Ning Hong never expected that Long Yuan would bring the Crown Prince with him. In his opinion, Long Yuan's family would not let him have his way so easily.
Putting aside other matters, although the current dynasty does not prohibit widows from remarrying, it does not encourage it either.
Besides, Qiao'er wasn't a widow; she had been divorced.
Ning Hong didn't have high hopes for Long Yuan; he was currently busy getting Ning Qiao'er to lose weight.
Unfortunately, although Qiao'er worked much harder than before, she still slacked off.
"Ning family boy, give me two catties of pork."
Ning Hong nodded.
"Give me a little something extra. I buy meat from you every day, so give me this pig's heart."
Ning Hong then looked up.
They met the eyes of a middle-aged woman with a beaming smile.
This woman has a black mole on the tip of her nose, and she also has a big red flower pinned to her head.
Dressed in red and green, she looks somewhat familiar.
"Have you bought meat from me before?"
He had a good memory; the middle-aged woman looked unfamiliar and wasn't a regular customer.
"Oh dear, young master Ning, your memory is really bad. It's me, it's Matchmaker Liu."
"I can tell you're a matchmaker now," Ning Hong said, wrapping up the two jin of meat. "Thirty-two coins."
"Round the change, and I'll just give you thirty coins. I've come today with some good news to tell you." The matchmaker smiled and put down thirty coins.
He then casually placed the piece of pig's heart in his hand.
"You'll definitely like this news."
The matchmaker laughed so hard she nearly fell over.
Ning Hong looked at her expressionlessly.
??????
A moment later, the matchmaker silently put down the pig's heart in her hand.
Ning the butcher's eyes are really creepy.
It's quite bizarre that this person, who clearly owns a stable family fortune, still chose to commit murder.
Not accepting anyone else—even Ning Hongze herself couldn't understand what the original owner was thinking.
Is it because they enjoy the thrill of slaughtering pigs?
"Tell me, what's the good news?"
"Young Master Ning, do you know the Xu family in the north of the city?"
"I'm not sure."
Ning Hong shook her head.
He genuinely didn't know.
The Xu family can't be a good family, and he's probably after their wealth, hoping they can support his studies for the imperial examinations.
"The Xu family is a well-known family of farmers and scholars, and they are quite famous in our Hu County."
"Oh," Ning Hong replied indifferently.
Since you come from a renowned family of scholars and farmers, it's quite obvious that your request to marry his sister is something you're after.
Although I don't want to say it, his sister is firstly not beautiful enough to attract anyone, and secondly, she's been married before. Unless she's as foolish as Long Yuan, his sister probably won't be able to marry into a good family.
That's why Ning Hong gave her that little notebook, hoping she could learn more so that if she couldn't get married in the future, she would at least have so many things to rely on.
Even if she were to actually get married, with so many ideas for acquiring property, Ning Qiao'er's future would surely be somewhat secure.
Ning Hong probably didn't expect that his proposal was already in front of the country's highest leader. Because of this, he agreed to the marriage between Long Yuan and Ning Qiao'er.
What are the Xu family's requirements?
Ning Hong then chopped up another piece of meat, minced it, and prepared to make dumplings for them when she got home in the afternoon.
Fresh pork, fragrant scallions, a touch of sesame oil, and carrots—it's absolutely delicious!
"The Xu family's request is not high. The Xu family currently has three boys in school, and the Xu family hopes that the Ning family can pay for their education."
"Wait, all three of them need to study? Then who is the man who wants to marry my Qiao'er?"
Ning Hongze's hand, chopping meat, suddenly stopped. It was another scholar. Because of Su Xiao, he didn't have much affection for scholars. If he could, he wouldn't want to marry Qiao'er off to another scholar.
"This, of course, is the eldest master of the Xu family. The eldest master of the Xu family is also a scholar…?"
"Master Xu? How old is he this year?" This sounds so strange.
"He's still young, only thirty-eight years old this year. His wife died last year, and he wanted to remarry. Just then, the Ning family girl was divorced and returned home, so they made a perfect couple. That's fate."
"It's an absolutely ridiculous coincidence." Ning Hong gritted her teeth.
“After my sister marries into the family, she will not only have to provide for three stepsons to take the imperial examinations, but she probably won’t even be able to have children herself.”
“Of course, the Xu family already has three sons.” Seemingly sensing Ning Hongze’s displeasure, the matchmaker said cautiously, but was glared at by Ning Hongze, and swallowed back many of her words.
What she really meant was that the Ning family girl seemed unable to have children, so it would be better for her to marry a man who already had children and wouldn't have to ask for too much. Besides, given the Ning family girl's appearance and her past divorce, what kind of good family could she possibly marry into? It would be better for her to marry this eldest master of the Xu family; although he was older, older men were more likely to know how to care for someone.
The matchmaker went on and on, but Ning Hong simply shook her head.
"You can leave now, my sister won't marry him."
"What? You won't marry me? Oh, no, young master Ning, wouldn't you like to reconsider?"
"No need, my sister will not marry a man older than my father."
Of course, most importantly, this man was clearly up to no good.
They wanted Qiao'er to support them, but they didn't want her to have children.
Ning Hong could guarantee that once these people grew up, or passed the imperial examinations like Su Xiao, his sister would be abandoned once again.
"Oh no, please! At least let's meet!"
"What's the point of meeting him? I will never let my sister marry a man like that." He didn't care about the man's academic achievements, and besides, he didn't even consider a mere scholar worthy of his attention.
"If you say another word, put down the meat and get out of here." Ning Hong's voice wasn't loud, but her eyes were filled with a chilling aura.
"No, no, Brother Ning, I just came over to chat with you for a bit. If you want to meet them, go ahead. If you don't want to, that's fine too. I'll go talk to them right now."
"Are you kidding me? That look is terrifying." She didn't dare say another word. "I'm leaving right now."
They arrived with smiles on their faces, beaming with joy, but left with slumped shoulders and a look of utter despair.
It's obvious that the marriage didn't go through.
"Matchmaker Liu, how is it?" Upon seeing Matchmaker Liu approach, the Xu family members hurriedly stepped forward to ask.
Although her expression told me the outcome wouldn't be good, I still held onto a sliver of hope.
"The Ning family disagrees."
"Disagree? Why? My father was a scholar."
"They said your dad is old enough to be his sister's father, and he doesn't want to marry his sister off to a woman that old."
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