"Zhong Xiaoniang, Zhong Xiaoniang, wake up, wake up, wake up ......"

Just when Zhong Xiaoniang was begging hard, calling the sky should not be, and the earth was not working, there was a shout from Mother Wen's ears, she tried to open her eyes, and woke up from her sleep suddenly, with beads of sweat on her forehead.

She looked at Mother Wen, Fang knew that Fang was dreaming, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Mother Wen put away the tent, took the smoked dress, and asked, "Zhong Xiaoniang, is it a nightmare?" ”

Zhong Xiaoniang sat up from the couch, glanced out the window, and asked weakly, "What time is it?" ”

"It's four quarters of the hour."

"Has the head of the house been here?"

"The head of the family came out of Tingxue Pavilion and went directly to the yali." Mother Wen said as she dressed her.

"Since last night, have you heard anyone mention the marriage of the eldest girl?"

"The eldest girl's marriage is a happy event, and the maids and ladies in the house will inevitably have nothing to do." Speaking of this, she deliberately lowered her voice and continued: "However, I didn't hear any news about yesterday's events. ”

No news is a good thing, I hope this girl can go well this time.

She washed up with the warm water she had prepared, sat down in front of the dresser, and Mother Wen began to comb her hair neatly. Although everything was calm, she was still sad, and it seemed that she was still worried about Sima Dai's affairs.

Today, it is a good weather, the warm sun rises in the east, the sky is blue, and the air is mixed with the smell of spring, which makes people feel relaxed and happy inexplicably.

After breakfast, Liu began to sort out the dowry gifts that will be sent to Sima Mansion tomorrow, holding the dowry list in his hand, comparing them carefully, and muttering to himself in a low voice: "Two boxes of wedding cakes, four types of seafood: two packs of mushrooms, two packs of scallops, two packs of hair vegetables, two packs of oyster drums......

Yu Mochu, who got up late, had breakfast in a trance, and looked for Liu's figure in the courtyard.

The Yu Mansion is not big, just a few rooms, and Yu Mochu didn't take much effort to find the Liu family.

When Liu Shi saw him come in, he greeted him with a list, and asked warmly with the corners of his mouth: "Mo Chu, are you up?" Why don't you sleep more? Is there any discomfort in the future? Your teacher's side has sent someone to bring breakfast to your mother. ”

"Oh!"

"Come, you come and see, see if there's anything missing, here's the list." Liu pulled Yu Mochu to the pile of dowry gifts and stuffed the list into his hand.

Yu Mochu tugged at the list tightly, his eyes were empty, looking at the pile of dowry that exuded joy, he frowned, and his face showed a little fear.

He looked at the dowry very casually, stroking the silver ingots of the white flowers, and stopped talking a few times.

Liu thought that he was unhappy because of the small dowry, and hurriedly explained: "Wei Niang also knows that a few hundred taels is a little less for Sima Mansion. But you also know that your father is just a county magistrate, and for the sake of being an honest official, he only pays tens of hundreds of taels every year. For the mother's frugality, I will save so much. Your future father-in-law and mother-in-law are reasonable people, and they say that as long as you treat his girls well, these worldly things can be taken into a form. ”

Liu's chatter was endless, but Yu Mochu didn't seem to listen.

"Mother, the son doesn't want to marry her."

Yu Mochu's words, like a thunderbolt from a sunny day, interrupted Liu's speech, and Liu's was stunned.

The eyes of the two men were intertwined, and Liu seemed to be a little unconvinced of his ears.

Halfway through, Liu asked, "What did you say?" ”

"I don't want to marry her." Yu Mochu categorically repeated his words again.

"What crazy are you talking about, do you know how hard it is to ask for this family business? Besides, it was you who shouted to marry her, but at this time, the bad luck has been decided, and the dowry will be sent to Sima Mansion tomorrow, but you said that you don't want to marry? If you don't wake up, go back to sleep and don't talk about it here. Liu said with a spit flying, snatched the list from his hand, and waved him to get out quickly.

Yu Mochu knelt on the ground with a pout, and said with a sad face: "Mother, my son begs you, help my son quit this family business, please." ”

"You get up, what are you doing, the man has gold under his knees, why do you kneel at every turn?"

"Anyway, the dowry hasn't been sent yet, so it's still too late, mother, you can help your son find an excuse to push off this family business, and count your son begging you." Yu Mochu tugged at Liu's dress tightly and begged bitterly.

Just now, Liu thought that Yu Mochu was talking nonsense. But at this moment, seeing Yu Mochu's serious face, she seemed to realize the seriousness of the problem.

"You get up first!" Liu Shi bent down and grabbed Yu Mochu's arms, trying to help him up first before talking.

"No, if the mother does not agree to her son's request, he will not be able to kneel for a long time."

"You...... Do you really think that this is buying vegetables and meat, you can bargain, and if you don't want it, you don't want it? That Sima Mansion is a famous family, if we really push away this marriage, it will be a slap in the face of Sima Mansion Yin, not to mention that the two families have become enemies since then, and the reputation of you and the girl of Sima Mansion will also be damaged, this is a matter of no harm and no loss! With full of anger, Liu squatted down and persuaded Yu Mochu bitterly.

