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

Study in the Song residence.

The afternoon sun shines through the window lattice and falls on the quaint table, giving this quiet space a faint golden glow.

After Song Jinbai returned from Taohua Village, he went straight into the study. Ji Nuan's smiling face kept coming to his mind, and it seemed that he could only express it through the brush in his hand.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Jin Bai, now that you have a lover, you even ignore your senior brother. You are really inhumane to the opposite sex!" Cui Jingrang walked into the study, shaking his head and smiling, with a teasing expression on his face.

"Senior brother."

Song Jinbai stood up, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and then he regained his composure.

Cui Jingrang noticed the painting on Song Jinbai's desk at a glance, and his curiosity grew. He hurried over and pulled the drawing paper off the table almost before Song Jinbai could react.

"Let me see, what is it?"

He looked carefully at the woman in the painting. The delicate brushstrokes, vivid expression, and the sleeves that seemed to sway in the wind all made him admire her involuntarily.

"Tsk! The painting is quite vivid."

Cui Jingrang nodded as he read, looking at Song Jinbai with a hint of ridicule, "I say, you're hiding in the study in the middle of the night, secretly painting a portrait of an unmarried woman. Isn't this behavior... a little inappropriate?"

"Senior brother, please give it back to me!" Seeing that Cui Jingrang was still holding the drawing paper, Song Jinbai couldn't help but get anxious and quickly reached out to ask for it.

Cui Jingrang let go of his hand, handed the drawing paper back to Song Jinbai, and looked at him with narrowed eyes and a gossipy look.

"Are you so anxious already? Tell me, what exactly do you think of that girl?"

Song Jinbai took the drawing paper and gently rolled it up, a blush spreading across his face. "Brother, don't you already know?" he whispered, a hint of shyness in his voice. "I've been attracted to Miss Ji for a long time and I sincerely want to marry her."

The smile on Cui Jingrang's face faded a little.

"Have you thought about it? This is not a joke. Marriage is a matter of a lifetime."

Song Jinbai nodded firmly. "Well, I've thought it through clearly!"

A sly smile flashed across his face, and he said shamelessly: "For the sake of my junior brother's important life event, I will have to trouble you in the near future."

Cui Jingrang deliberately put on an expression of deep hatred and bitterness. "Tsk, give it some time.

Song Jinbai asked doubtfully, "Brother, what does this mean?"

Cui Jingrang shrugged and said jokingly, "The meaning is very simple. You need to hurry up and stop letting me be your 'stand-in' forever. You need to have a clear plan and strive to win her over as soon as possible. That way, I can free myself and do my own thing."

Song Jinbai nodded as if he had learned something, "Well, then I will go to Qingzhou Prefecture with her tomorrow." In fact, when he learned that Ji Nuan decided to go to the Man-Eating Valley, he secretly decided to go with her.

Cui Jingrang deliberately lengthened his tone, "Oh? So you're planning to leave all the government affairs to me? Then I'll have to ask for some favors from you. I heard Miss Ji has a lot of good things. I want a bottle of vitality water as a reward for this time. How about it?"

"Senior brother, you really know how to make things difficult for me!" Song Jinbai smiled bitterly.

"How can I embarrass you?" Cui Jingrang retorted with a smile, "I'm encouraging you!" Hurry up and marry your brother's wife. Then there will be no shortage of vitality, right?

Song Jinbai feigned helplessness as he shook his head and said with a smile, "Alright, Senior Brother, you're ruthless! However, I must remind you that things change over time, so don't come to me for help when the time comes."

"Hehe, let's talk about it when I really need your help. Who knows when that will be!" Cui Jingrang responded nonchalantly, with a smile on his lips. "Okay, I won't say any more to you. I have things to do. I'll leave first!" After that, he turned and left, gently shaking the fan in his hand, looking leisurely and contented.

At the same time, at the home of the village chief of Taohua Village.

The village chief's aunt put the folded clothes into a wooden box. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the village chief who had already lain down to rest, and said softly, "His father, I'm thinking about letting our Ran'er marry that girl Ji Nuan. What do you think?"

