"That's a real shame!" Looking at Wenwu who came out, she said, "Why do you only know how to feed snakes? You never go out for a walk. Your mother and I have to come looking for you."
"Greetings, Mother and Aunt. I've been busy these past few days and haven't been able to come and check on you. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, Mother and Aunt. I'll take the snakes inside first and then come back to talk to you." Wenwu said, picking up the two snakes and putting them into the house.
"Ladies, if there's nothing else, then I'll take my leave!" Chen Yuqi said as she approached.
"Then we won't keep Miss Chen any longer. Would you like us to arrange a carriage to take you back?" Xia Hua said warmly.
"Thank you, Madam. No need to trouble yourself. There are servants waiting at the workshop. I'll take my leave now." She then bowed and left.
Watching the people leave, Xia Hua turned her head and said, "Shu Shu, what do you think of this girl? Wen Wu is alright; even if he stays at home, there are girls who like him. That's really good."
An Shuyi nodded, "It is indeed good, but we don't know what the two of them think yet. You call that kid out to talk later, I won't go in." After saying that, she pushed Xiao Yu away and walked a little further away to wait.
Xiao Yubai wasn't angry when he was pushed, and just followed behind her. Soon, Xia Hua brought Wen Wu over.
"Mother, if you need anything, you can just have someone call your son. Why did you come all the way here yourself?" I thought my mother was brave and fearless, but I didn't expect her to be afraid of snakes.
An Shuyi glared at him. "I did want to call you, but you're always here. I didn't even see you at Wenfan's wedding. People older than you in this village already have children, and people younger than you are getting married too. Tell me, when are you getting married?"
Wenwu didn't expect his mother to be so direct, so he could only say, "Mother, I don't want to get married. It's fine for me to stay here and study poisons every day."
"Then what's wrong with Miss Chen? You don't like him?" Could it be that Miss Chen is only infatuated with him?
“Miss Chen, she just loves snakes. Knowing there are snakes here, she comes to check on them every few days.” This was the first time he had ever seen a girl who wasn’t afraid of snakes. Even he was terrified when he first saw one.
Fortunately, he had removed the fangs from the snakes here, and he had also taken out some of their venom sacs, so he could extract venom indefinitely.
"You didn't understand what I said. I asked, 'Don't you like Miss Chen?'" An Shuyi reminded her again, hating people who avoided answering questions the most.
Wenwu hesitated for a while before nodding gently.
Seeing his bashful manner, Xia Hua said disdainfully, "If you like it, just admit it openly. What kind of behavior is this, all coy and hesitant? You're supposed to be a man, what a pathetic guy you are."
"Do you know anything about Miss Chen's situation? How old are you this year? Are you betrothed yet? Don't let her be betrothed by the time she's still here, only to be left disappointed."
After waiting for a while, Wen Wu still didn't speak. An Shuyi and Xia Hua exchanged a glance, their faces full of disdain for him.
"How long have you been here, Miss Chen?"
"More than two years?" She's a girl, and she looks younger than him. If he asks her that, he'll be seen as a lecher.
"You're really spineless. Two years have passed and you still don't know anything about her situation, you don't even dare to ask. No wonder you're twenty-six and still not married," Xia Hua said disdainfully.
These men in ancient times, to put it nicely, were reserved; to put it bluntly, they were spineless. They had opportunities, but they let them slip away. If they hadn't asked, and hadn't met Miss Chen, would the two of them have missed each other?
After all, this Miss Chen is not young, at least seventeen or eighteen. Her parents will only keep her for another year or two at most. If they have enough time, they will marry her off regardless of whether she agrees or not. If a girl is too old to get married, then her hair will have to be tied up.
Wenwu knew it was his own fault, but he couldn't say it. He was afraid, because if he asked, Miss Chen would say she didn't like it.
Since he was her own son, An Shuyi had no choice but to say, "If you like him, I'll have a matchmaker come and ask him tomorrow, is that alright?"
"Okay, thank you, Mother and Aunt." After saying that, she looked at the man next to her. She didn't recognize him, but she felt it was inappropriate to ask. Oh well, he wasn't a bad person anyway.
“Everything’s alright now, let’s go back. You should tidy up your place too, don’t make it too dirty. The girl comes every day, aren’t you afraid she’ll be disgusted by what she sees?” An Shuyi said, pulling Xia Hua away.
None of her sons were easy to deal with. Once Wenwu's marriage was settled, only Wenliu and Ruohua would remain. Wenliu was alright; there were many girls in the capital, and perhaps one of them would catch her eye someday.
As for Ruohua, once we get to the capital, we'll inquire about any suitable young talents.
The next day, the two asked a matchmaker to come and propose marriage. In the afternoon, the matchmaker came to inform them that she had already agreed to marry Wenwu. It seemed that Miss Chen liked Wenwu.
Since the woman has agreed, the timing is much easier to arrange. The first thing to do is to finalize the date, and then once all the procedures are completed, we can choose a date. However, there are no dates available in the last few months, except for November 9th. The rest are next year.
An Shuyi asked the Chen family through a matchmaker and suggested that the date be set for November 9th. With Wenwu's marriage settled, An Shuyi breathed a sigh of relief.
It was already late April, and May was just around the corner. They were preparing to set off for the capital. Wen Liu and the others had already taken up their posts. Those who went with them included Xiao Yubai, Cheng Yumo, Ruohua, Su Shi, and her fifth grandson Yan Zhi.
Originally, they wanted to bring Wang Shi along, but she didn't want to go, so they didn't force her. Yan Ce wanted to come along, but he had to go to the academy, so in the end he could only stay at home, and Yan Zhen also stayed.
They got up early that morning, ate breakfast, and set off. Fortunately, there weren't many people, so two carriages were enough to accommodate them. Xiao Yubai and Cheng Yumo rode horses, while Wenming and Wenyu were in charge of driving.
Because of the tight schedule, they spent all their time traveling except for resting at night. They finally arrived in the capital on May 3rd. Xiao Yubai and Cheng Yumo could no longer follow them and had to separate.
"Madam, you're back! I was worried you wouldn't make it in time," Tao said carefully as she helped An Shuyi down from the carriage.
The two ladies are now third-rank ladies and are required to go to the imperial palace by order of the emperor. Like other noblewomen, they will follow behind the emperor and empress to watch boat races, willow shooting, and polo games. In the evening, they will also go to the palace to eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and drink realgar wine.
"Don't worry, we've timed it perfectly, it won't be a waste of time. We'll bring water to the room later, and I'll take a shower; it's so hot outside," An Shuyi said.
This awful weather, it's unbearably hot! She's wearing a ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), just a top and a ruqun, and she still can't stand the heat. I don't know how Su Shi managed to get through all that.
“Yes, Madam!” Tao nodded.
"That's Madam Su, the Third Madam, and her son. From now on, call me Old Madam. Take them to settle in properly." There was no other way; if she didn't call them Old Madam, it would be awkward to address them that way. Luckily, she had a good attitude.
"Yes!" Tao nodded and went to carry out the task.
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