Mrs. Li also thought that the people on the carriage were here to see Zhan Feiyu, but when she saw the woman who got off the first carriage, Ms. Li was stunned for a moment. It turned out to be Matchmaker Wang.
"A girl from the Li family?" Matchmaker Wang was also a little surprised.
When she met Mrs. Li last year, she looked like a gray-faced peasant woman. Matchmaker Wang almost didn't recognize her just now. She was still the same person, but her complexion was much paler.
The key is that people depend on their clothes. Ms. Li is wearing a dark blue short double-breasted jacket with two silver hairpins on her head. Her eyebrows are relaxed and she looks like a kind and decent woman.
"Sister Li." Matchmaker Wang smiled and greeted her enthusiastically, "The magpies are chirping on the branches. I'm here to thank you, sister."
"Hey, Wang Meihua, you are good at getting close." A sarcastic voice suddenly sounded, and a woman got out of the second carriage.
Although she is also dressed up as a matchmaker, she is different from the festive look of the king's matchmaker. The horse matchmaker who got off the carriage behind her has a long and thin face, high cheekbones, triangular eyes, and deep nasolabial folds. This face looks mean and withdrawn.
.
"Sister Li, you have given birth to a good daughter. I, Matchmaker Ma, have guaranteed this marriage for you today. Looking at the whole Shangsi County, you can't find such a good son!" Matchmaker Ma was tall and squeezed out of the way.
Matchmaker Wang.
Although her words were polite, Matchmaker Ma's attitude seemed condescending, as if Li and Zhan Feiyu had taken advantage.
"Xiaoyu is young, so there is no marriage proposal for the time being." Li's face was gentle, but her attitude was firm.
No matter how good the matchmaker said the family was, Mrs. Li would never let Zhan Feiyu get married at such a young age.
Matchmaker Ma twitched her lips sarcastically. Now that Li said this, she will tell the man's conditions later, huh, I'm afraid she will rush to marry her daughter.
"Sister Li, you see the sun has come out, why don't we go into the house and talk." Matchmaker Ma glanced at the women under the banyan tree, then said to the boy and the coachman: "Take the gift for receiving the lottery."
Bring them all, and be careful, if you get bumped or fall, you will never be able to afford the compensation!"
Mrs. Li frowned. Even if a matchmaker comes to propose marriage, the woman still needs to agree and perform six rituals. How can a matchmaker come to the door for the first time and not even know who the man is, so she comes with a betrothal gift!
"These things?" Several women couldn't help but exclaimed when they saw the exquisite gift boxes held in the hands of the coachman and the boy. Looking at the gift boxes, they knew how valuable the things inside were.
Huh! Matchmaker Ma snorted proudly and said proudly to Ms. Li: "Sister Li, please lead the way."
Even though Mrs. Li didn't want to get involved with the matchmaker, she couldn't talk about Zhan Feiyu's marriage under the big banyan tree, so she had to go ahead and lead the way.
Matchmaker Wang also brought a boy, who only brought six-color pastries. This was obviously just a gift for the house, and had nothing to do with the marriage. At most, it was a gift to many people, so I don't think it was strange.
"Meizi Li." Matchmaker Wang quickened her pace a little, and after walking side by side with Mrs. Li, she whispered: "Matchmaker Ma is the official matchmaker."
Li was stunned. If he could afford the official media, this man must not be a farmer. Will this refusal cause trouble for Xiaoyu?
Several women in the village lagged behind, and after hesitating for a long time, they also followed.
This matchmaker has such a tough attitude. Li might suffer a lot at home alone. If anything happens, they can help.
The main room was very clean. Like most houses in the village, there was an Eight Immortals table in the front and armchairs on the left and right.
There are two benches on the right side, and two armchairs on the left side. In the middle is a high table with a rough pottery pot on it and a few wild flowers inserted, adding a bit of rustic charm to the rough and simple main room.
As an official mediator, even though Matchmaker Ma has a bad reputation, her status is higher than that of Matchmaker Wang. She did not speak, so Matchmaker Wang could only stand aside and wait.
Instructing the servant to put the gift box on the Eight Immortals table, Matchmaker Ma sat down on the armchair on the left and said straight to the point: "Sister Li, today I propose marriage for the young master of Zhang Xiucai's family."
"Mr. Zhang is only fifteen years old. He started his education at the age of four. He has been studying for eleven years. He will take the childbirth examination in February next year. He will definitely be on the list." After matchmaker Ma praised Zhang Tianhao's talents, he continued: "
Mr. Zhang is handsome and elegant, and he and your girl are both talented and beautiful, a match made in heaven!"
Zhan Feiyu did not tell Mr. Li some things, but in the case of his master's wife, Mrs. Lin, who was poisoned, Zhan Feiyu still revealed some inside information. Zhang Xiucai was the murderer behind the scenes, but there was no evidence.
When she heard that Matchmaker Ma was going to propose marriage to Zhang Tianhao, Mrs. Li's face suddenly turned ugly, and she said coldly: "No need to say more, my girl will not propose marriage until she is sixteen years old! Even if she proposes marriage, she will only find someone of similar age.