The village chief rolled his eyes inwardly and muttered, "Haven't you always despised Ji Nuan for being from a humble background and not being worthy of our family?"

The village head's aunt patted the edge of the bed, her tone filled with anxiety: "That was my old thought! Didn't you see the people who came to give me gifts today? They are all well-known people in the city, and the gifts are so many that we have never seen them before. What does this mean? It means that Ji Nuan is not an ordinary girl!"

She paused and continued, "Although you are the head of the village and have a scholar at home, you have always lived a tight life. How long has it been since we last ate meat? How long has it been since we bought ourselves new clothes? Ultimately, it's all to maintain that pitiful dignity."

The village chief felt even more irritated upon hearing this. He turned over and sat up, complaining, "It's you who insists on being the village leader, making our family miserable all the time. We're just living our own lives, why bother with what others say or think?"

"Why should I care what others say? I'm just trying to protect your reputation as the village chief and Ran'er's reputation as a scholar!" The village chief's aunt's voice was also a little angry.

"Okay, okay, let's not go off on a tangent." She took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and brought the topic back on track. "I'm talking about Ran'er marrying Ji Nuan. Why are you bringing up those poor things? Now Ji Nuan is capable of making money and has made friends with so many influential people. If Ran'er can marry her, won't all those connections and resources belong to our family? In the future, if there's anything our family needs help with, it's just a matter of asking a question."

She paused, a shrewd glint in her eyes. "Besides, with Ji Nuan earning money at home, our lives will be much easier. We won't have to scrimp and save for the little things anymore. From now on, whether it's improving our meals or buying new clothes, we can do whatever we want. More importantly, those who have distanced themselves from our family will come back because of Ji Nuan. Then, our family's status and reputation will rise."

The village chief directly pointed out her thoughts: "You don't want a noble lady to be your daughter-in-law?"

The village head's eyes flickered, but her tone was firm: "As long as Ran'er can pass the imperial examination, he can still marry a noble lady! When the time comes, Ji Nuan will naturally have to be sensible and give way to the noble lady."

The village chief couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly: "You are just daydreaming! How could the eldest daughter of your family become a concubine? Besides, Ji Nuan is not the kind of person who would bow down easily."

The village head's aunt seemed confident: "Humph, once a noble lady from a high family enters the house, Ji Nuan, a peasant girl, will naturally feel inferior and unable to raise her head in front of the pampered lady. When the time comes, she will take the initiative to ask to be a concubine without us saying anything.

The village chief felt helpless and disappointed when he heard what his aunt said. He shook his head and felt that his wife was simply hopeless. She always wanted to bring all the good things in the world to her own home.

He lay down with his back to the village headwoman, his tone filled with fatigue and determination: "I don't agree with this. I don't want the marriage between the two families to fail in the end, and instead create resentment."

The village head's aunt, however, didn't take it seriously. She snorted contemptuously, "Tsk, aren't they just a bunch of peasants? What's the big deal? I don't believe that with our family's status and connections back then, we couldn't handle them."

The village chief was fuming with rage. He turned around and stared sternly at his aunt. "What are you talking about? You know exactly what your son is thinking. How long has he been away from home because of your stubbornness and prejudice? If you keep going like this, your son will become completely alienated from us!"

Seeing that the village chief was really angry, the village chief's aunt quickly restrained her expression and smiled awkwardly, "Oh, I was just saying it casually in my own home. Why are you so angry? I am also doing this for the good of our family. I want Ran'er to marry a capable wife who can help support the family in the future."

As she spoke, she walked over to the village chief and patted him gently on the back, trying to calm him down. "Okay, okay, don't be angry. We still have to discuss our family's affairs. I can't have the final say alone."

Although the village chief was still somewhat unhappy, he no longer cared when he saw the village chief's aunt's submissive attitude. He just said lightly: "Be careful with your words in the future and don't let others laugh at you." Then he lay down again and closed his eyes to rest.