All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 34 My dear, are you tired of it?
Old ginger is always spicy.

The Duke of England, who had experienced countless ups and downs, really understood Chen Ran's thoughts.

This is definitely not someone who will surrender himself!
He struggled hard in the troubled times, never obsessed with the power of the court, and only wanted to increase his strength.

Dare to fight, be able to fight, do not be tempted by power, wealth, status or beauty, and be firm in the path you want to take.

This kind of person will definitely not be Yue Wumu who surrenders and dies, but Wei Wu who whips the East China Sea!
Chen Ran's meeting with Johann Adam Schall ...

In fact, Johann Adam Schall von Bell was very proactive and expressed his willingness to provide the general with all the help he could.

He and the church behind him were really eager for support from above.

Chen Ran commissioned Johann Adam Schall von Bell and the church to purchase the machines needed for the arsenal.

Not only are cannons manufactured, but a large number of equipment are also used to manufacture muskets.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty which was like a workshop of manual labor, although Europe at that time had not yet entered the steam age, its industry had already developed in the direction of scale and integration.

The gap between the two sides is not that big, but it has indeed gradually widened.

In the next two hundred years of history, the Tatars not only held Middle-earth back from moving forward, but even reversed history.

And Europa is truly soaring into the sky.

In order to purchase the machines and technology, Chen Ran paid a full deposit.

He knew very well that the Westerners who came from across the ocean were all greedy for money.

Things will only be done if you pay, and nothing can be done without money.

Time passed day by day, and finally the New Year arrived.

In this era, Chen Ran was alone and had no relatives, so he simply celebrated the festival with his personal soldiers.

The ground heater was lit, the charcoal basin was put out, and the wine and delicious food were served.

We were all men, eating, drinking, playing finger-guessing games and making loud noises, then setting up the table and pushing the ball a few times. Life was easy and enjoyable.

The soldiers in the military camp outside the city were not forgotten either.

Chen Ran not only went to the camp in person to distribute the New Year's rewards one by one, but also provided sufficient wine, meat and food so that the soldiers had no worries about food and drink.

Compared to the troops from other towns who came to support the king and whose camps were not far away but whose rewards were withheld, the loyalty of the soldiers under his command naturally increased greatly.

After all, human beings are strange creatures. When they are alone, no matter how much you give, it always seems not enough.

But once there is a comparison, if you find that others are worse off than you, your mood will immediately improve.

On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Ran rode his horse back home from the military camp.

As soon as he entered the door, Liu Youfu came up to him with a wink and said, "Sir, a beauty has come to visit."

Chen Ran’s first reaction was that Qiu Niang had arrived.

But then I thought again, it was impossible. How could an unmarried lady from a noble family come to my house in broad daylight?

Never mind, he put the whip into Liu Youfu's hand and strode into the house.

The visitor was not in the main hall, but in the flower hall.

As soon as they met, Chen Ran looked surprised. He realized that he was actually an acquaintance.

"Xue Qing greets the Lord."

The person who came was Xue Qing, Qiu Niang's maid.

"Stand up and talk." Chen Ran stretched out his hand and gestured, "Sit down."

"In front of my lord, I dare not."

Xue Qing is younger than Qiu Niang. When she smiles, her two little canine teeth are exposed and dimples appear on her fair cheeks, making her look pretty and charming.

Well, she is also the type that fits Chen Ran’s aesthetic standards.

Xue Qing looked curiously as a burly, clumsy soldier served tea to her and her brother-in-law.

The tea bowl was just placed casually on the table and the tea spilled out.

"This..." She blinked her almond-shaped eyes curiously, "Sir, there are no maids serving in the mansion?"

"No." Chen Ran picked up the tea bowl, took a sip and frowned, "How long has this water been there? It's so cold that it hurts my teeth."

The soldier just laughed and said nothing.

Xue Qing simply said, "Sir, let me do it."

After saying that, he walked out of the flower hall and went to the water room.

After about an incense stick of time, she came back with a tray and placed the tea bowl on the table next to Chen Ran.

After looking at the little girl with a slightly smug look on her face, Chen Ran picked up the teacup and drank tea.

The water temperature is right, the tea leaves are brewed, and the tea aroma is rich and delicious.

"Not bad, not bad, you make great tea." Chen Ran praised with satisfaction, and then changed the subject, "Why did you come to see me?"

Speaking of this, Xue Qing was a little embarrassed and lowered her voice, "Sir, my lady has a letter."

I took the letter and opened it. My first impression was that the handwriting was beautiful and elegant, and it looked very beautiful, obviously the writer had practiced writing.

However, the content made him a little stunned.

What about quoting from classics, what about New Year's greetings, what about the Lantern Festival, what about nice weather and so on.

I read it over and over again twice, but couldn't find the core meaning.

It's not his fault.

After all, you are not a scholar of this era, so it is normal that you cannot grasp the key points.

He had no choice but to look at Xue Qing and ask, "What does your lady mean by this?"

Xue Qing didn't expect that Chen Ran didn't understand.

There was no other way, so she could only make it clear, "Miss, you are here to meet your Lordship to go to the Lantern Festival tomorrow."

"Oh." Chen Ran sat sideways on the chair, clasping his hands together, and suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. It's already the Lantern Festival."

"Got it. I'll definitely go. By the way, time and place?"

"Tomorrow at 7pm, outside Zhengyang Gate."

If we talk about the most prosperous place in the capital during this era, it must be Qianmen Street.

The so-called front gate is Zhengyangmen, and the front gate street is the famous Dashilan. Unlike the early Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had a night ban, that is, a curfew.

The curfew is only lifted during a few festivals throughout the year, and people can have fun all night long.

