Flowers in full bloom

But Hualei is only thirteen years old now, and it will take another two years before she can get rid of the mourning period and talk about marriage. By then, Jing'an will be twenty years old. If the other party does not agree to the marriage, it will delay her son Jing'an.

As for the engagement, it was guessed by my father-in-law and mother-in-law. Although there is no definite news, there is no hatred or love without reason in this world.

Hua Lei moved into the Marquis' Mansion, and it was very likely that this was the marriage that Marquis Pei arranged for his grandson.

"Although your grandparents and I don't have any definite news, you think she would live in the Marquis' Mansion for no reason, and the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion likes her so much that she would take care of everything for this girl.

Why is that? It's probably because of the engagement." Hong didn't deliberately say that she had definite news.

"I also heard that Han Bianxiu's daughter in the Hanlin Academy has lived in the Marquis' Mansion since she was a child, just so that she and her cousin could be childhood sweethearts." Gui Jing'an said.

Hong sighed, she had also heard this news. It was said that Han Bianxiu's wife had announced to the public that the eldest grandson of the marquis's mansion was the son-in-law she had chosen.

"Jing'an, even if there is no engagement, it is impossible for you two to be together. Do you want her to be accused of being unfilial by talking about marriage during the mourning period?"

"No, I don't want to embarrass her."

"So, you have to know that she still has two years of mourning period. It is impossible for her to get married within these two years. Wait two years and you will be twenty years old. If you go to her then, what will you do if she doesn't like you and has no interest in you? You will really waste your time." Mrs. Hong said earnestly.

"But... Mom, I just like her. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. I don't care that she is so much younger than me, and I don't care about her family background.

I just like her as a person. She is open-minded and calculating in her actions, but she has a bottom line. She can openly compete with my grandfather for the right to sell, and when she gets something good from my grandfather, she is also willing to openly give up her own interests.

She is kind, fights for the interests of the poor, and also obtains her own interests in an upright manner. I just like her openness. "

Gui Jingan said firmly.

Hong nodded and said, "To be honest, when I met her today, I liked her very much. She is pretty and smart, and she has a very good personality. She is really open and not shy.

But marriage is marriage, and business is business. Although she is willing to do business with your grandfather, it does not mean that she likes you and is willing to marry you. "Hong advised.

"If she is not in mourning, I can ask someone to go to the Marquis' Mansion to ask for you tomorrow, but this is not possible. Her situation does not allow it. And you can't wait."

Gui Jingan lowered his head in pain, "Mom, let me think about it."

"Alas, you child..." Seeing her son's sad face, Mrs. Hong stopped talking. She also understood the feelings of the young man Mu Ai. And Hua Lei, apart from her family background, was indeed a very good object for Mu Ai.

"Okay, you take a break. I'm going to go back now. We'll have lunch soon. Don't look so dejected, or you'll get scolded by your grandfather."

Hong returned to her room, while Gui Jing'an still sat there, lost in thought.

Here, Hualei walked briskly back to Yingfeng Courtyard. Madam Pei and the others had not returned yet.

Several servants were guarding the courtyard. Hualei said hello and took Qingying back to the room where she and Zhenzhu lived. After drinking a sip of tea, she lay on the couch to rest, thinking about the enrollment of the Imperial College.

It would be great if Xiaoyuan had the chance to be admitted to the Imperial College. In the future, he could also take the imperial examination in the capital city as a student of the Imperial College, but I wonder how difficult the exam would be?

When Pei Rongjin took the Imperial College entrance exam, he was already taking the exam for Class B, which was not on the same level as Class D, so there should have been no test paper.

Hua Lei wanted to go to the printing house of the Beicheng District Jijiu family to get the test papers and review materials. Just as she was lost in thought, she heard the voices of Rong Jin and the others coming from the front. They should be back.

When they arrived at Yingfeng Courtyard in the morning, they only took a quick look at their rooms and rushed out immediately, not knowing what they were going to do.

Hua Lei stood up, straightened her clothes, and went to the front yard with Qingying, where she saw Pei Rongjin, along with eight or nine other young men from the Marquis's Mansion, coming back with fishing rods and buckets. It seemed they had gone fishing.

Xiaoyuan came over carrying a small bucket, "Sister, look, we caught fish, and Rong Jue said we can make fish soup for lunch. He likes fish soup the best, and I like it too, look." Xiaoyuan put the bucket in front of Hualei.

Hua Lei leaned over to take a look and saw that there were indeed four or five fish. The big one was longer than an adult's palm, and the other three or four small ones were only half the size of an adult's palm.

Rong Jue, who is one year older than Xiaoyuan, was holding a fishing rod and said happily to Hua Lei, "Sister Hua, look, the fish in this bucket were caught by Xiaoyuan and I together. We caught a lot of fish. The biggest one was caught by me, and these three were caught by Xiaoyuan. Aren't we awesome?" He looked like he was asking for praise.

Hua Lei couldn't help but laugh, she leaned down slightly, patted Rong Jue's little shoulder and praised.

"Wow, Rong Jue is so amazing, he caught such a big fish. Xiao Yuan is also good, he caught three. Both of you are amazing, you can have fish soup at noon."

"Yes, yes, fish soup is my favorite."

The nine-year-old Rong Jue is the son of Pei Jingyan, the third son of the Marquis's family. Pei Jingyan is called the Fourth Master Pei in the mansion.

In recent years, Master Pei has been serving as the magistrate of a county in the south with a concubine. His wife, Ruan, stayed in the mansion with their two sons and one daughter. Rong Jue is the eldest son of Pei Jingyan and Ruan. He is smart and strong, and he has always gotten along well with Xiaoyuan.

The two of them were inseparable in the clan school. At the beginning of the year, Xiaoyuan moved from Qihuayuan to the front yard and lived in the yard next to Rongjue. The two of them went in and out together every day. Today, when they went outside, they were still together.

Rong Jin came over and joked, "Rong Jue, you can just drink the fish soup at noon, you don't need to eat other dishes."

Then he looked at Hua Lei and asked softly, "Sister Hua, do you like fish soup or braised fish? We caught a lot of fish today, so I'll ask the kitchen to add more dishes."

"Uh," Hua Lei was a little unable to accept the name "Little Sister Hua". Although Zhenzhu often called her that, it felt weird when Rong Jin called her that. She took a few steps back carefully and replied, "I'm fine with it. I like it."

"My sister likes to drink fish soup. She doesn't know how to eat fish. In the past, she could never spit out the fish bones when she ate fish. My grandfather said that my sister was the dumbest, so he always asked Aunt Song to make fish ball soup for my sister, for fear that she would get a fish bone stuck in her throat," Xiaoyuan at the side interrupted.