Xu Shao once naively thought that after getting rid of Yan Jiuchao, the three little lads would be able to inherit everything from their biological father. As their “mother”, Yan Ruyu would also naturally become the mistress of the Young Master Manor and Yan City. In fact, this plan itself had huge risks and loopholes. A person who was not married to him would not be recognized by Prince Yan’s bloodline at all. Even if Xu Shao succeeded in assassinating Yan Jiuchao, what awaited Yan Ruyu would not be a glorious life as the “Princess Consort Yan”.
Yu Wan’s hand that was on Yan Jiuchao’s belt paused. He had resisted the urge both times. She had thought of countless possibilities, but she never knew that Yan Jiuchao had such a plan.
She thought that Yan Jiuchao didn’t touch her because he didn’t want to drag her down. She even thought that one day, she would hear Yan Jiuchao say to her, “I’m about to die. I can’t drag you down for the rest of your life. Hurry up and find a good man to marry. Don’t think about me anymore. Also, you’re a weak woman who can’t keep such a big family fortune. I secretly prepared money for you, enough for you to spend for several lifetimes. You… you should go far away… forget about me…”
When it came to him, it was completely different. He did not want Yu Wan to live without him. He wanted her to stand in the middle of the crowd openly. He wanted her to step on his shoulder. She could live not because she had given up a lot, but because she had enough. Those people did not let her go because they sympathized with her, but only did not dare to touch her because they were afraid of her.
“As expected of Yan Jiuchao…”
After understanding his intentions, Yu Wan was not surprised. After all, if he really held her hand and asked her to hide far away and find a good man to marry, she would probably be disappointed in him.
That was not affection, but underestimation.
“Yan Jiuchao, Yan Jiuchao,” Yu Wan’s heart was racing. “I’ll agree to marry you. So can you detoxify the poison first?”
“Stop… dreaming…” As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Jiuchao fainted.
Yu Wan hugged him and pushed his head around. She placed her hand on his chest and raised her eyebrows. “Do you think I’m dreaming? I can do whatever I want to you now. I’ll tear off your clothes and then your pants. Can you resist?”
With that, as if to verify her words, Yu Wan touched his chest twice. Then, she sighed. “I’ve lost to you.”
Yu Wan raised her fingertip. The wound that the Gu Master had bled from had long healed until it could not be seen. She vaguely remembered that her blood could nourish Gu worms, but she did not know if it was useful for his illness. What if she accidentally poisoned him to death?
“Yan Jiuchao, this method is a little dangerous. Are you sure you want to try?”
Yan Jiuchao naturally could not respond to her.
Yu Wan finally decided to give it a try. Fortunately, the test was right. Yan Jiuchao’s pulse was not so messy anymore. However, this method of fighting poison with poison only temporarily suppressed the illness and could not completely cure it.
“Let’s get through these few days first.” Yu Wan pinched his face.
At night, Shadow Six brought Yan Jiuchao back to the manor.
Yan Jiuchao woke up halfway and quickly fell asleep again. When Lu Xiaoyao saw that he had come back lying down, he thought that the mission had failed and fainted on the spot.
Shadow Six entered the room and whispered something to Shadow Thirteen. Shadow Thirteen coldly put away his sword and said to the trembling people, “You can leave.”
They were stunned. The unconscious Lu Xiaoyao sat up and widened his eyes. “We can leave? Really?”
Shadow Thirteen said indifferently, “Or do you want to leave your life behind?”
“No, no, no, no! We’ll leave now! Right now!” Lu Xiaoyao pulled his companions and scrambled out of the Young Master Manor.
Before dawn the next day, Uncle Wan woke up. He brought a pair of fresh geese, picked up Du Hongniang from the Embroidered Tower and went to Lotus Flower Village with her to propose marriage to Yu Wan.
Uncle Wan’s meaning was that the sooner the wedding date, the better. In that case, time would be tight. Du Hongniang suggested that everything should be simple. “…A year and a half has passed when a rich family finished the three books and six rites and got married. In my opinion, since the two of them are already so familiar with each other and have children, why don’t we save the trouble of asking for their eight characters? Let’s settle the marriage today and choose a day to get married!”
Uncle Wan said solemnly, “Young Master said that we can’t save a single step.”
Du Hongniang, who was caught off guard by the display of affection: “…”
Today was Nacai, which was also called the formal proposal. This time, Yu Wan stayed in her room obediently and let Aunt and Madam Jiang receive Uncle Wan and Du Hongniang.
Yu Wan did not disagree, so they asked for the eight characters of Yu Wan.
“May I know Miss Yu’s birth characters?” Du Hongniang said with a smile, but in her heart, she had cursed Yan Jiuchao a hundred times. You’ve already investigated the birth characters of her eighteen generations of ancestors. Do we still need to ask for Miss Yu’s birth characters? Is there a need? Is there a need?!
Aunt told her Yu Wan’s birth characters.
