The heavens set sail from the courtyard

The next morning, Chai An got up and urged his mother to go to the Li family to propose marriage, which made Chai's mother laugh and cry.

Chai's mother's original intention was to let the matchmaker go, as she didn't want to face Madam Li.

However, Chai An emphasized that Wang Kang was the one who went to propose marriage in person, and if Chai's mother put on airs and refused to go, it would be a slap in the face of the Wang family.

Chai's mother agreed. She could give up the Li family's face, but she could not ignore the Wang family's face. So she went with the matchmaker to propose marriage.

When Madam Li learned the purpose of Chai's mother's visit, she was stunned for a long time. However, she had long seen that her third daughter was interested in Chai An, so naturally she could not object to this marriage, but she still did not agree to it outright.

"Madam Chai, it is a blessing for the Li family that you are attracted to my Sanniang. However, regarding this marriage, I still need to ask Sanniang's opinion."

Upon hearing this, Chai's mother immediately turned displeased, thinking that she had condescended to come in person to propose marriage, but Madam Li was putting on airs instead.

"Marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words. Madam Li can't even decide her own daughter's marriage?" Chai's mother said with a sullen face.

"No, please don't misunderstand me, Madam Chai." Madam Li explained: "My husband died early, and we have lived together as mother and daughter. We always discuss everything with each other."

When Madam Li said this, Chai's mother couldn't help but think of her husband who died early. The two of them were quite similar. Both lost their husbands at an early age and raised their children alone with great difficulty. Naturally, they knew the hardships involved.

"When can Madam Li give us a reply?" Chai's mother looked much better.

"I will give the Chai family a reply tomorrow at the earliest." Madam Li said with a smile.

"Okay! Then I'll go back first." Chai's mother stood up and Madam Li personally saw her out.

When Chai's mother returned to Panlou and saw her son who was looking forward to seeing her, she told him what Lady Li had said.

Chai An immediately became anxious and ran to the Li family regardless of everything, wanting to find Sanniang Li Kangning.

Li Kangning did not avoid him and met Chai An through the door at the door.

"Mr. Chai." Li Kangning's cheeks were slightly red, but he kept talking to Chai An through the door.

"Sanniang." Chai An said nervously, "I, Chai An, wish to marry Sanniang. I promise that we will be together for the rest of our lives and I will never let you down."

Li Kangning's bones softened when he heard Chai An's words, but he asked curiously: "A lifetime of love, Mr. Chai is so talented, why didn't I see it before."

Chai An blushed and said embarrassedly: "I didn't say that. Brother Yuankang said that. I just used it for reference."

Li Kangning suddenly realized and said, "So it's my future brother-in-law. Mr. Chai is quite honest."

Chai An pointed to the sky and swore: "Sanniang, I know we had some misunderstandings in the past, but what I, Chai An, said today, comes from my heart, and I would never dare to deceive you."

Li Kangning nodded and said, "I believe in Mr. Chai's character, but I think your sincerity is lacking."

Chai An asked hurriedly: "How can Sanniang trust me?"

Li Kangning said: "My family used to plant a plum tree in the yard of Luoyang. According to the season, the plum blossoms should be in bloom now. If you can pick a plum blossom from the top of the tree for me, I will agree to marry you."

Chai An was overjoyed and said, "Okay, I'll send someone to get the plum blossoms right away."

Li Kangning shook his head and said, "If someone else picked it, I wouldn't recognize it."

Chai An was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and said, "I will rush to Luoyang immediately, Sanniang, wait for me."

After saying that, Chai An turned around and left quickly. He looked so impatient, as if he wished he could grow wings and fly to Luoyang.

Li Kangning saw Chai An's receding back and smiled sweetly. When he was about to close the door, his eldest sister Li Shouhua brought a man home.

The man was lying on a cart, seemingly unconscious. He looked like a scholar from his clothes and was not very old. He was brought here on a cart pushed by a servant of the Li family.

"Sister, who is this person?" Li Kangning asked curiously.

"I met him outside, and he fainted on the side of the road. I felt sorry for him, so I brought him home and planned to find a doctor to see him," Li Shouhua explained.

"Sister, it doesn't seem like a good idea to bring someone home like this! What if he's a bad guy?" Li Kangning asked worriedly.

