The Legend of the Farm Girl

On the tenth day of July, Yunfang's family got up early, cleaned up the house and prepared rich dishes. Everyone wore new clothes. This was the day agreed with the Li family to come and ask for the bride price.

Soon, Li Muwen's family also came to Yunfang's house in their best clothes. In addition to their family, there was also a matchmaker who was dressed up beautifully. This matchmaker was an official matchmaker. After the betrothal ceremony was over today, she would report the marriage of Yunfang and Li Muwen to the government. This was a real formal marriage.

At the instruction of the Li family, the matchmaker began to shout loudly as soon as she entered the alley: "Great news, great news, today the scholar of the Li family is going to propose to the beautiful girl of the Yun family, Yun Fang. It is really a match made in heaven!"

Hearing the matchmaker's shouting, many people came out to take a look. When they heard that she was proposing to Yunfang, they immediately thought of the farce three days ago. They thought to themselves that this Lady Shi had hinted that Yunfang had a scandal and could not get married, but today she was engaged with such fanfare, and the matchmaker was a young and promising scholar. It seemed that this Lady Shi was becoming more and more reckless. They should have less contact with their families in the future.

Shi Niangzi already had a bad reputation in this alley because of her love of taking advantage of others, and now it is even worse. After Yunfang got engaged, no one in the entire alley paid any attention to Shi Niangzi. Her husband was also often ridiculed for having a troublemaker in the family. No wonder he had been a student all his life. The family soon couldn't stand it anymore and sold the house and moved somewhere else.

But that’s all later. What’s important today is Li Muwen and Yun Fang’s betrothal ceremony.

When the group arrived at the Yun family, the matchmaker knocked on the door and said, "There is a girl in your house named Yunfang, who is fifteen years old, filial and polite, and has a lovely appearance. Today, Li's Mu Wen is here to ask for her hand in marriage. If you agree, please open the door."

This is a fixed procedure. At this time, Yun Fangniang needs to go and open the door to prove that she is satisfied with the person who came to propose marriage.

Yun Fangniang quickly stepped forward and opened the gate.

Li Muwen came in carrying a pair of wild geese and handed them to Yunfang. The rest of the Li family handed the gifts to Yunfang's mother Yunfeng and Yunying in turn.

This was the first step in completing the marriage proposal. Then Li Muwen expressed his determination to Yunfang Niang. He said, "Aunt Qu, everyone knows how much I love Yunfang. I will definitely make her happy and successful throughout her life."

Yunfang's mother nodded with tears in her eyes and said, "Mu Wen, you are the child I have watched grow up. Today I agree to marry Yunfang to you. You must keep your promise and don't let her down."

Li Muwen nodded firmly.

Yunfang's mother then handed the post that had been prepared long ago, which contained Yunfang's birth date and name, to Li Muwen's mother, thus completing the process of asking for the name.

Afterwards, the Li family will find someone to match the birth dates of Li Muwen and Yunfang. If the dates match, the Li family will formally propose marriage, and at that time they will bring gift money, wedding cakes, and offerings as a gift to establish the alliance.

There will be a matchmaker involved in the entire process, and after the marriage, there will be traces to prove that the two were married in a formal way.

After the questioning was over today, everything that could be done for the day was over. Yun Fang's mother invited everyone into the house and laid out the dishes that had been prepared long ago. The two families officially had their first meal together as in-laws.

Li Muwen and Yunfang could not sit together at this time, but Li Muwen kept looking at Yunfang with his burning eyes, which made Yunfang blush, made the two families smile, and made the matchmaker sigh that the two were the most suitable couple among the newlyweds she had matched.

After finishing their meal, the Li family went straight to find a Taoist priest to inquire about the two people’s horoscopes. The result they got was naturally that the horoscopes were very good and the marriage was a gift from heaven.

So the next day, the Li family and the matchmaker who had come yesterday, carried the betrothal gifts to the Yun family with the beating of gongs and drums.

There were four loads of betrothal gifts, all filled to the brim, which showed the Li family's satisfaction with Yun Fang and their importance to the Yun family.

The two families discussed the wedding date again, and when matching their horoscopes, the Taoist priest also gave several suitable dates for the couple to get married, namely October 26th of this year, June 16th of next year, and October 6th of next year.

The two families sat together to discuss the matter. At this time, it was not Yunfang and Li Muwen's turn to speak. The people who discussed the matter were mainly the mothers of both parties.

The Li family wanted it to happen as soon as possible, but Yun Fang's mother couldn't bear to part with her daughter, so the two of them finally chose June 16th of next year. This way, there would be nearly a year, which was enough time for both parties to prepare for the wedding.

After this day, Yunfang and Li Muwen officially became an engaged couple.

