Chapter 231: Chapter 233 - Marriage Proposal (3)

When Qiu Shi and Yuxi arrived at the Lingshan Temple, the people of the Marquis of Taining Residence and Chen Ran had already arrived. The two of them had been waiting for nearly two-quarters of an hour.

When the Lady of Taining saw Yuxi, she smiled and said, “There was an old saying, a girl changes eighteen times between childhood and womanhood. It is indeed true.” The little girl’s face was as crystal as jade. Her skin was as light as snow, and her eyes curved like crescent moons when she smiled at her, making her a delight to look at.

The Lady of Taining had seen Yuxi twice before. She remembered this child always had a decent smile on her face and calmness that did not belong to her age. But at this moment, it was as if she had changed into a different person. But, the Lady of Taining liked this change.

Little did Yuxi know that the shift in her mental state had renewed her whole spirit. And the change in her was a delight to many people.

Qiu Shi was pleased to hear these words. “Children shouldn’t be complimented too much.”

Yuxi walked forward and bowed properly to the Lady of Taining. Yuxi was pretty good in rules and etiquette, and no one could find fault with it. [+]

After waiting for Yuxi to finish her greeting ceremony, the Lady of Taining smilingly pulled off a jade hairpin embedded with emerald from her hair and inserted it into Yuxi’s bun. “A young girl should not be too plain.” In this aspect, Yuxi was quite similar to her son. He also liked to dress exceptionally simply. He never wore any accessories such as hebao or yupei, while his clothes would always be either white or black. He never wore anything with colour anyway. [T/N]

Yuxi saw that the way Lady of Taining spoke was warm, and her words to her were not pretentious, so Yuxi’s heart was slightly reassured. Perhaps, her perception was due to her prejudice. Not everyone was like Yu Shi. “Many thanks for the gift, my Lady.”

The Lady of Taining nodded her head gently. She wasn’t entirely satisfied with Yuxi before. But now that she had met her face to face, she saw that her behaviour was like everyone else, which was not as bad as she had initially thought. People tended to heed and trust only one side. Thus the Lady of Taining had no deep impression of Yuxi back then. Her evaluation of her was solely based on the information she had heard. The news that her subordinates had listened to was inevitably a bit biased. This was why there was a saying; what one heard about may be false, but what one saw was the truth.

Qiu Shi noticed that it was about time for Yuxi’s meeting. She smiled and said to Yuxi, “If you are bored, you can go out for a walk and come back for lunch later.”

Only after Yuxi had left did the Lady of Taining open her mouth and ask, “I just saw that there are thin calluses on Fourth Miss’ hands. Why is that?” There were some things she could not ask in front of the actual person herself. But she wondered, for a girl from an influential family, her hands were like her second face. It was the first time she had ever seen a girl who didn’t maintain her hands as white and tender as spring onions and had thin calluses on them. This made the Lady of Taining think, could this child had to work for a living while she was at home?

Qiu Shi didn’t expect the Lady of Taining to have such good eyes. She explained with a smile. “This child used to study with Teacher Song. She was very strict, requiring them to write two hundred characters every day. This child has developed it into her habit. Even after Teacher Song resigned, this child still insisted on practising her calligraphy every day. After practising for so many years, it’s finally yielded fruitful results. Her writing is like a painting. It’s stunning.”

The Lady of Taining was very surprised to hear this. “You mean to say that Fourth Miss insists on writing two hundred characters every day? All these years without any break?”

Qiu Shi nodded and added, “Apart from being sick, she has never stopped. Besides practising the plum blossom regular script taught by Teacher Song, she also practises the cursive script. But that cursive script is like astronomy to me, where I can’t read them at all.” Although she couldn’t read it, she was still proud. With her daughter excelling, her years would be full of glory.

Lady of Taining was somewhat surprised. “The Fourth Miss learned cursive script?” Her son’s favourite was Zhang Xu’s Heart Sutra in Cursive Sutra, which he had practised for so many years. Everyone said that his son wrote cursive well, but the words were like scrawly handwriting, which even she could not make sense of what she was looking at. But just because she couldn’t read it didn’t mean she didn’t understand what it represented. She knew that cursive was the hardest thing to practice.

Qiu Shi smiled and nodded as she also sang praises of Yuxi’s impressive embroidery skill. “This child also has a natural talent. What others learn in a month or two, she learned it in just several days. Look, how well she has embroidered this handkerchief. I can’t even bear to use it.” After saying this, she handed the handkerchief she had taken from Yuxi yesterday for the Lady of Taining to see.

The Lady of Taining looked at the handkerchief embroidered with a rosebud in the lower right-hand corner. The stitching was fine and decent, and the colouring was clever as if it were real. This embroidery work was incomparable to the work of the best embroidery maid in her house.

Even Old Woman Lin looked at the handkerchief in surprise and bewilderment. “My Lady, turn it over and have a look.”

When the Lady of Taining turned it over, she saw that the back was also a beautiful rosebud. After turning it over and over several times, she realised that the front and back looked the same. The Lady of Taining asked with shock, “Did the Fourth Miss really embroider this?” Although there were rumours that Yuxi could embroider double-sided embroidery, many people who heard it were unconvinced. Even if she was talented, she couldn’t embroider double-sided embroidery without a master to teach her. And as there was no work by Yuxi to pass on, many people did not believe it. But now, the Lady of Taining could only accept it as true. Her reason was simple: Yuxi would marry into the Chen family if they settled on this marriage. No one would be foolish enough to deceive her future husband’s family with such a lie.

