After coming out of the temple, the eldest daughter of the Xu family was feeling angry. She knew that she could not rely on her parents, so she wanted to wait until she got home to find her grandmother to vent her anger. She thought that her grandmother, who had always favored her, would help her. However, she did not expect that not only did her grandmother not help her, but she slapped her in the face!
Covering her red cheeks, Xu Mingrui's tears rolled in her eyes, with a look of disbelief, resentment, grievance, and bitter emotions rolling back and forth in her heart. At noon, she was ignored by Lu Hao in the temple, slapped and scolded by Xu Mingyu, and then slapped by her most beloved grandmother when she came back. She was just a proud little girl on weekdays, and she couldn't understand why she was slapped.
In fact, Mrs. Xu did not use much force. At most, she just stroked Xu Mingrui's face heavily. However, Xu Mingrui felt dizzy and the various emotions in her heart made her breathless.
"Old lady, what are you doing?" Mrs. Hu was also annoyed. She was too old and confused to figure out who was her real granddaughter!
The old lady exhaled heavily and glared at Mrs. Hu with dignity, "I hit this stupid girl! How can I not hope that my granddaughter will have a good fate? How can I not hope that Lord Lu will fall in love with Mingrui? But he fell in love with Mingyu, not Mingrui. What can I do? How can I control Lord Lu's mind? No matter who Lord Lu fell in love with, the Xu family has a blessing to have Lord Lu as a son-in-law! No one can ruin this for me!"
Old Lady Xu thought much more than Mrs. Hu and Xu Mingrui. Mrs. Hu and Xu Mingrui only considered Xu Mingrui's marriage and the trivial matter of competing with Mingyu for face, while Mrs. Xu was more concerned about the career of her children and grandchildren. If she could rely on Lu Hao, who was a big tree, would she be worried about not having shade? The men of the Xu family were all rising to fame, so why worry that Xu Mingrui couldn't find a good husband? Old Lady Xu looked at Mrs. Hu with contempt, what a shallow-minded person. She only led her sons and grandchildren astray!
Mrs. Hu also understood Mrs. Xu's thoughts, so she could only swallow her anger. If she could really marry Lu Hao, Mingrui would be able to marry a good man and not have to hang herself on this tree. "Yes, the old lady is right." Mrs. Hu said in a low voice.
Xu Mingrui cried and ran back, covering her face. Many maids and servants had seen the slap that old lady Xu had given her. Even her mother didn't dare to stand up for her. She had always been proud and arrogant. Now she was so ashamed and angry that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
When Mrs. Hu entered the room, Xu Mingrui was lying on the bed crying, her hair was untied and stuck to her face. Her makeup was smudged, and she was crying while beating the bed, as if the bed was the culprit of her misfortune—Xu Mingyu.
"Alas." Mrs. Hu sat down next to Xu Mingrui and naggingly advised, "Alright, alright, stop crying. I've already told you that you can't count on Lord Lu, but you were so determined to wait... I thought the few families I told you about last year were all good, but now they're all married. You can't afford to delay."
Xu Mingrui suddenly raised her head from the bed, her face red with anger, "Who asked me to wait? It was you who asked me to wait! No matter who came to propose marriage, I think they are not as good as Lord Lu. It's you who wanted to be Lord Lu's mother-in-law!"
Mrs. Hu was so angry that her face was shaking. She stretched out her hand to hit her daughter, but when she saw her daughter's face was red and swollen and her hair was sticking to her face, she couldn't bear to do it. She sighed and withdrew her hand.
Compared to the chaos in the second house, the first house was relatively calm.
Mingyu didn't expect that Lu Hao would come to the door right after she got home. She suddenly became nervous, "Why is Lord Lu here?" Mingyu smiled calmly.
Lu Hao smiled gently at Mingyu, then looked at Xu Changgong and Madam Xu, and said with a cupped hand, "I have something to discuss with Lord Xu and Madam Xu."
Mingyu's heart almost jumped out of her chest. What could he possibly tell her parents
Xu Changqian and Madam Xu looked at Lu Hao's expression and roughly guessed what was going on. Madam Xu spoke first, "Mingyu, go back to your room first."
After Mingyu hid in the house to avoid suspicion, she asked Lixiang to serve tea and stay by her side and report to her if there was any news.
"Master Xu, Madam Xu." Lu Hao smiled modestly and politely, "My father died early, and my mother is still in my hometown, not in the capital. I have no elders around, and it would be insincere to ask someone else to come to my house. So I have no choice but to come to your house and propose marriage. I hope Master Xu and Madam Xu will not mind."
Although they had guessed Lu Hao's intention, Xu Changqian and Madam Xu were still shocked when Lu Hao really said it. After looking at each other for a while, Madam Xu was a little embarrassed and said cautiously: "Master Lu, you are a high-ranking official. Mingyu is the apple of our eye. We just want her to live a peaceful life and never let her be bullied again. Our daughter is not someone's concubine..."
