Chen Susu knew that an unmarried daughter couldn't stand hearing adults say those things, so she took her maid and went to find Sun Wanwan.
Sun Wanwan and Jiang Shuwan were in a small studio apartment next door.
This room is usually used by young ladies and mistresses to drink tea and enjoy the scenery. Today, Jiang Shuwan asked Qingxing to bring over a stove to cook Dongpo pork here.
With a few crabapple trees by the window, the spring breeze brings forth a fragrant aroma, making the cooking of meat seem even more elegant.
"Wanwan, is the Dongpo pork almost cooked? Let me have a bite."
"You! You!"
Jiang Shuwan poked Sun Wanwan's forehead hard with her finger; she was utterly helpless with Sun Wanwan.
Noble families find pork unbearably smelly and pungent, but Sun Wanwan unconditionally believes her.
"Hello, Cousin Wanwan, hello, Sister Wanwan, what are you two talking about..." Chen Susu greeted them as soon as she entered the room.
"We're talking about eating pork."
Chen Susu immediately looked constipated and said, "I...I...I'll go for a walk in the garden."
She hopped three steps away, afraid of getting any fishy smell on her.
Jiang Shuwan glanced at her, seemingly focused on cooking the meat, but actually listening intently to the noises coming from next door.
Aunt Chen never visits unless she has a reason.
They came to the Sun family's house out of the ordinary, without any holidays or festivals. I wonder what their intentions are.
Moreover, he immediately started clashing with Chunriyan. Could it be that he wants to interfere in Sun Wanwan's marriage?
Jiang Shuwan's alarm blared.
Just as the pork was almost cooked, a maid from the Sun family was asked to prepare a small stove. The Dongpo pork was then served on the table, and we ate it while it was cooking, which was quite enjoyable.
"It smells so good..."
At the dinner table, as soon as the lid of the casserole was removed, the aroma of Dongpo pork wafted out, making one's mouth water.
One bite reveals a unique blend of glutinous rice flavor and meaty aroma, making it irresistible.
The meat is delicate, tender, and melts in your mouth.
It's worlds apart from the current taste of pork.
"It's delicious, it's so delicious!"
Aunt Chen waved her chopsticks, taking one bite of meat after another.
Jiang Shuwan: "..."
Where's your face?
I was just saying I wasn't going to eat it.
Aunt Chen ate without looking up, shoveling Dongpo pork into her bowl and then grabbing bear paws.
She picked out the most expensive dishes from the table, ate until her belly was round and full, and then burped.
"Hiccup~~ Sister, that pork looks good, can you cut me two pounds?"
She ate and took things without any hesitation.
Even Madam Sun, who had always been accommodating to her, felt that she was being impolite.
However, in the end, she still asked her maid to cut off two pounds for her to take away.
After the meal, everyone moved to the tea room.
Cousins Sun Wanwan and Chen Susu went to the garden to catch butterflies, while Mrs. Sun and Aunt Chen were talking in the tea room.
Aunt Chen frowned after glancing at Jiang Shuwan, who was leisurely sipping her tea and had no intention of leaving.
Madam Sun asked, "Do you have something to say? Wanwan is not an outsider, so please speak."
"What else could it be but Wanwan's marriage? Why would you go to the Spring Banquet for no reason? Are you really there to find a husband for Wanwan? And a son of a military officer at that?"
She had asked Madam Sun this question before the meal, but Madam Sun just laughed it off.
Now that the topic has been brought up again, Madam Sun can no longer keep it a secret. Besides, they are all family, so it's good to talk about it.
"What? The Sun family wants to form a marriage alliance with the Lu family?"
"That Fourth-Rank Loyal and Martial General's Mansion?"
"A mere fourth-rank official, and a military officer at that, you actually think highly of him?"
Upon hearing that Madam Sun intended to form a marriage alliance with the Lu family, Aunt Chen almost jumped up.
Her reaction was a bit too much.
Jiang Shuwan's gaze quietly fell on Aunt Chen's face, while Aunt Chen was still jumping up and down.
"Sister, are you crazy? What's so good about the Lu family? They have few members, no foundation, and he's just a fourth-rank military officer. His future is limited."
“That’s true. Although the Lu family is small, that’s precisely why Wanwan won’t have to deal with complicated interpersonal relationships when she marries into the family. Moreover, Lu Shaogan is young, handsome, and upright. I’ve already agreed with his mother that he needs to be in the top ten in this year’s martial arts examination before our Sun family can arrange a marriage between us.”
"The Lu family agreed immediately, which shows that they are very confident in Lu Shaogan's abilities."
"Even if he's capable, he'll only be a military officer. The Great Jing has been at peace for a long time, so how much of a future can he possibly have?"
Upon hearing Aunt Chen's words, Madam Sun's face drained of all color.
"Sister, don't you want Wanwan to marry someone better?"
"For example, a promising young talent from a civil official's family?"
Madam Sun bit her lip, her face pale.
Sun Wanwan is her only daughter, so naturally she wants her to marry well.
However, civil and military officials have never gotten along.
The family of literary giants with a profound literary heritage looked down on the Sun family.
She didn't want to be an ordinary low-level civil servant.
In the end, the only option was to find a marriage for Sun Wanwan among the military officers.
It wasn't that second- or third-rank military officers, who were comparable to the Sun family, didn't come to the Sun family to propose marriage.
However, the other party was either too old to be suitable, or had a complicated family background.
She knew her daughter; she was only lively in front of Jiang Shuwan, but in reality, she was quite introverted and easy to bully.
If you marry into a family with complicated interpersonal relationships, you might be schemed against without even knowing how you died.
So, after much deliberation, they finally settled on the Lu family, which had a small number of members.
"Sister is confused. Of the eight great families today, five are civil officials. Their families have been passed down for thousands of years. Not to mention us, they would look down on even His Majesty's family."
"We can't compete with them. If we lower our standards, can't we find a better second-rate civil official family than the Lu family?"
Aunt Chen waved her fan, looking confident. Seeing her like this, Madam Sun hurriedly asked, "How can you be so sure? Do you have something you think is good?"
"Oh, my dear sister, I do have one!"
Aunt Chen was just waiting for her to ask, so she quickly took her hand and said solicitously, "I have a promising young man to tell Wanwan about."
"You know your brother-in-law, right? He's currently working at the Court of State Ceremonies. He's the second son of the Minister of State Ceremonies, who is a fourth-rank official. He's young and handsome, a well-known scholar, and has already achieved the title of Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examination). He'll be taking the examination this autumn."
The second son of the Minister of State Ceremonies, isn't he the husband that Sun Wanwan married in her previous life?
He looked respectable, but he repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, and he didn't help the Sun family when they were in trouble.
Later, when the Sun family fell into ruin, she felt that Sun Wanwan was a burden and cruelly poisoned her to death.
I knew my trustworthy aunt wouldn't break her promise to the Lu family; it turns out her own sister, Aunt Chen, was stirring things up.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuwan's fists hardened.
The Minister of State Ceremonies was not a high-ranking official, and he used all the limited resources in his family to pave the way for his eldest son, while he couldn't bear to see his younger son suffer.
In her previous life, Aunt Chen single-handedly facilitated the marriage between the Sun family and the Honglu Qing family because Chen Susu wanted to arrange a marriage between her and the eldest son of the Honglu Qing family.
The Minister of State Ceremonies was a fourth-rank official and looked down on the Chen family's sixth-rank official position. So, Aunt Chen asked Sun Wanwan to give it to the Minister of State Ceremonies' second son as a gift.
After all, for a fourth-rank official's second son, marrying the legitimate daughter of a second-rank military officer was an excellent match.
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