Sir Song, do you want to pledge yourself to me?

Fucheng, Wen family.

Ever since the eldest son Wen Jieda was arrested by the government, Mr. Wen, after solving the problem of shortage of money at home, has been thinking about how to get his eldest son out.

He had made countless connections and spent countless sums of money. After Xu Tongzhi and his family were escorted to Beijing, Wen Jida's final verdict was finally delivered. He was convicted of serious crimes such as colluding with bandits and repeatedly forcibly abducting women, and was sentenced to exile 300 miles away and nine years of hard labor.

When the servant brought back the news, the eldest lady, who had been trying to hold on, finally couldn't accept the blow and fell ill.

The Second Wife, who had always been under the thumb of the First Wife, finally got the chance to step forward. Her first task was to arrange a marriage for her son, Wen Lao San.

Although the second wife is already middle-aged, she still has charm and speaks in a gentle and tender voice.

"Master," she whispered softly, with tears glistening in her eyes, but she just gently pressed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. The tears seemed to be about to overflow at any time, but they stayed at just the right time. "Look at Jihong, he is not young anymore. His brothers have already married and started families, but he is still alone, without even anyone to care about him. My heart is hurting more than a knife!" Her expression and tone were all like an old mother who was worried about her son's life-long affairs but was powerless to do anything.

Master Wen had always been a man who understood how to be compassionate and gentle with women. Seeing the Second Madam so aggrieved, he quickly and softly coaxed her, "It is indeed my fault for not reminding the First Madam earlier to arrange a marriage for Jihong. Now that the First Madam is ill and unable to get up, Jihong's marriage will be entirely up to you."

The Second Lady was delighted. She had not expected things to go so smoothly. She deliberately rubbed the softness of her chest against Master Wen's arm and said coquettishly, "Master, are you serious? That's great! I'll go and ask Jihong for marriage tomorrow!"

In her joy, she thought of the betrothal gifts and frowned slightly, saying, "Master, what should we do with Jihong's betrothal gifts? When the brothers before us got married, the betrothal gifts were all dozens of loads. Now that the treasury in our mansion has been robbed and money is tight, what can our son use as a betrothal gift? Master, you can't let Jihong down!"

The treasury was robbed and money was in short supply, so it was indeed not comparable to the situation of the previous son.

Master Wen's face tightened. He didn't answer but asked, "Are you going to propose marriage tomorrow? Have you already chosen someone in advance?"

The Second Lady saw the opportunity and didn't forget to flatter the First Lady: "What are you talking about, Master? The Madam has been holding us back for years. How could a woman like me from the backyard go to find a suitable match for our son? It's the girl Jihong chose himself. I heard that the young master of the Chen family also has a crush on her. Jihong said that the girl is very good."

Upon hearing this, Master Wen raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "The Chen family has also taken a fancy to her? Which girl is it? Tell me in detail so that I can see if I have any impression."

The Second Madam smiled slightly and replied, "That's Miss Ji from the clothing show at Floating Cloud Tower. Did you see her when you went there?"

Master Wen's heart moved.

He actually saw it!

Master Wen was always impressed by beautiful women. He remembered that Chen Zijing had introduced Miss Ji that day, saying that she was the behind-the-scenes owner of Fuyun Tower.

He knew exactly how prosperous the Fuyunlou business was, and how hot the Chen family's clothing sales had been recently. If he could marry into the Wen family, who had such a business acumen, why would the Wen family not prosper?

Thinking of this, Master Wen beamed with joy and made the decision, "San'er has good taste! I'll have the housekeeper prepare twelve loads of betrothal gifts overnight, and you can find the most prestigious matchmaker in the city. If the engagement goes smoothly tomorrow, I'll hand over the shop previously run by Ji Da to Ji Hong."

The Second Lady's face was filled with smiles, unable to conceal her inner joy. She asked, "Master, do you also think this marriage is a good one?"

Master Wen smiled and said, "It's good for Jihong and the Wen family that he can marry such a helper!"

