xymnovel Chapter 1080: Proposing Marriage
Chapter 1080: Proposing Marriage
Yun Jiao nodded. "Naturally."Jiang Youzhi pondered for a moment. "But over at the Xie family, Xie Heng has already passed the provincial exam. In two months he’ll be sitting the metropolitan exam. Let’s wait and see. After the spring examinations, if their family still shows no sign of moving, we’ll hurry and find Ruru another good son-in-law."
Yun Jiao nodded.
At the same time, in the Xie Taifu Mansion, Xie Heng was talking to his mother. "Mother, I beg you, tomorrow morning send someone to the Jiang Family to propose a marriage. If their family reports her name to the Ministry of Rites, it’ll be too late."
Xie Heng’s mother, Mrs. Ruan, said unhurriedly, "Heng’er, it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that going tomorrow is already too late."
"A betrothal isn’t that simple. First there’s the small engagement, then the formal one. To get everything done will take at least a few months."
"Besides, if our family goes to their door now, wouldn’t that be openly snatching a daughter-in-law from the Royal Family? What would His Majesty and Her Majesty think?"
Mrs. Ruan took a sip of tea and said calmly, "And how do you know the girl is even willing to marry into our family? Maybe she’s just waiting to become a Prince Consort now, and a high Consort in the future."
Xie Heng stamped his foot anxiously. "Ruru isn’t that kind of person, she—"
"Enough." Mrs. Ruan cut him off coolly. "The spring examinations are almost upon us. Right now you need to put all your mind on the imperial exams. As for marriage, there’s no rush. Once you pass the metropolitan exam and become a jinshi, we can take our time choosing."
Seeing that he couldn’t persuade his mother no matter what he said, Xie Heng left her courtyard in dejection and returned to his room.
Back in his room, Xie Heng sat by the window, in no mood to read.
These past two years, the princesses didn’t need to attend lessons, and Ruru no longer served as a study companion, so he’d rarely seen her.
The last time they met had been a few months ago, at Princess Huaiqing’s banquet.
Ruru seemed to have grown a little taller, and her figure had become even more slender and graceful.
Her looks were getting lovelier and lovelier. Just one glance at her made his face burn and his heart race.
That day, he had finally found an opportunity and pretended to "bump into" Ruru by chance beside the Waterside Pavilion and exchanged a few words with her.
At the time, he only felt his face burning hot and his heart beating fast.
Ruru’s cheeks were tinged with red as well, making her all the more delicately beautiful. He was almost dazed just looking at her.
That day he had mumbled some words; he didn’t know if Ruru had understood him or not.
Looking at a clump of banana trees outside the window, Xie Heng couldn’t help thinking, with Ruru’s family background, she’s more than qualified to become Crown Princess Consort. Would she really be willing to give up that supreme honor and marry me?
Would the Empress and the Imperial Concubine really pass over such an outstanding young lady as Ruru?
The more he thought along those lines, the more restless and uneasy he felt.
His servant Mo Zhu watched the young master clench his jaw one moment and frown the next, and more or less understood what he was thinking.
After coming back from Princess Huaiqing’s banquet last time, the young master had shut himself in his room for several days straight, drawing. He had sneaked a look: the beauty in the painting looked exactly like the young lady of the Jiang Family.
Unable to bear seeing the young master like this, Mo Zhu said softly, "Young master, why don’t you write a letter to Miss Jiang, and let this little one deliver it for you? It would be better than you torturing yourself with wild thoughts."
Xie Heng hesitated. "Exchanging letters counts as private contact between a man and a woman. That... wouldn’t be proper, would it?"
Mo Zhu said anxiously, "Young master must let Miss Jiang know your feelings. Whether it works out or not, you have to at least try."
"If you don’t act soon, I’m afraid Miss Jiang really will become an Imperial Concubine!"
Xie Heng weighed it back and forth, and between the two possible consequences—damaging a young lady’s reputation and losing Ruru altogether—he decisively chose the former.
He picked up his brush and swiftly wrote a letter. He had meant to check it for mistakes when he finished, but after reading it over, even his own face was burning red.