Chapter 829 – Son Has a Crush on a Girl II
Xie Qian’s face turned stern, and he scolded his son, “A marriage proposal is a serious matter between two families; you can’t be so casual about it!”
Before marriage, parents could turn a blind eye if there were mutual feelings, but the marriage contract couldn’t be treated lightly.
Li Yun felt like a wilted eggplant, his heart that was soaring got crushed down again.
“What does Father mean?”
“Naturally, it means to properly discuss marriage. We should ask the Ice Person to be the matchmaker, with all the formalities in place.”
Thinking of Shangguan Wan’s situation, Li Yun scratched his head, saying, “I’m afraid that won’t work.”
“Why won’t it work?”
“Wan’er escaped from her previous husband’s family, and her maternal family is under her stepmother’s control. If she goes back, it would be a one-way trip.”
Xie Qian was left speechless.
He was baffled by the bombshells his son kept dropping; was there no way to say everything at once?
Xie Qian didn’t mind Wan’er’s status as a divorced woman but was rather worried…
“Escaped from her husband’s family? What do you mean? Doesn’t she have an ongoing engagement?”
Are you trying to make my son chase after a married woman?
Li Yun shook his head like a drum, quickly clarifying, “Wan’er was indeed engaged to her previous husband, but before she could enter the house, he died. That family was harsh and insisted on making Wan’er into a widow, almost killing her. Since her husband is dead, Wan’er should be free… My son admires her, but I wanted to let you know as well…”
After all, he was still an innocent young man. Before Li Yun could finish his sentence, his face turned a bright red.
“If Father insists on the Ice Person to propose, just directly ask the Lord.”
Xie Qian’s emotions took a wild swing; he questioned, “What does that have to do with your Lord?”
“The Lord and Wan’er are as close as siblings… no, like sisters. Now that Wan’er has no one to rely on, the Lord is her only family.”
Xie Qian: “…”
While it’s nice that my son is finally getting close to a girl, this boy is really slow on the uptake!
Seeing Li Yun’s sparkling eyes, Xie Qian felt exhausted and could only nod in agreement.
“Fine, we’ll discuss this with your Lord tomorrow.”
Li Yun let out a sigh of relief, too excited to sleep that night.
The next day, he woke up on time to practice his spear and asked the servants to keep an eye on Xie Qian and Wan Xuan, preparing breakfast on time.
Don’t think Li Yun is so punctual out of dedication; he was just taking the long route to sneak up on Shangguan Wan.
“Wan’er…”
Li Yun leaped over, using his height to perch on the wall and called out to the courtyard.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Shangguan Wan who first noticed him, but rather the mischievous children studying below.
Seeing the familiar face hanging over the courtyard wall, the kids giggled and turned to look at Shangguan Wan.
Amidst a cacophony of laughter, Shangguan Wan’s face flushed with irritation as she placed her bamboo slip down on the table.
“Everyone, write down the characters on the board once more, and I’ll check them later.”
In the courtyard, there was a simple “blackboard” and “chalk.” The blackboard was merely a wooden board painted black, and the “chalk” was actually limestone, a material that was plentiful during mining operations in Xiangyang and could be turned into “chalk.”
Before this, nobody thought about using this white substance for writing and education; it was the Lord’s brilliance that made effective use of it.
“What are you doing here again?”
Li Yun took something out and said, “I was passing by, and I brought you some breakfast.”
Shangguan Wan took it, noticing that Li Yun was gazing at her with fiery eyes, making her feel a bit shy.
“Still staring?” Shangguan Wan said with annoyance, “Do you have to come here when there are students below to see you making a fool of yourself?”
Li Yun scratched his head awkwardly, “Isn’t this just too happy? Wan’er, my father came last night. My master really is a father figure.”
Shangguan Wan was taken aback. Seeing Li Yun’s flushed face made her feel a twinge of anxiety.
“You silly… Did you tell your father about us?”
“Of course I did,” Li Yun added, “Father said he would discuss this matter with the Lord today…”
Shangguan Wan felt like smashing Li Yun into dumplings.
Marriage is no trivial matter!
At least let her prepare herself!
“Do you… not want to?”
Li Yun cautiously looked at her expression.
Thinking back to the day of victory when Wan’er handed a sachet to the Lord without looking at him, his heart sank.
Shangguan Wan huffed lightly, lowering her voice, “For something this significant, you should have at least discussed it with me…”
Li Yun felt wronged and dropped his head, “But Wan’er already agreed before.”
He had even secretly held her small hand with her tacit approval.
“That was then, this is now.”
The ugly bride will meet her in-laws eventually, but she still needed time to prepare herself.
Seeing Li Yun’s dejected expression, Shangguan Wan’s heart softened.
“Well, what’s the use of talking about it now… I’m not blaming you,” she said. “It’s getting late; hurry to the military camp and don’t delay. As for the proposal, if Lan Ting agrees, then I will too…”
After speaking, Shangguan Wan’s cheeks blossomed with red, and before Li Yun could react, she slipped through the side gate and slammed the door.
Leaving Li Yun standing there, unable to stop himself from grinning like a fool.
Though Shangguan Wan had been married before, as a widow, she didn’t even have any dowry items like a fire-avoidance map. In terms of relationships, she was pure as a blank sheet of paper. Her previous marriage had left her disheartened, and Li Yun had barged into her life at just the right moment.
She wanted to learn martial arts to fight off enemies, and Jiang Pengji had sent Li Yun to give her extra lessons. Little did she expect that she would be moved by this innocent young man.
Initially, Shangguan Wan had no intentions of remarrying, but when it came to Li Yun… it was just impossible to refuse.
Li Yun was more enthusiastic about introducing Xie Qian to Jiang Pengji than Xie Qian himself.
When Jiang Pengji learned of this, she was stunned; she didn’t expect to see Xie Qian here.
She addressed Xie Qian with a junior’s greeting, “I’ve often heard my father mention you; now I see that my father’s words cannot truly capture your grace.”
Xie Qian emanated both the cultured elegance of a scholar and the heroic aura of a military general. Just looking at him brought the image of a middle-aged Li Yun to mind.
Jiang Pengji was sweet-tongued, and Xie Qian didn’t call her out on her flattery.
Would Liu Zhi often bring him up to his daughter?
That was a pipe dream!
“The daughter of Liu Zhongqing is indeed remarkable.”
Without much small talk, Xie Qian cut straight to the point, “If I’m not mistaken, Liu Zhi should have mentioned my reason for coming to Zhong Zhao.”
Jiang Pengji nodded, “She said it was to assassinate an enemy. Uncle Xie, were you successful?”
Xie Qian shook his head, “No. The monster is hiding within the Zhong Zhao palace, the guards are tight, and this person has a bit of demonic power, making them hard to eliminate.”
