Song Liyun said, "I'll go to the garrison to borrow an old horse later. Juqing should stay at home and Uncle Han can take good care of her for a few days."
Song Zhenping slowed down his brushing of the horse, awkwardly patting its back and muttering to it, "Why are you so stubborn? You're already too old for the battlefield, yet you still refuse to pull the cart properly. If you're truly useless, you'll be killed and eaten. No one can protect you."
He couldn't do anything about it; Juqingma just wouldn't listen.
People are not allowed to ride it, and even pulling a cart requires going crazy. The garrison asked, and if it still doesn't obey, they will bring another horse, which will be killed on the spot.
Song Zhenping had developed a strong attachment to the child after a month of care and was very reluctant to part with him.
Fortunately, it was still able to pull the cart, and the leather goods were delivered at night when there was no one on the road and it was dark. Even though Chrysanthemum Green Horse occasionally lost its temper, it wouldn't cause any trouble, so we kept it and continued to raise it.
We're heading to the prefectural city now, so we can't let it run wild anymore.
Song Liyun had been preparing to leave for some time. After arranging work for Han Ming, the three Song siblings set off in a borrowed old horse-drawn carriage before dawn.
The last time Xiao An rode in a horse-drawn carriage was when she left Qingping Town.
At that time, the Zhenbei Army ambushed people on the way. He was shunned and could only pitifully lean on Song Liyun's arms while hungry.
Now, when he rode in a carriage again, he was no longer afraid. He just leaned on the carriage floor and looked around with a curious expression.
His small cloth bag was filled with dried horse meat, roasted peanuts, and roasted acorns.
The basket in the carriage contained water, crispy fried pancakes, and some steamed buns and pastries.
Yunniang spent the whole night making these things.
The old horse in the garrison pulled the carriage very steadily, but Song Zhenping held the whip and drove the carriage seriously.
At this moment, his mind was filled with what Zhou Xiaoqi had said to him in the field.
Zhou Xiaoqi said that now that the garrison has issued rewards, everyone has money, and many people want to get married.
Ideally, one should be a military household residing in Suijin Town, so that while serving in the camp, one can go home on a day off without any disruption to anything.
In fact, there are very few unmarried women in Suijin Town, and Song Liyun is the only one of marriageable age.
These people were all talking about the Song family, but they didn't have the courage or the opportunity to bring it up directly with the Song family.
Song Zhenping felt a chill run down his spine.
When Second Uncle wanted Yun'er to come home, he used the excuse of getting married immediately.
Yun'er is now eighteen years old. In the Wu Dynasty, girls are supposed to get married at sixteen. If she doesn't find a husband soon, she will become an old maid.
In Suijin Town, it would be extremely easy for Song Liyun to find someone to marry.
Of the hundreds of soldiers in the garrison, the majority were unmarried. The Song family could choose whomever they wanted, regardless of height, weight, or appearance, and they were even willing to marry into the family.
This is what Wang Junxu said to him during a loading operation.
Song Zhenping had his own selfish motives; he didn't want Yun'er to marry into another family, and he didn't want Yun'er to get married like this.
He did not want his younger sister to become a military household.
There's a saying in the Wu Dynasty: "Good iron isn't used to make nails, and good men don't become soldiers." This means that soldiers are not only poor, but they also have no other way out except to desperately earn military merits.
The same applies to military households; their entire families cannot take the civil service examinations to enter officialdom for three generations.
I changed my household registration to military household out of necessity. I just want to live a peaceful life with Xiao An like this, and I don't care about future generations.
Yun'er is different; she can choose a good family to marry into and escape military household status.
But if he were to rush into marriage now, Song Zhenping wouldn't have a suitable match, and the only people he could get in touch with would be a few from the Wan family.
In his eyes, none of the people in Broken Gold Town were worthy of the girl he could take the "treasure bag" from.
But how can I tell Yun'er this, that I should tell her not to rush into an engagement?
If things go wrong, Yun'er might think that I'm forbidding her from getting married.
Song Liyun left early today and leaned against the carriage wall, squinting as she took a nap.
Xiao An's excitement didn't affect her. Instead, it was Song Zhenping, who sat motionless on the carriage shaft, clenching his teeth and clenching his fists, who kept her awake.
"Brother, what are you thinking about? The horse hasn't even moved."
At this moment, the old horse, which was not being driven away, had stopped and was munching on the newly sprouted grass by the roadside.
Song Zhenping snapped out of his reverie and quickly cracked his whip, giving the old horse a light tap on the rump.
Only after Lao Ma slowly started pulling the cart again did he look at Song Liyun, who was staring straight at him.
"Brother, what do you want to say?" Song Liyun couldn't help but feel anxious seeing his hesitant manner.
“Yun’er, your birthday is in June, you’ll be eighteen soon, it’s time… it’s time to find someone to marry you. If your parents were still alive… you’d have to prepare a dowry by the time you’re fifteen.” Song Zhenping’s face showed confusion and some sadness.
Time flies. It's been four months since I left Xiaoshi Village.
Back then in the village, every day felt like an eternity.
Upon hearing the word "marriage," Song Liyun's eyebrows immediately furrowed into a thin rope.
Why did Song Zhenping suddenly think of this?
Could it be that with the arrival of spring, the revival of all things, the growth of grass and the flight of birds, people and animals have entered their mating season?
She has no intention of getting married or having children early.
Especially since I'm only eighteen years old, such a wonderful age, like a flower bud, why should I be tied up at home so early?
"Song Zhenping, I don't want to get married right now," Song Liyun said earnestly.
Song Zhenping glanced at her, knowing that his sister was a little angry and was calling him by his name directly. He braced himself and continued, "I'm not saying I won't get married, I mean I want to choose a good family."
Song Zhenping was stammering as he spoke, worried that Yun'er might fall in love with someone since she frequently visited the garrison.
“The people in the garrison are no good, Yun’er. I think you should choose a good family in the future, don’t marry a soldier, and don’t become a soldier’s household.”
Upon hearing that it wasn't a forced marriage, Song Liyun laughed immediately: "Brother, you said that the people in the garrison are no good, of course I won't secretly get together with someone."
At this moment, Xiao An heard her older brother and sister talking and quickly snuggled up to Song Liyun.
Seeing that his younger sister hadn't misunderstood him, Song Zhenping breathed a sigh of relief: "But you're about to turn eighteen..."
"So what if I'm eighteen? I just came back and don't want to get married. Who can force me to?
Brother, we've only had enough to eat for a few days now, and we haven't done anything else we should be doing. I don't want to talk about marriage yet.
Having grown up without any elders to guide him, Song Zhenping only had a superficial understanding of marriage; he only knew that a girl should get married at eighteen.
But he didn't want Yun'er to marry into a military household, and Yun'er wasn't in a hurry to get married either. Since no one was in charge, they decided to wait.
Song Liyun stroked Xiao An's head and said, "I need to treat your leg and Xiao An's illness. After that, we can talk about marriage."
Xiao An, trying to ingratiate herself, took a handful of peanuts from her cloth bag and stuffed them into her sister's hand.
Song Liyun accepted it with a smile and said to Song Zhenping, "Xiao An is much smarter than before. If we find a good doctor in the prefectural city this time, he will definitely be cured and grow into a tall and handsome young man."
Hearing her sister praise her, Xiao An covered her face and chuckled.
When the topic turned to tall, handsome young men, a man's image instantly came to mind for Song Liyun.
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