While the Wen family was immersed in their sweet dreams, the Liu Mansion in the capital was in a scene of chaos and war.

Rumors abounded that Liu Chengxun, the grandson of the Minister of War, had suddenly fallen ill with a mysterious illness. During attacks, his bones felt as if they were being bitten by ants, causing excruciating pain. Even the imperial physicians were helpless, unable to diagnose the cause. However, this so-called "mysterious illness" was actually caused by poisoning—Liu Chengxun had been accidentally injured by a three-leaf dart coated with a strange poison, causing such agony.

In the room, Liu Chengxun was tied up on the bed with a cotton handkerchief stuffed in his mouth. He could only make low "woooo" sounds. The veins on his hands and neck were bulging, showing that he was suffering from unspeakable pain.

The eldest master Liu Zhi had a stern face, unable to bear to look at his youngest son on the bed, so he closed his eyes and sat quietly beside him.

Only Madam Liu remained seated by the bed, her hands tightly clutching the handkerchief, as if mother and child were connected, sharing the pain. She stared intently at the person struggling in pain on the bed, her eyes gleaming with excitement where no one could see.

"Sung Hoon... Sung Hoon, what's wrong with you? Don't scare your aunt!"

With this cry, the originally oppressive and tense atmosphere in the room was instantly broken.

Liu Wanfang rushed into the room crying, so fast that even Madam Liu didn't have time to react before she was pushed aside.

Seeing this, Madam Liu had no choice but to stand up and make way for her, while lowering her eyes to hide the mockery and disdain in them.

Liu Wanfang wiped the cold sweat from Liu Chengxun's face with a handkerchief, her hands trembling. Her voice choked with sobs: "Chengxun, does it hurt? You must hold on. Your aunt will do everything she can to save you."

Liu Hu, who followed her in, stood by the bed without saying a word, but his clenched hands revealed his inner emotions.

Liu Chengxun opened his eyes wide in pain, looking at his aunt Liu Wanfang who loved him the most, and howled "woooo", which made Liu Wanfang's tears roll down like beads from a broken string.

She took a deep breath, tried to calm herself down, wiped her tears, and turned to Liu Zhi and his wife: "Brother and sister-in-law, you must be tired after guarding here for so long. Go and rest for a while. I will take care of Chengxun here."

Madam Liu forced a smile and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sister."

Liu Zhi also nodded: "Call me if you need anything."

The couple then left the room.

After they left, Liu Wanfang finally couldn't hold back her tears again. She grabbed her brother Liu Hu's hand and begged, "Brother Xiaohu, you must think of a way to save Chengxun!"

After experiencing a terrifying night of sleeping with a head, Liu Wanfang was already terrified. Now her nephew was stabbed and poisoned, making her already haggard face even more exhausted.

Liu Hu patted her arm distressedly: "Wanmei, don't worry, I'm already doing my best to find a miracle doctor. Master Chengxun will definitely be saved."

He was filled with resentment when he thought of his equally crippled son, now a pile of mud, bedridden and needing constant care. And the young master he had protected like his own eyeball had also been poisoned, and it was his usual three-leaf dart that had wounded him.

Liu Hu has never felt time as tight as he does now.

"You should send more people out to look for him! I'm afraid Cheng Xun can't hold on. He's already had two attacks of poison in just a few days. The imperial physician my father called in hasn't found a way to alleviate the symptoms yet, and they haven't even figured out what kind of poison he's been infected with. Let's let that little bastard Song Jinbai go for now. The most important thing now is to do our best to find someone who can detoxify him." When Liu Wanfang mentioned Song Jinbai's name, her eyes were filled with deep hatred, and she wished she could eat his flesh and drink his blood.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements. I'll leave this to Sister Wan."

Liu Wanfang nodded with tears in her eyes, signaling Liu Hu to go ahead and do it. After everyone left, she leaned over to Liu Chengxun again and comforted him with a gentle but firm voice: "Chengxun, Auntie is here. Auntie will definitely save you. You must make it through this."

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