There were relatively fewer official duties during the New Year holidays, and since Lu Bu had returned, Zhang Mo asked him to handle some matters. She conscientiously acted as a matchmaker, inviting Cai Yan out for a talk today and creating a date for her and Xu Shu tomorrow. After Zhang Mo's enthusiastic matchmaking, the two of them fell more and more in love, but when it came to marriage, Cai Yong rejected them.

"Although our Cai family hasn't produced any high-ranking officials, they do have a long history of learning. Yuanzhi is indeed talented and handsome, but his family was once just peddlers in Yangdi, not even considered a poor family. How could we allow our daughter to marry into such a family?"

After hearing Xu You's intention, Cai Yong rejected the marriage without hesitation.

"The old scholar is short-sighted!"

Matchmaker Zhang's messenger, Xu You, scolded him rudely, "Yuanzhi is highly regarded by the princess and has a promising future. Why are you so focused on the difference in social status?"

"What matters in marriage is the matching of family backgrounds. It has nothing to do with whether the princess values ​​you or not!" The old stubborn man still stubbornly insisted on his opinion.

"stupid!"

Xu You had a look on his face that said, "You've found a treasure and you don't know how to cherish it. Do you know how our eldest son calls Yuanzhi's mother? Not only the eldest son, but the king's three children all call Old Madam Xu "Big Mother"! Big Mother! In the future, when the king becomes emperor, at the very least, he must confer the title of Xiangjun on Old Madam Xu. You still look down on her family background? Let me tell you, if I had a daughter of marriageable age, I would have rushed to get married in the morning. Now they are asking to marry your second-married daughter, and you still look down on her? Are you crazy?"

"Superficial!" Cai Yong's anger instantly ignited when he heard the words "marry my daughter for the second time" and he retorted, "Marry me if you want, but my daughter won't marry a merchant. Besides, Xu Yuanzhi wasn't even a merchant before. A street vendor wants to marry my daughter. He's a fool..."

Cai Yong was so excited that he almost blurted out some harsh words. He took a breath and said, "If you refuse, just say that my daughter is busy with work and doesn't want to get married for the time being."

"A street vendor?" Xu You was so angry at his words that he laughed, "Do you know what the princess used to do?"

Cai Yong was confused and shook his head. He only knew that the princess was the adopted daughter of Situ Wang. Although they had no blood relationship, she was included in the Wang family tree.

Seeing his face full of curiosity, Xu You deliberately kept silent. He flicked his sleeves calmly and said, "Since Mr. Cai is unwilling, I will go and tell the princess. Goodbye!"

Cai Yong was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly shouted, "Hey, explain clearly, what do you mean by the princess is back? Did she ask you to come?"

Xu You stood at the door and turned back to smile, "If it's not her, who else can ask me to be a matchmaker?"

After Xu You finished speaking, he left Cai's residence without looking back, and turned around to go to Prince Tang's residence to report the situation!

"A street vendor?"

In the palace garden, Zhang Mo, after hearing Cai Yong's disdainful address to Xu Shu, shook her head and laughed, "I had no idea before that the Tang Kingdom's Minister of Education was so prejudiced against family background. How could such a person truly teach those children of the common people without any family background?"

Although the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty were almost wiped out, the prejudice against family background that was engraved in people's minds could not be eliminated. Even in modern times, marriages are still based on the importance of matching social status. Those women who were determined to marry into a wealthy family would often have a tragic ending even if they finally got their wish.

Zhang Mo did not want to eliminate prejudice against family background, but if a person working in the education industry looks down on people working in business, or even looks down on ordinary people, this is a very serious problem. It is completely contrary to Zhang Mo's political philosophy.

From what she said, it seemed that she wanted to remove the old scholar from his position. To avoid letting Zhang Mo think that he was interfering, Xu You quickly said, "I didn't slander him. These are indeed his exact words!"

