Chapter 151 Chain Reaction
When they heard that the enrollment period was still in March of the following year, some people felt distressed, while others simply turned their attention to auditing the course.
However, there were also people with ulterior motives who secretly breathed a sigh of relief and went back to arrange a marriage for their daughters as quickly as possible.
The Lu family of the grain shop in the west of the city is the best among them.
It was obvious that the father and brother in the family were unable to bear the heavy responsibility and ran the family grain store business into a mess. After the youngest daughter took on the pressure and revitalized the family business.
But at this time, her father and brother began to fear the abilities of their youngest daughter, Lu Yu.
They used the excuse of being nice to Lu Yu to ask her to give up her business and go to a women's college.
Lu Yu naturally wanted to go to school, so he agreed.
But what Lu Yu didn't expect was that the enrollment time for "Future Women's College" would be next year.
Her family took it upon themselves to arrange a marriage for her, and even to avoid gossip from others, they betrothed Lu Yuer, who had a good business acumen, to a scholar as a concubine.
In this era, among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, merchants were ranked last. Logically speaking, for a merchant's daughter to become a concubine for a scholar was considered marrying above her station (in the eyes of most people in this world).
If it were an ordinary woman, she might have endured it.
But Lu Yuer had tried to build a world on her own, so naturally she was unwilling to shrink back into the small world in the backyard, living for a man and dying for a man.
However, in this era, the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker left Lu Yu, as a daughter, no room for resistance.
But should he just accept his fate like this? Lu Yu was unwilling to do so.
After much deliberation, she asked her parents to sign her up for a one-month "pre-marital training" on the grounds that a merchant's daughter did not understand the rules of a scholarly family.
She knew that in this era, women's fate was often beyond their control, but she refused to give in easily. She wanted to fight for a chance of survival, even if the hope was slim, she was willing to give it a try.
Therefore, during the training period, Lu Yu put in his utmost effort, wishing to memorize everything he learned in his mind.
Especially when learning about the regulations in the marriage law regarding men having three wives and four concubines, it was stated that a Juren (a juren) could take one concubine, but those below Juren, such as Xiucai (a scholar) and commoners, were not allowed to take concubines.
Lu Yu was ecstatic.
She held up the training book, pointed to the clauses on it and asked, "Sir, are the regulations on it true?"
"It is true that although men can have three wives and four concubines, there are restrictions." Seeing that Lu Yu attached great importance to this, the female teacher simply explained to her in detail the regulations of the Zhou Dynasty regarding taking concubines.
"For commoners to take concubines, they must be over 40 years old and childless, and their family's land holdings must not be less than five-tenths."
"If it's not for the sake of expanding the family, the man who takes a concubine must at least be a Juren."
"Juren, seventh-rank, and eighth-rank officials can only have one concubine."
"Fifth and sixth rank officials can take two concubines, third and fourth rank officials can take three concubines, and first and second rank officials can take four concubines. Dukes at the county level can take six concubines, and princes at the prince level can take eight concubines."
Lu Yu became more and more excited as he listened, and even unconsciously pulled the female teacher's arm: "So, the scholar has no qualifications to take a concubine? But if it has already been decided, can it be withdrawn?"
"It's not that easy. If a woman signs a contract to sell herself, she may be a concubine in name, but she is only a slave under the law. Women are always weak." At this point, the female teacher couldn't help but sigh.
This also made Lu Yu's heart tremble. "What if she hadn't signed the indenture contract and hadn't married him? Is there still a possibility of reversal?"
The female teacher finally realized something was wrong at this time. "Could this marriage be yours? If you don't want to, perhaps our shopkeeper can find a way? Of course, this is another service and requires additional payment."
"Is it really possible?" Lu Yu thought it was a rumor, but unexpectedly it happened to him. The "premarital training" business came at a very timely moment.
"The boss is not here, but the manager is in the backyard. Do you want to go see him now?" The female lady had experienced the pain of not being able to control her marriage. Now seeing Lu Yu who had the same experience, she wanted to help as much as possible.
"Go, I'll go." And Lu Yu naturally would not push away the opportunity that was delivered to his doorstep.
And after meeting Yuanniang, she told her everything almost without reservation.
However, Yuanniang did not show any of the sympathy or anger she expected.
Yuanniang simply frowned and asked, "You said your father and brother were jealous of your talent, and for the sake of reputation, they made you a concubine of a scholar? What about you? What are your own wishes?"
"I don't want to get married." Lu Yu answered firmly.
"If possible, I hope to find a husband who shares my ideals. But this opportunity is not very realistic. So, as long as this marriage doesn't work out, my parents will not let me become a concubine at will in the future."
"Your request is reasonable, but we need time to investigate and plan. You still have ten days left before the one-month deadline. Within these ten days, I will give you a response, no matter what the outcome. What do you say?"
Yuanniang did not speak too absolutely, but told Lu Yu the actual situation.
Yuanniang knew that this matter was not simple and required careful investigation and thorough planning.
She planned to first understand Lu Yu's family background, the situation of his father and brothers, and the specific details of the marriage.
At the same time, she will also consider various possible solutions and evaluate their feasibility and risks, and most importantly, the fish's acceptance.
Of course, what Yuanniang didn't say at this time was that the previous "pre-marital training" dealt with disputes between civilians.
As for the matter involving scholars and the class of scholars, how to deal with it and how to strike the right balance still needs the approval of the host Chu Ci.
But even so, it was enough to make Lu Yu happy.
And the next morning, when Lu Yu saw Chu Ci, he was overwhelmed with joy.
At that time, the "Future Women's College" was recruiting students and the family business was at a critical moment, but even so, she rushed over on the first day of school.
I thought I would never be able to attend the academy in this life, but I didn't expect to meet you under such circumstances.
At this moment, Lu Yu was so excited that she couldn't control herself. Her heart beat faster, her breathing became rapid, and her face was filled with an excited smile.
Her eyes were full of respect and admiration for Chu Ci, and her hands were trembling slightly, as if she wanted to seize this rare opportunity, but didn't know how to express her excitement.
After a long while, he said, "You, you are the principal of the Future Women's College?"
"I'm also the owner of 'Premarital Training', Chu Ci." Chu Ci smiled slightly and introduced himself.
Then, without waiting for Lu Yu to speak, Chu Ci said, "From now on, I will personally take over your commission. If I need your cooperation, I hope you will..."
However, the excited Lu Yu didn't wait for Chu Ci to finish his words, and said excitedly: "I will definitely cooperate."
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