"Brother Chen, may I ask if this was dug out from a tomb?" Lu Sheng pretended to ask casually.
Chen Jiaorong nodded. "Yes, it was dug out from a tomb. You haven't answered me. Like what my sister said, how much do we understand each other?" He changed the topic to his sister's marriage.
Lu Sheng had already avoided this question once. Now that he was asked again, he sighed.
"This kind of thing can't be rushed. Brother Chen, you'll know in the future. Moreover, I've only known Yunxi for such a short time. How can your family be so assured with me? "
"Hearing you say this, I was originally worried, but now I'm really relieved." Chen Jiaorong smiled. "If you agree, we can double the dowry!"
Lu Sheng smiled bitterly.
He knew that on one hand, Chen Yunxi really liked him. On the other hand, the Chen family had been suffering from their daughter's inability to marry. Now that they had finally found a suitable candidate, they would not let go.
"We'll talk about this later. At least wait until my scholarly rank is confirmed." Lu Sheng used the Annual Examinations as an excuse.
Chen Jiaorong's eyes showed even more admiration when he heard this. This was the temptation of instant riches as long as he agreed. If he was in the same situation and encountered such a situation, he would definitely agree immediately. After all, after getting married, he could still marry concubines and find a third, fourth, or fifth wife. Although the younger sister, Chen Yunxi, had long legs and was similar to those whose faces were disfigured, there were still other aspects of her that gave her extra points.
"Then it's settled. We'll make a decision after Brother Lu's Annual Examinations. Yunxi is not young anymore. It's time for her to get married. I hope Brother Lu won't delay it."
Lu Sheng could only nod helplessly. The two separated after leaving the winery. Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Sheng turned to go home.
After a night's rest, he went to the academy again the next day. He had just sat down when he heard a commotion outside.
"What's going on outside?" Lu Sheng looked at Song Zhenguo, who was tidying up his books.
Song Zhenguo looked gloomy. He replied in a low voice, "Wang Ziquan's family is here."
Lu Sheng saw many people in the classroom stand up and walk to the windows and doors to take a look. Faint cries of women and children floated in from outside.
He stood up and heard a few students sighing.
"Zi Quan seems to have gone missing. A young woman with two children came to his house. I heard that his father was severely beaten by the yamen when he was trying to report to the authorities for help. When he returned home, he fell ill and couldn't recover.
"Why would the yamen beat people?"
"It's all because his father didn't believe that his son had drowned. He knelt in front of the yamen and refused to get up. In the end, the newly appointed magistrate hated this kind of unruly people the most …"
"Poor orphan and widowed mother …"
"Yeah, it's a pity … His father doesn't seem to be able to make it …"
The more Lu Sheng listened, the more upset he felt. This Wang Ziquan's family used to be merchants as well. Although their business wasn't big, they still had some wealth. But now, his family had been ruined and his people dead.
Song Zhenguo also heard the voices around him. He squeezed through the crowd and walked over to stand with Lu Sheng.
"It's my fault. If I hadn't asked him to go out that day …"
"Don't think too much. It's none of your business." Lu Sheng patted him on the shoulder. However, Song Zhenguo's expression was still gloomy, and he did not reply.
The two of them walked out of the school one after the other. They saw a beautiful young woman, about eighteen or nineteen years old. She was accompanied by two children who were only one or two years old. They were kneeling on the main road of the school, with their heads lowered. They were wearing mourning clothes and were wearing mourning clothes.
There were already dozens of onlookers, and it was getting more and more lively.
"Let's go and take a look." Lu Sheng tugged at Song Zhenguo and led the way.
"No need! I'll go alone. This is my fault! I'll go! "Song Zhenguo pulled him back and said in a deep voice.
Lu Sheng was stunned. Before he could regain his senses, he saw Song Zhenguo walk quickly to the young woman and talk to her in a low voice.
Two school teachers also squeezed through the crowd of students to inquire about the situation. Soon, Song Zhenguo supported the young woman and the child and quickly left the school.
Lu Sheng followed closely behind and left the academy to catch up with the two of them.
Before he could catch up with them, he saw officials from the yamen coming over. They said something to Song Zhenguo and the young woman, and they quickly boarded a carriage and left.
Before leaving, Song Zhenguo gestured to Lu Sheng not to follow and asked him to go back to class.
"Don't delay the Annual Examinations. Go back! I'll handle this! "Song Zhenguo shouted at Lu Sheng from afar and followed him into the carriage.
Lu Sheng watched the black and red carriage leave. He could tell that it was a carriage specially used by the yamen.
He stood at the entrance of the school for a while, then turned around and continued with class.
The incident with Wang Ziquan's family spread in the school for a while, but was quickly suppressed. There were a few times when Lu Sheng saw officials from the yamen coming to talk to a few of the school's officials. Perhaps they were the ones who pushed for the news to be suppressed. And Wang Ziquan's family did not cause any more trouble.
Ever since Song Zhenguo went with them that day, he looked more relaxed and relieved. He must have made some compensation for Wang Ziquan's family.
The disappearance case caused a huge uproar for a while, but it soon died down. After the storm, the school slowly returned to normal, as if the incident had never happened.
…
Song Family.
Song Zhenguo ate quietly the food that the maidservant had just brought. Chicken, duck, fish and goose were laid out on the table, but he had no appetite.
