Chapter 1111: It’s Hard to Find a Husband

Great-uncle Liu Daqian, Liu Erqian, and Great-aunt Madam Ma-Liu were waiting for them in the central room. When they saw Qi Haoran, they started to bend their knees to kneel down. Seeing this, Qi Haoran hurriedly took two steps forward and helped them up. Smiling, he said, “I should be the one to bow to you. Great-uncle and Great-aunt, quickly sit down.”

Mu Yangling also hurriedly went forward to help stop them, so that Qi Haoran wouldn’t exert too much strength and hurt his wound.

As Liu Daqian was already very old, he relied on his descendants to carry him when he walked, but he still carried a lot of prestige. In fact, he was the one who had finalized the guest list this time. He knew that Ah Ling didn’t like the trouble of a large crowd, so he only invited people Mu Yangling was familiar with.

Even then, this was a lot. Having not seen each other for more than ten years, everyone couldn’t help but feel a little unfamiliar with each other. However, with Xiuhong teasing and chatting, everyone gradually became familiar with each other.

Basically, they introduced how they were doing and expressed their gratitude to Mu Yangling. After that, everyone dispersed after dinner.

Although everyone wanted to stay and deepen their ties, seeing that the smiley Madam Shu had already prepared a gift for them to take away, they could only leave with the gift.

In the end, only Liu Ting and Liu Yuan stayed behind to accompany Liu Daqian and Liu Erqian, as well as Great-aunt’s family.

After the crowd dispersed, the room fell silent. Great-aunt nudged Mu Yangling. “Quickly bring Young Master to rest. Didn’t you say that he is injured? Hurry up and go!”

As Madam Ma-Liu lived with the Mu family later on and her living conditions improved, she was now even healthier than her younger brothers, Liu Daqian and Liu Erqian.

Mu Yangling stood up and pulled up Qi Haoran and Little Bear. “Then you guys should rest early too. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

Mu Kejia took the initiative to lead the way for her sister. “…Mother has been maintaining Sister’s room and cleaning it from time to time. The furnishings in the house haven’t been touched much. Yesterday afternoon, when we heard that you were coming, we immediately tidied it up. Fortunately, it’s autumn, so we only needed to ventilate the room before you arrived.”

Mu Yangling asked the servants to fetch hot water for Qi Haoran and his son to take a shower while she led Mu Kejia to the central room to sit and chat. “The last time, Mother sent me a letter saying that your wedding date is set for August. Why did it change again?”

Mu Kejia pouted and said, “It’s all because you guys were going to war, and he was ordered to guard the border. Originally, I wanted to bring forward the wedding date, but Father and Mother refused no matter what. They said that when we win a huge victory, there will be double joy. I know it’s because they feared that should something happen to him on the battlefield, I’d become a widow.”

Mu Yangling pinched her mouth. “You really shoot your mouth off.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? He knows that too. He, too, said that he didn’t want me to marry over so early. What’s there to be afraid of?” Mu Kejia felt a little sad when she said this. “Sister, I don’t expect him to treat me well either. As long as he’s half as good a husband as Father and Brother-in-law, I’d be happy.”

Mu Kejia had a lively personality and was completely different from the steady Mu Yangling. She had led a blissful life since she was young and had two older brothers who doted on her. She also had a father who was devoted to his wife as an example. Even her big brother, brother-in-law, and even Cousin Lang were devoted to their wives. Hence, she had very high expectations. From the moment she reached marriageable age, she listed out many conditions. Not only did the suitor have to be good at both martial arts and literature, but they had to mutually like each other. In addition, the man must be devoted towards her and promise never to take a concubine.

Generally speaking, those who matched the former and the middle conditions would find it hard to fulfill the last condition. As for those who could guarantee that they could do the latter condition, she either did not fancy the guy or he didn’t fulfill the first two conditions. Or, they had ulterior motives and wanted to use her as a springboard for their career.

If Mu Kejia had rich life experiences, she would have turned a blind eye to it. Alas, she was naive, romantic, pursued perfection, and couldn’t accept anything less.

On the other hand, Shu Wanniang had been pampered by her husband all her life, and her eldest daughter was also happily married. Therefore, she felt that it was important that her daughter picked someone she truly fancied. If her daughter was forced to marry, she would be resentful and couldn’t possibly be blissful.

Therefore, although she was so anxious about it that she suffered insomnia, she still did not force her daughter to get engaged.

Seeing that his wife was insistent on finding a suitable husband for his daughter, Mu Shi naturally wouldn’t force her. Hence, Mu Kejia stayed unmarried until she was 20 years old.

In this era, ordinary girls got married at the age of 14, and girls from wealthier families would get married after they reached adulthood, which was 18 years old at the latest. At 20 years old, one was considered a spinster.

Besides, no man had caught Mu Kejia’s eye until she was 20 years old. By the time the other party passed the assessment of Kejia’s parents and the marriage was confirmed, Kejia was already past 20 years old and was approaching 21 years old.

Originally, they planned to get married in autumn, before she turned 21. Unexpectedly, just as they decided on their marriage in February, the Imperial Court’s dispatch order came.

As a lieutenant, the man had to follow his superior to the border to guard against any attacks from West Xia.

Knowing how merciless the battlefield was, how could Mu Shi and Shu Wanniang dare to let their daughter marry over in advance? They could only delay the wedding until the war ended.

Now that the war had ended, they had indeed won a huge victory, and the man was safe and sound. Both parties had now decided to hold a wedding in the Winter Solstice this year. Because Mu Shi had already taken office in Taiyuan and could not go home to host the marriage for the time being, the entire family could only move to Taiyuan and let Mu Kejia get married in Taiyuan.

Although Mu Kejia looked carefree, she had been through a lot for the sake of marriage in the past few years. She had seen all kinds of men and families. It could be said that although she had not gone through as much in life as her eldest sister, she had certainly met with more strange men than her sister. That was why she felt so sad when this topic was brought up.

Although she had finally found a man whom she liked and who liked her back, and could be considered to be well-versed in both martial arts and literature, and could swear that he would marry no one else, she had gone through all kinds of hardships before this. Her case was unlike her sister and brother-in-law, who had been childhood sweethearts who naturally got together as they gradually developed feelings for each other.

How could the relationship be comparable?

Earlier in the hall, although Mu Yangling was sitting with them, she would look at Qi Haoran from time to time. Qi Haoran’s gaze never left Mu Yangling, too.

Mu Kejia hugged Mu Yangling’s waist and said sourly, “Sister, I also have many childhood friends. Why don’t any of them have feelings for me?”

Mu Yangling asked in amusement, “Is there anyone you like among them?”

Mu Kejia was on the verge of tears. “No, when I was young, I fought with them for toys. I was strong, and they couldn’t beat me. Once I beat them up, they burst into tears. How could I possibly fancy them? They were also terrified of me when we got older. The minute I raised my hand, they ran away. It’s not as if I’m a violent person. Why would they think I would constantly beat them up?”

Mu Kejia looked at her sister enviously. “Sister, didn’t you beat up Brother-in-law when you were young? Isn’t he afraid of you? Daddy said that you’re much stronger than us. Even Bosi is only as strong as one of your fingers.”

Mu Yangling laughed out loud and thought seriously for a moment before saying, “Well, I did beat up your brother-in-law before, but we were just sparring and learning from each other. We weren’t actually fighting for the sake of fighting. Don’t bully Brother-in-law just because you’re strong. If he makes a mistake, reason with him. Only failing that should you consider getting physical.”

Disappointed, Mu Kejia said, “Although I’m strong, his kung fu is amazing. I can’t beat him.”

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