Chapter 142
Dinner was light congee with small side dishes.
Even light congee and small dishes can be made delicious.
The congee had vibrant green leaves swirling in it.
There were freshly made snacks and pickled vegetables.
That evening, Jiang Yu solidly demonstrated her culinary skills.
She even showed off a bit.
The snacks were fried into beautiful shapes.
They looked good and tasted good.
And so Meng Shaoxia experienced his second taste of heavenly cuisine since the last time.
This time surpassed the previous one.
The last time was at the Jiang family\'s home.
This time was also at the Jiang family\'s home.
Meng Shaoxia ate very earnestly.
Jiang Yu not only enjoyed eating herself but also liked watching others eat earnestly.
She believed that people who weren\'t reverent about food couldn\'t be good people.
Such people were insincere and not worth befriending. (Jiang Wan: Just report my ID number, why don\'t you.)
The last time this Precious Horse Young Hero came, the Jiang family didn\'t feel anything was amiss.
Mainly because his circumstances were too good and theirs too poor, they didn\'t think much of it, nor did they dare to.
But this time, this small square face looked world-weary, smiling at Jiang Yu like an idiot.
Except for Jiang Yu, the whole family noticed something was off.
Aunt Yin\'s eyes scanned up and down like a minesweeper.
She wasn\'t scanning the Meng family\'s youth.
She knew he was the Meng family\'s only heir.
She had seen Meng Shaoxia\'s father when he was young, just like this, with a square face.
She had seen Meng Shaoxia\'s grandfather, also with a square face.
The Meng family was easy to recognize.
Aunt Yin was scanning Jiang Yu.
Although she was on her niece\'s side, she couldn\'t find anything negative to say about the Meng family.
In the capital, the Meng family members were basically every lady\'s choice for a son-in-law.
The small square face might not be what young ladies in boudoirs preferred, but it was definitely what every mother-in-law liked.
Aunt Yin had a strange feeling, like, no way, no way, had her niece stumbled upon such good fortune?
Qin also realized something was up.
After dinner, Jiang Changtian was more direct, smiling as he said, "Young Master Meng, have you come to retrieve your horse? This horse still recognizes you, showing deep affection. And this jade pendant, our Yu was thoughtless in accepting such a valuable item. We\'ve been uneasy keeping it, guarding it for so long. Now we can finally return it to its rightful owner."
Aunt Yin took one look and thought, goodness gracious.
He\'s even given jade as a gift.
She felt a sudden urge to give her niece intensive training.
If she were to marry into the Meng family in the future, she would certainly need to meet people.
She couldn\'t be unpresentable.
It couldn\'t just be a case of a blind cat catching a dead mouse.
In an instant, the whole family seemed to be on high alert.
Even Jiang Mianmian stopped playing with ants and curiously stared at the square-faced youth.
Oh ho, this youth\'s gaze at her sister was different.
Seeing everyone so serious, as if about to discuss important matters, Jiang Yu asked, "Do you need me to go check the door?"
"Pfft!"
Meng Shaoxia, who had been very nervous, couldn\'t help but laugh when he saw little Yu also looking tense and asking this.
Then he promptly "thud!" knelt down.
"When Shaoxia returned to the capital last time, he informed his parents of his intentions. Shaoxia admires Miss Jiang Yu and wishes to take her as his wife. Only due to the chaos of war, I couldn\'t return in time. Though we\'ve been apart for a while, Shaoxia\'s feelings haven\'t changed. My parents couldn\'t come, but Shaoxia has obtained the consent of Grandfather and Grandmother, bringing Grandfather\'s letter. This jade pendant is a token of my proposal."
Meng Shaoxia looked at Jiang Yu.
He continued, "Shaoxia swears here, if I can marry Miss Jiang, I will accompany her hand in hand for life, not take concubines or have affairs. However, the Meng family line is thin, probably due to our family\'s circumstances. If in the future we have difficulty with offspring, we can also adopt children from within the clan."
Jiang Yu was initially watching the commotion, then suddenly realized she was part of it.
Then she heard about children and...
Jiang Yu\'s face immediately turned red.
Because Aunt Cui was pregnant... she had roughly figured out why people could get pregnant.
What was this guy saying? Could it be that people in his family were ill and couldn\'t have children?
That would be quite pitiful.
Could it be that this was why he was looking for her?
