Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 660
Before meeting Mrs. Tan, Yang Yuan quickly adjusted his demeanor.

To be honest, he is very nervous now.

Even though he was now a county duke, he couldn't bring himself to say that he wanted a legitimate daughter of an official family to be his wife.

But seeing that Yang Yuan looked embarrassed to speak, Mrs. Tan couldn't help but become nervous.

The mother-in-law and the son-in-law now have their own ulterior motives and are both feeling guilty.

Mrs. Tan thought to herself, this young man is of such a noble status and is so handsome, how could he fall in love with my daughter?

Is it because... my family is rich?
The story of two prime ministers of the same dynasty, Zhang Qixian and Xiang Minzhong, competing to marry a wealthy widow is a classic story passed down from generation to generation, and Mrs. Tan naturally knew about it.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Tan felt relieved. As long as you have what you want, it's fine.

Seeing that Yang Yuan looked embarrassed to speak, Matchmaker Liu made the request on his behalf. Mrs. Tan agreed immediately after hearing it.

Mrs. Tan agreed so readily that Yang Yuan almost thought she was speaking in a sarcastic way.

Matchmaker Liu was also a little bit unbelieving, and asked tentatively: "Madam, what do you think of this betrothal gift..."

"No more!"

"what?"

"My family has some assets, so we don't need that little bit of money. As long as my daughter gets married..."

Mrs. Tan suddenly thought of her daughter's hobby. If her son-in-law accidentally found out about it, he would be furious, right?
Madam Tan said to Yang Yuan worriedly, "My daughter has been spoiled since she was young. If she does something wrong in the future, just tell me, and I will teach her a lesson myself. Please don't hit her."

Yang Yuan: …

Li Shishi couldn't help laughing. Madam Tan must be so eager to marry her daughter off that she can't wait.

She coughed lightly and said, "Yuye is such a gentle woman who is suitable for marriage and family life. How could she do something to annoy Erlang? Madam, you are overthinking it."

Mrs. Tan sneered in her heart, no wonder you are so beautiful but have never found a husband, I never thought you are such a person!

It was you who seduced my daughter and caused her to develop this strange habit. Don't think I don't know.

Matchmaker Liu was beaming with joy; it was the first time that matchmaking had been so easy for her.

"Madam, what do you think of the wedding date..."

"Of course the faster the better!"

Behind the screen, Fei Yuye stomped her feet in hatred when she heard this.

Although she also hopes that it will be as fast as possible, but mother, do you have to be so impatient?
Doesn't this make your daughter seem worthless?

The matchmaker naturally hopes that it will happen as quickly as possible, while the lady in charge is afraid that things will get more complicated if the truth is revealed. Once her daughter reveals her true identity, she will never be able to get married, so she can't wait to make it a done deal.

When she looked at her young son-in-law, she thought he was tall and handsome, had an official position, and had a good family background. He was good in every way.

Maybe after my daughter gets married and experiences the goodness of men, this bad habit will be corrected?
Thinking of this, Mrs. Tan glanced at Li Shishi calmly.

Fortunately, once my daughter gets married, it will not be easy to interact with her often. Then I can interfere and maybe my daughter can be saved.

Both sides were in a hurry, and the marriage was discussed as fast as a child's play.

Yang Yuan agreed and, except for not making it public, all other rules should be followed according to the etiquette of a legal wife.

As long as it is not announced to the outside world and only relatives and friends need to be invited, then even if it is a grand ceremony, things can be done as soon as possible.

Yuye knows her own business, although she doesn't feel it now, but her godmother said that she is pregnant, which is probably true. She doesn't want to get married after her waist becomes obvious.

As for Tan, she had finally found an excellent son-in-law and was afraid that he would run away.

Therefore, with the agreement of Li Shishi and Liu the matchmaker, the wedding date was set on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.

This day is an auspicious day for getting married, breaking ground, setting up the bed, and starting the stove, but it's only a little over 20 days away, so time is a bit tight.

