You sell swords, I go crazy, I am a father in Shengjing

Clouds and fog cover the blue water and green mountains.

In the Canglang Pavilion above the clouds, an old man in a green robe was playing the zither with his head bowed. The sound of the zither was distant and clear, sometimes like a clear spring in a mountain stream, and sometimes like a rolling sea of ​​clouds.

The sound of the piano did not stop until a little boy climbed up the steps from the foot of the mountain and respectfully handed him a letter.

After taking the letter, the old man just glanced at it briefly, and a dark light flashed in his eyes for a moment.

"Feng Xi, Qi Xiao..."

After a while, the old man finally shook his head and chuckled:

"Okay, okay, I shouldn't have kept you two here for Qi Yuanming and Feng Ming."

"Layman, it's time for you to have breakfast."

The boy saw that his master was in a strange mood, so he quickly brought up breakfast to change the subject.

However, the old man just waved his hand and said:
"No need. Tell everyone to pack up immediately. I have been away from Beijing for many years. It is time to go back and take a look."

"Yes."

When the sun climbed up the mountain from the east and illuminated the entire Qingzhou city, the people in the city had already started talking and laughing in the streets and alleys, pushing their carts and carrying their vegetable baskets.

"Hey, your eggs are really good. Come on, give me two."

"Sister Wang, you're here early. Your family has the best food in Qushui Lane."

"Mrs. Li, please stop laughing at me. My family has many greedy children. How can we compare to the family that just moved into our alley a few days ago?"

Mrs. Wang, who was buying eggs, glanced sideways at the person leaving the house, and the meaning of her words was self-evident.

Their Qushui Lane is located next to a stream in the city, so it got such a seemingly elegant name.

But in fact, those who have lived in the capital for a long time know that the people in their alley have just lived here longer and have a little wealth in the capital, but they are definitely not the wealthy people in the city.

If there is anyone who can be considered wealthy on this street, it is probably only Miss Xie Jiagui, who suddenly moved into their alley a few days ago and casually bought that big house.

That kind of skill and that kind of grandeur, these peasants can only envy it for the rest of their lives.

I wonder which family in the future will be so blessed as to bring that heavenly lady back home.

"Hey, hey, hey, look quickly, which family in our alley has such a good thing? This is a big deal!"

Several old women were having a lively conversation here, when suddenly they heard a gossipy woman outside who was trying to join in their conversation but was ignored scream.

When everyone looked over, they saw a group of people, led by a middle-aged woman dressed as a matchmaker, carrying more than a dozen red boxes of various sizes and coming towards them.

Plus, there was a sleek goose tied to one of the boxes. What else could they not understand?
It was obvious that someone had come to their alley to propose marriage, and the betrothal gift looked quite generous. Although they were not one of the richest families in the city, they must be a well-run merchant family.

"No, I haven't heard of anyone in our alley marrying off their daughter recently? The girl from the Zhang family? That's not right. Her husband is just a small merchant. How can he afford such a thing?"

"How can that be possible? The son-in-law of the Zhang family went out with his uncle to do business the day before yesterday. He said he would prepare the betrothal gifts when he returned at the end of the year."

"Who is that? Who else among you has matched your horoscopes?"

……

The women and girls asked each other, but no one knew what was going on.

They didn't even recognize the matchmaker who was in the lead, who looked unpleasant to deal with.

But the gossipy woman who was the first to see the excitement and loved to join in the fun went up to ask, but the other person didn't even look at her.

Now, all the women and girls in the whole alley became curious, and even some men who were resting at home and not going out to work were called out just to see this rare excitement.

And everyone has some small expectations in their hearts. What if their unmarried daughter is lucky enough to be noticed by some wealthy family?
So under the gaze of all the people in the alley, the huge procession of betrothal guests finally stopped.

What all the onlookers didn't expect was that the team actually stopped outside the door of the mansion that they thought was the most unlikely place.

But what did they think was impossible? The matchmaker in the lead quickly put on a smiling face, walked quickly to the door and knocked.

Soon the door in front of them was opened in full view of everyone. The servant who came out to ask questions said a few words to the matchmaker, then ran into the door with a strange look on his face.

Fortunately, after a while he led the housekeeper and walked to the door in a hurry.

