Chapter 22
Mu Yugang was quite efficient; the news that Mu Yulu would throw a bridal bouquet at the No. 1 Pavilion in the world two months later to choose a husband quickly spread throughout the capital.
At the same time, in order to save face for Prince Mu, Mu Yugang did not mention a word about the time he had sent someone to the Mu residence to propose marriage.
The day after announcing the news of his marriage proposal by throwing a bridal bouquet, he prepared a box of gold bars and personally went to the prince's door to request an audience.
However, even after making the trip himself, he didn't even catch a glimpse of Mu Qinhan.
The steward of the Mu family blocked Mu Yugang and his entourage from entering the gate, and naturally refused to let them in. The apology gifts that Mu Yugang had carefully prepared were also rejected.
"Say what you need to say here. It's just that His Highness is busy with official duties and can't leave. I will definitely inform His Highness later." The steward stood in the doorway, putting his hands into his sleeves, looking like he was keeping everyone at arm's length.
Although the person in front of him was just a servant, he was still a servant in the Prince's mansion. Even when beating a dog, one has to consider its owner. How could a dog that has gained power dare to bully people? Mu Yugang muttered to himself while smiling obsequiously, subtly conveying the news that the legendary great demon Sanzhou Jinse had actually been blind enough to fall for Mu Yulu.
"Actually, we also know that even if the Mu family's most useless daughter were to become a concubine in the Prince's mansion, it would be considered a great honor for her."
Seeing the steward's expression change, Mu Yugang kept forcing a smile: "It's really my daughter who's so disappointing. She actually dared to secretly pledge her life to someone behind her parents' backs. What kind of behavior is this? I only heard about this from her a couple of days ago. You have no idea how angry I am..."
The steward frowned impatiently: "Master Mu, there are still a lot of things waiting for me to handle in the Prince's mansion, and you also have a large business to do. Let's make it a win-win situation and not waste any more time."
He stared at Mu Yugang with a forced smile: "Is your Mu family here today to refuse a marriage proposal from the Prince's residence?"
The steward, being someone who served in the Prince's residence, was enough to frighten Mu Yugang into breaking out in a cold sweat with just one question: "No, no, it's not that I'm refusing the marriage, but... but I wanted to discuss with the Prince whether we could find someone else?"
The manager had never seen such a shameless person before, and couldn't help but frown again: "Change to someone else? What do you mean?"
Mu Yugang rubbed his hands together like a fly: "Well, actually we're quite embarrassed. My eldest daughter is morally flawed and her behavior is improper. She's really not worthy of Your Highness. But I have two other daughters, each more beautiful than the last. Most importantly, they are both proper young ladies raised in seclusion, and their moral character is absolutely impeccable."
He waved his hand awkwardly and continued with a forced smile, "At least they would never jump into the lake for no reason. The Mu family has already filled in an artificial lake. If Your Highness were to marry my good-for-nothing eldest daughter, even the lake in the manor wouldn't be enough to fill it, hahaha..."
The steward endured it for a long time, but finally couldn't bear it any longer and closed the door in front of Mu Yugang, leaving them standing outside.
Mu Yugang stood helplessly at the door, unsure whether to stay or leave. After awkwardly waiting in front of the Prince's mansion for half a day, he slunk back to the Mu residence.
He didn't see Mu Qinhan, and he didn't know whether the steward had relayed his words to the prince. However, because of his publicity, the news that Mu Yulu would throw an embroidered ball at the No. 1 Pavilion in the world to choose a husband had spread far and wide. Even if Mu Qinhan didn't leave the house, he should have heard about it.
As for what Mu Qinhan really thinks about this matter, no one can guess.
If he didn't actually like Mu Yulu that much, why would he personally send someone to propose marriage and elevate this merchant's daughter to a concubine in the royal palace?
However, if it is said that he truly liked Mu Yulu, then after learning that the Mu family had politely rejected his marriage proposal and was about to throw the embroidered ball at the World's Number One Pavilion, he remained unmoved and showed no reaction whatsoever.
He's the regent with real power; what can't he have? If he really wanted a woman, he could just come and force her upon him; it wouldn't take much effort.
Now, more than half a month has passed, and there has been no movement from the Mu Prince's residence. It seems that Prince Mu's interest in Mu Yulu was just a passing fancy and he didn't take it seriously at all.
At first, Mu Yugang was afraid of offending Mu Qinhan, worried that this legendary unpredictable Yama was just pretending to be indifferent, but in fact he might suddenly retaliate against the Mu family one day.
Therefore, he watched the Prince's mansion with trepidation every day, and even tried to buy information about Mu Qinhan through various channels to find out how the Prince was feeling lately.
After hearing that Mu Qinhan didn't care about the matter at all and had been handling official business as usual, and even went hunting twice, Mu Yugang finally felt relieved and began to focus on preparing for Mu Yulu's embroidered ball throwing competition.
