Chapter 258 Rejection of marriage
Lu Zhaozhao got up and left.
My heart felt empty.
She had already guessed that the person her cousin was suggesting to Gu Jingzhe was her.
Now Aunt Tong refused.
Is it her fault?
Lu Zhaozhao was unwilling to give up. She did not go to find Liu Yanhong, but instead slipped to the corner and eavesdropped.
Han was quite surprised that Tong Huaqiong refused so bluntly.
No, you didn't even hear who I told him about and yet you refused.
The county magistrate's wife is matchmaking for your son, so the girl can't be bad.
Han complained in her heart for a while, then turned around and tried to make amends for Tong Huaqiong.
What does this prove? It proves that Tong Huaqiong is not a person who seeks to curry favor with others.
Most women would probably agree immediately after hearing that an official's wife was proposing marriage to their son, regardless of the girl's situation.
Han refused to give up and said, "I heard that your boy is a good student. It's only a matter of time before he passes the imperial examination. As the saying goes, one should get married first and then start a career. If he gets married and has someone who understands him, he will be more motivated to pass the imperial examination."
Tong Huaqiong smiled and said, "That being said, we also have to consider whether the girl is willing. Why should the girl accompany him even if he passes the imperial examination? It's fine if he can pass, but if he fails, it would be a waste of the girl's time. What if he changes his mind in the future and becomes like Xue Pinggui, and the girl becomes Wang Baochuan? That's too unfair."
Han: “…”
No, if you want to refuse, just say it directly. Who would slander their own son like that?
Tong Huaqiong sighed and began to talk to Han: "This is really not my excuse. I have a daughter. If someone tells me now that Taohua should marry a scholar without any official title, she will have to bear all the burdens of the family for the scholar to pass the imperial examination. You ask me if I am willing, I will definitely refuse. Even if that man really passes the imperial examination in the future, will my daughter's hard work finally end in happiness? That's not certain. It all depends on the conscience of the scholar. What if the scholar despises my daughter or is divorced by a more powerful family, what should my daughter do if she ends up in such a situation after giving up all her wealth? This kind of thing depends entirely on the conscience of the man. I don't want to pin my daughter's happiness on a man's illusory conscience."
This was Lu Zhaozhao’s situation in his previous life.
Lu Zhaozhao hid at the foot of the wall and listened to Tong Huaqiong's reason for refusal, but she didn't quite understand.
She felt that Tong Huaqiong was applying the story from the opera to reality.
Tong Huaqiong continued, "I don't want my daughter to gamble on her future as a scholar, so how can I be willing to let someone else's daughter marry Jingzhe who has not yet achieved fame. Since you brought up this topic, there must be a girl of the right age who wants to introduce my Jingzhe. Based on your knowledge, that girl must be beautiful and virtuous, and she is definitely more than enough to match my Jingzhe. Because of this, I can't agree rashly."
Han had no daughter, but she understood Tong Huaqiong's thoughts very well.
When her son passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, many people came to propose marriage to him. She was afraid that her son would become addicted to the pleasures of life, so she rejected several marriage proposals, but she also considered the girls' intentions.
The marriage was not arranged until County Magistrate Liu passed the imperial examination.
Tong Huaqiong’s consideration is very correct.
Gu Jingzhe has just graduated as a student, so it is not appropriate to get engaged so early.
But Han really didn't want to give up. She felt that Gu Jingzhe was a very good young man and Tong Huaqiong was a very good mother-in-law.
When a girl gets married, it is not only about the conscience of the man, but she also has to spend more time with the mother-in-law. In many cases, the mother-in-law is the key to whether life is happy or not.
If Lu Zhaozhao married into the Gu family and lived with a mother-in-law like Tong Huaqiong, her life would definitely be more comfortable than marrying into other wealthy families.
Han said, "When I saw Jingzhe, I thought of a girl from my relative's family. I thought that the two of them were of similar age and personality, so they must be a good match. I do want to bring them together. Since you have no plans to arrange a marriage for Jingzhe now, I'm just mentioning this for your information. But when your Jingzhe wants to arrange a marriage, don't consider other girls first, come and ask me first."
"Although you consider the girl and say that Jingzhe is afraid that she will suffer if she does not have any achievements, if the girl and Jingzhe are a perfect match, then it would be a waste of time."
Tong Huaqiong thought the same, so she said, "Okay, when my Jingzhe gets married, I will definitely ask my sister to give me some advice."
Tong Huaqiong's words were not final.
There is still a chance, Han felt relieved.
Many girls of Lu Zhaozhao's age have already been engaged. The reason why Lu Zhaozhao has not proposed marriage is that, firstly, Mr. Lu wants to keep her for a few more years and train her to be the daughter-in-law of a noble family, and want to hire her to the capital in the future; secondly, her marriage still needs to be personally handled by Lu Zhaoyang, who does not want his sister to get married so early.
Han didn't think that Mr. Lu's idea was a good one. It was not that easy to marry into a noble family.
In the future, Lu Zhaozhao would marry a person without any roots or foundation in the capital, rather than marrying a promising young man from a poor family like Gu Jingzhe.
However, Mr. Lu did not say that Lu Zhaozhao must marry a son of an aristocratic family. He just had such a plan. Sometimes hope is one thing and reality is another. As long as Tong Huaqiong is interested, Han is willing to persuade Mr. Lu.
"Well, Sister Han, I have something else to say. If the girl has something good to say, we shouldn't bring up this topic anymore." Tong Huaqiong added.
She was afraid that Lu Zhaozhao would meet a more suitable match, and if she waited for Gu Jingzhe, it would be all in vain.
"That's for sure." Han nodded. She naturally understood this principle.
Han and Tong Huaqiong reached a tacit understanding and changed the topic to talk about other things.
Tong Huaqiong brought out the mooncakes she baked to Han as "afternoon tea".
"You are really clever and deft. You can even make mooncakes in different shapes."
Out of curiosity, Han tried the mooncakes with ham and egg yolk fillings.
It’s definitely different and really delicious.
However, Han still prefers to eat the five-nut ones.
In her heart, only five-nut mooncakes are real mooncakes.
Tong Huaqiong saw Han praising the ham and egg yolk for their deliciousness, and put them down after tasting them briefly. She picked up the five-nut mooncake, took a bite and smiled. She knew that Han still liked the traditional mooncake.
I believe that many people in this era are like Han, especially in their attitude towards what to eat during festivals, they adhere to tradition.
It’s like this for Ma Hua Teng, rice dumplings must be sweet and moon cakes must be made with five nuts and red bean paste.
Therefore, while Tong Huaqiong is innovating pastries, he will not abandon traditional pastries.
When the sun was setting, Han stood up and said goodbye and went back.
Out of courtesy, Tong Huaqiong tried to keep him.
Liu Yanhong took this invitation to stay seriously and refused to leave.
"Grandma, let's stay one more night and leave tomorrow." Liu Yanhong rolled in Han's arms and acted coquettishly.
He really didn't want to go back.
When he thought about having to get up early to study after returning, he wanted to stay in Qinghe Bay permanently.
Mrs. Han doted on her only grandson very much. How could she refuse his request when it was so pitiful?
What's more, Han herself has upgraded Tong Huaqiong to a close friend, and she likes the climate and scenery in the countryside very much, so she agreed to spend one night at Tong Huaqiong's house before leaving.
Not only Liu Yanhong was happy, but Lu Zhaozhao was also happy to stay at Tong Huaqiong's house for one more night.