He Tiantian had felt last time that these women had ill intentions. Zhao Yan was the pride of their entire village, and they absolutely could not let him fall into the hands of these scheming women.
But Zhao Yan wasn't her son, and she didn't know how to get involved in his marriage.
So he instructed, "Stay away from them in the future. Even if you see them in the village, try to avoid them."
Zhao Yan felt a little embarrassed; he couldn't quite bring himself to do it.
Seeing Zhao Yan's hesitation, He Tiantian warned him seriously, "You're going to the capital to take the imperial examination and become an official. It's too early to talk about marriage now. Your aunt knows you don't have anyone you like right now, but there might be some girls in the village who have their eyes on you."
"Therefore, you should keep your distance from them! Especially those three women from earlier."
Not one of them is easy to deal with!
If something goes wrong, we won't be able to cover it up.
In fact, it really did turn out exactly as Tian Tian had predicted.
The reason Cheng Taotao brought her younger sister Cheng Zhizhi from her maternal family over was entirely because their village now had Zhao Yan, a scholar, and Director Song, a high-ranking official in the capital.
These two well-off men are the object of many young women's affections in the village.
Cheng Taotao and Cheng Zhizhi didn't go far. They hid nearby and followed Cheng Fang after he came out of the Zhao family's house.
They followed him all the way to the village entrance, to where the horse-drawn carriage was parked.
Cheng Zhizhi was still a little embarrassed. "Sister, didn't you say my target was the scholar and that high-ranking official in the capital? We don't know this Young Master Cheng at all. How can we even strike up a conversation with him?"
Cheng Taotao glared at her younger sister, annoyed. "You're so spineless. This Young Master Cheng is obviously rich. Now that we have three choices, we should all show our faces. If you end up with any one of them, you'll be set for life!"
Cheng Zhizhi nodded; what she said was true.
Afu untied the horse's reins, and Cheng Fang had just stepped one foot onto the carriage when he heard someone call his name from behind.
"Young Master Cheng, please wait a moment."
Cheng Fang turned around and saw Cheng Taotao and Cheng Zhizhi, who had just been chatting happily.
He grinned slyly, opened the fan in his hand and shook it, "So it's Tao Tao and Miss Zhi Zhi, what brings you here?"
Cheng Taotao pulled Cheng Zhizhi forward with a smug look on her face, "Hey, it's Young Master Cheng's first time visiting our village, and we haven't properly entertained him. The scenery around our village is quite nice, why don't we take you to see the sights?"
Cheng Fang looked around Changfeng Village, which was surrounded by mountains. However, it was late autumn, and the grass and trees had already turned yellow.
The mountain was bare and there didn't seem to be anything to see.
If you come in spring, you can probably enjoy the flowers and the moon, and even compose poems and paint pictures...
Just as Cheng Fang was about to refuse, Cheng Taotao continued, "Young Master Cheng, there's a big river at the foot of the mountain behind our village. Now the riverbanks are covered with reeds. Don't you scholars love these poetic and picturesque things the most…?"
The reeds are green and lush, and the white dew has turned to frost.
Cheng Fang recalled this line from the Book of Songs, and images immediately came to mind.
He had only seen reeds in books, never in real life.
No, he had to see such beautiful scenery to make the trip worthwhile.
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