After Jiang Shuyun and the others finished discussing their matters, they all went home.
When Sister-in-law Jiang mentioned Chu Qing to her husband, she wanted to try and win her over.
"Shuheng, could you talk to Shuyun and ask her to bring Chuqing along so she can study with Chuyue and Anran for two years?"
"Chuqing, what should they learn? Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? Wanru, our family situation is what it is. As long as Chutong and Chuqing don't make a single wrong move, they can find a respectable family to marry into. There won't be any problem."
Don't think about marrying your daughter up to a higher social class; the concept of "marrying someone of equal social standing" is not just a joke.
Don't think that just because Anran is studying at Shuyun's house, why can't our daughter?
Jiang Qi's family lived in the prefectural city. An Ran and An Kang only went there to study during the day, so Shu Yun and the others didn't have to take on too much responsibility.
Furthermore, the Chu family's wealth is beyond our reach.
When Anran got married, the dowry that her brother-in-law, Chu, could provide was less than a fraction of what we could afford.
Shuyun has already taken Shao Ning there to take care of him. Once Shao Ning achieves a good result in the imperial examination, he might even become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination).
"We can also support Chu Tong and Chu Qing, provided they marry into families similar to ours."
Jiang Shuheng patiently explained the situation to Wanru, making her understand.
Chuyue is different from her sisters Chutong. Chuyue's father was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and her mother is a good earner, so her dowry will be substantial.
Shao Ming and Shao Yun look good now, and they'll likely be good in the future.
With her family backing her up, the social standing she'll be matched with in the future will be much higher than that of Chu Tong and Chu Qing.
Now that we all live in peace, we can help each other out if anything happens in the future.
Sister-in-law Jiang understood everything, but she was still somewhat unwilling. This was how her life was going to be; as the eldest sister-in-law in the family, she was always inferior to her two younger brothers and sisters-in-law.
She just wanted her daughter to marry well so that she wouldn't be too much inferior to her cousin in the future.
Jiang Shuyun was unaware of his sister-in-law's thoughts. The next day, he took Shao Ming to the Mu family.
"Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, and Brother-in-law, are you well?"
"Grandfather, Grandfather, how are you, Uncle?"
At the Mu family home, Jiang Shuyun paid her respects to the two elders of the Mu family and also greeted her brother-in-law.
"Good, all good. Our Shaoming is even better, he's already a scholar, and his grandmother is very proud of him!"
Mother Mu held Shao Ming's hand, looking at her handsome grandson, feeling very happy.
"Brother-in-law, how are the fields? Are the losses severe?"
"It's alright. The dry land hasn't completely failed to produce anything, and the paddy fields listened to Yi'an's advice, pulled up the rice seedlings, and planted sweet potatoes instead, so there won't be a complete harvest."
However, everyone knows that farming depends on the weather.
After the rain, everyone was actively rushing to plant; without despair, there would be no slacking off.
Brother Mu also appropriately reduced the rent for some tenants, in accordance with the imperial court's decree.
He couldn't exempt everyone; there were other landlords and wealthy people around, and he couldn't afford to offend them all.
"That's good. In the past few years, the weather has been good, and every family has surplus grain, so we didn't have to sell our children or go hungry."
"That's not the case. In our area, we don't rely entirely on farming. Many people do odd jobs too."
Xinyuan County has a dock, and many of the day laborers there are from nearby villages.
As everyone reminisced, Jiang Shuyun mentioned taking her family's academically gifted children to the prefectural city.
It also mentioned Shao Ning from Brother Jiang's family and Shao Kun from Shu Wen's family.
If your brother-in-law is comfortable with this, you can send a child over.
The Mu family was caught off guard by this incident and were momentarily stunned, unsure of how to respond.
"Shuyun, this is a bit sudden, let's discuss it."
“Brother-in-law, no rush. I still need to take Shaoming back to pay respects to our ancestors. You two discuss it, and I will return to the prefectural city in two or three days.”
Jiang Shuyun had lunch at the Mu family's house, drank some wine with her father-in-law and brother-in-law, got a little tipsy, and went straight home to rest.
Meanwhile, the Jiang family mansion welcomed a matchmaker who was eloquent and persuasive.
The matchmaker was hired by the He family. The young man from the He family had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar. He stayed in the prefectural city for a few days before returning to the county town.
Manager He and his wife then hired a matchmaker to propose marriage to the Jiang family.
Because their youngest son had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar, some families in the prefectural city wanted to arrange a marriage between them, but they all politely declined and hurried back to the county town to propose marriage.
Manager He didn't consider the families in the prefectural city; he chose the Jiang family because he felt they would have a good future.
Furthermore, the youngest son took a liking to the Jiang family's daughter and they clicked.
To put it nicely, we have some assets, but in reality, we just do odd jobs and earn a meager living.
Over the years, Manager He used his earnings to buy houses, shops, and land; this small fortune was accumulated little by little.
He has three sons, all of whom are capable and haven't gone astray, so he is content.
The family in the prefectural city was good, but it also had its drawbacks. His youngest son had to be inferior to others, which he was unwilling to accept.
Jiang's father was surprised that the He family arrived so quickly; they knew that the He family's youngest son had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar.
The matchmaker acted according to custom, and the Jiang family had also been interested beforehand.
However, the woman should not be too hasty and should ask the matchmaker to come back in three days for further news.
That evening, Jiang Shuyun was summoned to the old house again, and learned that the He family had come to propose marriage.
"Eldest brother and sister-in-law should make the decision themselves. I don't know much about the He family's young man, but I think Manager He is a good person and handles things well."
“Then send an invitation to Manager He, and we’ll find an opportunity to meet him. Chu Tong should also take a look at him.”
Jiang's father believed that marriage was a union between two people, and at the very least, the man and woman should not dislike each other.
Jiang Shuyun thought this wouldn't be difficult. He would send Manager He an invitation tomorrow, asking him to bring his son to visit his home.
At that time, Chu Tong can find an opportunity to meet him.
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