The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor

Chapter 1084: True love, showdown

He was embarrassed by his speech with the intention of sowing discord. He knew that if he kept talking, this pedantic and useless guy would really fall out, and he might even tell the people named Mo what he said today to take credit for his promotion.

Thinking of this possibility, the lecturer even hated Meng Daoshi, who had kindly warned him, but he quickly accused him: "Brother Meng, it was my foolish brother who didn't keep his mouth shut and made false statements at the moment. I hope Brother Meng won't let go." In my heart, Yudi will never say anything again in the future."

Meng Daoshi didn't know what the other person was really thinking. Seeing that he knew he was wrong, he naturally would not continue to preach. He just couldn't help but remind him: "Don't mention these words again in the future. If you are not convinced by Master Mo, you can ask more He asked for advice, and over time you will find that what I said before was not meant to flatter him."

"Yes, yes, I thank you, Brother Meng, for reminding me." The lecturer agreed hurriedly. As for what he was thinking, only he himself knew.

Meng Daoshi had worked with this man several times and knew his temperament well. Now seeing the happy response on his lips but the look of disapproval on his face, you knew that he didn't really listen.

In response to this, Meng Daoshi shook his head feebly, but could not continue to say anything.

Soon it was time to leave the office, and Mo Qingze was worried that the eldest son of the Cui family had not arrived yet, so Mo Qingze deliberately waited for other colleagues to leave before walking out of the Hanlin Academy, and saw the eldest son of the Cui family waiting for him in his original position.

Seeing Mo Qingze come out, Mr. Cui, who was polite but kept a distance in front of his colleagues, waved his hands enthusiastically and shouted with a smile: "Tzuyu, come up quickly, Zhuangzi has sent a lot of fresh bamboo shoots. Mother, she specially asked me to invite you to come over and taste it."

 Try fresh bamboo shoots? The corners of Mo Qingze's lips twitched slightly, and he could almost hear the suppressed laughter of his colleagues not far away. Facing Mr. Cui's expectant eyes, he could only resist the probing gazes, walked to the Cui family's carriage, and gave Mr. Cui a common courtesy before boarding the carriage of Mr. Cui.

The Cui family's carriage slowly left the Hanlin Academy, and some people gathered together in twos and threes and began to discuss quietly:

“When did the relationship between Mr. Cui and Mo Daoshi become so good? You have to call someone to eat fresh bamboo shoots?”

“I don’t know, but since Mo Daoshi received the wedding invitation from the Cui family last time, the relationship between the two seems to have improved.”

“But Mr. Mo is not the only one who received the wedding invitation from the Cui family in the Hanlin Academy. I also received it!” The third sour voice sounded, and the words were quite depressing.

Mr. Cui has always been involved in the Sixth Ministry and has no connection with the Hanlin Academy. However, no one will deny that the Cui family has the ability to intervene in the Hanlin Academy. You must know that the famous scholars in the capital are inextricably related to the Cui family. If they, the junior Hanlins, ministers, and readers, can climb up to the Cui family, they will be able to rise to prominence soon.

"Who knows, maybe the Cui family wanted to hook up with His Highness the Crown Prince, so they took the initiative to get close to Mo Daoshi. They didn't just want to treat him to bamboo shoots."

"There is some truth to this. After serving as an official in the court for so many years, I have never seen Mr. Cui treat anyone so warmly."

“Tsk, no matter what, there are only advantages and no disadvantages to Mo Daoshi’s friendship with the Cui family. We people like us can’t catch up even if we flatter each other.”

　　　…”

Mo Qingze, who had already gone far away, was unaware of the discussions behind him. At this time, he sat on the side of the carriage and accepted the baptism of Mr. Cui's gaze from the opposite side. Ever since he first declined and got into the Cui family's carriage, he had arrived at the Cui family with such probing eyes.

The elder looked at his future brother-in-law with a frank (stiff) face, and the more he looked at him, the more satisfied he became. Outstanding appearance, talented people, bright future, upright and upright... I can't find a single bad thing about him! If he were ten years younger, he would have wanted to take him back as his son-in-law.

 Yes, Mr. Cui has regarded Mo Qingze as his brother-in-law.

