Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

When Miss Zhang arrived at the county government office, Lu Mingyuan was having breakfast with Chen Shao and others.

Lu Mingyuan ate absent-mindedly.

He didn't sleep well last night. On the one hand, he was very worried about Miss Zhang's situation. On the other hand, he was thinking, since Miss Zhang was so insistent on this marriage, should he also insist with her?

He certainly couldn't give Miss Zhang a rich life at the moment, but he would definitely pass the imperial examination in the future. Even if he didn't pass, he could always pass the imperial examination. By then, he could find a job in the prefectural government or the county government, and he would always be able to support them.

Besides, the marriage between him and Miss Zhang was arranged by her father, and he insisted on not backing out, so her father had no choice but to accept it.

I tossed and turned in my thoughts for most of the night, and when daybreak was about to break, I dozed off for most of the hour.

At this moment, when he suddenly heard the news that Miss Zhang was coming, Lu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment, then he stood up abruptly, looked outside quickly, walked quickly to the center of the hall, and bowed to Chen Shao and said, "Miss Zhang was implicated by her students and suffered this disaster. Please make a decision for her and give her freedom!"

What a fool!

Miss Zhang was not stubborn at all, it was obvious that she had chosen him.

Even though he reminded him yesterday, he still couldn't see clearly.

I really don’t know where all the books of sages and wise men he read went!

Magistrate Wang quietly winked at his attendant and asked him to take Miss Zhang to the dining room. He then turned around and spoke before Chen Shao could, "My dear nephew, listen to my advice. There are so many women in this world. Don't bother Miss Zhang anymore. The more you bother her, the harder it will be for Miss Zhang. Just live your life peacefully. When you pass the imperial examination in the future, you can marry any Miss Zhang or Miss Li."

"Your Excellency has misunderstood," Lu Mingyuan explained seriously, "I did not pester Miss Zhang. I wanted to ask Master Chen to say a few good words for Miss Zhang so that she can make her own decision on marriage."

"You still say you didn't bother Miss Zhang?" Magistrate Wang shook his head and sighed, then stood up and walked over to him. After patting his shoulder comfortingly, he forcibly pulled his arm and said as he walked back, "Miss Zhang is determined to marry you, and you let her decide her own marriage. Isn't that asking the adults to fulfill your wish? Tell me yourself, if the Zhang family agrees to your marriage, can you still stand here and let Lord Chen decide for you?"

Lu Mingyuan struggled and said, "We can't let Miss Zhang be forced to marry her cousin. I have already found out clearly that her cousin..."

Magistrate Wang pushed him back to his seat and stuffed the chopsticks into his hands. "No matter how bad her cousin is, he is still her cousin. To be honest, no matter how bad her cousin is, he is better than you."

Lu Mingyuan wanted to refute, but he didn't know where to start. He opened his mouth for a long time before he managed to utter a sentence: "Your Excellency is wrong. If Miss Zhang's cousin is really better than me, why doesn't Miss Zhang want to marry him?"

"Look, you're saying it again, aren't you?" Magistrate Wang said earnestly, "Miss Zhang doesn't want to marry him because she was engaged to you first and she has already decided on you. For now, as long as you don't continue to pester her, after some time, Miss Zhang will know that you have no interest in her and will naturally stop insisting. By then, no matter whether her cousin is good or bad, won't she have to marry him willingly?"

"Who said I would marry him willingly?" Miss Zhang followed her entourage and heard what Magistrate Wang said. She immediately retorted, "If Master Lu really doesn't want to marry me, I can become a nun or end my life with a white silk. There are many choices. Who said that I will definitely submit if they force me?"

"Miss Zhang," Lu Mingyuan stood up again and looked at her with messy hair and untidy clothes. He was shocked and said, "You..."

Miss Zhang calmly fixed her hairpin, straightened her clothes, turned around, and said calmly, "Don't worry, I'm not here to force you to marry me or to kill myself. I just want to ask you a question. As long as you answer me honestly, from now on, we will go our separate ways and not bother each other!"

Lu Mingyuan quickly bowed and said, "Miss Zhang, feel free to ask me anything you want to ask. As long as I can answer, I will tell you everything I know."

Miss Zhang turned around, suppressed her emotions, bowed to Chen Shao and Gu Feiyan, and said, "Please also ask the lord and the general to be my witnesses."

Chen Shao was quite interested: "Okay."

Miss Zhang bowed again: "Thank you, sir."

Turning around, Miss Zhang looked at Lu Mingyuan, her tone firm and powerful: "Three years ago, although my father believed the rumors, he also betrothed me to you after careful investigation. You did not reject this marriage at that time, so you must have approved of me. Now my father has broken his promise to you, simply because you failed the provincial examination last year. Parents who love their children will plan for them in the long run. I don't think there is anything wrong with my father worrying that I will suffer if I marry you. But you..."

"I have never suffered from hardship since I was a child. You should have known this when you agreed to this marriage. I thought that as a man, you should have made sure that I would not suffer after marrying you, instead of obeying my father's wishes and canceling this marriage. I originally thought that you had no choice but to do so because my father and uncle pushed me too far. But now I want to ask you in front of all the adults, did you cancel the engagement with me because you were forced by my father and uncle, or did you also think that you would not have any future in your life and that if I married you, I would only suffer?"

Lu Mingyuan's face flushed red. He looked at Chen Shao, Gu Feiyan, Zhou Lao, and County Magistrate Wang. Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, his neck also turned red. "No, it's not like that. I promised your father to cancel the engagement because I really can't let you live a rich life now, and I don't want to embarrass you."

Miss Zhang didn't waste time talking to him and asked directly, "So, you will take part in the scientific examination again?"

Lu Mingyuan answered affirmatively: "Yes."

Miss Zhang said seriously: "If I still acknowledge our marriage now, are you willing to marry me?"

"Nonsense!" Miss Zhang's uncle Yang Yi hurried over, glared at Miss Zhang fiercely, and then bowed to Chen Shao, Gu Feiyan, Zhou Lao and others, saying, "Huai Jin is still young and was just fooling around. I apologize to all the adults for disturbing her. I hope you can forgive me."

"Your marriage with Master Lu is just a hastily decided plan to save your father's life after being deceived by rumors. How can it count? Besides, Master Lu has already broken off the engagement. If you insist on asking him to marry you, where will your father, your mother, and Liu Zhu's face be?" Before Chen Shao and the others could speak, Yang Yi turned to Miss Zhang and criticized her harshly, "If you still have your father and your mother in your eyes, then quickly apologize to the adults and come back with me!"