Du Hongniang’s beautiful handwriting was recorded on the Gengtie. After that, it was time to find someone to check the compatibility of both Gengties and see if Yu Wan and Yan Jiuchao’s characters clashed. If there were no signs of conflict, this marriage could be considered successful.
Du Hongniang and Uncle Wan brought Yu Wan’s Gengtie back to the Young Master Manor.
The construction site was about to be completed, and Yu Feng was doing the last inspection. He had been busy all morning before he found out from Little Bruiser that the Young Master Manor came for a formal proposal. He had been rejected once, but he came again so quickly?
“My sister agreed!” Little Bruiser said with his hands on his hips. “I’ll have a brother-in-law soon!”
When Yu Feng walked to Yu Wan’s house, Uncle Wan and Du Hongniang had already left. Aunt and Madam Jiang had also gone to the old residence to work. Yu Shaoqing did not come down from the mountain, so Yu Wan squatted alone in the backyard to pluck the goose’s feathers.
Yu Feng’s temples throbbed. “Ah Wan! What are you doing?”
“Plucking feathers,” Yu Wan said.
“How… how could you pluck the goose’s feather?”
“How can I eat it if I don’t pluck it?”
…Eat?! Yu Feng almost choked. “This-this-this… This is a gift from the Young Master Manor.”
In the Great Zhou, there were many auspicious gifts in the formal proposal. The best was wild geese, but wild geese were rare. Such fat geese could not be found even with a lantern. His sister actually wanted to eat them?
Yu Wan said, “I know it’s a gift.”
The corners of Yu Feng’s mouth twitched. “Then why are you still eating it?”
Yu Wan raised her eyebrows and said, “Isn’t he sending it over for us to eat?” The chickens, ducks, and fish of the New Year’s gift could be eaten, so the geese picked for the proposal must also be eaten!
Yu Feng: Uh… That doesn’t seem to be wrong… That’s not right! I’ve never heard of anyone eating the betrothal gifts!
At night, there were two plates of fragrant braised goose on the Yu family’s dining table.
“Is the goose delicious?” Yu Wan asked the three little lads.
The three little lads nodded in unison. Delicious, delicious. I’ll get Daddy to send two more geese to eat later!
The news of Yan Jiuchao proposing marriage to Lotus Flower Village quickly spread throughout the Capital. The palace also received the news. In the evening, Eunuch Wang came to the Young Master Manor under orders.
Uncle Wan received him.
Uncle Wan welcomed Eunuch Wang to the reception pavilion and brewed a high-grade West Lake Longjing. He said half-truthfully, “Eunuch Wang is here on an order. Logically speaking, Young Master should welcome you personally. However, Young Master isn’t feeling well and can’t receive you. I hope Eunuch Wang can forgive him.”
It was true that he was not feeling well but it was a lie that he could not receive him. To put it bluntly, Yan Jiuchao was someone who was not happy to see the Emperor.
Eunuch Wang had been rolling around in the palace for so long. How could he be a fool to be able to sit in his current position? If it were anyone else, they would have been punished due to resisting the decree. However, the Emperor doted on Yan Jiuchao and would not punish him for such a small matter.
Eunuch Wang said with an understanding expression, “Since Young Master isn’t feeling well, he should rest well. I didn’t come today for anything important. I just heard that Young Master has proposed marriage to someone. I wonder which young lady it is?”
Uncle Wan did not believe that the Emperor did not even find out who Yan Jiuchao had proposed to. Yu Wan’s eighteen generations of ancestors had probably been dug out by the Emperor, but the Emperor still sent someone to ask. He was giving the Young Master Manor a way out.
Uncle Wan smiled without batting an eyelid. “It’s the daughter of the Yu family. Her mother is from Wan City, and her father is Yu Shaoqing. She has an uncle who won first place in the Master Chef Competition. She also has an aunt who married far away. Her family background is also clean.”
This was telling Eunuch Wang that their Young Master Manor had already investigated Miss Yu’s background. Whether she was poor or lowly, his Young Master did not mind.
Eunuch Wang smiled and said, “I won’t mention others, but Yu Shaoqing… is a person with crimes. I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for Young Master to marry the daughter of a criminal, right?”
Uncle Wan said, “Isn’t he not convicted yet? What do you mean by the daughter of a criminal? Besides, isn’t it all up to His Majesty? Since His Majesty could overturn the Yan family’s case back then, I believe he can also overturn Yu Shaoqing’s case.”
Eunuch Wang felt a lump in his heart. How dare this old man say this!
Eunuch Wang said, “The Yan family is innocent. They were framed by villains.”
Uncle Wan smiled and said, “Yu Shaoqing is also innocent. He was framed by a villain.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course.” Uncle Wan smiled and said, “Yan Congming was conferred the title of Marquis because of his military achievements, but these military achievements belong to Yu Shaoqing. In that case, the real marquis is Yu Shaoqing, so Miss Yu is the daughter of the Marquis Manor. This status is not an insult to Young Master.”
