Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Why beat around the bush? Just say you don't want to cooperate. What's wrong with that? Do you think a narrow-minded person won't hold a grudge just because you only refuse to lend a hand for one thing?
Gu Wenxuan strongly disagreed with Zhou Banxia's actions, but he still somewhat understood her concerns about saving face for others. However, it would be wrong not to take him into the city.

His wife and son ran away, what's he doing staying in Yuyuan?

"Study hard."

"Where is it not good to read a book?"

So you're at odds, aren't you?
Zhou Banxia pointed at him with amusement, "Do you think I don't know why you've been exchanging letters with your Senior Brother Qian twice a day these past two days?"

"Then why did you say it even though you knew—" Gu Wenxuan was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly heard a noise outside and forgot to tease his wife for a moment, "It sounds like someone's here."

If it were the maids or servants from the west courtyard, they wouldn't walk back and forth in the front hall without quietly talking and laughing, unless an outsider came and they didn't have time to come in and report, in which case they would speak up to remind them.

Zhou Banxia subconsciously turned her head to look at the window. "It must be my sister-in-law who sent someone. I asked her to come to the city with me for a few days to see what Mother said."

really.

The person who came was Ma Shan's head maid. She didn't even enter the inner courtyard; she just chatted with Mai Qing in the passageway and quickly explained her purpose.

The result was both expected and unexpected.

Just as Zhou Banxia had thought, her good sister-in-law was going to go in and out with her mother-in-law, which meant that she would only go into the city with her mother-in-law the night before the guests arrived at the Gu residence.

At the same time, perhaps considering that taking her two sons to the city for a few days would make the guests spend money on gifts, she said that her eldest son, Changsuo, would go to his maternal grandparents' house for a few days.

Gu Wenxuan and Zhou Banxia exchanged a glance and shook their heads: Let her be. If she plans to stay in the city for a few more days, we can send someone to pick her up then.

Putting that aside, it seemed that Ma Shan's head maid had taken the lead, and soon after Gu Dahua's family came, even Madam Li came in person.

The purpose of her visit was still related to the upcoming arrival of the Gao family's aunt and sister-in-law. Madam Li came to ask her daughter whether she, as the mother, should also go into the city to welcome the arrival of Madam Gao and her sister-in-law.

What else is there to welcome, according to Gu Wenxuan?
His mother had no choice. The invitation was sent to his Gu family, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her not to show up, so she had to. Why would his mother-in-law personally go to greet him?
Is it that Madam Zhou's status is not as high as Madam Gao's, or that Madam Zhou is not worthy of that rotten apple from the family sending a formal invitation to pay her respects beforehand?

"No need. What you and my father say is pretty much what my uncle and aunt mean in their eyes. The Gao family is the Gao family, and the Zhang family is the Zhang family."

The Third Madam understands this principle and doesn't want to put you and my father in a difficult position, which is why she didn't mention visiting our home. If you feel you've slighted her, I will say so.

I'll tell you later that you were supposed to come, but something came up and you couldn't get away. If that's not possible, I'll host a banquet and invite you and my older sister.

“Then your father will complain that I’m making trouble for you and making you waste money on an extra banquet!” Madam Li hurriedly shook her head, “No need, no need.”

Yes, these are words my father would say. People are usually afraid of being found out, so it would be inappropriate to make a big fuss by posting announcements and holding banquets.

“That works too. Once our family hosts a proper banquet, we don’t even need to send out invitations. There are plenty of people who will come uninvited. Let’s talk about it then.”

"That's exactly what happened. Your dad said that now everyone knows your cousin's wife is good to you and doesn't want anything from you. They all want to get to know your cousin's wife through you."

Those people are all cunning; it's best to avoid them if possible. They're all plotting against you. If you can't stand your ground, our family is finished.

Alright, that's enough. That's all I came here to say. I'm leaving now, I'm busy. Listen to your son-in-law, and don't meddle in the affairs of those important people."