"I didn't say you were slandering him. Look how scared you are!" Zhang Mo rolled her eyes at him and said, "Don't spread this, lest Yuan Zhi hear it."

Xu You said, "Don't worry, I'm a very reliable person. However, there's a chance this matter can be reversed. I finally told him that it was you who asked me to go. The old scholar was slightly surprised and found it a little unbelievable. If you had gone in person, he probably wouldn't have dared to refuse."

"I know that he was threatened by Dong Zhuo to go to Luoyang to serve as an official. It shows that he is afraid of power. When Dong Zhuo deposed the emperor, my teacher stood up and strongly opposed it. As Dong Zhuo's staff, he didn't dare to say a word. In fact, he was very afraid of death. However... I have to ask Zhao Ji about this matter again to see if she dares to disobey her father. If she doesn't dare, even if I force this matter, Brother Xu will be despised and cold-eyed when he visits her house in the future, and no one will protect him. While their relationship is not deep, it is better not to marry like this. There are many talented and beautiful women in the world. I will find him another one."

It just so happens that Wang Yi, who is preparing to come to Yecheng, is a pretty good person.

Zhang Mo waved to Xu You, "Thank you for your hard work today, go home first!"

"Yes!" Xu You bowed and took his leave. Zhang Mo then asked someone to find Cai Yan to come and chat with her. Unexpectedly, Cai Yan came over by herself just after the attendant left for a while.

Cai Zhaoji, who was always dignified, held up her skirt with both hands and strode towards this side. When passing through the middle of the garden, she was in a hurry and did not forget to nod and salute Lu Bu who was playing Cuju with the children.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Mo suddenly felt that there was no hope for this matter. Would a woman who had etiquette engraved in her bones disobey her father because of marriage?

"Princess!" Cai Yan ran over, dropped her skirt, knelt, and bowed, explaining breathlessly, "My father... he didn't look down on Brother Xu. He... he just loved his children too much and couldn't bear to see me marry him..."

"You know everything?" Zhang Mo asked.

Cai Yan nodded, "I... heard from the servants today that the Xu family sent someone to propose marriage, so... I hid outside and listened for a while."

"If your father firmly disagrees, do you dare to disobey him?"

Cai Yan looked up at Zhang Mo and said, "If the princess acts as a matchmaker, he will agree!"

Zhang Mo shook her head. "Your father despises Yuan Zhi from the bottom of his heart. What's the point of me forcing the marriage?"

Cai Yan lowered her head and was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I understand what you mean. In fact, I didn't want to marry Zhongdao at the beginning, but my father said that he was from the Wei family of Hedong, and was a good match for my family. He insisted on marrying me to him despite his frail health. After we got married, I realized that not only was he in poor health, but he was also a..."

She didn't want to say anything bad about her late ex-husband. She looked up at Zhang Mo and said hastily, "Anyway, I like Brother Xu. This time I won't listen to my father. I've already argued with him, and he seems to have softened his stance."

Cai Yan bowed solemnly to Zhang Mo and said, "Please grant me your blessing, Princess!"

Zhang Mo was quite satisfied with Cai Yan's attitude. She then asked, "Do you really want to marry Brother Xu so much?"

"I won't marry anyone but him!"

"Okay, I'll ask Yuanzhi about this later. If he doesn't mind your father's cold eyes and wants to marry you, I will definitely make it happen for you!"

"Thank you, Princess!" Cai Yan bowed gratefully and took her leave.

In the open space in the middle of the garden, Lu Bu handed the sheepskin ball to Wang Hei, walked into the pavilion and asked, "How is it?"

Zhang Mo recounted the entire incident, and Lu Bu snorted, "I knew it would be like this. This old scholar looks down on Yuan Zhi's background, and he must also look down on me. A man like him could be a teacher under Cao Mengde, but not in my Tang State. I'll find a reason to remove him from his position as Minister of Education and give him a nominal official position, allowing him to focus on academic research."

Zhang Mo said, "I think so too, but we have to wait until this marriage is finalized."

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