Yanbang too far, he might do the same. After thinking for a while, she quietly went out to meet him.
Arriving at the back door, Xu Qingyue looked at the haggard Lin Yanbang in front of her and said coldly, "Why are you looking for me? If you have something to say, please say it quickly. It's not very convenient for me to come out to see you now."
Ever since the last time Lin Yanbang was thrown into the pigpen and taught a lesson by Pei Jingchuan, he has privately looked for Pei Jinyu several times. He wanted to have a good explanation with Pei Jinyu, but he never saw her.
It was not long before he would take part in the Autumn Examination. He knew that even if he passed the examination, he would only be an official of the lowest rank after entering the officialdom. If he wanted to have a bright future, he had to climb the big tree of the Duke's Mansion, especially Pei Jinyu's elder brother Pei Jingchuan, who was now working in the Ministry of Personnel. Therefore, he had never given up the idea of taking advantage of Pei Jinyu. Seeing that other ways were blocked, he thought of Xu Qingyue again.
"Cousin, I came to you today because I want to ask for your help with something important." Lin Yanbang smiled servilely, as if trying to please Xu Qingyue.
Xu Qingyue glanced at Lin Yanbang with some disdain and said, "At this point, how do you want me to help you? I was so kind to bring you together, but who made you so disappointing?"
"Cousin, I really have a way this time. As long as you help me one more time, I will definitely be able to marry Pei Jinyu as I wish." Lin Yanbang looked at Xu Qingyue's expression, put away the unhappiness in his heart, and still smiled.
Xu Qingyue looked at Lin Yanbang and said calmly, "Tell me, how do you want me to help you? But let me make it clear in advance, I can't help you with anything that's too difficult. Now, Jin Yu doesn't pay much attention to me, and it's all because of you."
In fact, Xu Qingyue was not willing to help her distant cousin, but she was afraid that he would threaten her, so she said something indifferently.
Lin Yanbang looked around, then moved closer to Xu Qingyue and whispered, "Go and help me get some of Pei Jinyu's personal belongings."
After hearing this, Xu Qingyue was a little surprised and said, "Why do you want this? What are you going to do?"
"This is what I plan to do..." Lin Yanbang told Xu Qingyue about his plan.
——A few days later——
In the capital, rumors about Pei Jinyu and Lin Yanbang inexplicably spread, and it was said that the Duke's Mansion looked down on Lin Yanbang's background and therefore broke up the couple.
Taking advantage of the rumor, Lin Yanbang picked a morning when there were many people around and came to the gate of the Duke's Mansion to perform.
Lin Yanbang knelt at the door of the Duke's Mansion and shouted loudly towards the mansion: "Lord Duke, Madam Duke, please let me see Jinyu! Jinyu and I are truly in love. Although I am a little poor now, I will definitely work hard to participate in the imperial examinations and obtain fame. I will definitely treat Jinyu well in the future!"
Seeing this, the gatekeeper of the Duke's Mansion naturally stepped forward to drive Lin Yanbang away, but Lin Yanbang was determined and refused to leave.
Lin Yanbang took out a golden hairpin and a silk handkerchief from his bosom, and waved them while crying, "Jinyu! Are you in there? Can you come out to see me? Our love is stronger than gold. I have kept these things you gave me in my bosom day and night. I miss you so much!"
There were already many people gathered around. When they saw Lin Yanbang take out the valuable hairpin and women's silk handkerchief, they couldn't help but start talking.
"They look like a pair of star-crossed lovers! A poor student definitely can't afford that precious golden hairpin. It must be a token of love given to him by the daughter of the Duke's Mansion!"
"The Duke's Mansion is so prestigious, how can a poor scholar like him be worthy of it! It's only natural for the Duke's Mansion to separate them!"
"Hey, you can't say that. Don't you see that they are truly in love? The daughter of the Duke's Mansion even gave him a token of love."
"That's right. The daughter of the Duke's Mansion even gave him the silk handkerchief that the woman kept close to her body. I'm sure the two of them must be deeply in love!"
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