When Li Yan saw Zheng Hui, she was shocked: "Why have you lost so much weight?" She was originally a pretty and lively girl, but now she looked a little old and haggard.
The little maidservant beside her explained, "Our mistress wants to arrange a marriage for our young lady, but the man is far away in Jiangnan. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the young lady to see him again in the future!"
Zheng Hui's expression was somewhat gloomy, and she changed the subject, saying, "I haven't seen you for a long time. I heard that you were at the county government office, so I asked someone to invite you to my house. I hope it won't delay your business!"
She knew that Li Yan was busy with things in the shop, so she couldn't ask her to come to her house to chat. When she heard from the servants about the prosperous market outside the city, she really admired this girl who was younger than herself!
Li Yan looked at Zheng Hui's expression and felt inexplicably sad. She regarded Zheng Hui as a friend.
Seeing that she was changing the subject, she suddenly held Zheng Hui's hand and asked, "How much do you know about that person? Do you like that person?"
Zheng Hui was stunned. Since ancient times, marriage has been decided by parents and matchmakers. Her mother said that this man was specially recommended by her grandfather. His talent and family background were very compatible with hers.
The north is barren after all, and my parents naturally want me to marry back to the south so that they don’t have to suffer with me anymore!
As for whether you like someone or not, you haven't even seen that person, so how can you say you like him or her?
She couldn't care less about other people, but she didn't want Zheng Hui to marry her blindly. She held Zheng Hui's hand tightly and said, "Send someone to find out about that person first. It's not possible for others to say that this person is good. You have to find out about this person yourself!"
Having never been spoken to before, Zheng Hui felt a surge of hope. She held Li Yan's hand and spoke from the heart, "Sister, what do you think I should do?"
Now she just wanted to know what kind of person she was going to marry, or if she could avoid going so far away? She didn't dare to reveal the slightest bit of her love for the person she once loved, it was just her own wishful thinking!
Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "We should talk to your mother about this. They're going to send some gifts back for the Dragon Boat Festival. Ask your mother to send a trusted maid to investigate that person. You can't just marry someone blindly like this!"
Zheng Hui had been unhappy ever since her mother wanted to arrange a marriage for her. Now, after hearing what Li Yan said, she seemed to have come to terms with it. Even if she couldn't marry the person she liked, at least she had to know the other person's character. She had to find out everything about the person she was going to spend her life with.
Seeing that she seemed to have come to terms with it, Li Yan was happy for her. She couldn't persuade her not to get married if she didn't want to, or to marry the person she loved. Not to mention whether Zheng Hui could accept such an idea, even if she did, how would she survive in the future?
Li Yan could only persuade her to find out as much information as possible about the person she was going to marry, so as not to get herself into trouble!
Zheng Hui took Li Yan's busy schedule into consideration, and after a few words with her, she personally sent her out.
After the two girls said goodbye in front of the corner gate, Zheng Hui went straight to find her mother.
Zheng Hui leaned affectionately on her mother's arm and repeated what Li Yan had just said to her mother: "The person Grandpa is looking for is of course good, but I'm still afraid, mother. I have no idea whether he is tall or short, fat or thin. Please ask Mammy to take a look as well!"
Seeing her daughter looking much more haggard in recent days, how could a mother not feel distressed? Now, after listening to her daughter's idea, her heart became more cheerful.
However, the person who sent the gift had already left, and if we go south now, we might encounter refugees on the way, so it is definitely not a good time.
Then I thought of writing a letter to my best friend and asking her to help me find out something.
Wait until the situation stabilizes, then send your trusted aides over. Anyway, it's just at the consideration stage now. As for whether it will succeed or not, it's not too late to say anything after we get the latest information!
Zheng Hui saw that she had convinced her mother, and all the depression she had been feeling for the past few days disappeared. At least she didn't have to make the decision in such a confused manner!
When Li Yan returned, there were many more pedestrians in the city than when she entered, and the people gathered in groups of three or four, discussing something.
"Have you heard? A group of refugees have come from the north and are now being stopped outside the city!"
"Who told you this?"
"Why would I try to fool you? My neighbor told me this when he came back from selling some goods. I heard that the customers in restaurants and eateries have been discussing this matter these past two days. Please don't involve Rongcheng in this!"
"That's hard to say. If there are a large number of refugees and they don't get any relief, there's a chance riots might break out!"
Another person pulled the man's arm and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Be careful not to let others hear us. I think we should hurry back to the store to stock up on food!"
"When the man heard this, he also reacted and said, 'Let's go together!'" After saying that, the two of them hurried to the grain shop in the city.
These people's reactions are also normal. If they wait until chaos really breaks out before thinking about storing food, the price of food at that time may not be affordable for them.
Li Yan became even more worried after hearing this. The news had just come in and the people in the city were already in a panic. This might also have an impact on the business of her shop.
Li Yan followed the crowd to the grain shop to see what was going on. When she arrived at the shop, she found that there were already many people queuing outside to buy grain.
Panic spread among the crowd. Without knowing the exact number of refugees, these people had already lost their composure. Seeing others rushing to buy food, they naturally couldn't fall behind!
At this time, a middle-aged man walked out of the shop carrying half a bag of grain.
The man traveling with him said worriedly, "Brother, should we use all our money to buy food? Wheat bran has already gone up by two cents per pound. What will we do if the price of food continues to rise?"
When the people queuing outside the shop heard this, they hurriedly stopped the two and asked about the current price of grain in the grain shop.
Zheng Da, who was at the end of the line, looked even uglier when he heard that the grain shop had raised its prices. He pulled the hand of the person in front of him and whispered, "Uncle, let's go to the countryside to buy some. We only have so much money, and if the grain prices go up, we'll have to buy a lot less!"
Li Yan stood beside them and heard their conversation. She frowned, wondering whether County Magistrate Zheng and his men would take any measures, at least to prevent the fear from spreading among the people.
Just as Li Yan was thinking, a group of officials walked straight into the grain shop.
Li Yan recognized the leading yamen runner Yang. When she saw them enter the grain shop, a hope suddenly arose in Li Yan's heart, hoping that it was as she had imagined.
When the people queuing outside saw the officials coming, they stopped queuing and crowded to the front of the door, stretching their necks to look inside!
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