Chapter 772: 322 Ma Linlin gets married
Guan Jingshuo placed fourth in the military exam, immediately causing a stir in Capital City. It was known that being a top scholar in both civil and martial exams in the Great Yuan Dynasty made one quite distinguished!
Marquis Yongding was so thrilled that he couldn’t stop smiling, although he didn’t favor his grandchildren practicing martial arts but appreciated good reputation. However, his joy didn’t last long before Guan Jingshuo came back and told him something that almost made Marquis Yongding jump with anger, "What did you say? You have your eye on the Third Miss of the Lian Family?" That Third Miss of the Lian Family had such a difficult fate, how could she be suitable for his son?
Guan Jingshuo hummed affirmatively.
Marquis Yongding, swinging between joy and anger, felt almost overwhelmed, "Do you know that the Third Miss of the Lian Family has broken off an engagement, and it’s said that her fate carries malice?"
Guan Jingshuo sneered, "When I was little, people in the mansion also said I was born under an ill-fated star that caused my mother’s death right after I was born!"
Marquis Yongding stopped reasoning with Guan Jingshuo, "You could marry any type of wife, why must you only have eyes for her?" He definitely didn’t believe it was Lian Yueyao’s beauty that entranced his son. There were plenty of beauties in the Marquis’ household, even the personal maids around his son were like celestial beings.
Guan Jingshuo spoke softly, "I took to her from the first glance, I don’t know why myself. Dad, please grant me this!"
Marquis Yongding absolutely refused, "Impossible, absolutely not." He still wanted to find a powerful wife’s family to aid his son, marrying Lian Yueyao would bring not only no help but also heaps of trouble. It would certainly drag his son down.
Guan Jingshuo clearly knew what his father was worried about and said, "Dad, I don’t need the wife’s family’s support, I can revitalize the Marquis’ household on my own merits. Dad, please grant me this!"
Marquis Yongding promptly expelled Guan Jingshuo from the study. His son was so outstanding, he was suitable for a princess, how could he marry a woman with a broken engagement and a difficult fate? He would never agree to this marriage.
Once Guan Jingshuo stepped out of the study, his expression regained calm. Now that he had spoken, he would definitely find a way to achieve his goal.
Heping was becoming ever more puzzled by his master’s thoughts. He hadn’t noticed the slightest affection his master had for Miss Lian, "Heir Apparent, do you really want to marry Miss Lian? But what if the Marquis does not agree?"
Guan Jingshuo whispered a few words to Heping in a lower register, and Heping exclaimed in surprise, "Heir Apparent, will Madam persuade the Marquis to agree?"
Guan Jingshuo was sure, his stepmother would definitely persuade his father to agree to the marriage.
Ma’s Mansion was bustling because of Ma Linlin’s wedding. Yet Zhuang Ruolan and Madam Tang were very capable, and everything was orderly. Yueyao was not dragged to help but leisurely immersed herself in studying poetry in her own courtyard.
Yueyao, feeling tired from reading, closed the poetry collection and regretted not focusing more on poetry earlier. She thought that it would have saved her from getting this tired now.
Two days before the wedding, it was time for female relatives to come and make their contributions. Starting from the twenty-fourth, relatives of the Ma family gradually arrived to add to the dowry. Early in the morning,
Yueyao reached Ma Linlin’s courtyard and presented her prepared gifts: a pair of double happiness and double auspiciousness pearl-embedded jade flowers, along with a pair of pomegranate-patterned gold hairpins.
Ma Linlin said with a smile, "Yueyao, once you become a master, you’ll have to create a painting for me."
Yueyao nodded smilingly, sat for a moment, and then returned to her courtyard. Soon after sitting down, she heard Xi Yu saying that Loo Ying had arrived.
Although Yueyao didn’t get along well with Loo Ying, she couldn’t neglect the rudiments of decent hospitality. She tidied up her appearance and went out to meet her guest.
Loo Ying was dressed in peach-red garments, adorned with a complete set of gold and jade jewelry, looking much plumper and healthier than in her maiden days.
Yueyao nodded inwardly, noting that Loo Ying seemed to be living a quite favorable life in her husband’s family.
Loo Ying, looking at Yueyao, felt an unpleasant sensation inside. Before Yueyao had grown up, but now she had blossomed into a great beauty. Loo Ying felt indescribably envious she had always wanted to compete with Yueyao during her time in the Ma’s Mansion, but invariably couldn’t surpass her.
Seeing Loo Ying daydreaming, Yueyao called out to her.
Hearing Yueyao calling her, Loo Ying shelved her deep thoughts and said with a smile, while taking her daughter from the wet nurse, "Sister Tong, this is your maternal cousin aunt!" Loo Ying had been married for three years and had a daughter named Zhang Tong, whom everyone called Sister Tong.
Sister Tong, in a milky voice, called out, "Hello, maternal cousin aunt!"