"He's good to you, but his family background is too low. If only his family were of a higher social standing and could be a good match for us."
"Mother! I believe that with his own abilities, he will definitely achieve something great."
Seeing her daughter's confident expression, Madam Wang didn't show it on her face, but she sighed inwardly. She had asked Lord Wang about it, and he said that his essays were ornate but empty, all show and no substance. The current emperor disliked this kind of writing the most, and when the emperor has a preference, the examiners will naturally follow suit.
Moreover, he was arrogant and self-important, with high aspirations but low abilities. Three years ago, when he failed the imperial examination, Lord Wang gave him several pointers, but he didn't take them seriously and thought that Lord Wang was looking down on him. He thought he was hiding his true intentions very well, but little did he know that Lord Wang had been in officialdom for many years and had already seen through his little schemes. If it weren't for the fact that the die was cast, Lord Wang would never have let his daughter marry such a person.
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Jiang Yue and Jiang Ze coaxed Chen Shi to go cook. Jiang Ze put down his book box and came out with his brush, ink, paper and inkstone to finish the lessons the teacher had assigned for the day. While tidying up, Jiang Ze asked Jiang Yue, "Sister, you can't fool us for long."
Jiang Yue didn't stop what she was doing. She tentatively asked Jiang Ze, "Xiao Ze, if I were to start my own household and never get married, would you support me?"
Jiang Ze paused, nearly dropping the inkstone. He hurriedly caught it and placed it on the desk, then glanced back at Chen Shi. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Chen Shi hadn't heard him. He hadn't expected his sister to have this idea. Jiang Ze had thought that his sister had high standards. Of course, Jiang Ze also thought that the people being asked to marry her now were not good enough for his sister. He was thinking that it wouldn't matter if they waited a few years until he passed the high school entrance exam and could find his sister a better brother-in-law.
"Sister, it's no use even if I support you! Parents will never agree! And why do you have such thoughts? You're like this..." Jiang Ze didn't know what to say. After all, nowadays very few people don't want to get married or have a wife. Generally, women who establish their own households are widows or people who really can't get married.
"I just don't want to get married. So, do you support me?" Jiang Yue finished speaking and stared intently at Jiang Ze with her bright eyes. Jiang Ze tried to look away, but couldn't, so he could only nod helplessly: "I support you, but you have to convince your parents first."
“I’m confident that my father will agree. I’ve mentioned this idea to him over the past few years, and three out of the four family members have already agreed. My mother has always listened to my father, so there won’t be any problems. Things are going to happen soon.”
Seeing Jiang Yue's confident demeanor, Jiang Ze didn't try to discourage her. This decision wasn't easy for his parents either; being young, he had little say and could only focus on his studies. He was currently a junior student, but if he passed the county-level exams and eventually obtained a minor official position, he could support and protect his sister even if she didn't marry. He sighed and decided to continue studying. His teacher said he was still a bit short of passing the provincial-level exams, which were for students who passed the county-level exams (xiucai).
When Mr. Jiang returned home for dinner with his family of four that evening, his mother, Chen, brought up Jiang Yue's marriage again. Mr. Jiang put down his chopsticks and said, "Da Ya, tell your father and mother what you think, so we can make arrangements for you."
Jiang Yue took a deep breath, raised her head and looked at her father seriously: "Father, I don't want to get married. I want to establish my own household."
Chen looked at Jiang Yue in surprise and said vehemently, "Nonsense! What kind of woman doesn't get married!"
Jiang Yue quickly said, "Mother, why must a woman get married? I can support myself and take care of you."
Jiang Ze chimed in, "Even if my sister doesn't want to get married, I can still support her."
Although Jiang's father was somewhat prepared, he still disagreed when the time came. However, he still spoke to Jiang Yue in a gentle tone: "Da Ya, if you don't want to get married now, I won't force you, but let's forget about establishing a female household."
Seeing that her father's attitude had softened, Jiang Yue said sincerely, "Father and Mother, I know you are worried about me, but I really don't want to get married. I want to live on my own."
After Jiang Yue finished speaking, Jiang Ze said, "Father, I will study hard and strive to be able to protect my sister in the future."
After a moment of silence, Father Jiang said, "Alright, since you're so determined, I won't stop you. Tomorrow I'll go to the county government office to ask about the specific procedures."
Jiang Yue was overjoyed and quickly thanked her father. Although Chen was still somewhat reluctant, seeing that her father had already agreed, she didn't say anything more.
That night, Chen tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Suddenly, she sat up and looked at Jiang's father: "Father, how could you agree to let Daya establish a female household? Do you even know what kind of person would establish a female household?"
“I know, but Da Ya has had this idea for a long time. She mentioned it to me indirectly a few years ago. At that time, I thought she was just asking out of curiosity. I guess she made up her mind a few years ago and hasn’t changed her mind over the years. How can we change her mind after just a few words?”
"Besides, Daya has always been a person with her own opinions. What can we do if we disagree? Force her to find someone to marry? Can she be happy then?"
“But we can’t just agree right away. If we drag it out, maybe in a few years…” Chen couldn’t finish her sentence. She knew it was unlikely; she knew her own child quite well.
"If she doesn't want to marry, then she doesn't have to. We've saved up some money at home. When the time is right, we can buy a few acres of fertile land, which will be enough for her to live on. Besides, she has a skill to rely on, so her life won't be too bad."
"Oh, that's nothing. The main problem is whether she can handle the gossip and criticism from others in the future."
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