"What are you doing? Our young lady is a person of great stature. How can she be someone that the scoundrels you are talking about dream about? Come on, get these people out of the alley!"

As soon as the butler said this, the people watching around suddenly became lively.

"Whose family? Who is coming here to propose marriage? Please explain clearly!"

As if she had heard their question, the matchmaker actually raised her voice and said:
"It's true that our Su family's young master's family has fallen on hard times, but at least his grandmother is still in charge of the Su family, and he is also a handsome man. He is not the scoundrel that you, the housekeeper, are talking about!"

Young Master of the Su family?

Who?
The onlookers looked at each other, and for a moment no one could remember which young master of the Su family it was.

Until someone with a quick mind said:
"Young Master of the Su Family? Grandmother is in charge of the Su Family? No way, it can't be that Su Hua who just returned to the Su Family and whose father hired someone to kill his mother!"

"Su Hua! Is this true?"

"Oh, that won't do! His father hasn't been caught yet, and he used to like to touch his cousin. Whoever marries him will be in trouble for the rest of their lives!"

……

However, the matchmaker seemed to be oblivious to the contempt from those around her, and continued to act as if she was willing to take money to do the job:

"Master Su did some wrong things in the past, but he was young at that time. Who doesn't make mistakes when they are young? Besides, it wasn't him who hired the murderer, but his father did!"

"You, you, you! You are unreasonable! Come on, hurry up and beat them out!"

The housekeeper was obviously furious at the matchmaker's words, and the guards behind him immediately stepped forward, intending to drive away the matchmaker and others who did not know what they were talking about.

When the matchmaker saw that these people were about to attack her, she immediately put away the smile on her face and said in a slightly teasing tone:

"Mr. Butler, your own daughter is not even well behaved, why are you so anxious here? If I didn't know there was a chance of this happening, I wouldn't have dared to take the job!"

Wow!
When the matchmaker said this, the onlookers were almost furious.

What's indecent?
What's interesting?
It is said that what is said directly may not be credible. People like to deduce the details by themselves and then come up with a shocking answer smoothly.

Just like now.

The answer they came up with was - the beautiful and noble young lady from the Xie family was actually having an affair with Su Hua from the Su family?
But is this credible?
Even though many people think this is outrageous, it doesn't stop everyone from guessing in this direction.

Just now they wanted to see the Xie family’s housekeeper beat the man away with sticks, but now it’s different. They want to see the two families create more scandals in front of them.

"You're talking nonsense! Our young lady is innocent and has nothing to do with the villains you mentioned!" Seeing this, the butler became even more anxious. One of the guards even twisted the matchmaker's arm and was about to pin her to the ground.

But at this moment, a woman's voice came from the house.

"What are you doing?"

The lively scene fell silent after this question. The onlookers and the matchmaker and others almost simultaneously looked at the newcomers, including the steward and guards in charge.

Because the person who came was none other than Madam Yunxiang, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had a gentle smile on her face.

Yunxiang was a person who could play two men at will and was once a big shot in this city. Few people in the city didn't know her.

And who is she?

Isn’t she the mother of Young Master Su Hua?
Why is she in this house?

Seeing Yunxiang coming out, the matchmaker immediately bit the guard who was holding her, and said sharply:
"Bah! You told me that your young lady is innocent and her husband has already moved into your house! Why are you shameless enough to embarrass me, a paid employee?"

The housekeeper's face turned pale and he immediately turned to look at Yunxiang. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he wanted to eat Yunxiang.

But Yunxiang just smiled at him, holding the golden begonia in her hair with her bare hands and said:
"Don't worry, Steward Liu. I was the one who invited the matchmaker and the others yesterday. I also prepared all the betrothal gifts myself. Isn't it true that our Hua'er and your Miss Wanyin are in love with each other? As a mother, I have to show some appreciation, right?"

"Do you know what you're talking about?"

The housekeeper looked at Yunxiang in disbelief, and the people around him also cast many questioning, teasing and even mocking glances at her.

However, this was nothing to Yunxiang at the moment and she didn't care at all.

"Of course I know. What about Butler Liu? Don't you know that you are in this mansion every day?"

"What nonsense! What kind of status does our young lady have? How could she possibly ask for it like Su Hua did..."

