In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

Han Zhi finished speaking and then followed her into the mansion. Su Zhen walked quite fast, so Han Zhi had to run to catch up with her.

"Ba Niang? Ba Niang?"

He called out twice, but there was no response.

"Good auntie, look at me! Don't be angry about what happened just now, don't be so... bothered?" Han Zhi could only do his best to coax his precious darling.

At this moment, Su Zhen stopped and turned around, his eyes seemingly spitting fire: "My lord doesn't mind?"

"What... do I mind? A Qilin?" Han Zhi was taken aback by the question and became somewhat afraid, fearing that the other party would fly into a rage.

"My lord, you..." Su Zhen's face flushed with anger as he pointed a finger at Han Zhi: "How dare you not mind? This matter is so important to him!"

"Since I came to Yizhou, I have been talking to you about the word 'filial piety.' Everyone says that of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring. As the only son in the family, how can you not care about such a thing?"

Han Zhi's mind went blank for a moment, as if he hadn't quite reacted yet.

"My lord has already said that I am already sixteen. While I am still young, you do not think about continuing the family line, and you even dare to scold the maids in the house because of this!" Su Zhen was so angry that his body trembled slightly.

Han Zhi's face also flushed red as he said, "But I didn't say I didn't want to. It's just that I'm afraid Ba Niang isn't ready yet, and if she develops some hidden illness, that wouldn't be good..."

"Why worry about this? If you don't care about the continuation of your family line, then you should at least think about matters concerning your father." Seeing that Su Zhen was worried about him, his anger subsided considerably, and his tone became more gentle.

"I also asked Yueping, and it turns out that you and your husband haven't spoken to each other for many years, but you seem very concerned about your marriage. Can't you see that?"

"The greatest joys in life are nothing more than passing the imperial examination and getting married. If you, sir, pass the imperial examination next spring, and then you and I both do our part to bring back a grandson for you two elders, why should we worry about our relationship?"

"My lord, don't you think about how happy your parents would be if we had a grandson? But you seem completely indifferent to this. Were the promises you made on our wedding night just empty words?"

Han Zhiyi immediately shook his head and said, "That's absolutely not what I meant."

Su Zhen looked Han Zhi up and down, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say anything more in anger. She could only say, "Fine, my lord, you said before that the mistress of the Han family is the most important. Then I will say it today—"

"If you, sir, do not wish to continue the family line, then you may spend the night in the courtyard."

After saying that, Su Zhen turned and left. Han Zhi, also looking dejected, followed her and grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch me until you've figured things out, my lord." Su Zhen ruthlessly pushed Han Zhi's hand away, but he chased after her again.

Han Zhi quickly begged for mercy and pulled her up again: "Good Eighth Sister, I didn't say I didn't understand."

"What was your reply, sir? Tell me." This time, Su Zhen did not break free from him, but instead said this.

Han Zhi looked around to make sure no one was there before whispering in her ear, "Take advantage of the afternoon; there's nothing to do at home right now."

Now it was Su Zhen's turn to be stunned: "You came in broad daylight?"

Han Zhi nodded and said, "We've tried this before. At worst, we can have Yueping dismiss the people around us."

"Shameless! Doing this in broad daylight..."

Han Zhi picked up Su Zhen and said, "Fine, fine, I'll take it as Eighth Sister agreeing!"

Seeing Han Zhi carrying Su Zhen and running away from afar, Yueping immediately understood and stopped. Qian Su, who was following beside her, noticed her stop and asked, "What's wrong?"

“Um…” Yueping paused for a moment and said, “I just thought about it. We can just arrange the matter we were talking about directly.”

Qian Su was slightly taken aback and said, "Can we make the arrangements directly? Don't we need to inform Ah Lang and Madam? What if something goes wrong? How will we explain it?"

Yueping then pulled her along, walking back the way they came, saying as they went, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Just remember, no one is to approach the main courtyard this afternoon before we see the young master and his wife. You can go and give the order."

Qian Su blinked repeatedly, pondering the sentence in her mind, and finally realized what it meant.

“It seems we can really handle this ourselves, without having to trouble Ah Lang and his wife,” Qian Su also said.

Seeing this, Yueping nodded in satisfaction and said, "Don't forget, the young master and lady are both young. If you don't see them on ordinary days, you should dismiss the maids and not disturb them."

"I understand." Qian Su nodded with a smile.

As expected, once mealtimes were over, no maidservant approached the main courtyard.

......

The next morning, Han Zhi felt refreshed. Su Zhen, however, remained in bed, fast asleep.

Yueping and Qian Su sat outside, taking care of the household chores for the morning. Hearing the door open, the two women looked over and saw Han Zhi standing at the door, dressed neatly and beaming.

"Lang Jun."

Yueping habitually stood up, intending to go inside to help Su Zhen change his clothes, but Han Zhi stopped her. He said, "Ba Niang hasn't woken up yet. Keep an eye out for her later. If there's any movement, then it's not too late to go."

Yueping nodded and went to prepare toiletries for Han Zhi.

Su Zhen slept until past midnight, and was just as she was putting on her makeup at her dressing table when Qian Su entered. She greeted Han Zhi and Su Zhen, then said to Han Zhi:

"My lord, there is an old man outside the door requesting an audience."

"Who?" Han Zhi asked instinctively at first, then thought, "Could it be that Master Bao has come to see me?"

Qian Su nodded and said, "Yes, I saw him a couple of days ago."

"I understand." Han Zhi stood up.

At this moment, Su Zhen spoke up: "My lord!"

"Would you like me to accompany you?"

Han Zhi looked at her, thought for a moment, and said, "No need, I can go by myself. Eighth Sister, please rest well at home."

Su Zhen could only nod, and then instructed, "That official must remember to be careful with his words and actions, lest he be badly regarded by the Minister. Otherwise, he will not be well received when he enters the Imperial Academy."

Han Zhi smiled, took her hand, kissed it, and said, "I will. You can rest assured at home, Eighth Sister."

"What a shameless rascal!" Su Zhen scolded as usual, then said, "In that case, my lord, remember to come back early and be careful."

"Okay, I'll bring some snacks for Eighth Aunt when I get back."

Su Zhen nodded and watched Han Zhi leave.