The dizziness from the alcohol had disappeared, and Wei Ling was much more sober. He asked again: "Are you telling the truth?"
"Marriage is such a big deal, how can it be a joke? If the Duke agrees, I will immediately return and have my mother prepare the betrothal gifts, and marry Yining off in a sedan chair carried by eight men. My family has a simple and honest tradition, and my parents are kind. Although no one in our family holds high positions, we are well-known in Yangzhou City, and will ensure that Yining will have a comfortable life." He stood up, his smile fading slightly, and his tone became more serious. "I came here in person to ask for your blessing, because I want the Duke to know my sincerity, so I have prepared a pair of wild geese to accompany me."
In fact, he had wanted to come to the Duke of Ying's mansion for a long time, but he had always encountered many setbacks. Finally, when Wei Ling returned from the battle, he found an opportunity to visit.
He had said long ago that he wanted to marry Yining. Although she no longer looked like a furry puppy, he still found her amusing and felt itchy in his heart. He had long wanted to take her home and raise her.
This time, the way Wei Ling looked at him was more cautious than the one he showed to his son-in-law, and lacked the warmth he showed to Lin Xiaoyou.
I just dozed off and someone gave me a pillow. What a coincidence!
"Since you said you are here to propose marriage, I will have to ask you some questions." Wei Ling then asked Lin Mao several questions seriously.
"How many brothers are there in your family?" Wei Ling asked about the population first. When he heard Lin Mao say there were six and he was the fourth oldest, Wei Ling was a little unhappy.
Wei Ling asked again: "Are any of your parents officials? What rank do they hold?"
Lin Mao answered all of them, concluding, "My family cannot compare to the splendor of the Duke of Ying's, but we are certainly wealthy enough. I am sincere and have long wanted to marry Yi Ning. After marrying her, I will never do what others do, such as taking concubines. You will never find another person as sincere as me."
Wei Ling let out a sigh. Under normal circumstances, he would have definitely declined. But now, Yi Ning's marriage was imminent, and Lin Mao claimed they were in love. Besides, he was a member of the Six Ministries' Censorate and came from the Yangzhou Lin family. His conditions were undoubtedly better than those of the newly-minted He Ergongzi. Wei Ling thought for a moment and said, "I'll have to think about this. You...you go back and wait."
Naturally, the father was cautious about his daughter's marriage. Lin Mao understood very well. He drank the wine in his glass and said with a smile, "Then I will come to visit you another day."
Lin Mao kept the pair of wild geese he had raised. Wei Ling saw that the geese were looking around non-stop, so he had them taken to the kitchen to be raised first. Then he asked the steward, "Didn't I ask you to call Yining?"
The steward then replied, "The young lady hasn't finished planting her flower seedlings yet. She said she'll come over once she's done."
Wei Ling told him not to call, and he went to the East Garden to find Yining himself. Seeing his daughter at ease, busy planting new seedlings in the greenhouse, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "Yining, are you... in love with your cousin Lin, who you grew up with?"
After hearing this, Yining almost pinched the flower seedlings in her hand.
What does this have to do with anything?
She waved her hands repeatedly and laughed until her face turned red: "Where did you hear this? I dare not fall in love with him. Our cousin Mao is the most unreasonable! He always does what he wants. When I was a child, he gave me a lot of trouble." Yining told Wei Ling the story that Lin Mao had burned down someone's shop in Yangzhou City and beat up the shopkeeper when collecting rent.
"Although Cousin Mao is smart, he doesn't like studying. His mother was very worried about him, so she sent him to the Luo family to be taken care of. But he ended up following Cousin Ming to the capital to become an official. When the emperor was still the crown prince, he stayed with the emperor for a while, and somehow he persuaded the emperor to appoint him to an official position..."
It seems to be really irrelevant.
Wei Ling looked at his daughter's face, tanned red in the sun, beads of sweat on her forehead. Her skin, shimmering in the sunlight, was a translucent white, even the finest snow-white silk could not compare... Her wrists were exquisite, delicate, with a small, rounded bone protruding from them, making one want to squeeze them tightly. How could an ordinary person protect her...
If I stay at the Duke of Ying's mansion, he will naturally protect me. What if I get married in the future?
Wei Ling was silent for a moment, then went to the west courtyard to discuss things with Old Lady Wei.
Mrs. Wei was talking to Mrs. Xu. She wanted to ask Mrs. Xu's mother-in-law, Mrs. Liu, Wei Ying's mother, to stay for a few days and help out. Then she heard Mrs. Song announce that her son was coming.
Xu took Wei Jiabi out to play, so Wei Ling sat down, drank some tea to sober up, and then told Mrs. Wei about Lin Mao in detail.
Mrs. Wei thought for a moment and felt that the proposal was inappropriate: "Although he is a member of the Ministry of Works and is handsome, if you really marry him, Yining will have to follow him back to Yangzhou. The journey is long and bumpy, and it will be difficult to travel back and forth. Besides, there are six brothers in the family, and there may be conflicts between the sisters-in-law. We are far away from the emperor, and if there are conflicts between their sisters-in-law, you can't do anything about it."
"That's exactly what I thought." Wei Ling mused, "But if there really isn't anyone suitable, he might as well. I think he really does want to marry Yining."
Old Mrs. Wei also nodded: "Then don't make a hasty decision, let's wait and see."
Wei Ling felt really heavy-hearted and didn't know what to do.
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