!”
Zhang Tianhao is fifteen and Zhan Feiyu is only eight.
Shanwazi's mother also echoed: "It's really inappropriate to be seven years behind. It will take at least eight years for Xiaoyu to get married. Mr. Zhang can't wait any longer!"
Zhang Tianhao was already in his twenties at that time, and ordinary people had given birth to children.
The other woman saw Matchmaker Ma's face darken, and she smiled and tried to smooth things over. It was hard to offend the matchmaker, "There are many girls in the family, but Xiaoyu is really too young. I will have to trouble you, Sister-in-law Ma, in the future."
Take this trip."
"Do you think I'm your servant? Just wave and come here?" After standing up for a moment, Matchmaker Ma said coldly with a straight face: "Sister Li, outsiders say that your girl is good at studying. Sister Li, this is
Want to wait for the price? Sell it at a good price?"
What Matchmaker Ma said was unpleasant. Not to mention Mrs. Li, all the women present looked ugly. Xiaoyu is now the treasure of the whole village. Without Xiaoyu, would Taifu Restaurant accept their chicken, duck and fish?
Completely unaware of the public outrage, Matchmaker Ma held her chin high and continued: "It's only a matter of time before Mr. Zhang is named on the gold medal list. In the future, your girl will be a ready-made wife of an official. What's more, Zhang Xiucai is famous and the Zhang family's private school is in Shangsi."
The county is also famous for marrying a rich girl with this condition!"
"Sister Li, don't be too picky. You're worried that you'll end up throwing your daughter into your own hands and becoming an old girl who can't get married!" The disdain and contempt in Matchmaker Ma's eyes were undisguised.
"There's no need for you to worry about Matchmaker Ma, Xiaoyu is my daughter!" Li refused with a strong attitude, turned around and picked up the gift box on the Eight Immortals' table, "Please take these things back, we can't bear to enjoy them!"
But before Mrs. Li could put the two gift boxes into Matchmaker Ma's hands, she suddenly felt a slip on the sole of her right foot, staggered, and the gift boxes in her hand shook.
Mrs. Li hurriedly hugged the gift box into her arms. Madam Shanwa immediately reached out and grabbed Mrs. Li's arm, but there was a clang sound.
Everyone in the hall took a look and saw that Mrs. Li was hugging the long gift box, but a small square carved wooden box on top fell to the ground.
"This contains the jade pendant passed down by the Zhang family, which is used as a token of betrothal!" Matchmaker Ma screamed and hurriedly knelt down to pick up the carved wooden box.
As soon as she opened it, Matchmaker Ma's face turned pale and she fell to the ground, but she was frightened.
Li also lowered his head and looked over. The bottom of the wooden box was covered with black satin, and a milky white round jade pendant was placed on it. Against the black satin, the jade pendant looked extremely warm and seemed to emit fluorescence.
"Did it break?" Shanwa Zi Niang's heart skipped a beat. She had also seen these jade pendants in Zhenbaoxuan. Compared with silver jewelry, these jade pendants are much more expensive. I heard they are very good.
It costs several hundred taels of silver.
Ms. Li frowned and looked under her feet. The tamped ground was very clean and she didn't see anything. However, she clearly felt something stepped on the soles of her feet just now.
Matchmaker Ma stood up holding the wooden box, glared at Mrs. Li and shouted, "This is an heirloom of the Zhang family! The pear-white jade pendant with Ganoderma lucidum pattern costs at least five thousand taels of silver! How do you want to compensate?"
There were eight or nine people standing in the main room, but everyone was frightened by the price of five thousand taels. Let alone selling them, even if all the eighteen generations of their ancestors were sold, it would not be worth five thousand taels!
Li's face was sullen and silent, but the hand holding the gift box was shaking non-stop. There was no shortage of money in the family, but it only cost more than three hundred taels in total. Xiaoyu's study was indeed a waste of money.
"Ms. Li!" Matchmaker Ma looked fiercely as if she wanted to eat someone, "You broke this jade pendant. With so many pairs of eyes looking at it, how are you going to compensate?"
Ms. Li panicked, "I..."
Seeing this, Shanwazi Niang quickly took the gift box from Li's arms and carefully put it back on the Eight Immortals Table, fearing that it would be dropped again.
"I'll call Muramasa and the old patriarch to come over." The young daughter-in-law said, and ran out the door.
After a while, Muramasa, the old clan leader and several clan elders hurried over.
After hearing the news, Boss Zhan dropped his hoe and ran over. His shoes were still stained with mud and he couldn't care about anything else. Boss Zhan grabbed Li's cold hand and said, "Fengyu, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Ms. Li, who was sitting on the chair, said numbly, looking for help at Muramasa and the old patriarch who came in.
"Now that the person who can decide is here, it saves me the trouble of reporting to the official." Matchmaker Ma said with an old face, still sitting in the main seat, with a high posture and an even tougher attitude.
At this time, they could no longer care about Matchmaker Ma. Muramasa and the old patriarch pulled up the chairs and sat down, and listened to Shanwazi's mother-in-law telling the story of the jade pendant being thrown.
