Marrying Gold and Jade

Chapter 15 Wan Ying is finally here

Lin Ji and he did have some mutual admiration.

Firstly, when the two were studying together in Yingtian Prefecture, they had similar political views; secondly, they had similar backgrounds, as both were "adopted sons."

The slight difference is that Shen Lian's adoptive father is the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty. Although the two of them are master and apprentice, the Grand Tutor is over fifty years old and has never married or had children. Therefore, although he is a student, Shen Lian is no different from his nephew.

The city was busy, and although they took the exam in the same place, Lin Ji was at the top of the list, while Shen Lian was only in the third place. They did not stay in Beijing for long and were soon sent out.

Lin Ji had paid attention to Shen Lian when he took office as prefect. Shen Lian was also in Songjiang, serving as the magistrate of Huating County.

Thinking of his best friend who was his former chess rival, Lin Ji said with emotion: "With your talent, no matter how bad you are, you won't be ranked in the top three."

"Yes, yes!" Cheng Kesong put down his teacup and said, "Brother Shen is such a great man. I'm waiting to see whether the top scholar will be you or Brother Lin this year. Who wants you..."

The young man realized later that what he said was inappropriate and stopped talking.

Shen Lian didn't care much, and only said to Lin Ji: "With your title of top scholar, you should be working as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. Why did you return to Songjiang and become a prefect that even a second-class Jinshi would despise?"

"Yes, yes, why is that?"

Cheng Kesong held the pastry and waited for the two to explain.

Unexpectedly, they looked at each other in silence, and after a while, they turned their eyes away, then laughed and shook their heads gently.

In fact, Lin Ji could probably guess that Shen Lian's teacher retired this year due to illness because he had a dispute with the current emperor.

And that dispute happened to become the topic of this year's spring examination.

Shen Lian's policy essay must have been in agreement with Grand Tutor Shen and went against the emperor's will, which is why the examiner ranked him out of the top three.

And why did I leave the Hanlin Academy...

The beautiful face of the girl appeared before his eyes, and Lin Ji did not feel any regret.

"Hey, my two brothers, can anyone say something?" Cheng Kesong ate a piece of pastry and didn't hear a sound.

It was Shen Lian who took the initiative to change the subject: "Just now by the rockery, I heard a good piano player. I wonder who in your family is good at playing the piano?"

Lin Ji's expression changed slightly.

Cheng Kesong immediately responded, "Of course it must be Sister Yu. I was lucky enough to listen to her coming-of-age ceremony once. It was truly... like hearing heavenly music. My ears were temporarily enlightened."

The young man's exaggerated words made people laugh. Lin Ji secretly eased his nervousness and said, "It's Ayu, my adoptive father's only daughter."

But I couldn't help but ask: "Have you seen her?"

Shen Lian shook his head gently, "The clouds and mist are shrouding the mountains, and the green mountains are not visible. It's just a spiritual connection."

Lin Ji was about to relax when he heard Shen Lian say, "But if I am lucky enough, could I introduce your sister to you?"

"See, see, see, I have to see you!" Cheng Kesong chimed in, "Sister Yu is a rare beauty, one you will never forget! Even my sister, who is so stubborn, praises her beauty in private."

The beauty was a good zither player, she took him as a confidant, and she was also a beauty. Even Shen Lian had to admit that he was very interested in her at the moment.

But when he turned his gaze to Lin Ji, the beautiful woman's "brother", he saw that he avoided him.

After hesitating for a while, he just said, "Ayu has been ill recently and cannot meet guests."

There was nothing wrong with what he said, but Shen Lian had known him for many years and was able to keenly sense something.

So he stared at him without saying anything.

The silence lasted for a long time, and Cheng Kesong silently picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Why do I feel that the atmosphere is suddenly weird?

"Okay," Shen Lian spoke first, "Then we'll meet again some other day if we're lucky."

The dining room that night.

Although Lin Yu explained that she was not familiar with the person, Cheng Kejia did not give up and kept asking her questions for two hours, making her mouth dry from talking until now.

There was an empty seat at the table.

Lin Jianchang was not there. He said he was out of town to take care of a shop.

Lin Yu had a hunch that he was going to pick up Wan Ying.

I remember Wan Ying herself said that her home was in a remote area and the mountain road was extremely difficult to travel.

While he was daydreaming, Ruan smiled and said, "Today a young man named Shen came to our house. Did you see him?"

Surnamed Shen.

He was the one who discussed playing the zither with me under the water pavilion.

Lin Yu answered truthfully: "We never met, but we did exchange a few words."

The woman's gentle features showed a deeper smile. "He is your brother's best friend. He is now the magistrate of Huating. We know him well, and he is not married yet."

"I took a look at him when he left today. Although he is young, he looks very strong and reliable."

The more Lin Yu listened, the more he felt something was wrong. "Mother means..."

"How about inviting him over some other day so you two can meet him?"

My mother hates getting married more than I do.

Lin Yu said: "I can see him, but mother please don't scare him."

Ruan was not convinced: "How can I, a woman, scare him?"

Lin Yu pursed her lips.

Ruan turned to the silent Lin Ji and said, "In half a month, it will be Ah Ji's birthday. It just so happens that he passed the imperial examination this year, so we should hold a party. Why not send an invitation to Young Master Shen as well?"

Lin Yu then looked at the only man at the dinner table and saw that he had his eyes downcast, as if he was not interested in his marriage at all.

Just as usual, he replied calmly: "I will follow mother's arrangements."

Lin Yu later learned the man's name: Shen Lian.

Thinking of that person's clear voice and meeting him by the water pavilion, I sighed that the name complemented each other perfectly.

However, thinking about that person, Lin Yu quickly put him out of his mind.

It was three days later than in the previous life. The afternoon was too hot and stuffy, so Lin Yu hid in the house and "talked" to Ming Yuan.

Two pens, a piece of paper, and June Snow placed in the corner of the desk, the two of them wrote slowly and calmly.

Lin Yu asked him if he still remembered his family.

He said he didn't remember.

Lin Yu asked again how he ended up wandering away.

He said that his family had offended someone, but he couldn’t remember who it was.

Lin Yu wanted to ask him how he became mute, but after looking at the first few lines of words, he guessed that he either didn't remember it or didn't want to say it out loud.

So she stopped writing, glanced at his wrist, and suddenly asked, "Where's the bell?"

Mingyuan put down his pen and pulled his sleeves down.

Lin Yu now understood his demeanor and couldn't help but wonder, "Lost?"

He immediately shook his head again.

After a pause, he took out a piece of silk cloth from his arms and slowly unfolded it.

Inside was a loose red rope and the original golden bell.

Seeing that he was very nervous with his eyes downcast, Lin Yu chuckled softly.

"The red rope is just broken. Just tell me and I'll replace it for you."

After saying that, she got up and went to look for it in front of the dressing table.

Just as she bent down a few inches, a voice of "girl" interrupted her movement.

Lin Yu straightened up as if sensing something.

He turned around calmly and asked, "What's wrong?"