Zhong Niangzi Wanfu

Chapter 15
一
At the end of February, the peach blossoms were in full bloom in front of the Zhongfu Courtyard in Wuding City. Zhong Lan, dressed in a moon-white shirt and skirt, sat on a soft chair under the court, ignoring the scattered petals falling on her body, leaning her head and looking at the burning clouds in the sky. daze.

"I got it! Girl! I got it, I got it!" Chang Huan rushed into the yard happily, "The results have been released in the capital!"

Zhong Lan was startled. He didn't hear Chang Huan's words clearly and pulled the girl's sleeve: "What did you say?"

"Miss Shu sent someone to send news that Mr. Shen and the second master of the Wen family, one with a grade of 53, and the other with a grade of [-], are preparing for the imperial examination in March in the royal capital."

Zhong Yan was taken aback.

"Miss Wen also said that Mr. Shen's essay was very popular with the examiner and has been submitted to His Majesty. Basically, there is no need to worry about the next imperial examination."

Seeing Chang Huanxi smiling broadly, Zhong Lan was in a trance for a while.According to Wen Shu's words, her marriage to Shen Feng was basically a certainty.

Sure enough, five days later, someone came from the Shen family, bringing a pair of lambs, a pair of vanilla, a pair of deer, glue Bafang, lacquer Bafang, eight pairs of Albizia bells, a pair of mandarin ducks, eight Dendrobium pampas grass, eight Dendrobium selaginella, and jade relics. Gifts such as a pair of jade blessed animals, eight pairs of goldfish, a pair of wild geese, and a picture of nine wives are accepted.

The Shen family has a strict family tradition and strictly follows the six etiquettes to prepare, which also gives Zhong Lan a lot of face.After asking for names and accepting the name, Yang and Shen Lin came to the Zhong family to visit the first and second families of the Zhong family.

Although the Shen family is not as declining as before, it is still an aristocratic family. Such condescension is enough to show that they value Zhong Lan.

After all, they are aristocratic families. There is not much difference in wealth between the Shen family and the Qu family. However, in terms of the future of their children and grandchildren, the Shen family has a good son with a promising career.

Therefore, the marriage between Zhong Lan and Qu Erlang was abandoned. The Yue family apologized to the Qu family, entertained everyone in the Shen family in every possible way, and even became friendly towards Zhong Lan.

Then came the ceremony of acceptance. The Shen family invited Shen Feng's two cousins, a cousin, and an aunt with a family full of children and grandchildren. They were all kind-hearted and blessed people. They also came to the Zhong family with a matchmaker to give away a total of 99 gifts. Bring up the dowry.The Yue family and the Chu family also returned the gift enough to save face.

Several elders still had some private things to talk about. Zhong Lan and the elders returned to their rooms after seeing the ceremony.

Looking at the red wedding dress, Zhong Lan was in a daze. These days seemed like a dream. He and Shen Feng had known each other for a year, separated for half a year, and were about to marry him in the blink of an eye.Shen Feng, who had only been regarded as her younger brother before, now wanted to be her husband, made her feel a little uneasy.

"Liao'er." Mrs. Chu walked into the door with a smile.

"Mom?" Zhong Lan came back to his senses and smiled, "Have you finished talking to Aunt Shen and the others?"

"Mom has never been good at this, so I left it all to your eldest aunt." Mrs. Chu said with a smile and placed a box in front of Zhong Lan.

"What is this?" Zhong Lan opened the box subconsciously. It was full, with a thick stack of silver notes on the left and a stack of house deeds and land deeds on the right.

"This is the dowry that your parents have saved for you over the years." Mrs. Chu stroked Zhong Lan's hair and said with a smile, "Our second bedroom is not as big as the big one. Although these may seem a little less, they are all made by your father and I." I have saved little by little over the years from farming and collecting land rent.”

"The Shen family is an aristocratic family after all. We were afraid that you would be wronged if the dowry was too small, so we thought that Zhong Nan was still young, so we added the share left for him. You always said that we didn't treat you right. Hello Nan, but in the hearts of your parents, you are all the same." Chu's eyes turned red as she spoke.

Zhonglan also cried and threw herself into Mrs. Chu's arms.

"Good boy, we are all getting married soon. Don't be childish anymore." Mrs. Chu stroked Zhong Lan's back, "When mother's daughter grows up, she will be someone else's daughter-in-law. Just wait for Zhong Nan. , when he grows up, if you are wronged, let him support you and vent your anger."

