Xu Zhang leaned back in his chair, looked at the full house of children, and sighed: "This matter is definitely not so simple. ”

Xu Sheng also understands the truth of this, think about it, He Guan, as the marshal of the Sanya, and the inspector of the school, is the favored minister of the Son of Heaven. And working with his father, the relationship is also good, this looks up and doesn't look down, if you refute his face, you will be a little unhappy. It's just that the ninth brother's life's major events can't be sloppy. Husband and wife want to live together for a lifetime, not to mention that they can't force their brothers, but they force him to marry, are they happy that the young couple will make trouble for three days?

"Dad, it's okay. Think about it, that September girl is Mrs. He's niece, if this marriage is completed, the ninth brother will have to call He Shaobao an uncle, besides, doesn't September have neither parents nor brothers and sisters? So what is the difference between He Shaobao and his wife just like her father? Isn't it still a family? Xu Sheng explained.

There was no way to refute this, and Xu Zhang said it after hearing it. Seeing this, Xu Wei knew that the old man had a strong temperament, and deliberately said: "Dad, I'm afraid of offending He Shaobao?" ”

"I'm afraid of offending him? I'm afraid of offending him? Xu Zhang stared at his son and said loudly, "In terms of qualifications, when I was in charge of the Western Army, He Guan was still an inspector; In terms of military exploits, I have fought more than 60 battles, large and small, and commanded no less than 20 times on my own. He Guan did some anti-theft and thief-hunting at first, and it was reluctant to capture the Ancient Bone Dragon City. He is now one level higher than me, what am I afraid of him doing? ”

Xu Sheng naturally knew that his younger brother was provoking his father, so he hurriedly helped: "That is, now that my father is worshipping Taiwei, and he has been awarded the festival by the official family, who is there to be afraid of?" Besides, the third uncle is in power, and the eldest brother has led a handsome minister, what are you afraid of? Besides, this bundle can't be a marriage, so with the strength of Shaobao, how can he care about some trivial things? ”

Xu Zhang nodded frequently, as if he was still angry, and snorted coldly: "Boy, don't think that you can fight a few battles. Compared to your father, you are still very tender! ”

Xu Wei said yes again and again, and then he tried hard to make a fuss, and then he tentatively said: "Dad, then you can see ...... me about this."

After a deep groan, Xu Zhang nodded and said: "As you said, that woman is loyal and good, and she is quite worthy of my Xu family." I just don't know how old I am? What about character? We are a family of warriors, and we don't have so much poverty. ”

Xu Wei heard that the old man's tone was loose, and quickly replied: "Well, it seems that he is older than me, like twenty-two?" I don't have to pick my character, kind, diligent, and sincere, I have never seen such a good woman. Speaking of which, I felt as if I had gone too far, and added with a smile, "It's pretty good anyway." ”

As soon as these words came out, the whole family was taken aback. Twenty-two? Bigger than Lao Jiu? This, how is this possible? It is just right for the girl's family to marry at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and it is rare to drag it to ten **, and she has not married out at twenty-two? Is there something wrong with this girl? It's no wonder that the Xu family thinks so, in this era, twenty-two is not married, just like Xu Wei had a woman in his previous life who was thirty years old and not married, people will definitely think, is there something wrong?

"Ninth brother, is it sick with you?" Xu Xiuping's first reaction was this, if it wasn't for some serious disease, how could she not marry at the age of twenty-two?

Xu Wei's head shook like a drum: "No, no!" He is very strong, carrying water, doing laundry, and doing rough work. And he was also born in a family of soldiers, he danced with a spear on the horse, and got a two-stone hard bow when he got off the horse. ”

"You're talking about what month I'm still in?" It's not surprising that Xu Xiuping asked this, she didn't look like a girl when she was a child, she played with knives, guns and sticks, and her strength was greater than that of some men. But in the eyes of the in-laws, it has become a sin, but I didn't expect that in the eyes of my younger brother, it is an advantage, or our Xu family knows the goods.

Xu Zhang thought for a while, looked at his eldest son and said, "I'm afraid that the age is not the same?" ”

Xu Sheng actually thinks so, in this world, it is not that wives are older than husbands, but there are very few, but this is three or two years older is too much, right? The rumor will go out, people say that you Xu family Lao Jiu can't marry a wife? Looking for someone two or three years older? But he turned his head and glanced at his younger brother's nervous appearance, thinking forget it, anyway, the money he recognized was good, and he liked to go with him. It's not easy to be the daughter-in-law of our Xu family, and the golden branches and jade leaves made of water can't come. Zhang Jiujiu is not only from a family of soldiers, but he is a good match.

I just wanted to help my younger brother play in the round, but suddenly I didn't realize it and asked, "Slow, what are you talking about?" Carrying water and laundry, doing all the rough work? Shouldn't it be? Isn't she Mrs. Ho's niece? ”

Xu Wei didn't know how to answer for a while, he didn't know the inside story, but he was not a long-tongued woman, and he was too lazy to talk about other people's family affairs. After thinking for a while, he said with a smile: "The father of September has been away for many years, and my mother is not in good health, so I am diligent, and I don't have the posture of a young lady." ”

Xu Sheng nodded after hearing this, and said to his father: "Dad, in my opinion, it is very suitable, even if he is older, but our family is a demon king of the mixed world, and someone should take care of him." ”

Xu Xiuping was a little resistant at first, but when she heard that the younger brother and sister described by Xu Wei were similar to herself, and saw that her younger brother liked it so much, she also persuaded: "Dad, the fourth brother is right, the ninth brother has a wild temperament, and there should be a powerful daughter-in-law to govern him." After she finished speaking, Fan Jing also followed suit, anyway, it had nothing to do with him, just helping.