"Matchmaker Ma, you are an official matchmaker. You know the rules of marriage best. Why don't you bring a gift with you when you come to propose marriage for the first time? It can't be planned, right?" Muramasa said coldly. Matchmaker Ma's attitude is not good at first glance.
On the other hand, there is no need to put a warm face on a cold butt.
The old clan leader and the two clan elders half-squinted their eyes. They had lived a long time and still had some sharp eyesight. This was obviously a trap. If it were other people, it would be fine. Zhang Xiucai didn't have a good attitude towards Xiaoyu.
Why did the official media suddenly come to propose marriage?
Matchmaker Ma didn't expect that Muramasa would support Mrs. Li as soon as she opened her mouth, and she yelled angrily, "Bah, you just want to fool me with your mouth? If this is only three to five taels of silver, I will give it to the beggar. This is
Five thousand taels, if you want to default on the debt, you don’t want to see if Zhang Xiucai agrees or not. The Yamen is not a place to be unreasonable!"
Before Muramasa could speak, Matchmaker Ma continued to yell and curse, "Before I came here, I inspected the jade pendant in front of Zhang Xiucai, and then put it into the box. The red strip on it was torn off just now. It was still there at the time."
There are maids and servants here, yes, and there are several students of Zhang Xiucai standing outside the door, they can all testify!"
Matchmaker Ma scratched her neck and shouted, her face turned red with anger, and the five thousand taels of jade pendant broke into two halves. If Li didn't pay for it, would he have to pay for it himself?
The village head looked solemn. If it were just the servants and maids of the Zhang family, they might have made false confessions, but the students of the private school also saw it, so this matter would be difficult.
The old patriarch stood up and walked to the Eight Immortals Table. The jade pendant that was broken into two pieces was placed in a wooden box. The varnish of the wooden box was intact, but there was a little dust on the lower right corner, which was just dropped on the ground.
It couldn't have been broken on the way here. The red strip on the seal was just torn off. Even if Matchmaker Ma accidentally dropped the wooden box, she wouldn't have known through the box that the jade pendant was broken, and then she would blame Mrs. Li.
"I dropped the thing, and I can't afford to pay for it. If Zhang Xiucai reports it to the officials, he will come and arrest me." Li raised his head, his face still pale, but his eyes were extremely firm.
Seeing Mrs. Li doing the work alone, Matchmaker Ma slammed the table angrily, "Bah, what's the use of arresting you? How many taels of silver is your life worth? This is five thousand taels! I'll chop off your head.
It’s no use!”
The village leader and the old clan leader looked at each other, but neither of them said anything. It would be best if the Li family can bear the burden alone. It's not that they don't want to save them, but that they can't do anything. If the money is short, the village clan can still make up for it. Five thousand taels is really a lot.
Too many.
Thinking that Zhang Xiucai had said that he must settle the marriage before coming, Matchmaker Ma glanced at the two halves of the jade pendant and said coolly: "Okay, this jade pendant is originally a token of engagement. As long as the marriage is completed, this will be your girl's.
If something falls, it falls."
"No!" Ms. Li was completely ungrateful. Facing the angry matchmaker, Ms. Li said word by word: "Xiaoyu has been adopted. I just take care of her. I can't make the final decision on her marriage.
I don’t know how to make the decision!”
The father's debt is paid by the son! But Zhan Feiyu adopted another branch of the Zhan family, and Li was no longer her mother, so Zhan Feiyu did not need to repay the money owed by Li even if she went to the Yamen.
"Are you trying to be a scoundrel?" Matchmaker Ma stood up again, with one hand on her waist and the other pointing at Li. Then she pointed at Muramasa, the old patriarch and the others, "They all say that Zhan Feiyu is good at reading. I can't read her books."
If you read into a dog's belly and don't care about your mother's life or death, what kind of scholar can you be? How can you take part in the imperial examination?"
"Matchmaker Ma, be careful what you say!" The old patriarch's face was sullen, and his unhurried voice was full of shock and majesty, "Xiaoyu has been adopted, the genealogy has been changed, and the yamen has also registered it. If you dare to corrupt Xiaoyu,
Reputation, don’t blame us, the Zhan clan, for taking you to court! County Magistrate Chen will naturally make a decision!"
Matchmaker Ma is a government matchmaker, so she naturally knows more than ordinary people. It is the duty of the adopted Zhan Feiyu to help the Li family. She cannot be blamed for not helping outsiders, especially since the compensation is as high as 5,000 taels, and Zhan Feiyu can do nothing.
So it would be more reasonable not to help.
But the five thousand taels of jade pendant fell, and there is no point in arresting Mr. Li and going to jail!
Matchmaker Ma hated Mrs. Li now, but she could only suppress her anger and force a smile to say: "Why go to such a stage that everything is broken? Even if they are adopted, the Li family's sister is still Xiaoyu's biological mother. Her biological mother will give birth to a child."
If he is imprisoned or beheaded, how can Xiaoyu's reputation be good? Why not settle on this marriage, turn the hostility into friendship, and reunite the two families happily."