After the discussion with the elders, Ling Zhang returned to his courtyard. He was giving a kid a piggy back ride.
Ling Maomao held onto Ling Zhang’s neck and began rubbing his cheek against Ling Zhang’s hair. He said in Ling Zhang’s ear, “Big brother, I brought back gifts for you. I’ve already asked the steward to bring them to your room. You must check them later.”
“Okay. I like all the gifts you give me.” Ling Zhang reached behind his back and held Ling Maomao’s butt firmly.
Ling Maomao’s little buttocks were soft and felt good.
Ling Maomao smiled happily, then he lowered his voice and said, “Most of my gifts are for you. I gave you more gifts than I gave to my father. But you have to promise me that you won’t tell him.”
Ling Zhang’s eyes revealed a smile. Then he turned his head slightly and nudged Ling Maomao. “Oh, you bad boy. Your dad would be so sad if he ever finds out.”
“Hmph. Yeah, right. As if he’d be sad because I didn’t get him enough gifts. He’d even blame me for buying things indiscriminately. He always complained about the gifts I bought for him. I will never buy him gifts again!” Ling Maomao complained.
Ling Zhang felt a bit helpless. He knew that his uncle was just worried about spoiling Maomao too much. His uncle had always been playing a strict father. No matter how much his uncle loved Maomao, he would never express it. Therefore, Ling Zhang couldn’t pull the rug from under his uncle’s feet. “Your father is just worried that you’ll end up as a spendthrift,” Ling Zhang said to Ling Maomao.
“Oh, come on, big brother. I won’t turn into a spendthrift. My mother only gives me a fixed allowance. She won’t let me buy anything else once I spent more than that amount,” Ling Maomao said.
“How much did she give you?” Ling Zhang asked curiously.
“Ten taels,” Ling Maomao said.
That was a lot of money. Ling Maomao was just a kid. Ten taels was already a huge sum of money for him.
“By the way, are you getting married soon?” Ling Maomao asked suddenly.
Ling Zhang was taken aback by that question. “Getting married? Who told you that?”
“I overheard my mother, grandfather and (maternal) grandfather talking about this. My mother said now that you’re an adult, it’s time for you to consider marriage. She also said that you and our cousin are a good match for each other.”
“Maomao, how did you hear this?” Ling Zhang interrupted Ling Maomao’s words.
This concerned a woman’s reputation. He believed that his grandfather and his aunt wouldn’t talk about it easily, not when the matter hadn’t been finalized.
Ling Maomao poked out his tongue and whispered, “I eavesdropped on their conversation.”
“You can’t tell anyone about this. You got that?” Ling Zhang said seriously.
Ling Zhang’s reprimand had Ling Maomao feeling a bit bad. “Oh,” he said obediently.
Ling Zhang’s heart melted. “I’m not scolding you for no reason, okay? It’ll bring your cousin harm if this ever gets out. Your cousin has always been nice to you, hasn’t she? You don’t want to do anything to hurt her, right?”
Ling Maomao shook his head. “No!”
“That’s more like it. Speak to no one about this,” Ling Zhang reminded him again.
At this point, Ling Maomao realized that he might’ve caused trouble. He said, “I know, I’ll never tell others.”
Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief. He thought for a moment then asked, “And then? What else did you hear?”
‘Please don’t tell me they’re really planning to set me up with Miss Fu,” he thought. He wasn’t thinking about marriage at this time. Besides, there is still an engagement…’ Ling Zhang thought.
“Grandpa said that there’s no need to hurry. He said that my cousin is still young. He also said he wanted to hear your thoughts on it. Big brother, are you really getting married soon? Is it true that men get to marry a beautiful wife after going through their coming-of-age ceremonies? When can I get married?” Ling Maomao said.
Ling Zhang was relieved to learn that Ling Xingzhong had postponed the discussion regarding to his marriage. The relief was short-lived and he frowned again.
He had a feeling that his grandfather’s main concern had nothing to do with Miss Fu’s age but with that marriage contract that not many people knew of. Even if both parties involved in the engagement were men, and the two families who made the contract had been estranged from each other for many years, the engagement was still valid.
Under such circumstances, it would be a nuisance if Ling Zhang were to end up engaged with someone else; if the other party decided to pursue this matter, Ling Zhang would probably have to face a court case.
Even though Yuwen Family desperately wanted to keep the existence of this marriage contract under wraps, and they might be eagerly looking forward to know that Ling Zhang was married to another woman, his grandfather didn’t know about it.
The matter must be brought up as soon as possible. Otherwise, he was really worried that his grandpa might mention this to Yuwen Family on a whim.