Yunfang's mother's health can be said to have completely recovered. She was full of energy. After Yunfang's engagement was completed, she went to Yun's Garment Shop the next day.

Now the Li family and the Yun family have become relatives, but this does not affect Aunt Li's work in the Yun's Garment Shop. Everything is still the same as usual for them, but they are closer.

Before going to Yun's Clothing Shop, Yunfang's mother also gave Yunfang a task. She asked Yunfang to start preparing her wedding dress, in addition to quilt covers, inner clothes, shoes, etc.

Yunfang can make all these things by herself.

Yunfang's mother gave Yunfang the money for shopping, and Yunfang said in surprise: "Mom, I have money."

Yun Fang's mother's eyes turned red again, and she said, "Your money is for your bottom line. I have to prepare your dowry for you. This is the responsibility of every mother. Also, don't give me half of the money you earn from Linglong Embroidery Workshop. You should save it all for your bottom line as your dowry. You have to know that a woman will have confidence only if she has money in her husband's family."

Yunfang's eyes also turned red, and she said, "Mom, what are you talking about! You and your brothers are the most important to me. My brothers still have to go to school, and they will need a lot of money in the future. I can't live well while you live poorly! After I get married, I will give you half of my wages like before, and the rest will be enough for me to spend."

Yun Fang's mother said, "Shut up. After you get married, I will never want you again, and neither will your brother. You should know that after you get married, you will not only be my daughter, but also Li Muwen's wife, the daughter-in-law of the Li family, and even someone's mother. If you continue to support us like this, not only will you have a hard time, but your brother and I will also be criticized."

Yunfang was a smart person and understood her mother's good intentions immediately. She cried and said, "Mom, I will get married in a year. I will give you all my wages from Linglong Embroidery Workshop this year. Can you use this money to prepare a dowry for me? My brothers are too young and they will have to get married and have children in the future. If you don't agree, how can I feel at ease!"

Yunfang's mother hugged Yunfang and said, "Okay."

After the mother and daughter agreed, Yunfang went to Linglong Embroidery Workshop and found Manager An.

Seeing Yunfang, Manager An asked first: "Yunfang, how is your mother?"

Yunfang replied, "My mother is well now. I came here today to tell Shopkeeper An that I can resume embroidery work."

Shopkeeper An nodded and said, "There is no work needed for top-level embroiderers recently. You can take a break or come to the embroidery workshop and embroider some to sell. The evaluation will be the same as before, and the wages will be half a cent higher than those of first-class embroiderers."

Yunfang nodded and thought about it, thinking that since she wanted to embroider things for her wedding, the environment of an embroidery room would be most suitable.

After a while, Yunfang said, "Manager An, before I get married, I will come to Linglong Embroidery Workshop to work every day."

Shopkeeper An nodded and said, "Are you starting today?"

Yunfang was a little hesitant. She had not bought the cloth for her wedding dress yet, and she also needed to prepare the embroidery thread and needles herself. She could not use those from the embroidery workshop.

Seeing Yunfang's hesitation, Manager An said, "I don't mean to ask you to go to work right away. You can come anytime you want."

Shopkeeper An treats Yunfang particularly well. This is because Yunfang's performance in the capital has spread to Yiqing County. The folding screen with a picture of a hundred children celebrating a birthday, which Yunfang participated in embroidering, is praised as the most exquisite work of Linglong Embroidery Workshop. Although Shopkeeper An has never seen Yunfang's embroidery, as the top embroiderer in Linglong Embroidery Workshop, Shopkeeper An can only try to please her.

Yunfang herself did not realize that the folding screen with a hundred children celebrating a birthday had already had a great impact on her reputation.

Yunfang nodded and then said, "Is it okay for me to embroider my own dowry in the embroidery room?"

At this time, Manager An asked in surprise: "Are you engaged? When is the wedding date?"

Yunfang blushed and nodded, saying, "It's scheduled for June 16th of next year. I hope the shopkeeper can do me the honor of coming to drink a glass of wedding wine then."

Shopkeeper An nodded with a smile and said, "Of course you can embroider in the embroidery room. There are needles and threads. If other embroiderers want to embroider their own things, they have to prepare them themselves. I will make an exception. If you want to embroider your own wedding dress, you can use the things in the embroidery workshop. You are the top embroiderer in our embroidery workshop. When others see your embroidered clothes, it will also be the face of our Linglong Embroidery Workshop."

Yunfang thanked Shopkeeper An and said, "Then Shopkeeper An, I will go and prepare some more things first, and then come to Linglong Embroidery Workshop to work tomorrow."

Shopkeeper An smiled and nodded, then sent Yunfang out.

The scene of Shopkeeper An sending Yunfang away happened to be seen by the second young master Yu. He called Shopkeeper An and asked, "Was that Yunfang the embroiderer just now? Was there any work for her?"

