Chapter 129 Proposing Marriage
Du Min walked around Chen Mingzhang's grave three times with a sense of satisfaction, letting out the last bit of resentment in his heart, and then he strode away.
Back at the government office, he deliberately walked up to Meng Qing and said, "Second sister-in-law, I went to Beiman Mountain, and guess what? There are two cypress saplings in front of Lord Chen's grave. What do you think his two sons mean by that?"
Meng Qing glanced at him indifferently and said, "Congratulations, Lord Du, your wish has come true."
"That's bullying. I already changed my mind and asked them to move the graves, but they refused." Du Min spread his hands innocently.
Meng Qing didn't want to argue with him. She bit off the thread on her hand, turned the cloth gloves inside out and put them on, then got up and went to the kitchen to pick up the food box.
Du Min asked in confusion, "Second Sister-in-law, where are you going?"
"Go and bring food to your second brother."
"Where is my second brother? Is he harvesting rice in the field?" Du Min realized.
Meng Qing hummed in response.
"Why are you harvesting rice again? Aren't we leaving for Luoyang tomorrow?" Du Min chased after him. "Isn't my second brother going tomorrow?"
“Go, you propose marriage, how can he not show up?”
Du Min stopped and stood there for a while before turning back to have the servants set out the meal. He sat down at the table, ate a couple of bites, and muttered unhappily, "They really do whatever they want."
After a quick meal, Du Min left the county government office and headed into the rice paddies.
When he arrived, Meng Qing and Du Li were walking along the edge of the field, holding sickles and cutting the rice that had turned yellow first. The couple walked one in front of the other, craning their necks to talk.
Du Min stood at the edge of the field for a while, and neither of the two men noticed him. He realized that they were just looking for trouble and weren't actually working. He glanced at the food box on the edge of the field, and an idea struck him. He bent down, picked up the food box, and quietly slipped away.
Meng Qing and Du Li discovered the food box was missing when they were preparing to go home in the evening. They searched through all the stacks of rice bundles but couldn't find the food box.
"That's not right. I remember leaving it here. It must have been taken by someone passing by." Meng Qing said angrily, "That thief is too bold. He even dared to steal the food box from Lord Du's house."
"Go back and report to the authorities," Du Li joked.
“Yes, we’ll go back and report to the authorities.” Meng Qing laughed too. “We’ve worked hard all day for nothing, and the rice we harvested isn’t even enough to buy a food box. It’s infuriating.”
Du Li picked up two sickles and the water gourd, saying, "Let's go back."
Upon returning to the government office, he happened to run into Du Min, who was also returning. Du Li said, "Lord Du, you have failed in your governance. The local customs are terrible, and thieves are everywhere."
Du Min guessed the reason and stopped to ask, "Why do you say that? Did you encounter a thief?"
"Your second sister-in-law's lunchbox, which she took to the fields at noon, was stolen."
"Impossible, did you forget where you put it?" Du Min shook his head. "It's just an old food box and a few pieces of wood. Who would steal it? Besides, even if someone did steal it, they wouldn't target you two. Thieves aren't blind."
“It was stolen. Your second brother and I searched everywhere but couldn’t find it,” Meng Qing said.
“Impossible.” Du Min shook his head firmly.
"Hey! Are we still lying?" Meng Qing got angry.
Du Min didn't reply; he stepped into the county government office.
"What do you think of his attitude?" Meng Qing asked Du Li.
Du Li was also completely baffled.
The couple followed each other into the county government office and entered the government building. They immediately noticed the food box placed on the stone table.
"Second sister-in-law, isn't this a food box? You didn't take it with you at all, did you?" Du Min grinned mischievously.
"How could this be... Oh! It was you who did this!" Meng Qing realized. "Du Li, catch him!"
Du Li had already rushed out, Du Min ran away laughing, and Meng Qing chased after him from another direction.
The three chased each other from the front yard to the back yard. Du Min hid in the bamboo grove, but when he found his way back was blocked, he shouted a warning: "Back up! Back up now! I'm going to sue you for assaulting the magistrate... Ouch!"
