Li Ru's expedition with the army must have been around the summer. It's possible that he accidentally wandered into Devil's Valley. If that were the case, Li Ru would have been long gone.
Zhao Xian looked at Li Xue and saw the despair on her face. According to Lin Yuquan's description, Li Ru should have lived in Guangling with the army back then. It was more than a hundred miles away from Devil's Valley, so it was unlikely that Li Ru would go there.
When they returned to their residence from the Lin family mansion, the sun was already setting. Zhao Xiaoshan and the others were busy preparing dinner.
Zhao Dani was sorting vegetables in the yard when Zhao Xian saw that there was no one else around, so he went over to her.
Two years have passed since Zhao Dani left Narcissus Village and came to Qing'an Prefecture. Now her face is rosy and full, and her skin is much fairer. She is no longer the thin and weak woman she used to be.
Da Ni is already nineteen years old and a grown woman. According to her mother, Li Chun'e, in the past two years, many people have come to her third aunt's house to propose marriage for Da Ni, but her third aunt, Wu, has turned them all away.
In Wu's eyes, she looked down on some of the young men in the village. Her daughter, Zhao Dani, was doing very well now, earning several hundred taels of silver every year. If Dani got married, she wouldn't get a share of the silver she earned.
But this can't go on forever. If it drags on any longer, Da Ni will never be able to get married, which will ruin her life.
Silver is a good thing, but it shouldn't interfere with Da Ni's marriage. I don't know what Wu Shi is thinking.
Seeing Zhao Xian walking towards her, Zhao Dani stood up.
"Brother, aren't you going to take a rest?"
"No need, I'd like to chat with you for a while, please sit down first."
Zhao Dani nodded and sat down again, while Zhao Xian also sat down on a small stool next to her.
“Da Ni, you’re nineteen this year, right? Xiao Shan and Liu Xuan are both younger than you, but they’re already married. Shouldn’t you speed things up?”
Zhao Dani's face immediately turned red. In her opinion, her marriage was entirely decided by her parents, so how could she find a husband behind their backs?
“Brother, I’m in Qing’an Prefecture. I’m busy at the restaurant during the day and go home to sleep at night. I basically don’t have any contact with the outside world. My marriage is entirely decided by my father and mother.”
Zhao Xian smiled and said:
“But my third aunt doesn’t like any of the young men in the village. Many matchmakers came to propose marriage before, but it was all in vain. Now no one is willing to come to our door.”
Zhao Dani lowered her head and remained silent, but she didn't stop working. She knew that her mother had already treated her like a cash cow. She had to earn so much money every year, so how could her mother bear to marry her off?
"Da Ni, do you have someone you like? If so, let their family come to propose marriage. As long as you're willing, your third aunt can't object even if she wants to."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dani put down her work, looked at Zhao Xian, and said:
"Manager Huang has a cousin who works in the Qing'an government office. He often comes to the restaurant. On the surface, he comes to see Manager Huang, but I can tell that he comes to see me."
I've met him a few times, and I can tell from his eyes that he admires me, but he doesn't dare to say it out loud.
He must have approached Manager Huang for help, but Manager Huang didn't dare to say it outright. He just hinted at it indirectly, and I pretended not to understand and brushed it off.
In Narcissus Village, girls' marriages are arranged by their parents; if they choose their own husbands, they'll be ridiculed.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian laughed and said:
"What's the big deal? Xiaoshan and Liu Xuan arranged their marriage themselves. After they told me about their situation, I arranged for a matchmaker to come and propose. Liu Xuan's mother immediately agreed."
If you take a liking to Manager Huang's cousin, I'll tell Manager Huang to send someone to propose marriage. Third Aunt will definitely agree, after all, Manager Huang's cousin works for the government and is an official.
Hearing this, Zhao Dani blushed again and said, "Then brother, please make the decision for me."
"Alright, I'll go to Qinghe Restaurant tonight to see Manager Huang and talk to him about this."
After dinner, before it got dark, Zhao Xian went to Qinghe Restaurant, found Huang Bo, told him about Zhao Dani, and asked him to find someone to propose marriage to his third aunt. He assured Huang Bo that the marriage would definitely go through.
Huang Bo was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately began preparations, planning to propose marriage in a few days.
Suddenly, Huang Bo remembered something and spoke up:
"Lord Shaoqing, how are Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Xiaoyu doing now? It's been so long since I've seen the two siblings."
"Don't worry, Manager Huang. As soon as the brother and sister arrived in Narcissus Village, I enrolled them in school and they started studying," Zhao Xian said.
Upon hearing this, Huang Bo was somewhat surprised and said:
"Ouyang Xiaoyu is a girl, can she go to school?"
“Why not? There are two schools in Narcissus Village, one of which is a girls’ school where the girls in the village can go to school.”
"So that's how it is. This is the first time I've ever heard of a girls' school. Ouyang Nan must be studying at another school."
"Another school is called Wufang Academy. A year ago, the academy arranged for thirty students to participate in the prefectural examination. Twelve of them passed the examination and obtained the qualification of a child student."
It should be noted that a county only has fifty places for students to take the imperial examination each year, and Wufang Academy produced so many students at once, causing a sensation in Zhengyang County.
There's something else that has attracted the attention of the entire county, something you probably can't imagine.
"What is it, Lord Shaoqing? Tell me," Huang Bo said.
The prefectural examination was held in Qing'an Prefecture. Among thousands of students, Ouyang Nan ranked first, achieving the best result in the entire prefecture. It should be noted that Ouyang Nan was the youngest among all the candidates.
"Ah!" Huang Bo was stunned for a moment, but at the same time extremely excited.
"In a little over a year, the triennial provincial examination will be held. Ouyang Nan will definitely pass the examination and become a Xiucai. Ouyang Nan is able to get to where he is today thanks to Manager Huang. Otherwise, the situation of the brother and sister would be very difficult."
"The Ouyang siblings were able to enter the academy entirely thanks to Lord Shaoqing's help. And me, Huang Bo, if it weren't for Lord Shaoqing, I would just be an ordinary cook in the kitchen. How could I have become the manager of Qinghe Restaurant?"
After Huang Bo finished speaking, he stood up and bowed to Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian quickly stepped forward to stop him, saying, "You were able to become the restaurant manager because you have the ability, there's no need to thank me."
The two chatted for a while longer, and Zhao Xian told Huang Bo that he would be going on a long trip in a month and might not be able to return for four months.
If Huang Bo wants to arrange for someone to propose marriage in Shuixian Village, he should go as early as possible, before Huang Bo leaves, so he can put in a good word for him.
Seeing that everything in Qing'an Prefecture had been dealt with, Zhao Xian returned to Shuixian Village with Li Xue the next day.
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