When Qiu Shi saw the Lady of Taining’s reaction, she was very pleased with herself. She couldn’t even hide the smugness from her face. “Yes! After hearing you say that, where would I dare to use such a beautiful handkerchief?” After saying this, she also focused on how filial Yuxi was and how good she was to her two brothers. Qiu Shi told the Lady of Taining all this to let her know that Yuxi was a reasonable and considerate child.

When The Lady of Taining heard this, she felt that she should re-evaluate this Fourth Miss Han. She was afraid that too many shoddy things had been added to the information she had inquired before.

Yuxi took Zisu out of the guest courtyard and headed in the direction of ‘Clear Spring Water Pond’, where she had made an appointment to meet earlier.

Before she reached the place, Yuxi heard a melodious sound from a flute. The sound of the flute rose, crisp and soft, euphemistic and bright. It was like a piece of heavenly music, pleasant to the soul!

Once the sound of the flute ended, Yuxi walked over and sighed in her heart. Now that the weather was cold, only a few people had come to offer incense. If someone played the flute here on normal days, a crowd would have surrounded this place.

Yuxi was a little surprised to see Chen Ran. Today’s Chen Ran was a little different from the past. He was wearing a light blue brocade robe embroidered with dark flowers and cloud patterns. He had soft-soled boots of the same colour and his whole body covered in a wide white fox fur overcoat. Such a young man was indeed handsome and bright-eyed, with a radiant inner glow. If Yuxi was really a thirteen-year-old girl, she would have fallen in love with such an outstanding young man. In such a richly poetic and artistic conception scene, she would have absolutely adored this person, and maybe she would even marry him.

When Chen Ran saw Yuxi, he smiled gently. “You’re here.” His look and action gave the impression that the two of them were so familiar with each other.

Yuxi asked with a blank expression, “Do you know that your mother has come to my house to propose marriage?” This guy’s brain circuit was very different to other people. So she was not going to be fooled by this guy’s looks! [+]

Chen Ran was not at all surprised that Yuxi was so blunt. “I know. I was the one who asked my Mother to propose marriage to the Han family.” After saying this, he added, “I told your attendant earlier that I would be responsible.”

Yuxi rolled her eyes and said, “It’s just a rumour. Marquis Taining Residence has also clarified it. It doesn’t affect me, so you don’t have to be accountable for it. And I don’t need you to be responsible.”

Chen Ran stated, “Claiming responsibility is just my excuse. Even without the rumours, I would still ask my mother to come to your home to propose marriage.”

Yuxi demanded, “Why do you want to marry me? What do you see in me?” It would be more effective to talk about this kind of thing openly.

A smile appeared at the corner of Chen Ran’s mouth. “I just think you’re nice and want to marry you. Why do I need a particular reason to do so?” Other girls would have been shy when they heard that someone wanted to marry them. Contrarily, Han Yuxi was the odd one. But being the odd one was good too. He was also the odd one. Thus, they were well matched.

Yuxi snorted coldly and said, “You can fool others, but you can’t fool me. Come on, why do you want to marry me? If you don’t tell the truth, I will go back.” After saying this, she looked as if she was about to leave.

Chen Ran asked, “Must I say it? What happens if I don’t say it?”

Yuxi sneered. “Not telling me proves that you have ulterior motives for wanting to marry me. I will convince my Mother and Dage to refuse this marriage.”

The corners of Chen Ran’s mouth rose. This was the kind of person he wanted to marry. The one who would not submit herself to the will of Heaven, not resigning herself to adversity, honest and bold, unmatched by the puppets his mother found for him. Chen Ran also did not whet her appetite as he asked her, “Do you still remember what happened at the Jiang family?”

Yuxi nodded. “I remember. I saw you in Old Madam Jiang’s courtyard at the time. What’s up? Does the Jiang family have something to do with you wanting to marry me?” The Jiang family, that was Yuxi’s deepest shadow.

Chen Ran explained, “After you left, Old Madam Jiang said a lot of nice things about you. She said you are smart and sensible, and you are a good girl.” Needless to say, your body is good too.

Yuxi’s mouth twitched. “Don’t tell me you want to marry me just because of Old Madam Jiang’s words? Girls who are smart and sensible are everywhere, and they are no worse than me. ”

These words of Old Madam Jiang only gave Chen Ran a good impression of Yuxi. What truly fascinated Chen Ran was that Yuxi had refused the Jiang family’s marriage proposal. “I got the news from the Jiang family that your biological father had agreed to their marriage proposal, but then it didn’t happen. If I’m right, it must be because you disagree with it yourself, right?”

The corners of Yuxi’s mouth twitched again. This fellow was too good at making up a story in his mind. “I’m sorry to tell you that I didn’t even know when the Jiang family came to propose marriage. It was my Grandmother who refused.” After saying that, she added, “Apart from that reason, what else?”

Chen Ran said thoughtfully, “People outside say that you have a bad fate. Even your biological father believed this and swept you out of the house for fear of being dragged down by you. But you didn’t give up on yourself because of this blow. Instead, you lived a comfortable life in your own hamlet. That is something I admire. You must have heard that my Mother has tried to match me with many girls. They are all excellent in terms of family, appearance and talent. Still, I don’t like any of them. Not because they are not good, but because I know these girls are like flowers kept in a greenhouse and will wither once put outside. Although I am the son of Marquis Taining, my future is not likely to be smooth. Therefore, I want to marry a wife who can withstand the storms, not a delicate flower that needs careful care and attention in a greenhouse.” This was the real reason why Chen Ran wanted to marry Yuxi.

Yuxi stared at Chen Ran. Watching his earnest expression and knowing that he was speaking from his heart, her heart wavered a little.