However, after glancing at Su Heng's simple attire, he couldn't let someone he valued look too shabby, especially since Chuanwen was his precious daughter; he needed to make a good impression on her. So, with a wave of his hand, he bestowed upon Su Heng a considerable amount of fine gifts, totaling more than thirty boxes.
Su Heng was naturally extremely grateful. After returning home, he prepared more than a dozen boxes of gifts. Although they were not as valuable as the imperial gift, they were at least a token of his family's goodwill.
In total, there were more than fifty boxes, which were carried into the Changxing Marquis's residence one after another, arousing the envy of many.
Everyone initially thought Su Heng was marrying above his station, even believing that this poor, top-ranking scholar was not worthy of the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changxing. But now that the emperor is backing him up, who wouldn't be envious and jealous? Just think about which minister would receive additional betrothal gifts from the emperor when he asked for a daughter's hand in marriage!
However, there were still a few people in the Changxing Marquis's mansion whose expressions were not very good. The first one was the Marquis of Changxing. Although the emperor valued Su Heng so much, he still felt that his good cabbage had been eaten by a pig.
The old lady of the Marquis of Changxing nudged his arm, and the Marquis of Changxing managed a weak smile. Later, he saw that although Su Heng's family background was somewhat humble, his talent truly amazed him. In addition, Er Gou's sweet talk made the Marquis of Changxing say that he was very satisfied with this future grandson-in-law.
Er Gou smiled inwardly, "Alright, I've appeased one."
So they started to appease the next person, Chuanwen's father, his neighbor.
Chuanrui's face darkened. His good cabbage had been eaten by a pig, but he never expected that the pig had been right under his nose all along!
However, Chuanrui was easier to appease than Changxinghou. After all, they had lived together for so many years, and he had long regarded Ergou as his own son. He knew Ergou's temperament and character very well.
When Er Gou toasted him, he still picked up the glass and drank it despite his cold face. Then, under Er Gou's flattery, he got more and more drunk. In the end, he grabbed Er Gou and was so moved that he cried and insisted on becoming sworn brothers with Er Gou. If Xu Yan hadn't pulled him away, Chuanwen and Er Gou's engagement banquet would have turned into Chuanrui and Er Gou's sworn brotherhood banquet.
Er Gou barely wiped away his sweat before moving on to the next target, his good brother Chuan Wen's brother Chuan Wu.
Chuanwu is probably the hardest of the three to persuade. His current feelings are a mixture of resentment at having his little sister taken away and the feeling of betrayal: "I treated you like a brother, but you wanted to be my brother-in-law!"
[Huh? If my brother objects, does that mean I won't have to give up the whole forest?]
Just then, Chuanwen's untimely thoughts arrived, causing most of the drinking guests to pause for a moment, then their smiles widened, looking even happier than before. Of course, Chuanwen's thoughts meant there was juicy gossip to be had, haha, who wouldn't want to munch on something good, as long as it didn't land on their own head?
However, Er Gou looked around but did not see Chuanwen. He didn't know which corner she was squatting in.
The old lady of Changxing Marquis quickly bent down and whispered to the maid beside her, telling her to find someone and pack Chuanwen up and send him back to his room. She recalled Chuanwen's previous thoughts about his desire for abs and buttocks, and had a premonition that after that, she would definitely not say anything nice.
It was a perfectly good engagement banquet, and she really didn't want her granddaughter to cause any scandal and ruin her reputation. Well... although her granddaughter probably already had almost no reputation left, she wanted to salvage as much as possible.
Amidst everyone's doubts about whether Chuanwen was acting voluntarily, Chuanwen's inner thoughts came through again: "[It's all because Er Gou is too good-looking; I really can't say no. But, brother! You have to hold on! Your little sister doesn't want to hang herself on one tree. I haven't even touched Zheng Yan's abs yet, cough! Actually, Yin Shuang and Wei Xiang are pretty good too... oh no, no, what I wanted to say was... uh, actually He Lingce's skin looks amazing; it must feel so smooth to touch. And don't let Zhang Chengjue's burly appearance fool you; I heard his eldest son is as handsome as Pan An, especially his flawless skin, even more delicate than a woman's! Heh! I haven't even pinched it yet, and...]"
A moment of silence fell over the room. So you're just like Princess Chaoyang, a hopeless romantic, agreeing to anything a handsome man would say!
Everyone unanimously expressed their disdain for Chuanwen's behavior of judging people solely by their looks! But seriously, why don't they all have that kind of beauty that makes it impossible to refuse any request?
Looking at Er Gou's somewhat stiff smile, they felt incredibly pleased. Bah! They weren't laughing at him, and they weren't jealous because he was ugly!
But after thinking about it, and looking at Er Gou again, I felt quite sorry for him. Why did he have to marry Chuanwen of all people? He's so unlucky. He's already being cuckolded right after getting engaged, and not just once.
Chuanwu and Ergou exchanged a glance. Chuanwu, who had just been indignant and ready to object to Ergou's words, raised his glass and said, "From now on, you will be my only brother-in-law!"
Chuanwu tilted his head back and downed the glass of wine, but there was really no need to emphasize the word "only". Ergou twitched his eyebrows and also tilted his head back and downed his glass. Although, Ergou was still very happy that he had passed Chuanwu's test.
While smiling and exchanging pleasantries with everyone, he was already considering whether to satisfy Chuanwen before leaving, so that she wouldn't be eyeing others. But he was also afraid that if she got a taste of the sweetness, she would go looking for someone else when he wasn't around.
Sighing inwardly, Er Gou could speak eloquently when facing the emperor's questions, and he didn't even understand why the emperor was so exhausted from dealing with state affairs that he thought were not troublesome. However, now he felt a bit of empathy for the emperor, because he was starting to rack his brains when faced with the imperial edict.
[And there's also Cheng Gonghuan, the Vice Minister of Works...]
Only then did everyone realize that Chuanwen was still listing the handsome men. After a moment of reaction, they looked at Cheng Gonghuan, the Vice Minister of Works, and blinked. That's right, Cheng Gonghuan was already over forty. Although his skin looked much better than that of his peers, Chuanwen, you heartless bastard, are you not even willing to let go of people who are a little older than your father?
Besides, open your big, bright eyes and take a look! Aside from his good skin, he's anything but handsome! And he has a huge mole on his face! And a tuft of hair on that mole! How could you do that to him?!
[Sigh! I can't bring myself to do it, I'm afraid it'll hurt my hand!]
Cheng Gonghuan's smugness froze, replaced by a forced smile. "Heh, then why are you criticizing me?"
The old lady of Changxing looked around, but it seemed that the maid had not yet found the messenger. She couldn't help but groan inwardly, as if... her granddaughter was about to offend someone again.
[Huh? When did a best skin ranking appear in the capital? Oh, Cheng Gonghuan made this up, haha! He put himself in first place, hahaha! Are they all this good at this?!]
Cheng Gonghuan's hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly, but he could still manage. As long as you have thick skin, a thousand arrows can't pierce it! Isn't my skin better than yours? Don't I deserve to be ranked number one on the list of best skin?
cough!
The Minister of Works looked at his subordinate's proud and shameless demeanor and thought, "Why would a high-ranking official of the fourth rank in the imperial court create a best skin ranking list? Are you always this free?"
The Minister of Works secretly decided that when he returned, he would not promote or raise him, but simply increase his workload, to see if he would still have the time to create any ranking lists.
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