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“Ouch! Ouch! I am ugly, is that okay now?” Jiang Wu pretended to be in pain and surrendered, falling onto the kanga.

Chunniang said with a laugh: “What’s all the fuss about? Go and wash your hands and face quickly. We’ll eat in a while.”

Thus, Huzi and Jiang Wu went to wash up. Yingbao asked the maids to go to the kitchen and alert the cooks to prepare a few more dishes.

Luckily, there were plenty of cured meats, smoked fish, smoked chicken and sausages at home. The cooks just had to steam them.

Apart from meat, a lot of vegetables were planted by the pond side and were covered with straw mats. Whenever they wanted to eat, they would pluck some leaves and stir-fry them with minced meat and garlic, making a delicious dish.

Jiang Wu and Huzi returned after washing up and began to talk about their experiences in war while sitting cross-legged on the kanga with Yingbao.

The reason they had returned home was due to the Emperor’s decree to relocate them back to the Capital City, probably to rearrange their duties.

Upon hearing this, Chunniang was very pleased: “It’s great if both of you could take up official posts in the Capital City. We can all be reunited.”

Yingbao poured them almond tea and said, “Huzi, if you really get a post in Beijing, you should consider bringing your uncle and aunt to the Capital City.”

The Uncle’s wife had a son and a daughter, and when the siblings were grown up they would need opportunities for advancement, which they would have more of in Beijing than in the countryside.

Huzi nodded and said: “We’ll see when the time comes.”

Chunniang looked at her son, then glanced at Huzi and asked: “Huzi, are you engaged yet?”

Huzi took a sip of almond tea: “No.”

Jiang Wu laughed and said: “Our general wanted to marry off his daughter to Huzi, but Huzi said no. He said he has already been arranged a marriage back at his hometown.”

“Why didn’t you agree?” Chunniang didn’t understand.

Jiang Wu smirked: “You should ask him.”

Huzi finished drinking his tea and said: “Matters of marriage are traditionally decided by the parents’ decree and picture matchmaker’s words. I can’t promise anything without consulting them.”

Chunniang: …

Soon, the maids had prepared the meal and served it on the table – a full spread.

Yingbao brought a pot of fruit wine for her brother and Huzi, “Drink a bit to warm yourself up, wait until Xiaojie comes back, then you can drink some more.”

Her eldest brother, Jiang Jie, wouldn’t be back for lunch. He either had meals with the Luo Family or got some simple food in the public office, and wouldn’t be home until late afternoon.

Chunniang asked, “Should we also invite Master Wu?”

“Let someone deliver the invitation when Xiaojie comes back. We just don’t know whether Mr. Wu has the time.” After all, Master Wu was a busy man these days with many social duties. It was rare to catch a glimpse of him.

Chunniang: “Alright.”

After the meal, Jiang Wu and Huzi walked around the courtyard before retiring to their room for rest.

In the afternoon, Jiang Jie and Jiang Quan came back together. The roads had already been covered with white snow.

Jiang Quan ran into the room, put a bag of money on the kanga, dusted the snowflakes off his body, and said to Yingbao: “All the flowers in our store have been sold off, and many have paid in advance.”

He then took out the account book from his pocket and handed it to his younger cousin, chuckling: “There were only big clients today. Do you think we have enough potted plants?”

Yingbao took a look at the account book and pointed at one of the orders, asking: “Who is this Lun Family? Why do they need so many flowers?” They ordered eighty pots at once, which was a big deal.

Jiang Quan peered at the book: “The Lun Family? They have a daughter who is one of the Emperor’s concubines. The steward who placed the order said that the concubine gave birth to a prince yesterday, the flowers are for the celebration of the prince’s full moon.”

“No wonder.” Yingbao returned the account book to him: “There should be enough flowers in our greenhouse. Send them over tomorrow, and make sure they pay on the spot. We do not do credit.”

“I know.” Jiang Quan tucked the account book away, and went out to meet Jiang Wu and Huzi.

