Chapter 242 The Adorable Contrast
After handing over the gifts they brought to the servants, Sheng An and his companions went to the main room to pay their respects to Madam Tan.
Mrs. Tan smiled and invited them to sit down and have some tea. Looking at her son, who had lost a lot of weight, her face showed obvious heartache: "Was the journey smooth?"
Tan Zhenlin sat down next to her with a grin, picked up a shelled nut, and popped it into his mouth to chew.
"It's great. When those bandits saw that we had so many guards with us, they were so scared that they turned tail and ran. If they had been any slower, I would have definitely rushed up and kicked them a couple of times."
Seeing her son behaving improperly, Madam Tan slapped him lightly and said, "Speak properly."
Tan Zhenlin didn't seem to care, still maintaining his nonchalant attitude: "Isn't this my own home?"
Mrs. Tan shook her head helplessly, too lazy to pay him any more attention.
He's reached marriageable age, yet he's still acting like a spoiled brat. If the ladies of the capital saw him, they certainly wouldn't have a good impression of him.
After arriving in Beijing, Madam Tan not only helped Tan Qingrou find a husband, but also looked for suitable young ladies of equal social standing for Tan Zhenlin.
After attending several banquets, she took a liking to several nice girls and was just waiting for the imperial examinations to end so that Tan Zhenlin could meet them.
Mrs. Tan has been extremely worried about her children's marriages lately.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Madam Tan had something to attend to, and Sheng An and the others tactfully left the main house with the Tan siblings.
Tan Qingrou hadn't seen Sheng An for a while and had a lot to say to her. After greeting her brothers, she pulled Sheng An into her boudoir.
"Sister An'an, these are some of the best snacks I've tried since I came to the capital. They have a different flavor from those in Qingzhou. You should try them."
Tan Qingrou presented her "treasures" like a precious gift, placing them one by one in front of Sheng An, along with a pot of flower tea that she had personally brewed.
Several pastries exuded a rich, sweet aroma. Sheng An casually picked up a piece and savored it, then smiled at Tan Qingrou, who was looking on expectantly: "Crispy and fragrant, sweet but not cloying, it's really good."
Tan Qingrou was very happy and invited her to try other snacks, and she also picked up a piece to eat herself.
The two chatted and enjoyed the snacks together, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere, as if they had returned to the carefree times they had spent together in Qingzhou.
After eating several pieces, Sheng An picked up his teacup, took two sips to suppress the sweetness in his mouth, and carefully observed Tan Qingrou's complexion.
Seeing that she looked just as she had before coming to the capital, Sheng An felt slightly relieved and brought up the matter of the matchmaking: "Have you met that promising young man that your mother had taken a liking to?"
Mentioning this, Tan Qingrou immediately put down her half-eaten snack, raised her eyebrows, and complained angrily:
"Don't even mention that hypocrite. He looks respectable, but he's utterly rude. The day we met, he even brought his maid with him!"
Tan Qingrou is usually gentle and soft-spoken, so it's rare for her to be so agitated and indignant. She was clearly quite upset by the person she was looking for.
The Tan family has no prominent background and no real connections in the capital, but Lord Tan's official career has been smooth, with excellent performance evaluations year after year. He is returning to the capital this year to report on his duties and is very likely to stay in the capital. His future prospects are not bad.
The man was looking at Tan Qingrou, yet he brought along a maidservant, which clearly showed that he didn't take the Tan family or Tan Qingrou seriously.
This may seem like a loss of face for Tan Qingrou, but in reality, it also shows a disregard for the upbringing she has cultivated over the years.
"That kind of brainless bastard doesn't deserve you. Luckily, he was an idiot and was exposed early on, so you didn't jump into his family's fire pit!"
Sheng An was also angry on behalf of the little girl, and slammed his fist on the table, uttering a curse.
"puff--"
Tan Qingrou couldn't help but chuckle, feeling a warmth in her heart: "Yes, it's a good thing to find out early. It's just that my mother was so angry that she didn't sleep well for several nights. She even secretly told me that her best friend was unreliable."
She didn't think it was the lady's fault; you can know a person's face but not their heart, and everyone can misjudge someone sometimes.
Seeing that the young girl was composed and didn't need any comforting, Sheng An didn't waste any words and asked, "Besides that bastard, have you considered any other young men?"
Tan Qingrou nodded, her tone as calm as if she were talking about the weather:
"I went on a blind date with someone a few days ago. He looked gloomy and seemed like the whole world owed him money. I really didn't want to see his face, so I came back in less than an incense stick's time."
Sheng An: "..."
It turns out that whenever you go on a blind date, whether you're an ordinary person or a superhuman, you're likely to encounter some oddballs.
Sheng An couldn't help but feel sorry for Tan Qingrou. At the age when she was just beginning to experience love, the only two dates she went on were with weirdos. Wouldn't that leave her with psychological trauma?
Tan Qingrou saw through her thoughts and comforted her instead:
"It's nothing. From the moment I knew I would get married when I grew up, I had already decided that my future husband should be of decent character and able to give me enough dignity as his wife."
She doesn't value romantic relationships or anything like that.
Just like how her mother loved her father, she still had to watch her father bring concubines into the mansion and watch her illegitimate sons and daughters leave one by one.
Rather than being like her mother, always saddened by being alone in her empty room, it would be better to abandon romantic love, firmly grasp the power in the inner quarters, and make her later years more comfortable.
Sheng An stared in surprise at the fifteen-year-old girl in front of her, truly not expecting her to think this way, which was completely at odds with her gentle appearance and temperament.
Hmm, how can this not be considered a cute contrast?
At this moment, Sheng An looked at Tan Qingrou with an expression of utter longing and affection.
As long as a woman doesn't become obsessed with love, her life won't be too bad.
Tan Qingrou smiled and held Sheng An's hand, winking playfully, "Don't worry, Sister An'an, I'm sure I'll marry a perfect husband."
For some reason, Sheng An felt a sudden pang of sadness in his heart. He reached out and patted the little girl's head, saying, "Xiao Rou is so clever and insightful; she will surely get what she wants."
After that, the two stopped mentioning the fortune-telling and started talking about the gossip that was widely circulating in the capital.
Sheng An listened with great interest, sorting out the relationships between the characters in the gossip in his mind, and found that these juicy stories were even more delicious.
Finally, Tan Qingrou concluded: "Those wealthy and powerful families appear glamorous on the surface, but few people would believe that they harbor filth and corruption inside. They seem like uncivilized monkeys."
In other words, primal bestiality overwhelmed humanity.
Sheng An wholeheartedly agreed: "These kinds of people just happened to be born at a good time."
In the past, when the internet was so developed, this would have been a trending topic on major social networking sites in no time.
After having lunch at the Tan family's house, Tan Qingrou, as the host, showed Sheng An and the others around the general layout of the capital.
She knew everything about the restaurants, bookstores, and theaters – which had the best food, the most books, and the liveliest performances.
She even blurted out which brothel had the prettiest girls.
Tan Zhenlin's face darkened upon hearing this, never expecting that his sister would know such things while he was away from her.
What about his gentle and obedient younger sister?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com