Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 311 - 309

Chapter 311: Chapter 309

"Father, didn’t you get to see Landlord Tian’s son in person that day? Brother shouldn’t easily be swayed by hearsay!" Shen Chengzong said indignantly, and felt that his father was being biased. He also pointed out that there were issues with Mr. Tan’s younger brother, but his father didn’t seem to believe him.

The more Mr. Shen thought about it, the more he felt uneasy about his son. He decided to have someone investigate the matter.

"Alright, I understand. Your mother and I will further discuss the two engagement proposals for Yuzhu. Yuzhu is your younger sister, we ought to choose the best marriage arrangement for her. I don’t care what motives you have, but you shouldn’t harm her," Mr. Shen said, staring at his two sons with piercing eyes.

"Of course not, if Yuzhu marries into Landlord Tian’s family, she will definitely want for nothing, commanding maids and servants," Shen Chengzong assured, pounding his chest.

"If Yuzhu marries into the Tan Mansion, she’ll enjoy a life of wealth and honor, endless luxury and opulence," Shen Chengguang also assured.

"That’s good, both of you may leave. Your mother and I need to discuss this," Mr. Shen said.

After leaving the main house, the two brothers gave each other displeased looks and huffed in disapproval before returning to their individual rooms.

"Has anyone been sent to investigate the situation at Landlord Tian’s place?"

"I’ve already asked my father to help with the investigation. There are students from that village at the academy. I will go and ask them this afternoon."

"You have thought so thoroughly, my wife!" Shen Chengguang felt blessed to have such a wife.

In this era, teachers are highly respected, akin to parents for lifetime, hence, most students are very respectful towards their teachers. If a teacher wishes to probe into a situation, the students will definitely tell all they know.

The next morning,

Mrs. Lan hopped off the carriage in a hurry, threw a bunch of coins to the coachman, and rushed into the main house shouting, "Father, mother, something terrible has happened! Landlord Tian’s son is already dead, and the marriage proposal for Yuzhu is for a ghost marriage!"

Mrs. Lan’s voice was loud, and she intentionally raised it further.

At this time, every household was busy preparing to work in the fields. Some of the elderly people were sitting on stone benches by their gates, feeding their grandchildren breakfast, and upon hearing Mrs. Lan’s shout, some even dropped their bowls in shock.

Ghost marriage? This was major gossip! The curious and gossiping old women, hearing this, all ran out to stand in front of the Shen household to watch the drama unfold.

"So it’s a ghost marriage, no wonder there were so many betrothal gifts. If she gets married, she’ll be a widower!"

"That’s the least of it. Who knows, she might even have to be buried with him."

"Buried, buried with him, really? That’s too terrifying! It goes against the morality!"

"Mrs. Li is simply not human to arrange this marriage for her own younger sister-in-law!"

"Indeed! Luckily she’s not my sister-in-law. Otherwise, I would be terrified every day, fearing that I would be manipulated!"

...

Mrs. Lu also heard the news, ghost marriage! Such scandalous affair from Uncle Shen! This was too frightening! These people were too horrifying!

Mrs. Lu trembled in fear! She saw an example of live burial in a ghost marriage when she was young... it was too horrifying!

Now, she is a mother herself...

No, they can’t stay! Mrs. Lu grabbed her daughter, locked the door, and rushed to the blacksmith shop to find her husband.

As for what’s going to happen here, she truly didn’t want to see, and she dared not to interfere!

In the house,

Mr. Shen had just finished his meal and was smoking on the kang bed. On hearing Mrs. Lan’s declaration, he was choked by the smoke and coughed so hard tears came out of his eyes.

It took him a while to regain his breath and manage to speak.

Upon hearing about ghost marriage, Mrs. Shen was shocked!

Ghost marriage? So, the people who came that day, were they really people? Could they be ghosts?

Mrs. Shen was terrified to the point where she dropped her sewing kit back into its basket.

"M-Sir... do you think we’ve attracted some... things to our home?" she asked quietly, cautiously looking around.

"Ahh! I won’t, I won’t marry a ghost!" Shen Yuzhu, too, guessed that the man might be a ghost. "He" even smiled at her, she was scared and hid behind Mrs. Shen, tightly clutching her clothes.

Once Mr. Shen regained his breath, he was almost choked again by their words. Were they thinking with their heads? It was broad daylight that day, and the man’s shadow was clearly visible! How could they frighten themselves like that?

"What are you talking about?... cough... Have you ever seen a ghost standing under the sun in broad daylight?"

Upon hearing this, the two women realized that indeed, the sun was very bright that day when "he" visited their house.

Feeling somewhat more assured, they were relieved, it was good that it was not a ghost!

Thinking about how Mrs. Lan had lied about the ghost marriage and scared her so much, Mrs. Shen didn’t care about the details and began cursing, "Good, Mrs. Lan! You want to scare me to death, and then you...!"

"Enough! First, let’s hear what the eldest son has to say!" Mr. Shen was exasperated by Mrs. Shen’s constant tendency to jump to conclusions.

All she did when met with a dispute was shout mindlessly!

It was exactly this behavior that had distanced the third son’s family from the rest! This would not have happened otherwise!

With the third son being the Marquis Shengping, Yuzhu could marry anyone she wanted!

"Father, Mother, my father has had someone investigate the matter. A few months ago, Landlord Tian’s son passed away due to a sudden illness. A feng shui master told them that if a solitary grave was added into the ancestral cemetery, it would affect the prosperity of the family’s future generations! Therefore, they want to arrange a ghost marriage for their son who died young. Everyone in their village knows about this. No matter how many betrothal gifts were offered, nobody was willing to offer a bride! Landlord Tian gave every household in the village some hush money, asking them not to disclose this matter. He also promised a reward of 100 taels to any person who could find a bride for his son. So, many people in the village were helping Landlord Tian look for a daughter-in-law."

"But Landlord Tian’s son clearly visited our house that day," Mr. Shen insisted, certain that the person was very much alive.

Mrs. Shen and Shen Yuzhu nodded in agreement.

"That was the son of Landlord Tian’s younger brother! He’s the one Bei’er is supposed to marry. They’re ostensibly cousins, but in reality, they’re siblings, as Landlord Tian had adopted his second son to his childless younger brother. Therefore, the two really do look strikingly similar."

"The student at my father’s academy stated that my second brother refused the 100 taels reward from Landlord Tian, and merely wants Landlord Tian’s younger brother’s son to marry Bei’er!"

"Landlord Tian’s younger brother runs a bigger business than Landlord Tian, making use of the assets he got from the family division. In the future, the land and assets of Landlord Tian will eventually pass to his adopted son as he does not have an heir. Father, we can’t agree to this marriage! The second brother wants to sacrifice Yuzhu’s lifelong happiness to pave a glorious and rich path for his own daughter!"

"How outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Where is the second son? Call him over! I will beat this unfilial son to death!"

"Mrs. Li! You wicked and ruthless woman, come here now! How dare you harm my daughter in this way!"

Shen Yuzhu was also seething, "Good for you, Shen Bei’er, trying to force me into marrying a dead person, while you live a life of wealth and honor! Aren’t you afraid of Divine Retribution!"

Mrs. Lan went back to her mother’s house to inquire about the situation yesterday, and Shen Chengzong and his wife fearing that the matter would be exposed, rushed over to Landlord Tian’s house to tip them off.

At this point, the sound of trumpets was heard from the entrance of the village, a grand wedding procession of four sedan chairs, drummers and musicians all heading towards the Shen’s household.

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