Lu Hao looked a little surprised, then smiled and said, "Mrs. Xu, you are worrying too much. I am here only to marry a wife, not to take a concubine."
Now it was Madam Xu and Xu Changqian's turn to be surprised, but they were more surprised. A man of Lu Hao's character and status was willing to marry Mingyu as his wife. This was something that could only be encountered by chance.
"Lord Lu." Xu Changqian was calmer after all. "I'm sure you also know about Mingyu's past..."
Lu Hao nodded, his expression unchanged. It was impossible to say that he didn't mind Mingyu's past with Sima Hong, especially since Sima Hong had no intention of letting go. He had thought about it for a long time, struggling and hesitating. The fierce and beautiful girl who pressed on him and held a brick in the rain seemed to have taken root in his heart. The more he wanted to forget, the clearer he remembered.
Since they haven’t consummated the marriage yet, the person is still clean... Lu Hao convinced himself in his heart.
With his current status, he had thought about taking Mingyu as his concubine, but the incident with Prince Qin reminded him that the girl was not only unwilling to put herself in a difficult position, but also quite popular. If he didn't act early, she would be snatched away by someone else. Forget it, just get married, Lu Hao thought, life is short, why not make yourself happy for once
"It is Mingyu's blessing and our Xu family's blessing that Lord Lu came to propose marriage." Xu Mingye, who had been silent in the corner, suddenly spoke up and smiled at Lu Hao, "Can we consider it?"
Lu Hao smiled and said, "Mingye, that sounds awkward. Marriage is a big deal, so we have to think it through before we can make a decision." He then smiled at Xu Changqian and Madam Xu and said, "I have already sent someone to pick up my mother to the capital a few days ago. If Lord Xu and Madam Xu trust me and are willing to entrust their daughter to me, I will hire a matchmaker to propose marriage to my mother after she arrives in the capital in a few days."
In the Chu Dynasty, a formal marriage had to go through six ceremonies, namely, Nacai, Wenming, Naji, Nazheng, Qingqi, and Qinying, which were called the "Six Rites". In fact, in order to avoid the embarrassment of being rejected by the matchmaker, many families would informally ask for marriage in advance and ask the other party if they wanted to marry their daughter. If yes, they would happily invite the matchmaker to come to the door. If not, they would politely refuse, no one would know, and both parties would not lose face.
After Lu Hao left, Madam Xu was still immersed in disbelief. After a long time, Xu Changqian recovered first and said to Madam Xu, "Go and tell Mingyu so that she can be mentally prepared."
Mrs. Xu sighed quickly, turned around and walked towards Mingyu's room.
"Dad, do you really want to marry my sister to Lu Hao?" Xu Mingye asked in a low voice.
Xu Changqian turned around and smiled, "Why? As a brother, you can't bear to let her go? I've thought about it and there's no better candidate than Lord Lu. Not to mention that he helped Mingyu get home when we were in the northwest. We can't repay this kindness. He has come to the capital many times. He has this heart for Mingyu, so you don't have to worry that he will treat your sister badly in the future."
"Not really." Xu Mingye smiled and swallowed the words in his heart, "At least my sister has to nod her head in agreement."
Xu Changqian laughed. Lu Hao was good in every way. As long as his daughter was not stupid, she would definitely agree.
"I don't want to." Mingyu said to Mrs. Xu with her head down. She was so nervous that her hands and feet were shaking, and her voice was trembling.
Mrs. Xu was stunned. She came with great joy to report the good news to her daughter, but she didn't expect her daughter to show her joy as she did. At least she should shyly show her excitement. However, her usually well-behaved and sensible daughter would bow her head for a long time, and then give her such a harsh and decisive sentence, which extinguished all her joy.
"Hey, this child... why don't you want to?" It doesn't look like a shy girl, she just said it in a sarcastic way! Madam Xu hugged Mingyu into her arms and said with a smile: "Silly child, how good is Lord Lu! He is a second-rank official at a young age, and he doesn't even have a concubine at home. He is kind and honest. It's rare that he only likes you. If you miss this opportunity, you will never have it again!"
Mingyu looked down at her hands, and after a while she whispered, "Mom, Lord Lu is very nice, but I..." Mingyu bit her lip and said, "I don't like him."
She also thought Lu Hao was very good, and there was almost nothing wrong with him. Such a perfect person made her feel unreal and untrustworthy. Most importantly, there was already someone living in her heart, and she promised him that she would wait for him to come back. No matter what the final result was, she could not accept anyone else before she gave up.
Hearing her daughter's answer, Madam Xu laughed, "Silly girl, do you think you've lived like the talented scholars and beautiful women in the opera, loving each other all day long?" Laughing, Madam Xu sighed again, "My daughter, I'm not throwing cold water on you, you... after all, you are different from those unmarried girls. It's good enough that others don't pick on us. Lord Lu is such a good person, how can we be picky?"