Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 301 - 299

Chapter 301: Chapter 299

Having thought of a solution, the village chief’s wife was getting restless! She was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, eager to hurry home!

"What should I do now? I can’t return right away. If I go back a month or two from now, who knows if Rui’er will still be alive!" When there were no options, all she could do was wait anxiously. But now that she had a plan, she could not bear to wait another moment.

Mrs. Liu also became anxious, "Indeed, what should we do?"

Xiao’er thought for a bit before speaking, "Uncle Four and Aunt Four are preparing to move to the Imperial Capital. They’ve already bought their house. Aunt Four is returning this time mainly to prepare for the move. How about if we send a letter telling them to bring Sister Nirui here while they’re at it?"

"That’s a good idea. Uncle Four and Aunt Four have been gone for a while now. A Pigeon Post would reach them much faster than any of us could return. By the time the letter reaches them, they would probably have finished dealing with their affairs and will be ready to fetch Nirui and set off." Hearing Xiao’er’s suggestion, Mrs. Liu felt that they had no better solution.

"Fine, I’ll have Zixuan write a letter as well. If that man dares not to let Rui’er leave, I’ll have my sister-in-law from my maternal side go there and make a huge scene! Who cares about face at this point! But we’ll need one of your servants to help deliver the letter." The village chief’s wife’s sister-in-law was a notoriously shrewish woman within a ten-mile radius of the village. Nobody dared mess with her, or else she could curse them from the beginning of the year to its end, from east county to west county - in other words, she had incredible stamina!

"That’s no problem at all. Sending a letter is a trivial matter." Mrs. Liu agreed immediately.

There were still some servants in charge of the house and farmland in their village, and because of the effects of the Loyalty Powder, Xiao’er had no doubt regarding their loyalty.

Moreover, they still had quite a few properties in the town, county, and prefecture city, which was how they passed along news either through Pigeon Post or during transportation of goods.

They never lost contact with Shengping County.

Now that her problems were solved, the village chief’s wife started talking about other matters. "Have you heard aboutYuzhu’s situation?"

"What happened?" Mrs. Liu shook her head.

Although they kept contacts with Shengping County, it was only about the vital matters of their own home. Matters related to the old house, as long as they didn’t involve their own family, didn’t need to be reported. Hearing about them was just asking for trouble.

"Shen Yuzhu is getting married, it was arranged by Mrs. Li. Rumor has it that she’s marrying the son of a large landlord from her maternal family’s side. That family owns hundreds of mu of farmland and several shops in the county. I saw the young man the other day. He’s quite handsome and scholarly looking, apparently, he plans to take the Imperial Examination next year to become a scholar. While Mrs. Zhuang Lin isn’t entirely satisfied, she couldn’t find anyone better. In addition to agreeing to provide thirty mu of farmland, a shop, and fifty taels of silver as a betrothal gift."

Is manna falling from heaven? Would Mrs. Li help Shen Yuzhu find such a good prospective husband? His own daughter Bei’er was also of marriageable age! Wouldn’t she save this good prospect for her own daughter? With thirty mu of farmland and a shop, Mrs. Li could live comfortably without working for the rest of her life even. For such a good deal, can’t believe that she wouldn’t set this aside for her own daughter. She initially sold the original owner to the Hu Mansion to be her maid just for fifty taels! What scheme is this selfish woman concocting this time!

"Sounds quite good, Mrs. Zhuang Lin and Yuzhu’s standards are high. If it’s good enough for them, then it means this is a very good match." Mrs. Liu genuinely felt this was a great arrangement. Shen Yuzhu was also getting older and couldn’t afford to wait much longer. It was quite commendable that Mrs. Zhuang Lin could lower her standards and not insist on marrying into an official’s family.

"Since Mrs. Li arranged such a good marriage for Shen Yuzhu, what about Bei’er? Did she find someone for her?" Xiao’er had a feeling that things were not as they appeared to be.

"As Mrs. Li was able to arrange such a good match for her young sister-in-law, she naturally would not let her own daughter fall behind. Shen Bei’er also got engaged, to the son of that landlord’s younger brother’s family. I heard that he looks quite similar to the man Shen Yuzhu is betrothed to, but as no one came that day, I did not see him. Both families agreed that, for convenience and double happiness, they would get married on the same day."

"Mrs. Li said that if they get married on the same day, then she will pay for all the banquet expenses to lessen the burden on the bride’s family, and this way our parents will save some money for the banquet."

Getting married on the same day? The niece and sister-in-law getting married on the same day meant the guests attending the banquet would be the same. Mrs. Li paid to host the banquet, hence Mrs. Zhuang Lin would save money that would have been spent on the banquet, Mrs. Zhuang Lin must have been thrilled and probably agreed immediately.

But Mrs. Li being so kind, Xiao’er found it even weirder. There must be a catch in this!

"Are they really getting married on the same day?" Mrs. Liu felt that Mrs. Zhuang Lin, in order to save expenses on a banquet, would certainly do so.

"Yes, on the same day. I think the date was set for two months later, but I forgot exactly which day!"

"That’s quite a rush." Mrs. Liu sighed.

...

The news of Shen Yuzhu and Shen Bei’er’s upcoming marriages reached Xiao’er’s family. The main family also received a letter from the patriarch, asking them to return home as soon as possible since Shen Yuzhu was getting married.

Shen Bao’er, who had just stepped out of the Prime Minister’s Mansion due to Shen Yuzhu’s matter, came to the courtyard where she used to live as a concubine.

Upon hearing that Shen Yuzhu was getting married in two months, she panicked, "Dad, Mom, you guys must hurry back and stop this! You can’t let my aunt get married! Didn’t you want to have Yunhua bribe an examiner so that my elder brother could pass the Imperial Examination next year, and then get to donate for a government position?"

"Yes indeed, but what does this have to do with your young aunt’s marriage?" Shen Chengguang was at a loss.

Mrs. Lan seemed to have an inkling of what was going on.

"Dad, you are not really thinking about getting such a huge favor without paying anything for it, are you?" Shen Bao’er found it tiring to talk to her own father! He was nowhere near as astute as her mother.

"Isn’t there a son-in-law?" Shen Chengguang genuinely expected to get an official position for his son without any cost! After all, who was the son-in-law’s father? The current Prime Minister! As long as he opened his mouth, who would dare not to give him face!

Hearing these words, Shen Bao’er’s face darkened. Was her father used to taking advantage of his brothers and parents and now trying to take advantage of her? He didn’t think that she was just a concubine in the Prime Minister’s Mansion! Who would give face to a concubine! Just the requests to help Shen Jingwen had required her to use every trick in the book.

Her father was such an impressive person in the Shen family, the person they had pooled their resources together to send to school, yet he didn’t bother to excel, pass the second-tier scholar examination, pass the highest imperial examination, become a high-ranking officer, and let her have a better marriage.

Look at her Third Uncle; he was just a farmer who managed to become a Marquis! Then he became the Ministry of Agriculture and even concurrently served as vice minister for the Ministry of Works!

He doesn’t say that he became a high-ranking official!

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