Outside the room, his father's footsteps and voice could be heard. He did not go out to greet him, but sat in his bedroom and sighed.
They were outsiders who had moved to Mountain-Edge City. His father's business had just started and he was unusually busy. He was already in a bad mood, and now with this incident, he was even more depressed.
'But why can't father understand how good Jun' er is? If I marry her, my family will be at peace, and my career will be successful. With Jun 'er's help, my family will be stable, and I'll be able to do well in the Annual Examinations …' Song Zhenguo lamented in his heart.
Pfft, pfft.
As he was eating, a black pigeon flew in from the window, staring at him with its pink eyes.
"Coo coo."
The pigeon chirped twice.
Song Zhenguo's face lit up with joy.
He walked over and grabbed the pigeon hurriedly. He took out a paper scroll from its feet and quickly unrolled it.
"You don't have to worry about what Jun 'er said previously. Jun' er threatened to kill herself, and the captain finally agreed. Tomorrow night, taking advantage of the festival, as long as Brother Song can fork out 10,000 taels of silver to redeem Jun 'er. Don't worry, Brother Song. 10,000 taels may be a lot, but Jun 'er has saved up quite a bit over the years. Tomorrow night, Brother Song must come alone. Jun 'er will give her body to Brother, in its entirety. I hope Brother … will take pity on her … "
When Song Zhenguo finished reading, he felt an irrepressible joy rush to his head from the depths of his heart. He straightened up, his face quickly turning red. He grabbed the paper scroll and paced back and forth in the room.
"Jun 'er … Jun' er … you're mine! I'll definitely take you out of the pleasure boat and away from that damned place. I'll give you a title! "He clenched his fists and muttered in a low voice. He had completely forgotten Xiao Jun's reminder not to go to the pleasure boat during the Scented Satin Festival.
After a while of excitement, Song Zhenguo slowly calmed down.
"But Jun 'er also said not to go to the pleasure boat during the Scented Satin Festival? Is she afraid that I'll be tricked? "
He thought for a while, and his expression gradually calmed down. He stood there hesitating for a while.
"When I see Jun 'er, I'll ask her why she didn't let me go to the pleasure boat during the Scented Satin Festival. Perhaps there's some special reason."
With a heart full of joy, Song Zhenguo began to prepare the banknotes. Ten thousand taels of silver was a large sum of money to him. All the money he had accumulated over the years had been spent on Jun 'er during this period of time. It would be rather difficult to gather ten thousand taels of silver in such a short time. Although Jun 'er had said that she would cover most of it herself, how could he let his woman bear such a burden?
"Whatever, I'll go borrow some money from my sister first." He didn't even bother to eat and hurriedly ran to the door to leave. Suddenly, he thought of something and stopped.
"This is such a good thing. Although Jun 'er is embarrassed to ask me to go alone, I still have to go. But this kind of happy occasion should be shared and celebrated by two good friends. " Song Zhenguo quickly sat back down at his desk, grinded the ink, poured some water, and began to write to his two best friends.
But just as he was about to prepare the brush and ink, he hesitated and put down the brush.
"Forget it, I'll go alone. This was to prevent new problems from cropping up and adding variables. We can inform the others after the matter is settled. "
He quickly went to find his sister and borrowed fifteen thousand taels of silver from her, saying that he would invest the money for his business. Soon, everything was ready.
…
The date of the Annual Examinations drew nearer and nearer. Lu Sheng's family sent Qiao 'er over, along with a thousand taels of silver to supplement his recent expenses.
But Lu Sheng was also clear that his family was already selling off various properties and shops in preparation for relocation. Because of the huge explosion in Nine Links City, many people had moved, and the prices of properties and shops had depreciated greatly. If the family wanted to buy properties again in the future, they would have to leave behind a large sum of money.
Therefore, giving him another thousand taels of silver was already an expenditure that he had squeezed out from between his teeth. After all, the Lu family was currently in a precarious period.
As the storm slowly died down, Lu Sheng slowly put Wang Ziquan's matter to the back of his mind and began to focus on improving himself. He also began to look for ways to earn money.
"There's a spring in Shanbei! There's a yellow river in the red ditch! There are sparrows everywhere outside Baisha Town! New move: turmeric dripping on the river's surface! "
"Mountain-Edge City! My hometown ~ ~ ~ Mountain-Edge City! My hometown ~ ~ ~ ~ Lalalala ~ ~ ~ Lalalalala ~ ~ ~ ~ "
"Lalalala! ~ ~ ~ Lalalala ~ ~ ~ ~! "
"Lalalala ~ ~ ~! Lalalalala!! "
Expressionless, Lu Sheng stood by the window, listening to the unbearably loud, high-pitched male singing.
He had been woken up by the noise at around three in the morning, which meant that he had been woken up by the noise at around five in the morning. Then, he saw these groups of people outside, one after another, some with shrill voices, some with coarse voices, passing through the streets one after another.
At this moment, there was a long line of people playing the suona and singing loudly on the streets. Most of them were uncles and aunties, dressed in red and blue. They were beating drums and banging gongs, shouting songs. It was the warm-up for the folk songs before the Scented Satin Festival as they slowly made their way towards the city center.
What made Lu Sheng even more speechless was that the surrounding people who had come out to watch the commotion did not find it noisy at all. Instead, they happily followed the group, some even singing along. There were even yamen officials to maintain order.
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