Shopkeeper An bowed and replied, "My Lord, that is indeed Miss Yunfang. The Zhao family had appointed her a few days ago, but her mother was ill, so she did not go. Today she came to tell me that her mother is well again, but there is no work for her recently, so I asked her to come to the embroidery room to embroider some embroidery pieces to hang in front. She is an excellent embroiderer, and displaying her embroidery pieces will make our Linglong Embroidery Workshop more attractive to customers."

Yu Jingyu nodded and asked, "So what is she doing?"

Shopkeeper An replied, "She must have gone to buy things for her dowry. She has already set a date for her wedding. It is an unwritten rule in our embroidery workshop that embroiderers can embroider their own dowry in the embroidery room."

Yu Jingyu's eyes widened: "She's getting married? Who is she going to marry? Then Lu..." He asked the first two questions very loudly, and it was hard to hear what he said in the last two sentences.

Manager An could only answer the first two sentences: "I heard that she has set the date for June 16th of next year. I didn't ask who she was with, but didn't the driver say that she went to the city with a handsome young man? It should be that young man!"

Yu Jingyu couldn't control the expression on his face and said, "No, that's impossible. Go and find out who Yunfang is engaged to. If you find out, come back and tell me immediately."

Seeing that the young master was so anxious, Shopkeeper An quickly agreed.

This matter was not difficult to inquire about. Manager An arrived near Yunfang's home and made some inquiries. He then learned that Yunfang was engaged to a scholar named Li Muwen. He also learned that it was Lady Shi who slandered Yunfang that led to their engagement so quickly.

Did she go back and tell the second young master what she had found out?

After listening to this, Yu Jingyu couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that Yunfang really didn't suffer much damage, and she recovered quite quickly."

Shopkeeper An also heard Yu Jingyu's sigh, but she was confused and didn't know what the young master meant. However, she knew the current situation and knew that it was not her business to ask, so she wisely kept silent.

Yu Jingyu sent the clothing shopkeeper An away, turned around, took out a pen and paper, and suggested writing first: My brother Yunze.

It turned out that he wanted to write a letter to Lu Liding, whose real name was Lu Yunze.

After telling Lu Yunze everything he had found out, Yu Jingyu called his followers and asked them to take the letter to the capital and give it to Lu Yunze.

Yes, Lu Yunze had returned to the capital the day after he parted with Yun Fang. After returning to the capital, he stayed indoors and memorized all the poems and articles Yun Fang had written for him. He then burned the books. He had decided to treat these poems and articles as his own. When he became famous, even if Yun Fang came forward and pointed out that these were written by her master, who would believe it?

When he recited these poems and articles, he would occasionally think of that gentle and lovely figure, but who could blame her for her poor family background? They were born from two different worlds.

When Yu Jingyu's letter arrived, Lu Yunze was about to hold a poetry meeting. This was the first step for him to send his talent to the sky. To say that his talent was only average among these young masters in the capital before, but from today on, he will become an existence that they can hardly reach.

After reading Yu Jingyu's letter, Lu Yunze was stunned for a moment, but he quickly put the matter behind him. From then on, he and Yunfang had nothing to do with each other anymore, and he was going to pursue his own path to success.

Yunfang didn't know that the second young master Yu had told Lu Yunze about her engagement. She went to find her mother and told her that she would be working at Linglong Embroidery Workshop every day. She also went with her mother to buy cloth for embroidering her wedding dress.

Because she didn't need to go to Linglong Embroidery Workshop until tomorrow, Yunfang stayed in the garment shop to help after preparing the necessary things that day. Yunfang's mother was afraid that it would be awkward between her and her future mother-in-law, so she asked Yunfang to go to the backyard to see the women making clothes.

When it was closing time, Li Muwen also came. When he saw Yunfang, his eyes immediately lit up. Without the previous shyness, he walked directly to Yunfang and said, "Sister Fanger, how was your day today?"

Compared to Li Muwen's open concern, Yunfang felt embarrassed. She was not used to the change in her status, so she could only bite the bullet and answer, "I had a good day today. I have to go to work at Linglong Embroidery Workshop tomorrow, and I have to prepare for the embroidery wedding..." Yunfang blushed and was too embarrassed to continue.

Li Muwen did not ask Yunfang what she wanted to embroider. She just said gently, "Then starting tomorrow, I will go to the embroidery workshop to pick you up after work, okay?"

Yunfang shook her head and Li Muwen was a little disappointed.

Yunfang saw that Li Muwen was a little disappointed, and hurriedly explained: "I'm afraid that it will affect your studies."

Li Muwen said hurriedly: "No, I usually came to pick up my mother from the academy at that time."

After hearing this, Yunfang had no choice but to nod and agree.