Butler Liu raised his hand and pointed at Yunxiang. As a butler from a scholarly family, he had some baggage, so he couldn't bring himself to call Yunxiang a bitch or a dog who came to their young lady to beg for food.

Of course, from Feng Xi's perspective, who was observing everything in secret, he might just not want to scold.

Qi Xiao went a step further and said:

"Did you notice? He is trying to pass on the message to Yunxiang so that everyone can know about this matter."

Yunxiang was not the one keeping watch in the house last night. Seeing that the management of the house was very lax, she simply found an excuse and paid a servant to run errands for her.

The letter that the servant handed over to the restaurant was the proof for Yunxiang to contact the other side after the matter was accomplished.

They said they would help the mother and son to deal with the aftermath, and actually gave them a very insidious yet practical trick.

He came to the house with drums and gongs to propose marriage.

In fact, this move was made in a hurry. Qi Xiao even felt that the opponent did not expect Yunxiang and her son to be so competitive, and Xie Wanyin was so careless about the enemy.

But some strategies really don’t depend on being sophisticated…

It just has to work.

For example, at this moment, Yunxiang, who was told by Butler Liu that she was talking nonsense, was not panicked at all. She even took the initiative and said:

"Forget it. We are all family from now on, and I don't want to argue with you, Butler Liu. How about this? Everyone can help me be a witness today to see if our Hua'er and Miss Wanyin are in love."

"What do you mean by that?"

Butler Liu immediately became alert, and the people watching around suddenly became lively.

"How do you testify?"

"We would like to, but you have to tell us a way, right?"

Compared to these noisy and noisy people, the matchmaker is obviously more capable of handling matters:
"Isn't this simple? Let's all go into the mansion and ask Miss Xie if she and Young Master Su are in love, right? This can't be true or false, what do you think?"

Everyone nodded. It was indeed the best and simplest way.

It's a marriage proposal. If you don't want to, you can just refuse. It's not a big deal.

But the butler waved his hand and refused:
"No, our young lady hasn't gotten up yet. Why bother her with such a small matter? You should just take your things and leave."

However, the more he refused at this time, the more the onlookers wanted to see what was going on.

Especially when he said that their young lady had not yet stood up, some diligent women immediately showed a mocking look on their faces:

"You haven't gotten up yet? What time is it?"

You have to know that not everyone respects Xie Wanyin's identity, envies her fairy-like appearance, and praises her when they mention her.

Especially when their men can't walk when they see Xie Wanyin when they go out, and they sigh all day long that she must be a fairy, some women will naturally become jealous.

Not to mention that there is a matchmaker here who is fanning the flames.

"You haven't gotten up yet? Why haven't you gotten up yet? I'm afraid you've gone into the woods with someone you like..."

The matchmaker's voice was not loud, and it was obvious that she was resentful because Butler Liu had ordered people to attack her just now. However, it sounded different to other people.

In the eyes of others, this matchmaker clearly knows something, otherwise why would she just say it so easily?
right!
However, no matter what they said, Butler Liu would definitely not let them into the mansion and give them the opportunity to question Xie Wanyin.

And what can these people say?

They could only discuss it verbally.

But as the saying goes, when a person is unlucky, even drinking water will get stuck in his teeth, let alone when someone has set up a trap to deliberately target him?

Just when Butler Liu and a group of guards were in a stalemate with Yunxiang and others, and no one could convince the other, a scream came from the house in the back.

It is said to be a big house, but it is only twice as big as the other houses in the alley.

Moreover, this size was horizontal, not extending deep into the cave, so when the scream came, everyone in front of the door heard it clearly. Yun Xiang, who had a quick mind, immediately said:

"What's going on? What happened to Miss Wanyin?"

Upon hearing that Xie Wanyin was in trouble, the "loyal" butler and guards immediately ran towards the mansion.

Yunxiang exchanged glances with the matchmaker and said:

"Oh no! Could something have happened to Miss Wanyin? Let's all go in and take a look!"

In this era, if something happens in a neighbor's home, everyone has an obligation to check and report to the police.

Therefore, the common people followed Yunxiang and others into the house without thinking, and followed Butler Liu and others into Xie Wanyin's yard. (End of this chapter)