"The son's heart is like a rock, he would rather die than marry, even if he is widowed for a lifetime, he will never marry her, and ask his mother to fulfill his son! Ask the mother to fulfill her son! begging the mother to fulfill her son...... "After that, Yu Mochu kowtowed to the Liu family one by one.

"You have to tell your mother a reasonable reason, don't you? You were full of praise for this family business at the beginning, huh? ”

"Mother, don't press your son anymore. Your son has a hard time, so you should fulfill your son. Please, Mother. Pray for the fulfillment of the mother, and ask for the fulfillment of the mother......"

Liu felt sorry for him, how could he watch him suffer such a great crime. After struggling in his heart, he finally reluctantly agreed to Yu Mochu, "Don't knock, I promise you for my mother." ”

After Yu Mochu thanked him again and again, he was willing to get up from the ground with difficulty, and walked out of the room alone in a trance.

Liu was no longer in the mood to count the dowry, and sat on the low stool next to him frowning and thinking for a long time. In the end, the list was casually put on the case and chased out of the door. Before leaving, he deliberately locked the door.

Yu Mochu sat under the banyan tree in the courtyard, looking at the two struggling sparrows on the branches in a daze, his eyes were dilated.

Liu sat beside him, "Zhong'er, you see that you are idle, if you don't help bring something to your uncle's house in the countryside, you can also relax by the way." ”

"Oh!" Yu Mochu didn't think about it, and responded casually.

"Without further ado, let's go now! The carriage is set up and waiting at the door! These are for your uncle, you take it. With that, Liu stuffed a bag of things into Yu Mochu's arms, grabbed his arm, and pushed him out of the door.

Yu Mochu was dragged into the carriage in a trance and embarked on the road to the countryside.

This day, for Zhong Xiaoniang, is simply like a year. I spend my days in fear, always concerned about whether there are any customers who come to the door.

When night fell, the tranquility of the night did not calm Zhong Xiaoniang's surging heart.

Sima Qu came back from the yali and unexpectedly went straight to Liuying Pavilion, and his unexpected arrival made Zhong Xiaoniang feel like a great enemy.

From dinner until the two of them lay down after the clouds and rain, she was cautious, and asked Sima Qu if she had heard any remarks that were harmful to Sima Fu.

Fortunately, from beginning to end, Sima Qu is no different from the past.

She lay on the couch, looking at Sima Qu who was sleeping next to her, her heart was mixed, and she did not sleep because of today's calm and calm.

Today's calm does not mean that tomorrow will be calm, maybe the Yu family did not think about how to come to the door to ask for an explanation, so they did not move. She felt that Sima Daiyuan had buried an explosive for her that would explode at any time, and once it was detonated, it would cause a catastrophe.

Early the next morning, the Liu family still sent the dowry gift to Sima Mansion as originally planned. After the dowry, this marriage is really a sure thing.

The Yu family is not rich, and these dowries are all her family's savings. If you regret the marriage after the dowry, not only will these dowries not be recovered, but the Sima family will never give up. Therefore, Liu's is a desperate gamble, a move to draw wages from the bottom of the kettle, with the heart of success.

For the Sima family, even if the dowry is finalized, it will be restrained in the official law. If she repents of marriage, Sima Daiyuan's parents will be punished with a cane, which can be described as disgraceful.

Sima Qu is in the officialdom, of course, he will not know the law and break the law, and shoot himself in the foot.

Lu accepted the dowry, and after the two families negotiated, the wedding date was set for three months later, on the sixth day of June.

Liuying Pavilion, Zhong Xiaoniang's residence.

Zhong Xiaoniang learned that the Liu family sent a dowry gift to the door, and immediately asked Wen's mother to inquire about the news, while she and Sima Daiyuan waited anxiously in the house.

Mother Wen inquired about the news in the house from the little maid who listened to the snow pavilion coming in and out, and hurried back to restore her life.

When Sima Daiyuan and Zhong Xiaoniang saw her come in, they couldn't wait to stand up.

When she entered the door, she said urgently: "It's set, the wedding date is set for the sixth day of the sixth month of June." ”

"What?" Sima Daiyuan's eyes widened angrily and asked in an incredulous tone.

Immediately wandering around the house, he muttered to himself, "How is this possible? That wretch still dares to marry me. It seems that I underestimated him, and I didn't think that he still had a few arrogant bones. No, it should be a complete soft bone, I humiliated him like that, and he could still pretend that nothing had happened, knock out his teeth and swallow blood. ”

Zhong Xiaoniang listened to Mother Wen's words, but felt a sense of relief. She breathed a sigh of relief, sat back in her chair, and took a sip of the tea on the desk with a thoughtful expression.

She remained silent, not knowing whether she agreed with such a result or had other plans, her expression was calm.

Sima Daiyuan was in a hurry, "No, I won't marry him, absolutely not." Seeing that Zhong Xiaoniang was unmoved, she leaned in front of her and sat down, tightly tugged on Zhong Xiaoniang's wide sleeves, and said urgently: "A-Niang, you have something to say!" You don't really plan to marry your daughter to that wretch, do you? His daughter obviously humiliated him like that, and he insisted on marrying, he must have wanted to declare his personal vendetta. Maybe I have already thought of a trick to torture my daughter, if my daughter marries, it will be a sheep in the mouth of a tiger! ”