"Second sister," Zhong Nan walked in and happened to see Zhong Lan crying uncontrollably, "Second sister, are you sad that you won't be able to see Ah Nan in the future?"

"Get out." Zhong Lan cried and scolded with a smile.

Zhong Nan pursed his lips.

two

Zhong Lan's marriage was basically settled, and Wen Shu came all the way from Yong'an to Wuding City to help buy things.Mrs. Chu saw that Zhonglan seemed to have a knot in her heart, so she sent her two children to burn incense at Chiyin Temple in the city.

"I'm bringing you some pieces of red silk this time. Then you can ask the embroiderer to embroider it into a purse to get some luck. By the way, I saw that the thread used for the crest on your wedding dress is a bit dark. I know there are some people in the city. It’s a nice shop, we’ll buy some gold thread when we go back later.” Wen Shu talked to Zhong Lan all the way, and kept giving instructions after getting off the carriage.

"Miss Wen, how do you know so much? You talk as if you were married." Zhong Lan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Don't be disrespectful." Wen Shu glared at her, "If you hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't have called four or five women to supplement those skills, for fear that you would suffer a loss."

Zhong Lan smiled and took Wen Shu's arm: "I know you are good for me, thank you."

"You know what's going on." Wen Shu rolled her eyes beautifully.

The two of them respectfully offered incense in the temple and went out to buy some things at the market.

Suddenly Wen Shu noticed a stall next to the temple gate offering blessings and making wishes, so she dragged Zhong Lan to join in the fun.

The two of them each took a piece of red cloth, wrote down their wishes on it with a pen, and threw it onto the towering prayer tree at the entrance of the temple with a throw.

"What did you write?" Zhong Lan was curious.

"Wenyi High School, Wen's business is Shuntong Hengda." Wen Shu clasped her hands together and bowed devoutly, opened her eyes and looked at Zhong Lan, "What about you?"

"I won't tell." Zhong Lan smiled slightly.

Suddenly, an old road passed by them and they accidentally slipped and fell.

Seeing this, Zhong Lan and Wen Shu quickly helped him up.

"Thank you two girls." The old Taoist fairy patted his sleeves and brushed off the dust, "I have traveled far away, and I may have a destiny with the two girls, so I will give each of them a hexagram. "

Zhong Lan and Wen Shu looked at each other and were about to refuse.

The old Taoist laughed when he saw this: "Both girls are confused now, but the poor Taoist may be able to give some relief."

The two of them were curious for a moment and agreed.

The three of them sat aside, and the old Taoist took out a few copper coins and handed them to them, and they shook them one after another.

After looking at the hexagram for a long time, the old Taoist laughed and looked at Zhong Lan: "What the girl is thinking about has a promising future. Although there will be some troubles in the future, there will still be noble people to help, and the disaster can always be turned into good fortune."

Zhong Lan breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Taoist Master."

"As for what this girl wants." The old Taoist looked at Wen Shu and said earnestly, "There may be many different paths in the future. You should make timely choices and resolutely choose the right path, so that you can turn danger into safety." Wen Shu said thank you with the same face. , but there was a drumbeat in my heart.

After bidding farewell to the old man, the two got into the carriage.

"The hexagrams are not exhausted, and the way of heaven is impermanent. Just listen to it." Zhong Lan comforted softly.

Wen Shu smiled slightly: "Okay."

The two went to the market to buy gold thread and a pair of red gold and agate headscarves, then got in the car and returned home.

As soon as I arrived at the gate of Zhong Mansion, I happened to see the Wen family sending someone to deliver a letter to Wen Shu.

Caitao, who was beside Ms. Zheng, saw the two girls getting out of the car and hurriedly greeted them: "The eldest girl Zhuangan, Miss Lai Zhuangan!"

"Cai Tao? But what's wrong with mother?"

"News has come from the capital, saying that the two young masters have successfully passed the imperial examination and that the second master has been appointed Taiming County Lieutenant by His Majesty."

Wen Shu, Zhonglan and the others were overjoyed, but Caitao frowned: "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that the second master also sent news that Mr. Shen's son from a humble family is the target of the competition for the son-in-law of the high-ranking officials. His majesty took a fancy to Mr. Shen's palace test, and wanted to give him to Princess Liyang as his consort. Mr. Shen didn't Since then, I have been detained in the palace for five full days."