The Lantern Festival is one of them.

After returning to the Duke of England's mansion and arriving at Zhang Wanqiu's boudoir, Xue Qing smiled and walked forward, "Miss, I'm back."

Hearing the sound, Qiu Niang, who was sitting on a round stool reading a book, hurriedly put away the book in her hand.

But because he was too flustered, he dropped it to the ground.

Xueqing looked over curiously and found that it was an illustration.

The painting on the page.
"Oh~~~"

Xue Qing blushed and quickly covered her face, stamping her feet repeatedly, "Miss, what do you think of this?"

Zhang Wanqiu's pretty face was even redder than hers.

Lian Lian waved his hands in panic, "No, it was given to me by the nanny, who said I should learn how to serve in advance."

The two of them said different things, but Zhang Wanqiu reacted faster.

He quickly picked up the book and saw Xueqing covering her face with her hands, but she smiled and said, "You have to read it too."

"Ah?" Xue Qing let go of her hand and looked over in confusion, "Why?"

"You have to come with me. Mammy said so, she said so."

If it were someone else, they would definitely not be able to say this, but facing Xue Qing, who grew up with her, she could instead say something teasing, "When I can't hold on any longer, you have to take over."

If nothing unexpected happens, Xueqing, as the head maid, will definitely be included in the dowry.

During the wedding night, if the young lady is frail and has no strength left, she must serve as a substitute.

Even if the master and servant talked about these things in private, they would be extremely embarrassed.

Xue Qing, with a blushing face, did not dare to mention such words again, and took the initiative to change the subject, "My son-in-law has already agreed. Let's meet outside Zhengyang Gate at 11:00 tomorrow."

"Don't talk nonsense." When mentioning Chen Ran, Qiu Niang's voice suddenly became as soft as a mosquito. "You haven't married yet, why call me son-in-law~~~"

Seeing her young lady being shy, Xue Qing immediately became interested. "Lord Zhou is the matchmaker. We have already done the betrothal, asking for the name, accepting the marriage proposal, and accepting the betrothal gift. We are just waiting for the lords to discuss the date and marry the young lady. Naturally, I can be called a son-in-law."

As the saying goes, three matchmakers and six betrothals.

Zhou Yanru represented Chen Ran as the matchmaker for the man, Zhang Weixian invited Duke Chengguo to be the matchmaker for the woman, and the emperor arranged Princess Ningde to be the middleman, and together they served as the three matchmakers.

Because they had to get married before Chen Ran moved to Dongjiang, the six steps of the engagement were carried out very quickly, and the first four were completed before the Lantern Festival.

Now we just have to wait for the Duke of England to decide on an auspicious date, which will be the final wedding date.

At this point, everything has basically been settled, except for the wedding.

This was also the reason why the Duke of England's Mansion tacitly agreed to Zhang Wanqiu's invitation to Chen Ran to visit the Aoshan Lantern Festival during the Lantern Festival.

After all, it's always a good thing to cultivate some feelings in advance.

In Zhang Weixian's view, this is not a simple marriage, but a strong alliance to deal with the complex situation in the future.

Because of this, the role of people in it becomes particularly prominent.

Even when Zhang Wanqiu asked Chen Ran to go to the Lantern Festival, it was his implicit consent.

Of course, in this era where there is a strict separation between men and women and the ethics are strict to the point of being perverted, it is impossible for only two of them to be together.

The next day, on the night of the Lantern Festival, Chen Ran, who had been rewarded with wine, meat and money in the military camp, hurried back to the city.

Before the hour of Xu, I changed into warm clothes and came to the front door.

What appeared before him was not just a master and servant as in movies and TV dramas, but an entire team.

There were more than twenty maids, servants and servants.

Even the young master Zhang Shize was there.

"Brother-in-law." Zhang Shize smiled and walked forward and joked, "I'll leave my sister to you. I have to hurry to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for the banquet."

During the Lantern Festival, the emperor would also hold a grand banquet to entertain civil and military officials, royal relatives and nobles.

Originally Chen Ran was going to go, but Duke Ying asked for leave for him.

After Zhang Shize rode away with a smile, Zhang Wanqiu just got off the carriage.

She was wearing a lotus green crane cloak today and a white fox fur waistcoat around her shoulders.

She wore a veil on her head, and a face scarf under the hanging silk net.

As a result, the maids and nannies immediately came forward and surrounded her.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ran felt helpless.

In this age of cannibalism, I really don’t know what to say.

Obviously, this was far from the date he had imagined.

After a brief greeting, the two went shopping together.

Although they were said to be together, there were actually at least five or six people between them, making it difficult for them to even talk.

This made Chen Ran very disappointed and he lost interest.

There's no way. No matter who encounters this so-called date, they won't have any interest at all.

It was very lively outside the front gate, with the sound of firecrackers ringing in the air and tourists everywhere.

There are lanterns hanging at the doors of every household, colorful and in various styles.

Occasionally, there were horse-racing artists performing with all their might, often drawing cheers and applause from the onlookers.

In such a noisy and lively environment, one should have been very excited.

But at this moment, Chen Ran was yawning out of boredom, and even thought that if he had known this would happen, he would have gone to the palace for a big meal.

As his thoughts changed, he saw a long dragon of lights running over from a distance, and a large group of people followed it with joy, almost instantly breaking the blockade formed outside by the servants of the Duke of England's mansion.

There were people all around, and in a panic, Chen Ran subconsciously went to look for Zhang Qiuniang.

When he turned around, he saw the girl who had already lifted the veil and was standing behind him, looking up at him.

"My dear, are you tired of it?"

(End of this chapter)