Chapter 288 289. Lin Zhong's face is red and his heart is happy
This was certainly not an accidental forgetfulness.
The entire Duke Su's Mansion knew that Princess Henghuan was not satisfied with the marriage with the Marquis Changning's Mansion, but she had no choice but to agree to it because her son liked her.
The betrothal gifts sent to the Marquis of Changning's Mansion seemed expensive and numerous, but a careful person could tell at a glance that these gifts were not carefully prepared at all and were simply prepared according to etiquette and manners.
The reason why there was no appointment to set a rough date for the engagement was that Princess Henghuan wanted to delay it, preferably until the marriage was shelved so that she could choose another wife for Lin Zhong.
Lin Zhong had no experience of engagement before.
Because his mother said she would arrange the engagement for him, and given his mother's decisive personality, he believed that she would not lie in this regard.
He looked carefully at the betrothal gifts, and found them all valuable and high-quality, so he felt relieved. He also packed his private savings in a jewel box, intending to give it to Lei Zhouzhou when the engagement took place.
The day before the engagement, Lin Zhong was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night.
If there hadn't been a curfew in Kyoto, he would probably have strolled to the Changning Marquis' Mansion countless times throughout the night, passed by the street outside Lei Zhouzhou's yard, or simply stood outside the wall until dawn.
When Lin Zhong and Lei Zhouzhou had just met and were not even friends, he was afraid that Lei Zhouzhou would think he was frivolous, and also took Lei Zhouzhou's reputation and etiquette into consideration, so he did not dare to ask Lei Zhouzhou out to play.
When he thought of Lei Zhouzhou, he would run to the outside of Changning Marquis' Mansion alone. He didn't dare to get too close for fear of causing misunderstanding, so he would just pretend to pass by and drink tea at the intersection leading to the street market.
However, there are several intersections on the street leading out of the Changning Marquis Mansion, and Lin Zhong has to rely on his luck every time. If he can just see Lei Zhouzhou once in ten times, he will feel very happy.
But out of the ten times he happened to see Lei Zhouzhou, Lin Zhong only dared to go up to him once or twice, pretending to greet Lei Zhouzhou by chance.
Lin Zhong asked calmly and politely, but afterward he regretted how cold and awkward he was and why he didn't say more to Zhou Zhou. He was afraid that Lei Zhou Zhou would think he was difficult to get along with and didn't like him.
Lei Zhouzhou is a very outgoing person who likes to go out and play. He goes out very regularly and usually passes by the intersection of Kyoto West Street and East Street.
Lin Zhong would pretend that he really liked a certain teahouse at that intersection, sit upstairs and watch Lei Zhouzhou pass by, then ask someone to find out where Lei Zhouzhou was going, and then he would go there too, pretending to meet him by chance again.
After a few interactions, Lei Zhouzhou noticed him.
Later, Lin Zhong gradually became familiar with Lei Zhouzhou and became good friends with him. He knew what Lei Zhouzhou liked and disliked, and also knew the approximate location of Lei Zhouzhou's courtyard in the Changning Marquis Mansion.
Whenever he thought of Lei Zhouzhou but didn't dare to ask her out to play too often, he would wander around outside that direction.
As he thought about it, Zhou Zhou was in the Changning Marquis Mansion a few streets away from him, practicing boxing and sword in the yard, taking a nap in the sun in a rocking chair under a tree, and writing and painting on the corridor. He felt particularly at ease.
He also unconsciously hoped that Lei Zhouzhou would just go out at this time, come over here and run into him, and say, "Lin Zhong, what a coincidence, we meet again."
It doesn’t matter whether they really meet or not. Just thinking about it makes him feel very happy.
Lei Zhouzhou didn't know all this before. He really thought it was just a coincidence that he met Lin Zhong so many times, and he felt that he and Lin Zhong had a strong connection.
It was only later when Lin Zhong openly pursued him and Shu Ge'er and the others mentioned it to him that Lei Zhouzhou realized belatedly that Lin Zhong had actually liked him since then.
"Shu'er and the others found out, but since you are the young master of the Duke of Su's Mansion, they didn't dare tell me."
Lei Zhouzhou asked Lin Zhong the next day after he found out. He was surprised to get his confirmation. "But I was too slow. I had no idea. I thought we were meant to be friends. I didn't expect you were pursuing me."
Every time Lin Zhong invites Lei Zhouzhou out to play, he is like a peacock spreading its feathers. He also secretly squeezes out Lei Zhouzhou's real friends and monopolizes Lei Zhouzhou's attention.
Xu Sanlang couldn't bear to watch it, and he made fun of Lin Zhong about these things many times in private, but Lin Zhong ignored him every time and continued to show off to Lei Zhouzhou the next time.
However, although Xu Sanlang said these things were nothing, when they were discovered and brought up by the parties involved, Lin Zhong felt a little embarrassed, fearing that his secret stalking of Lei Zhouzhou would make Lei Zhouzhou feel uncomfortable.
Lei Zhouzhou said at the time, "How can this be called stalking? Can guessing and summing up things based on luck be called stalking? If I can go to those banquets, then you can go too. Even if you came because of me, it's because you like me."
"And you didn't do anything to dislike me. I don't dislike you at all. On the contrary, I was quite happy when I unexpectedly met you."
This ordinary sentence made Lin Zhong's face flush and his heart beat fast.
So later on, Lin Zhong went to the Changning Marquis Mansion more frequently, wishing he could buy a house outside the Changning Marquis Mansion and live there permanently so that he could run into Lei Zhouzhou more easily.
