Su Juren said seriously, "Fang Yun, don't act on impulse. You are still young and have a long way to go in the future. You need help. Although my Su family is not as famous as the famous families, it is also a three-generation family. We can barely support you to become a third-rank official! If Yuhuan is really sensible and knows that you are thinking about your future, she will definitely forgive you."
"Sister Yuhuan is kind-hearted and will definitely forgive me." Fang Yun said.
Su Juren smiled and said, "You agreed?"
"But I will never forgive myself! I can let down everyone in the world, but I can never let down Sister Yuhuan!"
"How can you be so unworldly? You make me so angry!" Mr. Su looked as if he was very disappointed in his child.
Fang Yun said slowly: "If I had married into your Su family for my future, it might have been a wise move. Now that I have a famous teacher to guide me, if I still need to rely on your Su family to pursue a career in literature, wouldn't that be too incompetent?"
Mr. Su looked at Fang Yun carefully, and finally laughed out of anger. He praised with a regretful tone: "What a great Fang Shuangjia, I really didn't misjudge you. Your integrity convinces me. I have a beautiful daughter who is over twelve years old, and a legitimate granddaughter who is eleven years old. I will wait for you for another three years! You can pick one of them within three years!"
"Your daughter is twelve years old? Mr. Su is still in good health." Fang Yun said.
Mr. Su blushed and said, "My eldest son is already over thirty."
"Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I have made up my mind. I hope you will grant my wish." Fang Yun said.
Mr. Su lowered his head and sulked, ignoring Fang Yun.
After all, the Su family is a prominent family, and Mr. Su loves his daughter very much. He is reluctant to let his daughter become Fang Yun's concubine. The status of a concubine is too low. Once she is out of favor, she is not even as good as the housekeeper and is just a high-level maid.
Therefore, Fang Yun could not let Yang Yuhuan be his concubine.
When they were almost at Fang Yun's house, Su Juren took out five silver bills from his pocket, stuffed them into Fang Yun's pockets, and said, "You have done something unprecedented for Jing State, which is cause for celebration. Here is one hundred taels of silver as one of my gifts."
"This... is too much." Fang Yun didn't expect the other party to give so much at once. After a rough calculation, he found that it was almost like giving 30,000 or 40,000 yuan as a gift when someone's child entered high school. It was too generous.
But Mr. Su patted his other pocket and said, "There are 1,000 taels of silver in it. It's not included in the dowry. Would you consider it again?"
"Thank you, Mr. Xie." Fang Yun stretched out his hand and took the silver note of one hundred taels.
"Alas." Su Juren sighed softly.
The wealthy families in the county were all willing to sponsor outstanding students, but no one had ever given a gift of 100 taels of silver when they met for the first time, let alone a silver note of 1,000 taels. Moreover, even if they wanted to give it, they couldn't.
The carriage gradually slowed down, and the driver said outside: "Master, Fang Tongsheng's house is just ahead. It's very lively, and the banquet has taken up half the street."
Fang Yun was about to get off the car, and Su Juren asked, "I heard that you went to the exam in an oxcart?"
"yes."
"Then this carriage and three horses are for you." Mr. Su said casually.
"Ah? No way. You are too polite. I cannot accept this carriage." Fang Yun knew that Mr. Su's carriage and three horses were not ordinary. They were worth at least one hundred and fifty taels of silver in total. There were less than twenty people in the whole Ji County who could afford such a luxurious carriage.
Mr. Su said, "I gave you the carriage because of your talent and integrity. If a genius like you doesn't even have a carriage, it will be a shame for Ji County and Jing State! With a carriage, it will be convenient for you to study in Dayuan Prefecture or go to other places for study. If you don't think about yourself, you should also think about your child bride and your status."
"But… "
"You were so frank and decisive just now, but why are you so fussy now? I'm leaving, and I have a young wife at home who is waiting for you. If you hit a wall, remember to turn back!" After saying this, Mr. Su got out of the car and left in a casual manner.
The driver handed the whip to Fang Yun and followed Mr. Su.
Fang Yun muttered to himself: "But I think it's too expensive to raise three horses."
Mr. Su in front of him trembled and quickened his pace.
Fang Yun bowed to Mr. Su from afar as a way of thanking him. He knew that Mr. Su was not selfless and was willing to give him so much money just for investment. But no matter what, it was a great help to him now. After all, there would be so many places that would need money in the future.
Fang Yun turned his head and looked towards the door of his house, he saw that it was decorated with lights. More than ten big red lanterns were hung on ropes in the air. Under the lanterns were tables littered with cups and plates, and on the tables there were lanterns, illuminating the happy smiling faces.
The banquet had already ended, but many people had not left. Many big men were drinking and playing finger-guessing games, while young wives and old ladies were chatting about family matters.
"Brother Yun is here!" Someone shouted, and everyone looked at Fang Yun.
Afterwards, Fang Yun's house became lively from inside to outside. Fang Yun's relatives, neighbors, classmates, familiar and unfamiliar people, all came out to greet him.
Many people unconsciously bent slightly and smiled humbly.
There was deep envy in everyone's eyes.
Some people secretly regretted that if they had known that Fang Yun had a promising future, they should have doubled his luck.