On the day of Cui Ping'an's wedding, what happened in the Cui family garden reached Mrs. Cui's ears that night. Mrs. Cui hoped that her daughter would be willing to marry again. Now that such a person suddenly appeared, he was also the benefactor's father. How could she sit still?

So Mrs. Cui immediately called her daughter to the room. After questioning for a long time, she finally confirmed that her daughter was attracted to her benefactor's father. This made her so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.

After Master Cui heard about this incident, he listened to his mother's words and frequently invited Mo Qingze to his house for dinner. The first is for observation, wanting to know if Mo Qingze is a person worth trusting; the second is for testing, to test whether Mo Qingze also means this.

Now it seems that, except for his poor family background, Mo Qingze is eight blocks ahead of his ex-brother-in-law. Mr. Cui, who wants to find a good husband for his sister, could not be more satisfied.

 More importantly, the Mo family has sons and daughters, and the fact that the younger sister cannot have children is not only not a flaw, but an advantage. If he has no children, he will definitely treat the children of the Cui family as his own children.

　　Although those children are older and are unlikely to be as affectionate as their own children, as long as they feel the kindness of the little sister and don't cause trouble for the little sister, it will be good.

More If the little sister treats them sincerely, it is unlikely that they will treat the little sister badly.

Taking a step back, the Mo family has a simple population and has no parents-in-law to take care of. When the younger sister is married, she only needs to take care of the children and her husband. Life like this is much more comfortable than at my ex-brother-in-law's house.

The more he thought about it, the more satisfied Mr. Cui felt. As long as the person in front of him nodded, the marriage would be done.

Feeling that Mr. Cui's gaze on him was a little more intense, Mo Qingze almost couldn't hold it anymore. These days, Mr. Cui and Mrs. Cui are extremely enthusiastic towards him. Even with a thick head, he can guess the purpose of the Cui family.

It is undeniable that he does have a fondness for that gentle woman in his heart, and this good feeling has been there since the first time they met. Later, we met unexpectedly at home, and this good feeling deepened even more.

Perhaps it was fate destined by God. In the following days, they met twice more. Once in a silver building, he was choosing a birthday gift for his second daughter. With the other party's tactful reminder, he chose a very suitable set of jewelry. Once in Lan Kwai Fong, she was drinking tea and painting with some of her friends. Standing upstairs, he saw her painting a lifelike picture of a boy picking lotus flowers facing the water lilies in the lake.

After several unexpected encounters, this seemingly weak figure was embedded deeper and deeper into his heart. By the time he noticed it, it was too late to pull it out ruthlessly.

 The two men have their own thoughts. They have learned everything they need to know in the past few days, and there has not been much communication along the way. By the time we arrived at the Cui family, the sun had already set. The Cui family had raised red palace lanterns one after another. Wine and food had already been served on the quaint round table in the dining room.

The Cui family is very large and has many masters. Except for the fifteenth day of every month and New Year holidays, they almost always eat in their own courtyards. These days, Mo Qingze always eats in Mrs. Cui's yard. Apart from Mrs. Cui, the only one keeping company is Mr. Cui.

This time, as usual, Mrs. Cui was the only one sitting at the table waiting for them. Mo Qingze suppressed the disappointment in his heart, washed his hands in the water brought by the maid at Master Cui's urging, and sat on the right hand side of Mrs. Cui, while Master Cui sat on the left.

Sitting like this, it looks like two sons eating with their mother, if you ignore that they don’t have the slightest resemblance in appearance.

After dinner, Mr. Cui took his mother's hint and left with his feet on the pretext that he had something to do. He also sent a few maids out, leaving only Mo Qingze and Mrs. Cui in the house.

Mrs. Cui, who was sitting in the upper seat, looked at Mo Qingze, who was sitting below her, with deep affection in her shrewd eyes. Like her son Master Cui, Mrs. Cui was not dissatisfied with Mo Qingze at all, and as her understanding deepened, her love for the younger generation became deeper and deeper.

Mo Qingze lowered his head slightly and faced Mrs. Cui. This would not appear rude and make him less nervous.

 Can you not be nervous? After dinner, Mrs. Cui and Mr. Cui, mother and son, were chatting with Mo Qingze. There were also a bunch of beautiful maids in the room adding tea and water.

