Xu Chengzong was taken aback, because he recognized the person in front of him. They had gone to school together, skipped classes together, and been beaten together; their relationship was quite good.
He was secretly delighted, remembering that this guy had mentioned having a younger sister who was raised in seclusion. So this was his future brother-in-law. Just as he was about to try to get closer to him and explain, he was punched in the face.
"How dare you covet my sister? You have no official rank, no virtue, and no ability; how dare you even think of me?"
Xu Chengzong covered his face and cried out, thinking to himself, "Why did you hit me again?"
"Brother Meng, I didn't know either. Hey, Brother Meng, could you give me a chance to explain?"
Meng Fangxu clenched his fists, his eyes sharp as knives, and chuckled, "Fine, let's see how you plan to argue."
"Brother Meng, I don't have much contact with women, so I don't know that this name shouldn't be asked so easily." As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Chengzong was hit again. He quickly protected his face, but his arm, which had been hit by the carrying pole, was hit again. The pain made his face contort, but this time he forced himself not to cry out.
"You can't even come up with a plausible excuse. Even a three-year-old knows that you can't ask a girl's name."
Xu Chengzong covered his face and said in a muffled voice, "But don't many young girls exchange names with their friends on the streets and alleys?"
"Pah, how can they be compared to my sister? Although my family doesn't have any rich daughters, my sister was still pampered and raised in her boudoir just like those daughters of officials."
Meng Fangxu beat Xu Chengzong up, but after a long time, Xu Chengzong didn't fight back. Instead, he ran away with his head in his hands and tried to make amends. Meng Fangxu was surprised when he remembered Xu Chengzong's usually unapproachable nature. His anger inexplicably dissipated.
After a long pause without a punch landing, Xu Chengzong slightly moved his hand away from his face and tentatively asked, "Now that you've hit me, could you let me go and apologize to Miss Meng in person?"
"Ha, put away your little schemes. With your character, you think you can have designs on my sister?"
"Then how can I keep thinking about it?"
"Nothing will work!"
Meng Fangxu made a series of harsh remarks and kicked him again. The butler, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately came forward and said that he was invited to come in as a guest by order of his mistress.
He frowned, dusted off his clothes, and went inside anyway.
Half an hour later, he left angrily, and went back to tell his parents, "The magistrate's wife intends to ask that scoundrel Xu Chengzong to marry her sister."
It turned out that when he was fighting with Xu Chengzong, the latter's servant sneaked back to the mansion and told the county magistrate's wife about it. The county magistrate's wife saw that her son had finally blossomed, so she had this idea.
“How can this be?” Madam Meng immediately objected.
Although his own son was also quite unruly, at least he was a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the county level), while Xu Chengzong was still a Tongsheng (a student who had only completed the first level of the imperial examinations).
The Meng family had once been wealthy, and even today, some distant relatives hold official positions in the capital. They have money and land, so they couldn't help but raise their standards when choosing a son-in-law. However, it was too difficult to find someone who was handsome, talented, and from an outstanding family. They would rather have someone talented but not wealthy than someone wealthy but not talented.
Xu Liang is currently their most satisfactory candidate, while Xu Chengzong is not even under consideration.
Meng Fangxu also thought of Xu Liang, who had been making headlines recently, and asked, "Father, Mother, didn't you take a liking to Xu Liang? What did he say?"
Madam Meng shook her head: "She said she plans to wait for the court to assign her an official position and has no intention of getting married for the time being."
After discussing it, Madam Meng decided to talk to Xu Jinshi again. It was an arranged marriage, and as long as Xu Jinshi agreed, Xu Liang would surely agree.
However, the next day, before Madam Meng even left the house, Xu Chengzong arrived with a pile of gifts, including tea, jade, various trinkets that didn't seem very valuable, and storybooks. The former were for the Meng couple, and the latter were for Meng Liniang to keep her entertained.
He had intended to buy some jewelry, but fortunately, his servant was sensible and stopped him from buying these personal items.
Di Xiu made a nest in a ginkgo tree near the Meng family's house. He didn't like burrowing in the soil, so he chose to climb a tree.
When he and 001 saw Xu Chengzong arrive early in the morning and pick out some decent things, they placed a bit more hope in him.
They still hoped this destined match would come true, as it would be much easier than finding someone else.
As for this guy having no academic qualifications, not even passing the county-level imperial examination, he's not even worth considering. After all, marriage isn't about academic pursuits; it's mainly about whether you get along.
To be honest, Emperor Xiu really felt that this kind of mission was tiring because there were too many uncertainties. Just look at Xu Liang's example to know this. He wondered what kind of person Xu Chengzong would become in the future, and whether he would also become a heartless man.
Meng Liniang's parents have taken a liking to Xu Liang this time and intend to marry their daughter off, which is also a troublesome matter. If Xu Chengzong doesn't work harder, Di Xiu will have to resort to some extreme measures.
After a while, Yi Hu Yi Tong looked at Xu Cheng Zong, who had been kicked out of the house by Meng Fang Xu, and they all sighed.
Soon, those things were thrown out, which was very disrespectful to Xu Chengzong.
Xu Chengzong was not discouraged. He started visiting like clockwork, even more so than when he was in school. He was also more patient with his parents than he was with them. He would often fly kites outside and write large characters on them without any shame, apologizing for his previous recklessness.
His servants sometimes wondered if their young master was possessed by some kind of demon, otherwise why would he stoop to do such shameful things?
The kites outside flew for a month without fail, rain or shine. Emperor Xiu used many spells to prevent Xu Chengzong from being struck by lightning.
Meng Liniang's gaze gradually shifted from the storybook, and she couldn't help but look at the kites outside that were changing every day and the contents of their pages. Sometimes she couldn't help but be amused.
When Xu Chengzong delivered the gifts again, Meng Liniang secretly peeked from behind the screen. After her brother chased him away, she went out and opened the box to take a look. She found many travelogues and storybooks, as well as kites, a nine-linked ring, and some other unfamiliar items.
When Meng Fangxu returned and saw the things inside, he pursed his lips and said, "I thought it was something else, but it's just these things. He probably just likes to play with them."
Meng Liniang took out a strangely shaped object and asked her brother, "Brother, what is this? How do you play with it?"
“This is a diabolo, you play it with the stick,” Meng Fangxu wanted to say that he was tired of playing with it, but then he remembered that his sister had been learning music, chess, calligraphy and painting since elementary school, and suddenly realized that she didn’t seem to have played with these things before. “Do you want to play?”
"Um."
"Throw this away, I'll go buy you a new one later."
Meng Liniang hugged the diabolo, and looked at Meng Fangxu with her eyes that looked as if they had been washed clean. The latter then raised his hands in surrender.
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