Zhong Lan's feet went weak and he almost fell down.

Wen Shu quickly supported her with quick eyes and hands: "Don't make any noise about this in advance. Let's go back home first."

When they returned to the room, seeing Zhong Yan sip his tea without saying a word, Wen Shu was a little worried: "You can rest assured, even the royal family has no reason to force people to get married."

"Yes, Miss Lai, the Second Master and Young Master Zhang are also in the royal capital right now. Young Master Shen will be fine," Caitao also advised.

Zhong Yan's body was slightly cold.

What does the Zhong family mean in front of the princess?How could I win against the princess?Even the world is in the hands of the emperor in the capital.What's the use of Shen Feng's disobedience?You can't ignore the entire Shen family and die to clarify your ambition.

In this way, if my engagement is broken off for the second time, I will definitely not be able to run away after being slapped in the face by my eldest aunt.

three

Yang has arrived at the Wen Mansion, and Zheng sent Caitao to call Wen Shu home to discuss countermeasures.

In order to avoid disturbing the entire Zhong family, Wen Shu didn't let Zhong Yan follow, but only said to reassure her, and hurriedly said goodbye and went back to Yong'an.

The two did not release the news about Shen Feng, and the entire Zhong family was still immersed in the joy of marrying their daughter.Zhong Lan, who knew the truth, seemed out of tune with the joy at home.

After just a few bites of lunch, Zhonglan asked the Yue family and the Chu family to leave, returned to his courtyard, and sat alone on a wicker chair under the peach blossom tree, sitting there all afternoon.

"Sister Lan, sister Lan." A familiar male voice gently called Zhong Lan.

Did you fall asleep?Zhong Lan rubbed his eyes and saw Shen Feng. He couldn't help but feel happy: "Why are you back? Doesn't the king want to keep you as his consort?"

Shen Feng was still as bright as the moon and breezy, and said with a humble smile: "That's it. I came here to ask my sister if she would like to live in harmony with the princess?"

Zhong Lan was startled: "What... do you mean?"

"The emperor's order cannot be violated, sister, don't you understand?" Shen Feng's face changed, and he stretched out his hands to clasp Zhong Lan's shoulders, "Sister, do you think I will risk the entire Shen family for the sake of our engagement?"

Zhong Lan was speechless by the question, and felt a burst of sadness in his heart. He said for a long time: "So you mean, you want me to marry you as your concubine?"

Shen Feng smiled and said nothing, but the familiar appearance actually made Zhong Lan feel extremely strange.

Zhong Lan's heart suddenly hurt, and she couldn't help but cover her chest, sweating profusely and tears falling down one by one.

"Girl? Girl!" Chang Huan patted Zhong Lan, who was sweating profusely, "Why are you sweating so much?"

"I don't want to!" Zhong Lai closed his eyes tightly, covered his chest with his hands, woke up suddenly, and gasped for breath: It turned out to be a dream, I don't know whether it was midsummer or a nightmare, and his clothes were already soaked.

"What's wrong with the girl? Are you haunted by a dream?" Chang Huan carefully wiped Zhong Lan's tears with a handkerchief.

"Is there any news about the royal capital?" Zhong Lan felt sad in his heart.

"Not yet." Chang Huan lowered his head.

Everything that should be prepared at home has been packed away, and Shen Fie just needs to come to the house to finalize the wedding date. Now that he is being detained in the royal capital as a consort, the marriage may not be possible.

Shen Feng regrets the marriage, or demotes his wife to a concubine. If he doesn't agree, the Qu family will no longer recognize him. What kind of family will his eldest aunt refer to him then?
Of course, Zhong Yan couldn't blame Shen Yan for this matter.

She shook her head helplessly, took a breath and said to Chang Huan: "Go to the room and get the pen and ink ready. I want to write a letter."

"Yes."

Zhong Lan washed his face, sat down in front of the case, picked up his pen, and wrote three pages in one breath as smoothly as he could.

What she wrote was a letter of separation.

If she was asked to demote her wife into a concubine for Shen Feng and serve as a subordinate to the princess, she couldn't do it.

She believed that her friendship with Shen Feng was not that deep, and she did not want to make things difficult for Shen Feng.

Zhong Lan always likes to be free and easy when it comes to relationships. Since we can't get along well with each other, let's stay apart for the sake of peace.

(End of this chapter)