The Lu family's poverty will make Duan Sitong suffer, but poverty has its advantages.
If Duan Sitong really gets married, Qiao Lan will definitely not let her granddaughter suffer, and the servants will provide her with money.
The Lu family is weak, so the Duan family can be tougher, take good care of Duan Sitong, and prevent Duan Sitong from being blamed by her husband's family.
This marriage can only be said to have pros and cons!
-
Matchmaker Lai has been a matchmaker for many years and is very good at observing people's emotions. When she saw everyone in the Duan family waiting for Qiao Lan to speak, she knew that it was this old lady who made the final decision in the Duan family.
Matchmaker Lai heard someone say that the old lady of the Duan family was the daughter of a high-ranking official in the capital.
Since she entered the house, the old lady has not shown a single smile. She is probably not very satisfied with this marriage.
It seems that the Lu family’s matchmaker money is no longer available.
Qiao Lan thought for a while and said, "Marrying a daughter is a big deal, and our family needs to discuss it carefully."
Matchmaker Lai quickly apologized and said, "Old madam, I'm not in a hurry! You can discuss it slowly."
Qiao Lan took her family back to the backyard, called Duan Sitong and Wang into her room, and talked about the pros and cons of the marriage.
In addition to looking at each other's family conditions, getting married also depends on feelings.
For a husband and wife to get along for a long time, they need to have a harmonious relationship. It is better not to get married than to treat each other as guests, and it is even worse to be hypocritical.
The world is not good for women. If a man marries again, it will have no impact. There are a lot of rumors about a woman remarrying. You must be careful when marrying!
Qiao Lan: "Why don't you call the boy from the Lu family over to have a look? If Tong'er likes him, then you can spend some time with him. Anyway, you are still young, so don't be in a hurry to get engaged."
Duan Sitong had just heard Qiao Lan talk about the pros and cons of the Lu family, and now he turned to the meeting. His cheeks turned red, "Grandma! This is not appropriate..."
Qiao Lan: "What's wrong with that? Marrying is a big deal, you have to watch it carefully! As an elder, in addition to checking for you, what's more important is what you want. You are young, so there is no rush to get married! If you like it after just one look,
You can do it everywhere, if you don’t like it, we don’t have to watch it! This is a major event in your life, you have to take care of it yourself!”
Duan Sitong nodded seriously, and the warmth in his cheeks gradually faded.
Among Beijing's laws, there is an extremely strict law regarding women's marriage, which naturally emerged from Qiao Lan's memory.
This law does not urge women to marry, but limits the age at which women can marry. Women are required to be fourteen years old before they can get married. If a child is found to be married, both parties will be punished and their land will be confiscated.
According to legend, this law was drawn up by Emperor Jingwen's biological mother, the Queen Mother at the time. The Queen Mother came from a Xinglin family. When she was young, she accompanied the emperor on the battlefield, experienced the sufferings of the world, saved countless patients, and was highly respected.
Seeing that young pregnant women often die from dystocia, while older pregnant women have slightly less dystocia, they discovered the pattern and asked for this law.
The poorer the country, the more common child marriage is.
Qiao Lan could only sigh at the greatness of this Queen Mother!
In addition to this law that limits the age of marriage, there is also a rule that imposes a fine on those who do not marry over 20 years old.
Duan Sitong was young, less than twelve years old. Poor families often followed this rule when marrying off their daughters, marrying off their daughters at the age of thirteen or four.
However, there are many families in Beijing who marry girls at the age of seventeen or eighteen, so they are not in a hurry.
"Think more about it, and then tell grandma after you think about it. If the Lu family is gone, our family can still look for it, and we won't suffer any loss if we take a look." Qiao Lan reminded.
Duan Sitong looked at Qiao Lan in front of him with firm eyes: "Grandma, Tong'er doesn't want to get married yet, and I don't want to see the Lu family."
She doesn't want to get married or leave her family, no matter how good the Lu family is.
Mrs. Wang sat next to her and remained silent, sighing with some emotion in her heart. The old lady was not very close to her grandchildren before, but now she is very good to them.
She is not worried about the old lady giving Tong'er a chance to look after others. Instead, she is worried that Tong'er will be pampered by the old lady and no one will look down upon her!
The woman here is probably a debt owed by her previous life!
-
Being directly rejected by the Duan family was something Lu Dian had never imagined.
He knew that his family was poor, so he proposed marriage only after he was admitted as a scholar.
Unexpectedly, the Duan family even looks down on scholars...
No matter how calm Lu Dian is, he is still a young man, and there is inevitably a look of frustration on his face.
In the eyes of Mother Lu, her eldest son is a precious child and she cannot tolerate anyone's contempt for her son.
Seeing that his son was unhappy, he raised his brows and said in a sharp voice: "The officials in this family have long since disappeared. We just have some fields at home. What's the big deal!"
Lu Dian hurriedly advised: "Mom, just say this in front of me, but don't say it in front of outsiders."
Mother Lu was dissatisfied: "What's wrong with saying a few words about her?"
Lu Dian: "If someone with a heart hears about it and spreads it to the county, I'm afraid my son will not be able to continue studying and take exams in the future!"
Lu Dian's words are a bit exaggerated, but they are also somewhat true. If these words were spread to the county, it would definitely make the scholars in the county dissatisfied, saying that he was so arrogant just after being admitted as a scholar, which would affect his future exams.
What's more, the family being slandered is the Duan family, the Duan family that all the scholars in the county admire.
Mother Lu immediately panicked and covered her mouth: "Don't say it anymore, don't say it anymore. Mom won't say anything anymore. Mom will cook for you."
Seeing Lu's mother leaving the yard, Lu Dian sat back at his desk and looked through the posts he had received a few days ago.
These posts were sent by wealthy squires in the county in recent days, and most of them invited him to their homes for tea.
Lu Dian heard from his classmates that only some young scholars would receive it. Those people were either recruiting disciples or recruiting sons-in-law, thinking about his status as a scholar and fancying his future prospects.
Lu Dian carefully opened the posts and looked at them one by one.
The Duan family was the best choice Lu Dian could think of. Since the Duan family couldn't do it, he could only choose another family.
Lu Dian knew that his family's financial situation could not support his future exams, so he had to make plans on his own.
-
Duan Mingqing said he was going to Tongzhou to ask for advice, but he went there for more than ten days and got no news.
Mrs. Liu couldn't help but feel a little worried, so she found Qiao Lan.
Mrs. Liu: "Mom, the third master has been here for so long and there is no letter. Did something happen?"
Ms. Liu didn't dare to say this in front of her daughter. She was afraid that her daughter would be worried, so she could only come over to find Qiao Lan.
Qiao Lan has added a lot of vegetables to her vegetable garden in recent days, and is taking Qiangguo class. She doesn't remember much about the time Duan Mingqing went out.
Recruiting people must be carefully selected, and it takes time. However, safety must also be considered.
Qiao Lan: "Let Chen'er go to the county tomorrow and find a few business people to help make inquiries! Don't worry, Tongzhou is safe here and nothing big will happen."
Today's food and commodity prices in Tongzhou are pretty good. Although they are several times more expensive due to the turmoil in the north, I have never heard of anyone committing a crime to bandits and robbing their homes.
The scholar examination can still be carried out as usual, which shows that the people above are aware of it.
Ms. Liu felt much relieved after receiving Qiao Lan's promise. She looked at her mother-in-law gratefully and said, "Then I'll go out and clean up the house first."