Xu Wei looked at the old man with blank eyes, as if he was saying, yes, yes, yes, I just don't need to rectify.

When Xu Zhangzheng was in trouble, Xu Wang, who entered the palace to congratulate the queen, came back, Xu Xiuping was quick and crackled the matter. When the former heard this, he was so happy that his mother-in-law died early, and his eldest sister-in-law was like a mother, and he pulled the ninth brother to grow up, so he pointed to him to start a family. It's rare for the uncle to take the initiative to bring it up, how can there be any reason not to allow it? Therefore, it is also strongly approved.

Moreover, Xu Wang's family also said that I am not as good as you as a woman in the war, but I am good at these relationships. She suggested that it was necessary to propose marriage as soon as possible and get ahead of He Guan. Everyone asked why, she explained, although He Shaobao mentioned this matter, but the two families did not make it clear, and now the Xu family rushed to the front to propose, anyway, they didn't say who they wanted to marry? This niece is also like a daughter, anyway, your He Mansion is always Zhang Jiuyue's mother's family. Secondly, if He Fu took the initiative to marry and wanted to give the daughter of the He family to the ninth brother, and we said that we wanted to marry Zhang Jiujiu, it would really refute He Shao's face. But now that we are ahead of them, it doesn't matter if we are offended.

When the Xu family heard this, they all felt reasonable. Xu Zhang thought for a while, and finally nodded: "Let's go, find a matchmaker, and propose to go." ”

Just when Xu Mansion was happily here, preparing to go to the door to propose marriage and do a big wedding, it was a different scene in He Mansion.

Mrs. He went out with her daughter, bought a large number of household goods, cotton satin, silk and other things, but after carrying them back to the house, she was not at ease, and personally instructed the servants to carefully place them in the warehouse. I was busy for a long time before I got back into the house. As soon as she sat down, He Shuying poured a cup of tea for her mother, held it in both hands and handed it over.

"I've never seen you so attentive in the past? The female university is not staying. Mrs. He took the teacup and smiled.

He Shuying's face was shy, she sat down next to her mother, and said softly: "Where does my mother say, this filial piety is what a daughter should share." ”

After taking a few sips of tea and taking a few breaths of relief, Mrs. He began to calculate the accounts: "Just that pair of bed cabinets, I went to more than 500 yuan, and the stall cost thousands, which is still less." There are also some silk, satin, gold and silver ornaments, roughly calculated, today it will be discounted tens of thousands of dollars. Then I will add what I prepared for you in the past, alas, it will kill my mother. After that, I smacked my mouth like a toothache, and I didn't know if it was a toothache or a heartache.

In later generations, women did not marry if the dowry was less, but in the Song Dynasty, men did not marry if the dowry was less. Just because of the prosperity of the two Song Dynasty businesses, once this person has money, it is inevitable that the wind of comparison will prevail. Marrying a girl is a big deal, if the dowry is not rich enough, it will be laughed at on the road. The man's in-laws often choose a wife based on the amount of dowry. Therefore, marrying a daughter is much more expensive than marrying a daughter-in-law, and many families can only stay in the boudoir because they cannot afford a rich dowry. This is not a nonsense, Su Shi said that he once spent a lot of money to fund a female relative to marry.

Cai Xiang, one of the four great calligraphers of the Northern Song Dynasty, when he was the governor of Fuzhou, issued a proclamation in response to the trend of men in China asking for huge dowries, and pointed out sharply, "What is it to marry a woman? It is said that if you want to pass on the heir, it is really wealth. "Criticizing the man's family for marrying a woman without asking whether the woman is virtuous or not, his eyes only focus on the thickness of the dowry. And once this money is delivered to the groom's house, the matter is far from over, and the man will "ask for one and ask for the other." The husband abused his wife and begged for it. If they are not satisfied, they will cut off the love of husband and wife and turn their backs on each other. ”

In view of this, Yuan Cai, a famous minister in the Song Dynasty, wrote a special article to warn all the parents of their daughters in the world that if they did not prepare a dowry for their daughter when she was young, then when she got married, she would have to "temporarily settle in the fields and not be ashamed of women". Look, marrying a daughter to the point of selling land and houses, I don't know if it's empty, anyway, it must be the last one.

To sum up, it is not difficult to understand why Mrs. He is reluctant to marry Zhang Jiuyue.

At this time, He Shuying heard her mother's complaints, and quickly hugged Mrs. He's arm, and said in a coquettish voice: "Although you have broken some money, but you can recruit a quick son-in-law in the east bed, isn't it better than sitting on the golden mountain?" ”

"Then I don't know, after marriage, whether you and your husband are filial or not, you have to say something else. Well, your father once said that when he was weak, he mentioned it vaguely. The Xu family doesn't know what is going on, this battle is over, why is there no movement at all? Are you still waiting for me to go to the family to propose? Are you willing to commit yourself to marrying, you can already afford him, and you dare to hold him up like this? Could it be that he relied on his military exploits to be arrogant? The more Mrs. He spoke, the more angry she became.

He Shuying just wanted to be relieved, but saw Yahuan Muping rushing in, hurriedly bowed, pointed to the outside and stammered, unable to say why.