Before they could even settle down, the person had already walked out quickly. In this short time, not only Zhou Banxia, ​​but even Gu Wenxuan, who had intentionally avoided the small study, didn't have time to stop them.

It was incredibly fast.

Even when she's in a hurry to leave, she always checks on her grandson first, which piqued Gu Wenxuan's curiosity. "What's your mother busy with?" "Who knows?"

Despite saying that, Zhou Banxia still somewhat understood why her mother was in such a hurry. It was probably because she had only seen half of the excitement and was eager to hear the ending.

Otherwise, there are plenty of servants in the house, so what could possibly keep her mother "busy"? I just don't know what kind of excitement it is.

“I bet your mother is in a hurry to go to your great-grandfather’s house. I heard that ever since your great-grandfather’s granddaughter got engaged, the threshold of his house has almost been worn down by matchmakers.”

"To arrange a marriage for Li Ge'er?"

"That's right."

That's probably the reason!
"Have you ever heard of a matchmaker coming to your door on their own, or a family asking a matchmaker to come and propose marriage?"

“They have them all!” Seeing her interested expression, Gu Wenxuan chuckled to himself, “Just like before when he took a liking to Dajiang, Brother Sanhu scolded his wife again.”

Zhou Banxia was taken aback. "I didn't hear my sister-in-law mention this. Well, there's absolutely no possibility of a marriage alliance. Why are you telling me this?"

It's even more unreliable that her third sister-in-law's family is eyeing Li Ge'er. How could Li Ge'er and Da Jiang be the same? My family is poor, and no one wants to arrange a marriage between Da Jiang and my child.

My great-grandfather's family isn't short of a grandson's wife. If they wanted to arrange a marriage for Li Ge'er, they would have done so long ago. They wouldn't have waited until now, and they certainly wouldn't let Li Ge'er marry someone of lower status.

It's not that I'm being snobbish, but I've met most of the young women in Sanhu's wife's family who are around the same age, and they all seem to be completely different from the eldest grandmother and her daughter-in-law.

Look at Li Ge'er's mother, she can not only write and calculate, but she can also write poetry. She is also good at interpersonal relationships and is a capable lady of a wealthy family.

Even without her saying it, I know what kind of eldest daughter-in-law she wants. First, the woman must be untalented, no way; second, all of her brothers must be commoners, even more unacceptable.

When we talked about Dajiang's marriage before, she made it clear to my mother that our family could not marry into a merchant family. We also had to see if the woman's brothers were successful, and at the very least, one of them had to be a scholar.

At that time, Dajiang hadn't even taken the county exam yet, and she already had this idea. Now, Lige'er is still studying at Jingshan Academy, how could he possibly arrange a marriage between his children and Ma's third sister-in-law's family?

Absolutely!

It's something anyone can think of. With a wider range of choices, it's not hard to find a daughter-in-law who meets your expectations.
Otherwise, why would Ma San's wife be scolded? She deserves it. She even dared to help her niece from her own family find husbands for the children of two scholars. She deserves to be scolded!

"Actually, her family doesn't need to keep an eye on Li Ge'er. There are plenty of good families in our village. Like your second grandfather's youngest son's third son, who's still unmarried—"

"Stop!" Gu Wenxuan exclaimed in fright. "Don't try to play matchmaker. He has someone he likes. Seventh Uncle is even waiting for our father to come back so he can ask your father to mediate!"

"Who?" Zhou Banxia blurted out before realizing what she meant. "How about your dad, my dad, and me, the tongue twister?"

Gu Wenxuan chuckled and then decisively changed the subject, "The Bai family's little girl. Seventh Uncle said he originally wanted him and his wife to go and have a chat with Uncle Changping and his wife."

Later, he figured that if Uncle Changping and his wife refused outright, he wouldn't want to bring it up again, so he thought he'd ask my father to talk to Scholar Bai and hear what he had to say.

"You're quite shrewd."

"Yeah, who's stupid?"

"I'm stupid!"

"Hey, our son's awake." (End of Chapter)