Chapter 1470: Kexin Extra Story (Part 2)_3
Brother Sheng’s marriage has also been settled. The Emperor granted the marriage early last year, and it’s scheduled for November this year. Now, the Second Princess’s mansion is almost completed, right next to the Earl of Pingyang’s Mansion. As for Brother Xu’s marriage, there are currently no plans. Neither Yueyao nor Brother Xu is anxious, only An Zhichen worries about it.
Yueyao and Kexin have been staying on the mountain for more than ten days. Brother Sheng feels that without his mother and sister at home, it seems quite deserted.
Early in the morning, Brother Sheng said, "Father, should I go up the mountain tomorrow to bring Mother back?" Now serving in the Imperial Forest Army, Brother Sheng’s job is quite easy due to his status as the prospective prince consort.
An Zhichen had long wanted to fetch his wife and daughter back, but he couldn’t get away himself. "If you go tomorrow, they can only come back the day after. Go now, and by tomorrow afternoon, your mother and sister should be home." Fortunately, the results of the metropolitan examination are also due tomorrow, and An Zhichen believes Yueyao will definitely come back.
Life on the mountain has been leisurely for Yueyao, to the point where she is a bit reluctant to head home. When Brother Sheng arrived to pick her up, Yueyao said, "It seems it’s time to finalize Brother Xu’s marriage." Yueyao wasn’t counting on the Princess to manage household affairs for her, so it would be better to find a daughter-in-law for Brother Xu soon, and let the daughter-in-law handle the household affairs in the future.
On the way back, Kexin appeared a bit nervous: "Mother, what if...?" She hesitated to finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear. What if Cousin Brother Min didn’t pass again?
Yueyao patted Kexin’s hand and said with a smile, "Even if that were the case, would you not marry him?" Kexin’s wedding date has already been set for May. Initially, An Zhichen planned to have Kexin marry by the end of the year, but due to Brother Sheng’s and the Second Princess’s wedding plans for the year’s end, An Zhichen had to compromise and agree to a May wedding for Kexin.
Kexin is concerned about An Zhichen: "If Cousin Brother Min doesn’t pass, Father will definitely be unhappy."
Yueyao thought about An Zhichen’s constant criticism of Brother Minmin and felt it fit the saying: the more a father-in-law looks at his son-in-law, the angrier he gets. An Zhichen’s attitude has left Kexin feeling perpetually anxious. Yueyao reassured her with a smile, "Don’t worry. Brother Minmin’s teacher said he’s sure to pass this time."
Yueyao’s reassurance didn’t have much effect. Kexin remained anxious during the journey back. After all, she was soon to marry Cousin Brother Min, and his future directly impacted her.
As soon as they entered the main gate, the Chief Steward came to offer congratulations: "Madam, Eldest Miss, Young Master Min has passed, ranked thirty-fifth in the second class." Crossing a single-log bridge, achieving the thirty-fifth rank is truly commendable.
Upon hearing this, Kexin finally relaxed, releasing her long-held breath.
An Zhichen returned home late in the evening, wearing a stern expression as he saw Yueyao. He was irritated, feeling that while other wives stayed peacefully at home, his wife liked to wander, even at her age.
Yueyao, understanding An Zhichen well, immediately broached a topic of his interest: "In two months, Kexin will be getting married, and by the end of the year, Brother Sheng will also wed. Next, it should be Brother Xu’s turn."
An Zhichen frowned and said, "Feifei has been away for almost five years; why hasn’t he returned yet? If he doesn’t mention marriage, how can Brother Xu? In terms of seniority, the elder brother hasn’t mentioned marriage, so how can the younger brother marry before him?"
Yueyao said, "I’m planning to arrange Feifei’s marriage after he completes the imperial exams. Brother Xu certainly can’t wait for that." Currently, Feifei isn’t even a scholar; waiting for him to complete the exams would take at least three more years. By then, Feifei would be twenty years old.
An Zhichen understood what Yueyao meant. Feifei is destined to be a civil official. As his father, An Zhichen couldn’t offer much assistance, so Yueyao wished to find Feifei a wife from a well-established family. However, such a match required Feifei to have enough accomplishments; otherwise, they wouldn’t be interested.
