I go to the ancient imperial examinations

Chapter 102 The token fell
Mrs. Li also thought that the people in the carriage were looking for Zhan Feiyu, but when she saw the woman getting off the first carriage, Mrs. Li was taken aback, and it turned out that it was Matchmaker Wang.

"Sister of the Li family?" Matchmaker Wang was also somewhat surprised.

When she saw Mrs. Li last year, she looked like a disheveled 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 rely on clothes. Li Shi is wearing a dark blue pair of short skirts, with two silver hairpins on her head, her eyebrows and eyes are stretched, and she looks like a kind and decent woman.

"Sister Li." With a smile on her face, Matchmaker Wang warmly greeted her, "The magpies on the branches are chirping, and I thank you for coming."

"Yo, Wang Meihua, you know how to get close." A sarcastic voice suddenly sounded, and a woman stepped out of the second carriage.

Although she is also dressed as a matchmaker, it is different from the festive appearance of Wang Matchmaker. The horse matchmaker who got off the carriage next step has a thin and long 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 This face looks mean and withdrawn.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. The marriage that my matchmaker is guaranteeing for you today, you can't find such a good daughter in the whole Shangsi County!" The matchmaker is tall and squeezed away Wang Matchmaker.

Although what she said was polite, the matchmaker's attitude seemed superior, as if Li Shi and Zhan Feiyu had taken advantage of it.

"Xiaoyu is young, so I won't talk about marriage for now." Li's face was gentle, but his attitude was firm.

No matter how good the matchmaker said, Mrs. Li would not let Zhan Feiyu get married at such a young age.

The horse matchmaker twitched the corners of her lips sarcastically, now that Mrs. Li is saying this, she will put out the man's conditions later, hmph, I'm afraid she will be in a hurry to marry her daughter.

"Sister Li, the sun is coming out, why don't we go into the house and talk about it." The matchmaker glanced at the women under the banyan tree, and then said to the boy and the coachman, "Take the gift for the lottery." Take them all, be careful, if you touch and fall, you will never be able to pay for it for the rest of your life!"

Mrs. Li frowned. Even if a matchmaker came to propose a marriage, she still needs the woman's consent before performing six salutes. How can a matchmaker come to the door with a bride price without knowing who the man is for the first time!
"These things?" Several women couldn't help exclaiming when they saw the exquisite gift box held in the hands of the coachman and the servant. Just looking at the gift box, they knew how valuable the things inside were.

snort!Matchmaker Ma snorted triumphantly, and said proudly to Mrs. Li: "Sister Li, please lead the way."

Even though Mrs. Li didn't want to entangle with the horse matchmaker, she couldn't talk about Zhan Feiyu's marriage under the big banyan tree, so she had to walk ahead and lead the way.

Matchmaker Wang also brought a servant, who only carried six-color cakes in his hand, which was obviously just a gift for visiting, and had nothing to do with the marriage, at most, it was not surprising that many people were polite.

"Sister Li." Matchmaker Wang sped up her pace a little, standing side by side with Mrs. Li, and said in a low voice, "Matchmaker Ma is an official matchmaker."

Mrs. Li was taken aback. If she could afford an official media, this man must not be a farmer. Will this refusal cause Xiaoyu trouble?

Several women in the village fell behind, and after a moment of hesitation, they also followed.

This horse matchmaker's attitude is so tough, Li Shi may be at a disadvantage if she is alone at home, if something happens, they can also help.

The hall was very clean, like most houses in the village, there was an Eight Immortals table in front of it, and an armchair on the left and right.

On the right side are two benches, on the left side are also two armchairs, and in the middle is a high table with a rough pottery pot and a few wild flowers inserted, adding a bit of rustic charm to the rough and simple main room.

As an official matchmaker, even though Matchmaker Ma had a bad reputation, her status was higher than Matchmaker Wang. She didn't speak, so Matchmaker Wang could only stand aside and wait.

Instructing the servant to put the gift box on the table of the Eight Immortals, Matchmaker Ma sat down on the armchair on the left, and said straight to the point: "Sister Li, today I am proposing marriage for the son of Zhang Xiucai's family."

"Mr. Zhang is fifteen years old. He started his studies at the age of four. He has been studying for 11 years. He is going to take part in the children's examination in February next year. He will definitely be on the list." After the horse matchmaker praised Zhang Tianhao's talents, she continued: "Zhang Tianhao The son is handsome and personable, and your girl can be said to be a match made in heaven!"

Zhan Feiyu did not tell Mrs. Li about some things, but Zhan Feiyu still revealed some inside information about the poisoning case of his teacher Mrs. Lin. Zhang Xiucai was the murderer behind the scenes, but there is no evidence.

At this moment, when she heard that the matchmaker was going to propose marriage to Zhang Tianhao, Li's expression turned ugly, and she said coldly, "Needless to say, my girl does not discuss marriage until she is 16 years old! Even if she does, she will only find someone of the same age! "

Zhang Tianhao is fifteen, Zhan Feiyu is only eight years old.