These past few days, Mu Yugang has been on edge and has even lost his appetite, while the instigator, Mu Yulu, is in high spirits and eats heartily every day, gaining several pounds.
Xinyun looked at Mu Yulu with relief: "Miss was seriously ill a while ago and lost a lot of weight. She needs to recover completely."
Mu Yulu patted Xinyun's hand: "Don't worry, my biggest worry has been successfully resolved. From now on, there's nothing to worry about. As long as I'm in a good mood, I can recover from everything."
Xinyun returned to the capital two days ago. Before she even arrived, she heard the news that Mu Yulu was going to throw a bridal bouquet to choose a husband. The first thing she did after returning home was to ask Mu Yulu if the news was true or not.
After all, in her memory, Mu Yulu loved Mu Qinhan to death and had long said that she would marry no one but him in this life. How come, after she had only been gone for a short time, her young lady suddenly wanted to throw a bridal bouquet to choose a husband?
She was worried that her mistress was being forced by the master and mistress, but she never expected that the idea of throwing the embroidered ball was actually suggested by her mistress herself.
"I told you long ago that I've changed my mind and no longer like Mu Qinhan. Xinyun, you should be happy for me."
Mu Yulu showed no interest in topics related to Mu Qinhan, but instead kept grabbing Xinyun and asking her what had happened between her and Feng Wentang on the road.
It turns out that when Feng Wentang and his group received Xinyun's message, they had already encountered two waves of attacks.
However, there were no experts among those two groups of robbers; the people from the escort agency alone could handle them, and Feng Wentang didn't even have to make a move.
Therefore, Feng Wentang hesitated slightly when he saw Mu Yulu's handwritten letter.
This shipment was important and urgent, so we never considered taking it by water from the beginning. If they had changed course to water halfway through, the journey would have been much slower than expected.
Moreover, the attacks they encountered along the way were all minor and harmless; the robbers posed no threat to them whatsoever.
It's hard to believe that if we continued on our journey, we would encounter a powerful figure who could kill everyone.
When Feng Wentang discussed the possibility of changing to the waterway with the people from the escort agency, he was ridiculed by them: "You are supposed to be a master, why are you whining like a woman? We've traveled this road countless times. The bandits on the mountain have long been wiped out by the imperial court. Where are there any powerful figures with high martial arts skills waiting here to take our lives?"
When Xin Yun heard them say that, she knew that these people were all stubborn fools who wouldn't listen to her no matter what. So she had no choice but to place all her hopes on Feng Wentang.
Clutching Feng Wentang's arm tightly, she pleaded, "Guard Feng, please believe me. Miss is still ill and deeply worried about this matter. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation, she would never have sent me to deliver this message in person, and I would never have abandoned her to come all this way."
She almost cried as she spoke: "It's better to be safe than sorry. Miss is worried about you, afraid that something might happen to you."
Feng Wentang said nothing more, pondered for a few seconds, and then gave orders to the escort agency: "The goods being transported this time are very important. I am the guard of the Mu family. From now on, you will follow my orders. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."
He knew that some of the old镖头 (bodyguards/escorts) in this group were very stubborn and would never obediently follow his orders, so he simply ordered those who disobeyed to take some of the goods and continue along the original route, while he and another group of people who were willing to change course took the truly important goods and changed to the waterway.
This not only resolved the conflict but also diverted the attention of potential robbers lurking ahead.
If we really encounter deadly robbers, let those stubborn people deal with them.
Seeing that Feng Wentang made a decision so quickly, Xinyun breathed a sigh of relief and turned to run back to the Mu residence, but Feng Wentang grabbed her arm: "If it is really as Miss said, this place is no longer safe. You must come with us by water and not return alone."
Xinyun stamped her feet anxiously: "But Miss is still sick. She is very ill and cannot be left unattended."
Feng Wentang sighed: "But if no one protects you and you encounter an accident on your way back, wouldn't there be even less people to take care of you in the future?"
He earnestly advised him, just as Xinyun had advised him earlier: "Take good care of yourself and go back safely. If you lose your life here, you'll never be able to go back to see Miss again."
Recalling this, Xinyun said with lingering fear, "Fortunately, Guardian Feng listened to Miss and changed to the waterway. Fortunately, I also listened to Guardian Feng's advice and set off with them, instead of returning alone."
"Later, those who insisted on taking the land route indeed encountered fierce bandits, and none of the six of them survived. It is said that the bandits, having failed to steal what they wanted, retaliated by robbing all the caravans along that route."
She raised her hand and patted her chest: "If I had insisted on going back the way I came that day, I probably would have run into those vengeful robbers halfway there."
As Mu Yulu listened, she nodded and said, "Thanks to Guard Feng's alertness and thoughtfulness, he managed to save your life."
"By the way, where did Guardian Feng go after he came back? I haven't seen him for the past two days."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
