Chapter 88 A Young Man in His Prime

"Mother, look, what do you think of my outfit today?" Minglan was wearing a tight-fitting short gown with narrow sleeves. The gown was in a light and elegant color with delicate patterns embroidered on it. She wore a delicate jade belt around her waist, outlining her slender waist. She wore a short headscarf and tied her hair in a bun with a ribbon, which made her look smart and neat. She wore specially made jodhpurs on her legs, which fit her closely. The whole outfit was neat and clean, and it was obviously specially made for playing polo.

Mingxi looked carefully, lowered his head and took another sip of the basil drink, then spoke slowly, "Are you going to play polo again? Have you finished the homework assigned by Mr. Zhuang? Since you learned to play polo, you always go to play a game every day off to have fun. At night, you have to light a lamp and stay up late to catch up on your homework. Can't you finish your homework first?"

Minglan saw Mingxi nagging and getting angrier and angrier, so she immediately ran over and hugged him. Mingxi said coquettishly, "Mother, I have made an appointment with Guifen. I can't break it, otherwise she will ignore me. Today I will try to beat the opponent as soon as possible, so that I can come back earlier to catch up with my studies."

Speaking of Zhang Guifen, Mingxi asked, "How can Madam Zhang still have time to play polo with you? Hasn't the wedding date with General Zheng been set? Shouldn't she stay at home to accompany the Duke of Yingguo and his wife and sort out her wedding dowry?"

"Even after the wedding date was set, she has been detained at home by the Duke of Yingguo and his wife. Today, she insisted on asking me to play polo to relax!" Minglan heard Mingxi's doubts and explained to her excitedly, as if she was the one detained at home.

"Are you going with your fifth sister?" Since it was an appointment in advance, Mingxi didn't want to ruin their interest, so she gossiped about Ruolan.

"Fifth sister will go of course!" Minglan became interested when she mentioned Rulan, "Mother, you don't know, Fifth sister doesn't like playing polo. She says that the bouncing around on the horse will always make her fall apart. But she still insists on going. Do you know why?"

"For General Lin?" Mingxi also smiled jokingly.

"That's right. Generals Lin and Zheng always like to get together, either to play Cuju or polo. Every court is surrounded by young ladies. When those ladies see a young man they like, they will not hesitate to ask their servants to bring him water. One time, my fifth sister saw someone bringing tea to General Lin, which made her very angry. Later, she saw General Lin drink a pot of water in front of her before he stopped. From then on, she kept asking Guifen and me to teach her how to play polo. As long as General Lin is there, she will never be absent. My fifth sister said that you have to take good care of your own people and not give others the chance to snatch them away." Minglan laughed for a long time after she finished speaking.

"When the Fifth Lady and General Lin meet, they always have a quarrel. It's fine if General Lin loses the argument, but if General Lin wins, the Fifth Lady will get angry, and then General Lin will try to coax her. It's always like this, but they never get tired of it." Xiao Tao couldn't understand the way this couple got along. "

Xiao Tao, you don't understand, you haven't figured it out yet, this is a way for the Fifth Lady and General Lin to increase their feelings," Ming Xi saw Xiao Tao scratching her head, not understanding, "Think about it, do they feel better after the quarrel?"

Xiao Tao thought about it carefully, and after General Lin coaxed the Fifth Lady, the two of them did get better. When the two of them were together, it was as if there was an invisible shield on them, isolating other people from outside, and other people couldn't join them at all. Xiao Tao nodded heavily.

"That's it! Well, pack up and go quickly, or I'll find you to blame if you're late." Mingxi urged them.

"Mother, I'm leaving now. I'll be back early to catch up on my studies." Minglan had already walked into the yard, and her voice was still floating over.

When Minglan arrived at the polo field, she saw Qi Heng waiting outside.

"Sixth sister!" Qi Heng greeted Minglan when he saw her.

"Brother Yuanruo? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home preparing for the imperial examination after passing the provincial examination? My second brother is already worried!" Minglan was very surprised.

Qi Heng remembered that when the Zheng family proposed to the Duke of Ying's mansion, he went to have a drink and heard some gentlemen at the table praising Minglan.

"The sixth daughter of the Sheng family plays polo with great spirit, and she is as brave as any man."

"You've been mentioning the sixth daughter of the Sheng family recently. Are you attracted to her?"

"Of course I am attracted to her. I play Cuju and polo with Yun Ting every day. Since Yun Ting is good friends with the fifth daughter of his family, I always run into the sixth daughter. The sixth daughter is nice, looks good, and plays polo well. How can I not be attracted to her? It's just that she hasn't reached the age of marriage yet, otherwise I would have proposed to her a long time ago. I tell you this because I want to tell you that I like this girl very much, so don't have any ideas about her."

"I will not compete with you. I like gentle and graceful women. The fourth daughter of the Sheng family is the one I want to marry. Since you like the sixth daughter, we may become brothers-in-law in the future. I must remind you that the sixth daughter's grace on the field is not only seen by you. If you like her, you'd better prepare early."

The young man was shocked when he heard what his brother said, "Are you saying that there are others who are interested in the sixth daughter?"

"Good girl, others are not blind, how can they not see it? Not to mention you, the sixth girl, even the fourth girl I like, since her talent and reputation spread, countless people have admired her. If it weren't for the Sheng family's early spread that girls should not talk about marriage before they reach the age of 15, I'm afraid her door would have been trampled down." This rule was discussed and decided by Mingxi, Sheng Hong and the eldest lady. She saw that Hualan got married and had children early. Although there was a medical woman around to help her take care of her, her body was still a little weak after giving birth to Shi Ge. So she discussed with Sheng Hong and the eldest lady to let the girls discuss marriages and get married later.

Qi Heng didn't want to listen to what the two said afterwards. Qi Heng didn't know how rich and delicious the banquet at the Duke of Ying's mansion was. Anyway, everything he ate tasted like chewing wax. In order to prepare for the provincial examination, he had been either listening to Zhuang Xuejiu's lectures or reviewing his lessons at home for the past year. He was completely oblivious to the world outside and only focused on reading the books of sages. He didn't know much about what was happening outside. If he hadn't come to the banquet today, he wouldn't have known that Minglan's goodness had been seen by so many people. As a brother, he should be happy for his sixth sister, but after hearing these words, his heart seemed to be blocked. He told Buwei what was in his heart.

"Buwei, why do they like the Sixth Sister? How can they be worthy of the Sixth Sister?"

Buwei looked at his son's distraught look and shook his head. His son had been with the Sheng brothers and sisters every day because of school in recent years, especially with the Sixth Miss, they had been together the longest. They played together, studied together, did homework together, the son taught the Sixth Miss calligraphy, the Sixth Miss told the son stories... The son had already fallen deeply in love, but he himself was still ignorant!

"Son, who do you think is worthy of the Sixth Miss?" Buwei did not answer his question, but asked him instead.

Qi Heng hesitated for a long time, but he could not give an answer. The Sixth Sister was the sun, her light shone on everyone, but who could compare with the sun?