"The person has become like this, what can we do?" Li Shouhua shook his head and said: "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. This can be considered as accumulating merit for Faner." Seeing this, Li Kangning said no more and asked the servants to take the person to the guest room first.

When Mrs. Li heard that Li Shouhua had brought a strange man home, she ignored her business and ran home quickly.

When she got home, the doctor had just taken the man's pulse.

"Madam Li, this man is fine. He just fainted from hunger and cold. But I think he hasn't eaten for a few days. Just give him some rice soup." The doctor advised:
"You can only eat liquid food these days, and it is not advisable to take a lot of supplements."

Madam Li smiled awkwardly and said, "Thank you, doctor. This is my distant nephew. He may have suffered on the way to Bianjing."

The doctor had seen all kinds of people, so he naturally knew that Madam Li was worried that he would go out and talk nonsense.

"Don't worry, Madam Li. He is fine. He will be fine after a few days of rest." The doctor accepted the consultation fee and said, "Doctors are like parents to their children. I will not reveal any of my condition to outsiders after I leave this room."

"Thank you, doctor." Madam Li gave the patient some extra money and then sent him out.

Back in the room, Mrs. Li blamed Li Shouhua.

"Shouhua, how can you just bring someone home when you don't even know him?"

"Mother, I just felt sorry for him and had compassion for him." Li Shouhua looked at the man lying on the bed and said, "Looking at his appearance, he should be a candidate who went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He is about the same age as Fan'er."

Madam Li then carefully looked at the man on the bed and said, "You can't bring him home. Your marriage with the Wang family is almost settled, and we can't let something unexpected happen."

"Mom, I know I was wrong." Li Shouhua said with his head down.

"Forget it, since he has been rescued, just keep him at home and let the servants take care of him. You and Sanniang and the others don't have to worry about it." Madam Li was not a cruel person and would not do something like throwing someone away.

Madam Li smiled and said, "He looks handsome. If he is really a candidate for the imperial examination, we can have a good relationship with him. If he passes the imperial examination in the future, we will be his lifesavers!"

Li Shouhua didn't think too much about it, she just felt sorry for the man, so she asked the servants to be careful when taking care of him, and then to avoid suspicion, she stopped caring about the man.

After the servants fed the man some rice soup, he regained consciousness. However, he did not ask where he was at first. Instead, he said that one of his companions had also fallen down.

Madam Li thought that saving one person would be the same as saving two, so she simply took the male companion back to the Li family.

After the two men felt better and regained consciousness, Madam Li finally knew their names.

The first man rescued was named Du Yangxi, and the next one was named Sang Yanrang.

Both of them were juren who came to Bian Jing to take part in the spring examination. As they had run out of money, they stayed in a temple, but they fell ill due to lack of clothes and food.

Seeing that the two men were well-educated and had the status of juren, Madam Li immediately became interested.

She has five daughters, and two of them are still unsettled! Now that there are two ready-made candidates, how could Madam Li not be tempted!
However, having two grown men living at home is not a long-term solution after all. What's more, the Li family is about to have a wedding, so it is not convenient for Du Yangxi and others to stay.

After Wang Gang learned about this, he took the responsibility himself.

"Kaifeng Prefecture provides subsidies to candidates from Bian Jing City every year. If Mr. Du and Mr. Sang are willing, they can live in Kaifeng Prefecture." Wang Gang personally met the two candidates and provided them with accommodation.

"Thank you, Lord Wang." The two of them did not hesitate and naturally accepted Wang Gang's kindness.

When Madam Li sent the two men away, she specially prepared some silver and money as an investment in them!

At the same time, Madam Li pulled Wang Gang aside and asked, "Future son-in-law, if you have time, please test the knowledge of these two people and see if they have a chance to become Jinshi."

Wang Gang guessed what Li was planning and couldn't help asking, "Which future mother-in-law do you like?"

Madam Li smiled and said, "Du Yangxi is good-looking, but he is a little arrogant, and Sang Yanrang is a little stupid. It's really difficult for us!"

Wang Gang looked at Mrs. Li’s troubled look and couldn’t help but laugh or cry!
"Okay! I will talk to the two candidates when I have the chance!" Wang Gang agreed.

"My future son-in-law is still the best." Mrs. Li was overjoyed. (End of this chapter)