But as long as there is money, there is still time to get it done even if there are only two days left.

……

"Hey, this is where my master lives, Nianhua Cottage!"

Li Fengniang took Zhao Ning'er's hand and walked into the gate of Nianhua Cottage.

The servants and guards, dressed in casual clothes, followed silently behind.

"You are learning sword from me, so you should call me Master. My Master is your great-grandmaster." Li Fengniang said to Zhao Ning'er with a wicked smile.

"I won't. You are my sister. If I want to learn, the guards in the forbidden palace can teach me."

Zhao Ning'er didn't want to recognize Li Fengniang as her master, so the two of them argued and walked to the "Chrysanthemum Courtyard".

Emmanuelle Belle was squatting in a corner of the courtyard, burning a piece of parchment with a bamboo stick.

When parchment burns, a special smell is emitted.

"Master, what are you doing?"

Li Fengniang was very curious. Bei'er turned her head and saw that it was Li Fengniang. Her pretty face couldn't help but blush.

Seeing that the indulgence had been burned, she stood up and said, "Oh, it's just a piece of paper with something written on it that I don't want to be seen by others. This little girl is..."

Although Zhao Ning'er had heard Li Fengniang tell her about her master's appearance beforehand, this was the first time she saw a foreigner with blond hair, blue eyes, a high nose and deep eyes, so her eyes were wide open and she was very curious.

Ning'er's identity could not be disclosed to others, but Li Fengniang did not think there was anything wrong with telling her master, so after entering the room, she quietly told Bei'er about it. Bei'er looked at Zhao Ning'er in surprise. She did not expect that this cute and well-behaved girl was actually a princess of the Song Dynasty.

Bei'er smiled and said, "Why didn't you go to Yang's house to play with Ata, Qingtang and the others, but you had time to come and see me?"

Li Fengniang jumped onto the chair and sat down, pushing the fruit plate in front of Ning'er, shaking her legs and saying, "Hey, don't mention it. Qingtang, Ah Man and the others are busy. I don't know what they are buying. They said they don't have time to accompany us."

Bei Er suddenly realized, "Oh, yes, it should be because of Mr. Yang's marriage to Miss Yuye."

Yang Yuan had already told her about this last night, and said that he would take her home after the New Year, so Belle knew about it.

Zhao Ning'er opened her big, cute eyes and asked in surprise, "General Ziyue is going to take a concubine?"

Bei Er said, "Yes, but Mr. Yang treats his women very well. The distinction between wives and concubines is just a secular convention of respect and inferiority. He treats his family members equally and loves them all very much."

Since she was born, all the men Zhao Ning'er has seen have many wives and concubines, and her father is no exception, so she doesn't have any special feelings about this.

Hearing that Yang Yuan treated his women equally and loved them with great love, he smiled and said, "General Ziyue is a Confucian general, gentle and elegant, not comparable to ordinary warriors. Miss Yuye will be very happy to marry General Ziyue."

Li Fengniang raised her chin and said proudly, "What's the big deal? After the New Year, I will be of marriageable age. My father said that he would marry me to the new number one scholar in the second month of the Spring Examination."

Belle couldn't help laughing when she heard this.

Of course, there are young top scorers. After all, the average age of all previous top scorers is around 30 years old, so there must be some who are younger than this.

But most of the top scorers were already married when they passed the exam.

For example, Liang Hao in the Northern Song Dynasty took part in the imperial examinations for forty-seven years. When he passed the examination and became the top scorer, he was already 82 years old and had great-grandchildren.

Feng Niang is determined to marry a top scholar, but not all top scholars are suitable for remarriage.

However, there is no need to take children's words seriously, and Belle will certainly not spoil her fun at this time.

However, if she is allowed to focus solely on the number one scorer, she will most likely be disappointed.

Thinking of this, Bei'er smiled and said, "In this case, you should go to the Shuiyunjian restaurant often. Nowadays, candidates who go to Beijing to take the imperial examinations will go to Shuiyunjian to drink and feast to get a good start.

