The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 499 Early Birth of a Precious Child (3)_1

Chapter 499: Chapter 499 Early Birth of a Precious Child (3)_1

"Up already?" Pei Qin frowned and quickened her pace towards the inside.

Old Scholar Fang, seeing her concerned expression, also quickly followed.

Fang Li’s face looked quite bad. He had to see what kind of person this Teacher Mo was, the one for whom Pei Qin had given up Shen Songming and was now planning to marry him instead.

As the group approached, Mo Heng stood up and slowly stepped forward to greet them.

Upon seeing him, Fang Li’s eyes widened with disbelief.

Grandma Fang and the others also gasped.

Mo Heng was tall and erect like bamboo, with a broad back and a slim waist. His face, already exquisitely flawless, carried a sickly pallor that did not make him seem weak, but rather the Dark Patterned Brocade Robe fluttering in the wind made him so stunningly handsome that he was almost unbearable to look at directly. Gazing at Pei Qin, the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward, and his deep eyes shimmered.

Fang Li, with his mouth agape, found himself speechless. Was this a man or a Celestial God?

Old Scholar Fang too didn’t speak for a long time. Such a man... for Qinqin to marry someone like this...

Lady Yu finally understood why Pei Qin had so quickly turned to marry Mo Heng. Even if he were a down-and-out son of an aristocratic family, growing up to be so handsome, and with a life-saving grace... there probably wouldn’t be many who could resist, right?

"Are you feeling alright?" Pei Qin leaned in and asked quietly.

Seeing her undisguised concern, Mo Heng shook his head and replied softly, "I can hold on for a while."

Pei Qin hadn’t planned to tell Old Scholar Fang and the others about the fact that Mo Heng didn’t have long to live. If he could hold on for a while, that was for the best. She nodded in agreement.

Mo Heng then looked at Old Scholar Fang and the others and politely invited them to sit inside the house.

Feng Wei wasn’t good with words, so it was Zhang Gengshan who spoke on the sidelines. The date of the wedding, the protocols, the banquet—everything was well arranged and didn’t seem hastily decided. "The gentleman said that even if there’s not much time, he will have to wrong Ms. Pei for now. The betrothal gifts will be prepared first, and he will make it up later," he said as if it were a marriage scam, not wanting to give any betrothal gifts and taking a bride for nothing.

But when the list of gifts was shown to Old Scholar Fang, his expression stiffened. The jewelry, display pieces, and fabrics were one thing, but a house in the county town, a house with a storefront, and a betrothal sum of nine hundred and ninety-nine silver notes... If that still counted as being wronged, it was hard to imagine what else he might have planned. He really seemed like someone from a wealthy household—could it be a bridal procession as grand as ten miles long?

Fang Li, leaning over to see, was also stunned. "This... all of this is... a betrothal gift!?"

"We can only apologize to Ms. Pei for the time being," Zhang Gengshan nodded.

"How is this an apology? This is far too much more than what Pei Yuan received!" Fang Li had thought that Pei Yuan’s dowry was a lot, and he had even worried about it. If they were to bring Pei Qin into the family, would they have to prepare a dowry as rich as this? Yet here was Mo Heng, speaking of being down-and-out and apologetic, but his generosity was utterly lavish.

Zhang Gengshan then brought over a wooden box, opened it, and inside lay two of the deeds to the houses Pei Qin had returned, nine hundred and ninety-two silver notes, two cut jadeite raw stones, and a pair of pearls as large as pigeon eggs. "We’ll go and prepare the rest today. These, we’ll hand over to Ms. Pei to settle the marriage agreement first."

Pei Qin unapologetically accepted the items.

Old Scholar Fang watched, but did not immediately agree to draw up the marriage document, eyeing Mo Heng sharply, questioning him about his background and such.

"I was originally from the Mo family, but after my mother passed away and my family took a stepmother, I left the clan. Now, I am just me," Mo Heng knew of his concerns and deep insights, so he kept his answer simple.

"So you mean, you had a falling out with your family and left because your father remarried? You must be the legitimate heir, right? How could your father let you leave the clan? And what about your future..." Old Scholar Fang did not believe that things were that simple. Besides, from what he said, the situation of the Mo family seemed very complicated, perhaps even more so than the Shen family. If he were to return to them in the future, wouldn’t that... put Qinqin in a difficult position?