"We're going to the brothel, could you please ask around for us? We're in a real hurry!"
Outside the city gate of Pingyang County, a group of people carrying bags and hammers stood at the gate, and the couple at the head of the group were talking to the guards.
Pingyang County is now under martial law; entry and exit require a pass, and non-locals are not allowed in. The couple, however, were in a great hurry. They had scraped together a thousand taels of gold and rushed over, only to find the city gates in ruins.
The bodies at the entrance haven't even been cleaned up yet; it's obvious there was just a battle.
Madam Lu was so angry that she kept hitting her husband.
"I told you to come earlier, or even earlier!"
Who knows about the war? We don't live in the border town anyway. Lu Wangji's father only dared to mutter this to himself; he dared not say it aloud.
"Who are you looking for at the brothel?"
"Find Lu Wangji, he is my son, and Lu Feigong, he is my younger brother. These young people behind him are all our fellow disciples; we are the Mohists."
The gatekeeper nodded, signaling to his colleague to keep an eye on things for a while, and that he would be right back.
Inside the brothel, Lu Wangji was using the medicinal herbs that Huo Xiaolong had left at the door the night before to soak Mantuo's hands. The girls were in better condition in other areas, but the most damaged parts were their arms and hands.
Everyone had injuries on their hands, including Huo Xiaolong, whose hand was now wrapped up like a rice dumpling.
Looking at herself in the bronze mirror, she felt she resembled a character from a past life. The little dumpling laughed, attracting the attention of He Yi and Huo Shuwen.
"What is our daughter laughing at by herself over there?"
"I don't know."
"Is Lu Wangji or Lu Feigong here? Your family is looking for you outside the city gate. Someone come with me to confirm if you know them!" A soldier shouted at the entrance of Fengyue Tower.
They haven't even opened their doors yet, so this is the only way to try my luck.
The people of Pingyang County have all noticed. If it weren't for the girls from Fengyue Tower who sing and dance all day, the city walls would have fallen long ago. When the soldiers came today, they couldn't even step out of the gate because the people had brought them eggs and meat. If they really had nothing else, they picked two cabbages from their own vegetable gardens.
Cen's mother didn't open the door and didn't know the entrance was like this.
Hearing someone calling at the door, Lu Wangji's eyes immediately crinkled into a smile.
"Manta, my parents are here!"
"OK."
Lu Wangji has been away from home for so long, it's only right that his parents come to visit. Besides, Long'er used to nag her every day, saying that there weren't enough people to forge iron and build chariots.
Just in case, this is enough.
"Mandala!"
Looking at Lu Wangji, whose eyes were sparkling, the young lady said indulgently.
"What's the matter!"
My parents have come to propose marriage!
"..."
Not as happy as she had imagined, Manto took a deep breath, took her hands out of the elixir, and solemnly said to Lu Wangji.
“Wangji, I know your feelings, and I... I also have you in my heart, and only you, only you in this life.”
"but……"
"But I don't want to get married..."
"I don't want to leave the brothel."
The man's eyes dimmed, and he lowered his head, asking a question with some fear.
"Do you not want to marry me, or do you not want to leave the brothel?"
"I want to have a home with you, but I will not leave the brothel. You know, I earned this life with my life."
The man grasped the delicate hand pressed against his cheek, buried his face in it, and chuckled a few times. Then he said...
"That's great, this is the first time you've said so clearly that you want to marry me."
"?" Mando looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression, not quite understanding.
“Then we won’t leave the brothel; I’ll stay with you.”
"You're going to live in a brothel with me!?"
"Is there anything wrong with that?"
"No, that's not true..."
“We can also buy a house next door. Anyway, so many are empty. You can come back to the building during the day and stay here at night if you want, or go home if you want. No matter where you are, I will be with you.”
The courtesan has suddenly stopped acting like this. Is it even possible to get married like this?
Isn't that exactly what he's doing...?
Marrying into the family?
The thought of the young woman blushing slightly wasn't entirely out of the question... It seemed the Mo family was quite poor; he wondered if his own money would be enough to marry her...
"OK!"
If that's not enough, she'll sell a few pieces of jewelry!
"Where is my son? My Wangji..." Madam Lu's first thought upon entering the brothel was to check her son's legs. Lu Feigong looked at his sister-in-law with a slightly embarrassed expression.
Your son is still hopelessly addicted to his wife!
"mother."
He was still that sickly beauty, only this time he stood up.
She was as radiant as a jade tree standing before the wind.
Lu Wangji was dressed in white, with a fur coat draped over his back. Madam Lu had been anticipating this scene for over twenty years. Finally, she saw the chosen one who had crawled out of her womb stand up and call her "Mother."
"Ai!"
"My senior brother's leg is really healed!"
"Senior brother!"
"Senior brothers, we're all here! Can we join you for a meal?"
"It's a wedding banquet!!"
Madam Lu held her son's hand and looked at him repeatedly until she was satisfied, then asked...
"That... girl? My daughter-in-law, the one you mentioned in your letter."
The man frowned, asking with a hint of displeasure.
"Mother, why are you only arriving now?"
Madam Lu glared at her husband, then patted Lu Wangji's hand and said...
"This isn't...this isn't...something happened on the way that caused a slight delay..."
Could it be that he told his son that the Mo family couldn't raise a thousand taels of gold? They didn't even have the guts to go into a brothel to redeem the courtesan?
"She has already agreed to everything."
"Yes, yes, it's all my fault, your father and I. We made our son wait anxiously."
Cen Ang finished tidying up and walked in from the backyard, bowing to everyone.
"You have traveled a long way, may I ask what brings you here today?"
Would Cen's mother not know why they were here? She wouldn't say anything, just to see how much the Mo family could offer. Anyway, she could return Mantuo's indenture at any time; she just wanted to see how much this daughter-in-law meant to her in-laws.
"Redeem the courtesan!"
"To find a wife for my son!"
Madam Lu gave her husband, who was talking too much, a jab, but before she could finish speaking, she saw a stunningly beautiful woman slowly descend from upstairs and whisper something in the madam's ear.
Cen's mother looked at Manto with a troubled expression. "Daughter, you've turned the tables on me!"
You want me to negotiate the betrothal gifts with them?!
"Please come this way, everyone. As you can see, the battle in Pingyang County just ended the day before yesterday, and the Qingming Festival is approaching. It's not auspicious to hold any celebrations recently. Why don't you all stay here with me and I'll make the arrangements for you?"
Madam Lu nodded. "Of course it's possible! Although my son is anxious, we can't rub salt into someone else's wound, can we?"
Watching the backs of the group being led to their room by Ah Cai, Cen Ang turned to look at Man Tuo and nodded.
"That works too, since we're not leaving home! That's good!"
The young lady said somewhat shyly
"That's what I think too."
No wonder men are so happy when they get married; they don't have to leave home and have their sweethearts with them. She's happy too!
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