Shanwa Ziniang also echoed and said, "It's really inappropriate to be seven years old. It will take at least eight years for Xiaoyu to marry. Mr. Zhang can't wait!"

Zhang Tianhao was in his 20s at that time, and children from ordinary families were born.

The other woman saw that the matchmaker's complexion had turned dark, and smiled to smooth things over, not to offend the matchmaker, "There are hundreds of women in the family, but Xiaoyu is indeed too young, and I will trouble you, Mrs. Ma, in the future." Take this trip."

"Do you think I'm a servant of your family? Come here with a wave of your hand?" After a while, the matchmaker stood up, and said with a straight face, "Sister Li, outsiders say that your girl is good at studying. Want to sell it? Want a good price?"

What the matchmaker said was ugly, not to mention Mrs. Li, the women present all looked ugly, Xiaoyu is now the treasure of the whole village, without Xiaoyu, Taifu Restaurant would accept their chicken, duck and fish?
Unaware of the public outrage, the matchmaker continued with her chin raised: "It's only a matter of time before Mr. Zhang's title is on the gold list. In the future, your girl will be a ready-made official wife. What's more, Zhang Xiucai is famous. The Zhang family's private school is in Shangsi. The county is also well-known, and it is enough to marry a rich family on this condition!"

"Sister Li, don't be too picky, worry about being picky, and finally throw your daughter into your hands and become an old girl who can't get married!" The disdain and contempt in the eyes of Matchmaker Ma made no effort to hide it.

"You don't need to worry about that, Matchmaker Ma, Xiaoyu is my daughter!" Li refused with a strong attitude, turned around and picked up the gift box on the table of the Eight Immortals, "Please take these things back, we have no luck!"

But before Mrs. Li put the two gift boxes into the hands of the horse matchmaker, she suddenly felt her right foot slip, her body staggered, and the gift boxes in her hand shook.

Mrs. Li hurriedly hugged the gift box into her arms, and Shanwa Ziniang immediately reached out and grabbed Mrs. Li's arm, but there was a bang.

Everyone in the main room saw that Mrs. Li hugged the large long gift box, but a small boxy carved wooden box on it fell to the ground.

"It contains the jade pendant handed down from the Zhang family's ancestors, which is used as a trustworthy gift!" The matchmaker screamed, and hurriedly squatted down to pick up the carved wooden box.

As soon as she opened it, Matchmaker Ma's complexion turned pale, and she fell to the ground, but she was frightened.

Mrs. Li also looked down. The bottom of the wooden box was covered with black satin, and there was a milky white round jade pendant on it. Against the backdrop of the black satin, the jade pendant looked extremely warm and seemed to emit fluorescence.

"Is it broken?" Shanwazi's heart skipped a beat. She also saw these jade pendants in Zhenbaoxuan. Compared with silver jewelry, these jade ornaments are much more expensive. I heard that they are very good. It costs several hundred taels of silver.

Mrs. Li frowned, and looked at her feet. The compacted ground was very clean, and she didn't see anything, but just now she clearly felt that something was stepped on the bottom of her feet.

The horse matchmaker stood up holding the wooden box, glared at Mrs. Li and yelled, "This is a family heirloom of the Zhang family! The jade pendant with pear blossom and white ganoderma pattern, at least 5000 taels of silver! How will you pay for it?"

There were eight or nine people standing in the main room, but everyone was stunned by the price of 5000 taels. Let alone selling them, even if they sold all 5000 generations of their ancestors, it would not be worth [-] taels!
Li's face was sullen and he didn't speak, but the hand holding the gift box was shaking non-stop. The family is not short of money now, but it only adds up to more than 300 taels. Xiaoyu's reading is indeed a waste of money.

"Mr. Li!" Matchmaker Ma's eyes were fierce, as if she wanted to eat people, "You threw this jade pendant, with so many eyes watching, how do you pay for it?"

Li Shi panicked, "I..."

Seeing this, Shanwazi Niang hurriedly took the gift box from Mrs. Li's arms, and carefully put it back on the Eight Immortals table, lest it should be dropped again.

"I'll call the village chief and the old patriarch over here." The young daughter-in-law said something, and ran out the door.

After a while, the village chief and the old patriarch rushed over along with several patriarchs.

Hearing the news, Boss Zhan lost his hoe and ran over. The shoes were still covered with mud, so he couldn't care about anything else at the moment. Boss Zhan grabbed Li Shi's cold hand, "Fengyu, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Li Shi, who was sitting on the chair, said numbly, and looked at the village chief and the old patriarch who entered the door for help.

"Since the one who can call the shots has come, I'll save myself from reporting to the officials." Ma Matchmaker dropped a sentence with a stern face, still sitting in the main seat, with a high posture and a tougher attitude.

