Zhong Xingwang dismissed the concern nonchalantly, "What’s spending a little silver to welco and cleanse the dust from my father-in-law’s family?"
"It’s easy to say that, but you’re still a scholar and can’t be too extravagant. Once you start a family and establish yourself, what will you use to support it?"
Hongji disagreed, not wanting his future daughter to marry a spendthrift.
"Father-in-law, rest assured, I’ve already thought it through. After passing the Scholar examination, I’ll help manage the family business. After marrying, I won’t be unable to support a family!" Zhong Xingwang promised while stealing a glance at his future wife at another table.
With such a delicate wife, how could he not care for her wholeheartedly?
"Well, as long as you’ve made a decision, that’s good. We’re not cowards either. We’ll provide for our daughter and give her a stable future," Hongji, as a father, made this bold statent because his son was still too young to support his elder sister.
But as a father, still young himself, he would strive to beco wealthier and reach equal social standing with them sooner so that his daughter wouldn’t have a difficult life in her marital ho.
Even if her in-laws were kind, what about the relatives? She would always have to et people and make connections.
The future son-in-law and father-in-law were drinking and talking heartily together.
Zhong Xingwang returned to the Capital, and the guards who ca back with him went to report to their households and decided to stay at their hos for the night before returning to protect the Young Master.
It wasn’t that they were shirking their duty, but the Young Master felt having so many people stay at the inn wasn’t ideal when there were already many guards from the Ye Family there.
When a guard ca to report to Old Mrs. Zhong and Mr. Zhong, they had just finished their dinner and listened to the guard’s report.
Mr. Zhong reproached, "My youngest son lacks manners. He’s in the Capital, and why didn’t he bring people ho or send a ssage in advance so we could have gone to receive them?"
Old Mrs. Zhong also said, "The youngest son wasn’t like this before, what ca over him to rent rooms in an inn? Quick, quick, let’s go to the inn and invite our in-laws to stay with us."
The guard had not left yet and overheard this, so he clarified:
"Our Young Master did have this in mind and wanted to invite them to our house. However, the Ye Family didn’t just bring guards this ti; they brought over a dozen guards.
I heard their visit isn’t just to buy a residence and et the in-laws, but they’re also considering going into business.
They also brought their uncle, and it was the uncle who said staying with us might not be appropriate, so they decided to stay at the inn and would visit the Master after purchasing a house!"
As the guard spoke, the two elders nodded, having received a brief ntion in a letter from their son.
They knew the Ye Family dealt with farming and couldn’t compare with Capital’s noble ladies, but it was fine as long as she was educated and of good character.
They had no intention to be disdainful. It was hard enough to get their son, who was in his twenties, to marry, and now he finally had soone, a student of their daughter and son-in-law.
With this connection and affection, the sisters-in-law got along well. As for their eldest son and daughter-in-law, they were kind people who probably wouldn’t have conflicts with a rural daughter-in-law.
Old Mrs. Zhong hadn’t personally t the bride yet, but she thought as long as her son liked her and her daughter had written that the girl was exceptionally virtuous.
So they might et the future in-laws tomorrow, and at the thought, she felt relieved. She then asked the guard, if their son’s horse was at the inn, then what about the carriage that had taken him there?
The guard hesitated, as nothing more dangerous had actually occurred, he was deciding whether to speak or not.
He felt so things should be discussed by the Young Master with Old Mrs. Zhong and the Grand Master, afraid it might alarm them.
"Sothing strange happened on the road, but luckily, there was no real danger. We sent the young Master and the convoy back with the carriages. Our group rode two to a horse, which was very inelegant and exhausted the animals."
Upon hearing this, Old Master Zhong and Old Mrs. Zhong felt a tightness in their hearts. Sensing that sothing had happened on the road, they beca anxious.
Old Master Zhong spoke hurriedly, "Didn’t you take the safe route? Did you take the other path, where mountain bandits are more common?"
The guard shook his head: "We took the sa route as before. There were no issues when we travelled the previous days. Even today, it was sudden when we noticed sothing unusual at the side of a mountain and stopped to scout ahead."
"Was it you who noticed sothing amiss?" inquired Old Mrs. Zhong.
"I’m ashad to say that we checked but found nothing unusual about the mountain. The young Master said it was safe to pass, but the Ye family’s people insisted there was sothing strange. They sent their convoy back, and so did the young Master’s carriage."
Old Mrs. Zhong...?
Old Master Zhong...?
"The young Master was skeptical, so the Ye family’s people suggested that those who turned back should wait there. The Ye family had too many people with their carriages, so we also revealed our horses and rode two per horse to escort the two carriages of the Ye family."
"As we passed by the mountain, we encountered a perilous scene with thieves throwing stones and pushing down large trees from mid-air. Had our target been larger, we wouldn’t have been able to pass."
Concerned, Old Mrs. Zhong asked, "Are you all unhard?"
The guard continued, "We weren’t hurt and there were no spooked horses, but a strange thing happened: the stones and big trees disappeared into thin air, and we passed through victorious.
Later, the young Master instructed us to signal for the rest of the convoy and that carriage to return to the Ye family first," he said.
"Amitabha, it must have been the protection of immortals!"
Old Mrs. Zhong offered her prayers to the heavens.
Old Master Zhong sent the guard to rest and then gathered the household in the courtyard to discuss the reception of the in-laws.
"Old Master, that family must be blessed! I will go and pray to our ancestors first!"
Old Mrs. Zhong was convinced that they must have been protected by a Heavenly God; otherwise, why would those stones and big trees have disappeared? She didn’t believe the guard would lie—if such an odd incident occurred, it would have been seen by the whole group.
Mr. Zhong nodded, instructed the old woman to get to work, and called the family together to discuss important matters.
Previously, he had thought his son’s marriage to a country girl might be slightly inferior to allying with a Miss from an aristocratic family in the Capital with no powerful family backing.
His second son did not need to carry on the family business like his eldest, so it was acceptable for him to marry soone he liked, even if her family status was lower.
They were just an ordinary wealthy family in the Capital, so they could accept a daughter-in-law of slightly lower birth.
Now, perceiving that they had the protection of the Mountain God, it was no wonder they had prospered in business so quickly over a few years; they were indeed a family with good fortune.
Such a person could bring luck to those around them, and as in-laws, they would have to manage this relationship more earnestly.
Zhong Xinglong, the Grand Master’s eldest son, had already sired two sons with his wife.
He had just returned and was dining with his wife and two sons in the courtyard when he was summoned to his father’s courtyard.
Zhong Xinglong... what pressing matter had occurred?
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