In the evening, the Jiang family held a banquet and invited Master Wu. Wu Shi also came along.

At the banquet, Elder Wu said, “The Xiao Family is really absurd, they even sent a petition to His Majesty, requesting him to bestow a marriage. Fortunately, His Majesty did not agree to their request.”

“Who are they trying to marry off?” Jiang Wu asked curiously.

Jiang Jie sneered coldly, “Marquis Changshou actually asked His Majesty to marry my sister for his son. He’s really dreaming.”

It wasn’t just that the Marquis Changshou was a noble in name only. Considering that his second son had an unclear relationship with a tattooed woman, this simply won’t be possible.

Even though Marquis Xiao might not necessarily be requesting for his son, all of the Xiao Family’s brothers lived under the same roof, thus marrying into such a family would inevitably be distasteful.

Jiang Wu furrowed his brows.

He did know about the Xiao Family. He also knew that the second young master of the Xiao Family was interested in Chen Guanglu’s daughter and was protecting Chen Guanglu’s widow and her son.

Their family had a feud with Chen Guanglu. His father had even mentioned that Han Yueniang had kidnapped his young sister and had tried to kill her.

Such a malicious woman was protected by the Xiao Family, and now they wanted to marry his sister. There must be something sinister behind this.

“When I meet the Emperor, I will definitely clarify that my sister’s marriage should be decided by herself.” Jiang Wu grumbled indignantly.

Tomorrow, the emperor would meet the returning military officials, so he would certainly have the opportunity to explain this to the emperor.

Elder Wu: “The present plan is not to advise the Emperor, but to find a suitable marriage for Yingbao as soon as possible. Otherwise, if more and more requests for the Emperor’s decision on her marriage appear, even the Emperor will find it hard to refuse.”

After all, Yingbao was the Emperor’s only female disciple. She was like his own daughter and whoever married her would certainly be favored by the Emperor.

Jiang Jie and his younger brother Jiang Wu, glanced at each other, both feeling helpless.

With their father not in Beijing, the only ones who could protect their sister and make a decision for her were the two of them.

But when it came to finding a good husband for their sister, they were truly at a loss.

Moreover, their sister had mentioned that she did not want to get married too soon. How should they handle this?

“I’ll discuss this matter with mother when we go back.” Jiang Jie said.

Jiang Wu remained silent.

Jiang Quan also looked worried.

Their business had just started. If their younger sister married and left, how could he manage everything alone?

He would not be able to manage both growing bonsai and selling goods, even if he multi-tasked, he would be overwhelmed.

Worse, without his sister’s support, the business might fall into decline and he could quickly become broke.

The more Jiang Quan thought about this possibility, the more terrified he became. He suddenly stood up and said, “Why don’t we take Yingbao back to our hometown?”

His business with his sister in the county was good, and they were earning no less than what they made in Beijing.

Moreover, their third uncle was the County Magistrate of Qinchuan County, no one dared to cross their path.

Wu Shi frowned at him, “All land under the heaven belongs to the emperor, do you think everything would be alright if you went to the county? Even with an imperial decree from the Emperor, wouldn’t you have to obediently return?”

Jiang Quan scratched his head, “So what should we do?”

Suddenly, Huzi said, “Why not betroth Yingbao to Wei Zhan? They’ve known each other since childhood, there’s some affection there.”

Elder Wu said, “Discuss this matter with Madam Jiang at your leisure. My only advice is, it’s better to act sooner rather than later.”

In recent days, people have been advising the Emperor everyday that Zhou Hao and Zhang Min had reached the age of marriage and should be granted marriages. This has also led to discussions about Yingbao, with proposals to send official matchmakers over.

These marriage discussions were also linked to the laws of the imperial court, stating that men must marry when of age and women must not remain unmarried when of age, or face severe punishment.

In the end, there were those who wanted to drive the Emperor’s closest associates away from him: Zhou Hao, Zhang Min and Yingbao, or even have them eradicated.

The marriage issue was just a pretext.