You guys go take a look first and see what the scholars look like. Who knows, you might not like the top scholar in the exam, but there might be a Jinshi who you like more.”

When Li Fengniang heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she said to Zhao Ning'er, "Master is right, I'll take you to 'Shuiyunjian' to have a look, maybe you'll see a handsome young man, and if you like him, ask your father to appoint him as your consort."

Although Zhao Ning'er was young, she knew how to be shy. She said coyly, "I'm still young, so my father won't choose a husband for me."

Li Fengniang said domineeringly: "If you have a crush on someone, tell him to wait and not to marry. He should wait until you grow up before marrying you."

Li Fengniang said with a giggle, took Zhao Ning'er's hand, and said to Bei'er: "Master, do you want to go with us?"

Bei Er said, "I have to go to San Yuan Pavilion soon, so I don't have the time. You two can go ahead."

Li Fengniang was also a playful person. She had come to Nianhua Cottage to kill time because she had nothing to do. After listening to Bei'er's words, she found it very interesting, so she said goodbye to Bei'er, grabbed a handful of fruits and put them in her arms, then pulled Zhao Ning'er away.

At this time, there were several tables of guests in "Shuiyunjian", and one of them was a table where Yang Yuan entertained his four good friends Lu You, Fan Chengda, Yang Wanli and Yu Yunwen.

Previously, when the imperial court was cutting down on redundant officials, some local officials deliberately allowed the laid-off officials to cause chaos and disturbances, which were severely suppressed by the imperial court. As a result, several official vacancies occurred.

Yang Yuan immediately wrote a letter to the imperial court, recommending these friends to take over the official positions in the capital and counties.

But when they are transferred, other officials must take over and make a handover.

However, problems occurred in the Ministry of Personnel one after another afterwards, so the transfer process of several of them was delayed, and they only returned to Lin'an at this time.

However, this delay turned out to be a blessing in disguise for them.

Because of the recent "anti-corruption storm", there are many vacancies for officials in Beijing, and these people caught the attention of the Ministry of Personnel.

Who asked the Ministry of Personnel to have Xiao Yiran, Lu Chengze and others now?

If an official recommends someone, that person will be included in the Jia calendar. When they see that it is someone recommended by Yang Yuan, they will naturally pay special attention to him.

Moreover, Yang Yuan recommended these people not simply because they were his friends, but because history had proven his character and ability.

These people all had top grades in their respective examinations and had a very good reputation as officials, and they indeed met the standards.

Moreover, the emperor was young, only 27 years old, and he liked to employ young officials. In particular, the enthusiasm and drive shown by more than 100 young censors in the Censorate made him more supportive of young officials.

Therefore, these people were naturally appointed as officials in Beijing and had just taken office.

Lu You is currently the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Rites.

Yang Wanli is currently the Deputy Director of the Ministry of War.

Fan Chengda is currently a storyteller in Chongzheng Hall, and also serves as an editor at the National History Institute and a reviewer at the Veritable Records Institute.

It sounds like the positions he holds are more diverse and his real power is not as great as the above two, and this is actually the case.

However, the storytellers in Chongzheng Hall told the emperor stories about history, explained the meaning of classics, and served as advisors.

That is the emperor's secretary.

The editors of the National History Institute and the reviewers of the Veritable Records Institute were also noble officials who accumulated experience and were most suitable for promotion.

The other is Yu Yunwen, who is currently the deputy secretary of the Privy Council and is in charge of the military affairs of the Privy Council, in charge of longitude defense, guarding border forts, and military equipment.

This restaurant is his own, and when distinguished guests come, of course he has to show them off to advertise his business, so Yang Yuan set up the banquet in the living room and did not go upstairs to the private rooms.

A light car stopped under the big peach tree outside the restaurant, and Li Fengniang and Zhao Ning'er walked out of the car...

(End of this chapter)