The first people to come up were not relatives, friends, or neighbors or classmates, but seven or eight heavily made-up matchmakers. They suddenly became extremely powerful, and some of them were almost as strong as iron chains across the river. They pushed aside the others and rushed over quickly.
"Hey, Master Fang, you're back!"
"Congratulations, Mr. Fang, for being the first in the imperial examination. I congratulate you."
"Congratulations, Mr. Fang. Tsk tsk, I hugged you a few years ago, and you peed all over me. The force was so strong that I almost fell over. You are destined to be the top scholar!"
Fang Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What the matchmaker said was too exaggerated.
Then the matchmakers surrounded Fang Yun and started talking to him. Some asked Fang Yun if he had any girls he liked, some asked Fang Yun to propose conditions, and some introduced the girls from the Zhang family and the Zhao family to Fang Yun.
In their opinion, Fang Yun was going to be a juren in the future, so how could he let a child bride be his principal wife, even if Yang Yuhuan was very beautiful.
At this time, marriage is about being well-matched.
Fang Yun was about to politely decline when he saw Yang Yuhuan standing at the door, looking at him and the matchmakers.
In front of Fang Yun, Yang Yuhuan was always like a sister and a mother. She never complained and never got angry.
At this moment, Fang Yun saw deep worry in her eyes, just like a kitten watching its favorite ball of yarn being snatched away, it can only watch from afar but is powerless to do anything.
Yang Yuhuan just watched, not fighting or competing, and waited silently as before.
Jiangzhou Xi Shi never abandoned Fang Yun from a poor family, so how could the planner abandon his child bride!
Fang Yun suddenly felt very uncomfortable and couldn't help but blurt out: "Sister Yuhuan, please pick an auspicious day and I will officially marry you. Be my wife. I have been waiting for more than ten years!"
The two looked at each other.
The whole audience was silent.
Yang Yuhuan's fair face turned red in an instant, and her originally dim eyes were brighter than the starry sky. Her peerless charm at this moment seemed to illuminate the entire county.
All the men present were fascinated by Yang Yuhuan at this moment.
"Nonsense!" Yang Yuhuan said coquettishly, lifted her skirt slightly, turned around and ran into the house.
Her steps were brisk.
Many people followed suit and cheered loudly.
The matchmakers' faces changed. What was going on
Fang Yun said: "Thank you all, sisters-in-law and aunts. I will marry Sister Yuhuan and I will never change my mind in this life! You should go find someone else."
The matchmakers looked at each other in bewilderment, but one of them smiled and said, "In the past, people always said that Miss Yuhuan was a beautiful girl... well, they said she was unlucky, but I always said that you two were a good match. What do you think now? Who in the whole county would dare to say that you are not worthy of Yuhuan? However, you will be a scholar in the future. Even if Yuhuan becomes the main wife, you still need a concubine to accompany you, otherwise everyone will call her a jealous woman. I know several good girls from decent families who are unwilling to be concubines of others, but if they want to be concubines of the first party, they are willing to do it!"
"Yes, Grandpa Fang, you not only need concubines, but also maids. I know two good little girls, they are smart and beautiful. I will bring them to you someday."
Fang Yun was suddenly overwhelmed. Only then did he realize the biggest problem in ancient times. What seemed incredible to him seemed normal to the people here, and these people regarded passing on the family line as their biggest issue.
Ever since Fang Yun witnessed the power of Liu Zicheng's theoretical strategists, he has felt a stronger sense of crisis. Now that he hasn't even recovered his health, he doesn't even think about wives and concubines.
"Xiao Mao, please help me look after this carriage. It was sent to me by Mr. Su. Thank you all for coming to congratulate us. Enjoy your meal. I have something else to do, so I will go back to my room first."
Fang Yun walked around the matchmaker and headed home. People kept greeting him along the way.
Several cousins who usually looked down on him or coveted Yang Yuhuan put on a smiling face everywhere, fearing that Fang Yun would take revenge on them after he became rich, so they brought a lot of silver and money.
The title of the first in the Shuangjia case was so great that almost everyone who had a connection with Fang Yun came.
Fang Yun had nothing at home, so the guests finally arranged a banquet themselves.
After entering the yard, Fang Yun wanted to talk to Yang Yuhuan, but the yard was full of drunk relatives and friends. They all came over to toast him. At this time, he had to drink, so Fang Yun had to accompany them.
While drinking, Fang Yun looked for Yang Yuhuan, but Yang Yuhuan deliberately avoided her.
After a few drinks, Fang Yun felt uncomfortable, so he pretended to be drunk and lay down on the table.
Yang Yuhuan, who had been avoiding Fang Yun, became anxious, and hurried over and asked a few relatives to help Fang Yun back into the house and put him on the bed.
Yang Yuhuan asked everyone else to leave, then took off Fang Yun's coat and gently wiped Fang Yun's face with a wet towel.
Finally, Yang Yuhuan covered Fang Yun with a quilt, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at Fang Yun in the hazy moonlight. Somehow, she felt sweetness in her heart for the first time.
In the past, Yang Yuhuan had no time to think about love matters. She had only one belief in her heart, which was to take good care of Fang Yun, let Fang Yun study and become a talented person, and when she died, she would give an explanation to Fang Yun's parents. This responsibility has always spurred her on.
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A special update for our book friend Xi'an who has a baby boy. Congratulations! May your son's birth bring glory to your family.
A bachelor passed by...