"Shaoxia felt an instant connection with Miss Jiang, admiring her warm and straightforward nature, her sincere treatment of her family, her beautiful appearance, and her excellent culinary skills. Shaoxia has no other merits, but has trained his body since childhood, is in good health, and shouldn\'t die early. I will certainly take good care of Miss Jiang. I beg for your blessing."
Meng Shaoxia came from a family of military officials.
He disliked beating around the bush.
Seeing his beloved again.
He said all these words in one breath.
Because he had seen much of life and death.
He feared that if he didn\'t say it last time, and didn\'t say it this time, there might not be a next chance.
Jiang Mianmian was so surprised she stuck all her fingers in her mouth.
So direct.
Aunt Yin pulled her fingers out and wiped them before she could react.
Jiang Yu\'s face was red, even her neck was red. She was a bit dumbfounded, but then thought, this small square face might not be as handsome as her father, but she didn\'t find him dislikeable.
Among all the men she knew, if she had to think about living together with someone, he was the least objectionable.
But she still looked up at her parents with a dazed expression.
Jiang Feng looked surprised, going from feeling a sense of kinship to feeling like \'I treated you as a brother, but you want to be my brother-in-law\', and then felt a bit surprised again, thinking this brother Meng didn\'t have very good eyesight.
Although he really liked his sister, he certainly couldn\'t say anything bad about her, but if he had to marry someone like Jiang Yu, he felt he would easily be angered to death. He couldn\'t handle it, couldn\'t handle it.
Qin Luoxia was a bit surprised. This was a big matter, a big matter indeed. She looked at her husband.
Waiting for him to make the decision.
What Jiang Changtian was thinking internally, who knows.
Jiang Mianmian just saw her father put on a surprised expression, then he spoke, "After you left, during the chaos of war, our village was attacked by bandits. The whole village united to resist, and that\'s how we survived. In times of chaos, human life is as cheap as grass. When the imperial army came, we exhausted ourselves, enduring hunger to supply provisions. When Zi Lu\'s army came, we also exhausted ourselves, enduring hunger to supply provisions. To survive, we could be rebels, we could be mountain bandits. Now, although we\'ve accepted amnesty, the situation is still chaotic. We are willing to betroth our Yu to you, but are you willing to stay here for three full years before returning to the capital?"
Qin Luoxia\'s eyes lit up. This was good, keeping him under their noses, reassuring. Her husband was indeed clever, making the proposal to keep the son-in-law sound so noble. If he could stay for three years, he could stay for thirty.
After a brief consideration, Meng Shaoxia answered, "I grew up in the Meng family, and our family precept is to protect the country and not raise a sword against innocent civilians. This is the foundation of my existence in this world. If this principle does not exist, neither do I. I am willing to stay here for three years, but I cannot violate my principles and sense of righteousness."
"Agreed!"
Jiang Changtian personally helped Meng Shaoxia up, and said affectionately, "Little Meng, do you prefer to stay in the south room or the north room? I\'ve noticed you have a sweet tooth. Yu\'s desserts are delicious; I\'ll have her make more for you in the future."
...
Nighttime.
Jiang Mianmian crawled onto her elder sister\'s bed.
Snuggling in her sister\'s embrace, she asked curiously, "Sister, are you happy? Meng Shaoxia proposed, didn\'t he? What do you think about it?"
Jiang Yu pinched her little sister\'s cheek and said, "Don\'t address him so casually. If Great-aunt finds out, she\'ll scold you. What can I think? It\'s my parents\' decision and the matchmaker\'s arrangement. Marriage isn\'t something we can discuss on our own. Whatever our parents decide is surely the best."
Jiang Mianmian didn\'t believe it. How could it be possible? Could the brainwashing really be that successful? She must have her own thoughts.
She poked her sister\'s soft belly and asked, "Sister, don\'t you like Brother Meng even a little bit?"
Jiang Yu pulled the blanket over their heads, enveloping them in darkness.
Only then did she speak, "He\'s the first person who\'s ever given me a gift, from childhood till now. I accepted it, and nothing bad happened to me. I think he\'s quite nice."
After saying this, Jiang Yu worried she might be setting a bad example for her little sister, so she quickly added, "But you mustn\'t do this. If you want anything, just tell us, and we\'ll get it for you."
Her sister\'s warm breath tickled Jiang Mianmian\'s face. Mianmian lowered her head, bumping it against her sister\'s soft chest.
Jiang Mianmian thought to herself, how fast time flies. That little girl who used to sneak osmanthus cakes is now about to be married.
...