 There were only two people facing each other in the room today, and Mo Qingze could almost predict what would happen next. To use an inappropriate analogy, this is like a person waiting for trial. Guilt and innocence can be determined in an instant.

Even though he was prepared, what Mrs. Cui said the next moment still left Mo Qingze stunned for a moment!

"Master Mo, are you willing to marry Rou'er?" Mrs. Cui looked at Mo Qingze calmly and asked quietly. This expression seems to be asking, "Master Mo, does the food tonight taste good?"

Mo Qingze suddenly raised his head and looked at Mrs. Cui, somewhat suspecting that he was hallucinating. It wasn't until Mrs. Cui asked again with that indifferent expression that he knew this was not an illusion.

Suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart, Mo Qingze stood up. He wanted to follow his heart's thoughts and immediately agreed to say "yes", but his words changed when he said it: "Thanks to the old lady's love, I can marry Miss Cui. Being a wife is a great blessing for Qingze. However, Qingze still needs to care about his children's thoughts about marrying a wife. I hope the old lady will forgive me."

Hearing the previous words, Mrs. Cui's inner joy was about to show, but the last sentence made her heart sink suddenly. Her expression remained unchanged, but her tone became much more serious: "You mean, you have to ask what your children think when you marry a wife, and you only marry after they ask you to marry her?"

Mo Qingze shook his head and explained calmly: "Qingze insists on marrying Miss Cui as his wife. Their objections are useless, but they don't understand. Qingze is worried that Miss Cui will be wronged in the future."

Hearing this, Mrs. Cui somewhat understood what Mo Qingze meant, and she felt better: "If those three children don't agree, you won't marry?"

She would not be stupid enough to question who was more important in his heart, her daughter or his children. There was no comparison at all. She preferred that her daughter could live in harmony with the three children and live a comfortable life in the future.

When Mo Qingze heard this, a gentle smile appeared on his face: "The children will not disagree. Qingze just wants to know whether they will treat Miss Cui as a family."

Mrs. Cui looked at Mo Qingze in astonishment, as if she were meeting him for the first time. It was undeniable that she was touched by the words "family".

Mo Qingze stood quietly, letting Mrs. Cui look at her calmly. He loves his children, and he also likes the woman who has been engraved in his heart. If the child refuses to accept her, even if he insists on marrying her, he will not be very happy if the child has a thorn in his heart. Marrying her will harm her.

Mrs. Cui took a deep breath, and unexpectedly showed a smile on her face: "Those three children are grown up, it is not wrong for you to ask their opinions! If they are willing, you can send a matchmaker to come to propose marriage at any time. If If you don’t want to, I won’t blame you. Just pretend that tonight’s matter has never been mentioned before.”

Mo Qingze doesn’t want his children to be unhappy about getting married, and he doesn’t want the woman he likes to be wronged. As a mother, Mrs. Cui also doesn’t want her daughter to suffer if she gets married again. Rather than saying that she was unwilling to force Mo Qingze, it was better to say that she did it out of love for her daughter.

"This is what Qingze should do. Please rest assured, old lady." Mo Qingze bowed deeply to Mrs. Cui and thanked Mrs. Cui for her understanding. When he said the words to ask for the children's opinions, he was already ready to accept Mrs. Cui. He was glad that the old man in front of him loved her so much that no one would despise her even if he did not remarry.

 Mo Qingze had just left when a slim figure appeared in the house.

Seeing the person coming, Mrs. Cui showed a loving smile on her face. She waved for the woman to come to her, held her hand and asked: "Rou'er, you heard what I just said, what are you thinking? ?”

There was no trace of disappointment on Cui Qingrou's face, and her watery eyes unexpectedly added a hint of girlish shyness: "My daughter is not wrong about the person, he is worthy of her waiting."

Mrs. Cui touched her daughter's still young face and asked quietly: "You just identified him?"

Cui Qingrou nodded without hesitation, her gentle voice still full of firmness: "If it weren't for him, my daughter would not marry anyone else."

Mrs. Cui was not surprised after hearing this. Her daughter had said before that she would not marry again, and it was not easy to find someone who could make her relent. If things didn't work out this time, she would probably end up alone.