And now——
As long as the engagement was completed, as Lei Zhouzhou's fiancé and the son-in-law of the Marquis of Changning, it would be justified for him to visit the Marquis of Changning more often and ask Lei Zhouzhou out to play more frequently.
Of course Lin Zhong was so excited that he couldn't sleep.
Before daybreak, Lin Zhong, who had not slept at all, got up excitedly.
He put on his best new clothes, dressed up beautifully from head to toe, and happily and impatiently rode to the Marquis of Changning's Mansion.
When he arrived, the Changning Marquis Mansion had just opened.
Afterwards, the proposal of marriage, the name-asking, the good news and the betrothal gifts went smoothly. The Duke Su's Mansion had no intention of asking for a date, and the Marquis Changning's Mansion did not mention it either.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi have made plans.
Lei Zhouzhou is only sixteen years old now. She has to stay at home until she is twenty to get married. Now the date has been set, saying that the marriage will be in four years. Even the Duke of Suguo's Mansion, which originally did not want an alliance, will be anxious and feel humiliated.
There's no family or national disaster, and she's already at marriageable age, so what's the point of delaying it for four years? Isn't this a clear sign of dissatisfaction with the Duke of Su's Mansion?
Even if Princess Henghuan was not happy about the engagement, it was just that the betrothal gifts were not prepared with much care. In terms of etiquette, it was acceptable.
Originally, the couple was still worrying about how to skip the appointment process, or extend the time to the winter of the following year.
For aristocratic families like them, who attach great importance to their children's weddings, it is normal to spend two or three years preparing for the wedding. For example, when Lin Zhong's eldest brother Lin Qingshang married the princess, it took him two years to prepare the formal betrothal gifts.
Now, although the two families are not on the same side, they have tacitly agreed not to have a marriage proposal period. Lei Li and his wife have saved a lot of effort, and the Seventh Princess, who was in charge of proposing the marriage, has also put her doubts at ease.
Princess Henghuan claimed to be ill and could not come. As the eldest sister-in-law and elder, it was reasonable for the Seventh Princess to propose marriage on behalf of her younger brother-in-law. However, she had heard that the Marquis of Changning and his wife were not easy to deal with, and when she came, she was worried about what to do if the Marquis of Changning's family was dissatisfied and wanted to get angry.
Now both parties are satisfied.
Lin Zhong knew about the invitation period, but when he saw that Marquis Changning and his wife were very satisfied, and Lei Zhouzhou had no objection, he silently shut up.
Lin Zhong remembered that Lei Zhouzhou had said that he could not get married until he was twenty years old, but he was still a little nervous because he didn't get Lei Zhouzhou's promise.
So after the engagement, he did not go back with his sister-in-law and the people from the Duke of Su's Mansion. He was very shameless and wanted to stay for dinner. Even with the half-smiling look of the Marquis of Changning, he went to his yard with Lei Zhouzhou.
This was Lin Zhong's first time visiting Lei Zhouzhou's yard.
The rules of the Changning Marquis' Mansion were not strict, and there were even fewer restrictions on the children in the mansion, such as Lei Zhouzhou and Xiao Yuzhu, so Lei Zhouzhou did not attach such great importance to the concepts of etiquette and being on guard against the opposite sex.
In the eyes of Lei Li and Zhou Yi, as a friend, it was no big deal for Lin Zhong to play in Lei Zhouzhou's yard, so they did not specifically tell Lei Zhouzhou that it was not possible.
When in the village, Lei Zhouzhou, who had many friends, would bring his friends home to play almost every day, and Lei Zhouzhou would also go to his friends' homes to play.
Lei Zhouzhou had invited other friends, such as Shu Ge'er and others, to play in his yard and house, so naturally he also invited Lin Zhong.
At that time, Lin Zhong's ears turned red, and he refused politely and didn't dare to go in.
Before the engagement, he was just a friend and suitor to Lei Zhouzhou. He was an outsider and it was against etiquette for him to go to the courtyard where a boy or girl lived. He would be considered frivolous and disrespectful to the boy or girl.
When a boy or girl invites an unmarried man into his or her yard or room, it also has some implications and expresses some kind of feelings.
Lin Zhong knew that Lei Zhouzhou did not have that kind of intention towards him at that time, and he could not disrespect Lei Zhouzhou, so he did not dare to go in. But now he is Zhouzhou's fiancé!
Lin Zhong stepped into Lei Zhouzhou's yard with a proud and confident look on his face, but his ears were actually red and his heart was pounding.
He stared straight ahead, not daring to look around, and his hands and feet were extremely stiff.
"Are you nervous?"
Lei Zhouzhou felt that he was a little strange. Entering his yard was like Tang Monk entering the Spider Cave. He was not a monster, so why was he so embarrassed?
"A little bit."
Lin Zhong nodded honestly and said, "I, I'm a little embarrassed."
"What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Lei Zhouzhou was a little amused. He naturally took Lin Zhong's hand and walked into the yard, saying, "This is my yard. There's no one else here, just the two of us. You can do whatever you want."
Lin Zhongcai's heart was pounding because his hand was held, and when he heard Lei Zhouzhou's words, he felt like he had taken an aphrodisiac, and he felt hot from his heart to his limbs.
“Is it too early…?”
He didn't have the confidence to speak. He thought to himself, if Zhou Zhou really wanted to do something to him, he wouldn't dare to refuse Zhou Zhou... No, no, they weren't married yet, so they couldn't do those things.
Lin Zhong's face was flushed and his heart was beating fast, but Lei Zhouzhou asked him innocently if he wanted some water.
"I have tea and lemonade here. The lemonade is in the small refrigerator and is ice cold... Your face is so red, are you feeling hot?"
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