Meng Qing and Du Li caught him, and the couple teamed up to pin him to the ground and beat him up.
With Meng Qing around, Du Min couldn't fight back, and he kept shouting, "I'm going to sue you!"
"Go ahead and sue me, you're crying wolf!" Meng Qing grabbed Du Min's ear. "You're so stubborn! You're so disobedient!"
Du Min laughed so hard his voice trembled. "I'm not convinced! Am I not obedient enough? Even Wang Zhou isn't as obedient as me."
Du Li slapped his arm, "Wang Zhou is much less of a worry than you."
"It's too early to say that. Wangzhou is not yet the time for you to worry about it." Du Min stopped struggling and lay down, resting his head on his hands. He said, "You two are too cautious. I know what I'm doing. Even if I don't get involved in these two matters, things will still turn out the same way. The Chen family has already fallen on hard times and doesn't have much money left. The two Chen brothers are not able to carry the coffin back to their hometown."
"Since you know this, why did you get involved?" Meng Qing asked. "Just to see Chen Dalang and Chen Erlang struggle in such an ugly way?"
Du Min did not deny it.
"Aren't you even pretending? Aren't you afraid your second sister-in-law and I will be afraid of you?" Du Li sat on him. "We depend on you and are of one mind with you. Even if we have opinions, we can't do anything about it. But aren't you afraid that others will be afraid of you? You indulge yourself and are unwilling to restrain yourself at all. If you don't rein yourself in, you'll eventually be exposed. When Wangzhou grows up, he will be your helper. Won't he be afraid of you and stay away from you? Won't your wife and children be afraid of you?"
Du Min's expression shifted slightly; he had taken those words to heart.
"Get up." He looked at the person sitting on him. "Is your butt so precious? You're sitting on a human bed."
Du Li remained motionless.
Du Min gave him a push, but he couldn't move him anymore. He picked up a bamboo leaf, put it in his mouth, and looked up at the green bamboo above his head.
Meng Qing felt a bit cold, so she went back inside to put on more clothes and decided not to waste any more time with the two of them.
"Second brother, I'm getting married too."
"congratulations."
"Whether it's a happy match or not, who knows?" Du Min was somewhat confused. Given his situation, his wife was actually more wary of him.
"Treat that girl well, don't bully her," Du Li instructed. "She's family with you, she'll be with you forever."
"When you married my second sister-in-law, were you worried that she would look down on you?" Du Min asked.
"I do have this concern," Du Li readily admitted.
“Prefect Yin has been an official for one or two decades. Madam Yin was born into an official family. She is different from me…” Du Min was worried that she and he could not be of one mind.
Du Li chuckled, then stood up, supporting himself on his knees. "Tone it down, put away your crazy side, be a good person, and you'll have no trouble winning your wife's heart."
Du Min sat up and asked probingly, "You also put on an act in front of my second sister-in-law?"
Of course not, but Du Li wanted to make Du Min wary, so he replied, "Guess."
"Ugh! You're horrible!" Du Min exclaimed in disgust. "I'm going to tell my second sister-in-law that you're a hypocritical villain."
Du Li: "...Want to get beaten up again?"
"Come on, who's afraid of who?" Du Min quickly stood up. "I didn't fight back just now because I was afraid of accidentally hurting my second sister-in-law. Did you really think I couldn't beat you?"
Du Li ignored him and turned to leave.
Du Min attacked from behind, and the two brothers immediately started fighting, bumping into each other in the bamboo forest and knocking down a pile of fallen leaves.
In this fight, the two brothers were evenly matched, and there was no winner or loser. However, Du Min felt that he had won, and he said smugly, "Second Brother Du, you're too old to beat me."
"I held back a bit, intentionally giving you a slight advantage," Du Li said, brushing the bamboo leaves off his clothes.
Du Min mocked him for being stubborn. He went to the front yard to complain: "Second sister-in-law, my second brother told me that he was just putting on an act in front of you. What you saw was all an act. He even taught me to put on an act too."
Du Li: ...This bastard!
"Really?" Meng Qing looked at Du Li. "Remember to pretend until you die."
Du Li: "...Du Laosan, I really didn't hit you hard enough."