After much consideration, An Zhichen finally said, "Alright, let’s do it your way! But you’ll have to pay extra attention to Brother Xu’s marriage."
Yueyao scoffed, "As if I’m indifferent to the children’s marriages." There’s no need to mention Brother Sheng; Brother Minmin was also a carefully chosen match by me.
An Zhichen didn’t buy Yueyao’s sentiment, saying, "If it wasn’t out of indifference, with so many good young men in the world, why did you insist on marrying Kexin to Brother Minmin?" From start to finish, An Zhichen was never satisfied with Brother Minmin. According to Yueyao, he was nitpicking at trivial details, which made Brother Minmin fear him anytime he encountered him.
Deep down, Yueyao knew it all too well: An Zhichen didn’t want to let his daughter marry, so no matter who Kexin’s match was, An Zhichen would disapprove. However, aware of An Zhichen’s petty side, Yueyao refrained from arguing and simply promised, "Rest assured, I’ll find a good daughter-in-law for Brother Xu." Choosing a son-in-law and choosing a daughter-in-law require entirely different standards. Except for the Ma Family, whoever Kexin marries, she might face some grievances as a daughter-in-law in another family. Yueyao couldn’t bear her precious daughter being aggrieved, making the Ma Family the best choice. As for a daughter-in-law, she’ll join their family, and Yueyao would ensure she isn’t aggrieved. After all, how could a mother-in-law bear to be bullied by her daughter-in-law? So, as long as the young woman meets the standards in all aspects and her family is respectable, there should be no problem.
As the wedding date approached, Kexin pretended to remain calm, but eventually, she too became increasingly anxious. Even though she was familiar with every member of the Ma Family, visiting them as a guest was entirely different from marrying into the family.
Despite Yueyao’s repeated reassurances, little progress was made, so Yueyao gave up. After all, every new bride had to go through this experience. Compared to others, Kexin’s situation was pretty good; at least she was marrying into the Ma Family.
An Zhichen had been accumulating Kexin’s dowry for a long time, and over the years, he collected quite a number of valuable items for her. Unfortunately, when Ma Peng’s eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Wang, was married, her dowry amounted to eighty-one burdens, so Kexin couldn’t surpass her older sister-in-law. Thus, Kexin’s dowry was also set at eighty-one burdens. An Zhichen was quite dissatisfied with this. He had prepared enough items for 128 burdens, but now he could only manage with eighty-one.
Yueyao spent a long time convincing An Zhichen, saying, "Offending her older sister-in-law even before marrying would make things difficult for Brother Minmin. If Brother Minmin is unhappy, how could Kexin be happy?"
Stuffed with anger, An Zhichen knew Yueyao’s words made sense, and in the end, he could only respond angrily, "I’ve always said this boy was no good, but you went ahead and treated him like treasure regardless."
Yueyao’s attitude towards acknowledging her faults was commendable, which only made An Zhichen more frustrated.
Soon, the day of Kexin’s wedding arrived. Yueyao spent most of the night talking to Kexin the night before.
The next day, the groom came to fetch the bride, and they paid their respects to the bride’s father-in-law and mother-in-law. An Zhichen looked at the groom as if he were an enemy and said, "If you dare to mistreat Xinxin, I’ll break your legs."
Silence fell for three seconds following his remark.
Quickly, Yueyao said, "Brother Minmin, I entrust Xinxin to you. You must treat her well." After saying this, tears started streaming down Yueyao’s face uncontrollably.
Influenced by Yueyao’s emotions, Kexin also began to sob, much to the chagrin of the Wedding Matron, who was worried that the bride’s makeup would be ruined. It wouldn’t look proper when she reached the groom’s family!
When leaving, it was Brother Sheng who carried Kexin. After placing her in the bridal sedan chair, Brother Sheng whispered, "Sister, don’t worry. If Cousin Brother Min dares to bully you, I won’t let him off easily."
Brother Minmin stood nearby, stupefied. With a fierce father-in-law and formidable brothers-in-law, if he dared to let Kexin suffer any grievances, he’d likely be in for a rough time later.