At this time, they didn't care about the matchmaker anymore, and the village chief and the old patriarch pulled up the chairs and sat down, and listened to Shanwa Ziniang tell the story of the jade pendant being thrown.

"Matchmaker Ma, you are an official matchmaker, and you know the rules of marriage best. You bring a bride price when you come to propose a marriage for the first time? Could it be calculated?" Muramasa said coldly. With Matchmaker Ma's attitude, it is not good at first glance. On the contrary, naturally there is no need for a hot face to stick a cold butt.

The old patriarch and the two elders squinted their eyes half-closed. They have lived a long time, and they still have this bit of insight. This is obviously a trap. If it is someone else, it will be fine. Zhang Xiucai has no good attitude towards Xiaoyu. Why did the official media come to propose marriage suddenly?
The matchmaker Ma didn't expect that Village Zheng would support Mrs. Li when she opened her mouth, and she yelled and cursed furiously, "Damn, you just want to fool me when you open your mouth? If this is three or five taels of silver, I will treat it as a charity for a beggar. 5000 taels, if you want to renege on your debts, you don’t want to see whether Zhang Xiucai agrees or not, Yamen is not a place to be reasonable!"

Before the villager could open his mouth, the matchmaker continued to yell and curse, "Before I came here, I inspected the jade pendant in front of Zhang Xiucai, and then put it in a box. The red strip on it was just torn off. There are maids and servants, yes, there are several students of Zhang Xiucai standing outside the door, they can all testify!"

The horse matchmaker yelled, her face flushed with anger, the 5000 taels of jade pendant fell into two pieces, if Mrs. Li didn't pay it, would she have to pay it herself?

The village has a dignified look on the face. If it's just the servants and maids of Zhang's family, they may make false confessions, but the students in the private school have also seen it, so this matter will be tricky.

The old patriarch got up and walked towards the Eight Immortals Table. The broken jade pendant was packed in a wooden box, and 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 wouldn't have been broken on the way here, the red strip on the seal was just torn off, even if the matchmaker accidentally dropped the wooden box, she wouldn't be able to know that the jade pendant was broken through the box, and then come to blame Mrs. Li.

"I dropped the thing, and I can't afford to pay for it. If Zhang Xiucai reports to the police, he will arrest me." Li raised his head, his face was still pale, but his eyes were extremely firm.

Looking at Mrs. Li, who was doing the work while the other was responsible, Matchmaker Ma slapped the table angrily, "Bah, what's the point of catching you? How much is your life worth? This is 5000 taels! It's worth cutting off your head!" Useless!"

The village chief and the old patriarch looked at each other, but they didn't say anything. It's best for the Li family to bear it alone. It's not that they are helpless, but they are powerless. too much.

Thinking that before Zhang Xiucai came here, she said that the marriage must be settled, the matchmaker took a look at the two halves of the jade pendant, and said coldly: "Okay, this jade pendant is originally a token of engagement, as long as the marriage is completed, this is your girl's. Things, if you fall, you will fall."

"No!" Li Shi didn't appreciate it at all. Facing the furious horse matchmaker, Li Shi said word by word: "Xiaoyu has been adopted, and I just take care of her. I can't decide her marriage, and neither can I." I won't be the master!"

The father's debt is paid by the son!But Zhan Feiyu adopted another branch of the Zhan family, and the Li family was no longer her mother, so even if the money owed by the Li family went to the Yamen, Zhan Feiyu didn't have to pay back.

"Are you trying to play a scoundrel?" Matchmaker Ma stood up again, pointing at Mrs. Li with one hand on her waist, and then pointing at Village Zheng and the old patriarch. What kind of scholar are you after reading it in the stomach of a dog, and you don’t care about your mother’s life or death! Take part in the imperial examination!"

"Ma matchmaker, be careful!" The old patriarch's face was sullen, and his unhurried voice was full of shock and majesty, "Xiaoyu has already adopted, the genealogy has been changed, and the yamen has registered, if you dare to ruin Xiaoyu's Fame, don't blame our Zhan clan for suing you! County Magistrate Chen will naturally make a judgment!"

Matchmaker Ma is an official matchmaker, so she naturally knows more than ordinary people. It is her duty to help Zhan Feiyu to help the Li family. If she does not help outsiders, she cannot be blamed. Especially since the compensation is as high as 5000 taels, Zhan Feiyu is helpless. It's more reasonable not to help.

But the 5000 taels of jade pendant fell off, and it would be useless to arrest Mrs. Li and go to jail!

The horse matchmaker hated Mrs. Li, but she could only suppress her anger and forced a smile and said, "Why do you have to go to the point where the fish is dead and the net is broken? Even if you are adopted, the sister of the Li family is also Xiaoyu's mother. Prison or beheaded, how can Xiaoyu's reputation be good? Why don't you settle this marriage, turn the fight into a jade silk, and the two families will become one family, and they will be reunited happily."

(End of this chapter)