Du Min sneered, "Second sister-in-law, if my second brother offends you, just tell me, and I'll beat him up."
“You should call her ‘elder sister’ now,” Meng Qing instructed him.
"Elder sister, if my brother-in-law offends you, just tell me, and I'll beat him up," Du Min readily changed her tune.
Meng Qing smiled and said, "Okay."
"I can't be bothered with you guys." Du Li went back inside to pack her winter clothes.
Du Min stretched lazily, feeling quite pleased with himself. "Second Sister-in-law, when are you coming back next time?"
"have no idea."
"Will you stay after the start of next year?" Du Min asked again.
"It's not certain yet," Meng Qing said honestly. "Third brother, I have something to tell you. Write a letter to Dr. Xu and ask him to keep an eye on the Chen family's situation. Chen Mingzhang is dead, and the Chen family can't afford to support so many servants. If Steward Chen's family is sold off or released back to their original place of residence, and they have nowhere to go or no means of livelihood, ask him to take them in. He can arrange for them to work at the Meng family's paper horse shop, or he can send them to Heqing County to seek refuge with me."
Du Min fell silent. Compared to him, she was indeed more humane.
“Alright, I’ll write a letter and send it when I get to Luoyang.” He agreed. “I haven’t contacted Dr. Xu in a long time, so I’ll take this opportunity to reach out to him. Once my wedding date is set, I’ll send him another letter. If he’s willing to come, I’ll have him take the place of the head of the family on my wedding day.”
"Should we notify your family back home?" Meng Qing asked.
Du Min shook his head, "I'll just send a letter to my sister-in-law and ask her to find a suitable opportunity to tell the villagers. As for this place, I'll find an excuse to tell the Yin family that my parents can't come when the wedding date is approaching."
“That works too,” Meng Qing agreed. “I heard they’re rebuilding the Heyang Bridge next month? Do you have enough money? If not, how about the charity donate some money? You can have the name of the Qingniao Paper Craft Charity School engraved on the stone tablet.”
Du Min accepted all donations and said with a smile, "Donate more, and I'll use the extra money to improve the meals for the laborers."
Meng Qing held up two fingers. "Two thousand strings of cash. Write the name of the charity school in the top row of the stone tablet."
"Deal." Du Minxin was delighted. "Great benefactor Meng, after the dike is completed, I will erect a monument. Would you like the school's name to be on the monument?"
"Is that all you've got?" Meng Qing glared at him. "Your second sister-in-law has already been used as bait for you, why aren't you fishing instead of keeping an eye on me?"
Du Min frowned in thought. He realized what was going on. "You want me to raise funds from the wealthy merchants and gentry in the county? That's a good idea."
“Remember this: once you’ve raised the money, you’d better handle it yourself to avoid it being embezzled by the clerks,” Meng Qing reminded him.
Du Min nodded repeatedly, pacing back and forth excitedly. "Second sister-in-law, you're the best! With you here, everything I do goes smoothly."
"Is your salary enough? Are you short of money? I'll give you some." Meng Qing showed him that she could do even better.
"It's enough, it's enough. After I got promoted, my salary increased to five strings of cash a month, and I also got an extra hundred mu of official land. I can't possibly use it all." Du Min waved his hand and refused.
"What about your dowry? Do you have enough money to prepare it?" Meng Qing asked.
“Even if we rush the wedding, it will be next year. This year, the rent from the official land is eighty strings of cash, and next year there will be another eighty strings of cash. These two sums together should be enough.” Du Min did not plan to prepare a grand betrothal gift. “Prefect Yin knows my family’s financial situation. His agreement to marry off his daughter means that he had this in mind.”
"We'll see when the time comes," Meng Qing said.
*
The next morning, the three set off for Luoyang.
The next day, after arriving at the rented courtyard, Du Min went to the market to buy a pair of geese and hire a matchmaker.
On September 22nd, Du Min, accompanied by his matchmaker and elder brother and sister-in-law, went to the gate of the Yin residence to formally propose marriage.
-----------------------
Author's note: See you tomorrow night at 8 PM.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com