"You have paid attention in your heart. Mother will not interfere with you. I only hope that one day you and Lord Mo can achieve righteous cultivation, so that mother can really feel relieved."

“Mother, my daughter will be fine!” Cui Qingrou was touched by her mother’s open-mindedness and leaned on her mother with attachment. In front of her mother, she was still the child who would never grow up.

 …

Mo Qingze returned to the Number One Scholar's Mansion feeling uneasy and sat alone in the study for a long time without moving. It wasn't until Xiao Mofei came in to urge him to go to bed that he realized that it was already past the second watch.​

Mo Qingze stood up slowly and moved his stiff body and numb legs and feet until his blood flow became smooth and he regained his flexibility and returned to his desk.

Xiao Mo dissatisfiedly pecked his master's hand that was about to polish the ink, and yelled at him. He was very dissatisfied with his master who didn't go to bed on time.

Even if Mo Qingze doesn't understand the language of birds, he can still understand what Xiao Mo wants to express, and he comforts him helplessly: "Be good, I will just write a few words, and then rest after finishing writing."

Xiao Mo understood and stopped calling. He just stood on the desk and stared at his master. Apparently he was worried that his master would keep his word and it would be easy for him to supervise.

Mo Qingze nodded Xiao Mo's head in a puzzled manner. Under the supervision of the little thing, he opened the Mo pen and wrote a line of words on the paper.

After carefully folding the page and stuffing it into the mailbox tied to Xiao Mo's leg, Mo Qingze took out ten eggs and rice from the drawer and put it in his hand: "Eat quickly, and send the letter to me when you're done." Go home."

Little Mo's favorite food is eggs and rice. He finished the food in his owner's hand in a few seconds, looked at the closed drawer with salivation, and then opened his wings and flew into the night sky.

 The study room returned to its previous tranquility, with only the sound of the beeping wicks exploding. Mo Qingze's figure was projected on the window, looking particularly lonely.

Mo Yan was preparing medicinal materials in the space and didn't have time to sleep. When she came out of the space with the smell of medicinal materials, Xiao Mo had been "knocking" on the window for a long time, and her mouth was numb from pecking at it.

 Seeing Xiao Mo's stretched out leg, Mo Yan's heart moved and she quickly took out the note inside. When I opened it, there was only a short sentence on it: Dad wants to marry Cui Shi Qingrou, is it possible?

Mo Yan didn't expect her father to show off his cards so quickly. It seemed that he was already angry with the Cui family, and the Cui family was happy to do so. His father took into account the feelings of their siblings and wrote a letter specifically to ask for their opinions.

Mo Yan felt happy for her father in her heart, but her happiness was mixed with a little discomfort. Probably everyone would feel like this when they heard that their father had found their own happiness!

She blinked to hide the sourness in her eyes. She was about to write a reply to her father when she paused again. She had no objection and even raised her hands in agreement, but what about Xin'er? She cannot replace Xin'er's true thoughts.

Thinking of this, Mo Yan took a long breath, put away the letter and walked towards Xiner's yard...

In the next few days, Mo Qingze, who didn't receive even a word from his two daughters, couldn't see anything on his face, but he didn't feel good in his heart. No matter what decision his two daughters made, he would accept it, but subconsciously, he hoped for their understanding.

Zhen'er's side is not the problem. The Yun Zhao and Yun Sheng brothers have always followed the opinions of the three siblings. The only two daughters that Mo Qingze really cares about are his two daughters.

At the Cui family, Cui Qingrou seemed to be fine and lived her life as she should. Compared to her indifference, Mrs. Cui and Mr. Cui were much more nervous. Several times, Mr. Cui almost couldn't help but rush to the Hanlin Academy and forced Mo Qingze to send a matchmaker directly to his door.

 In such an unusual atmosphere, it’s time for a rest.

Mo Qingze returned to the No. 1 Scholar's Mansion with a touch of fatigue. He didn't see Zhen'er and Yun Zhao in the study. He was about to go look for them and ask them to pack their things and go home when he saw Zhen'er holding a letter in his hand. He ran over as fast as he could, shouting loudly as he ran, "Dad, please invite the matchmaker!"

 (End of this chapter)