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

Having just seen Han Zhi off yesterday, the Su family is already busy preparing for the wedding. Su Zhen, as she has been doing for the past few days, is sitting in her boudoir, working on embroidery for her dowry.

Su Xun was in the main hall of his house, directing the servants to tally the dowry Su Zhen was to bring. Just then, he heard a voice coming from the main gate:

"Good brother-in-law!"

He looked up and saw three men standing outside the door. Two of them looked slightly older, while the last one was rather young. These were Su Zhen and Su Shi's two uncles: Cheng Jun and Cheng Xu. As for the young man behind them, that was Cheng Zhicai.

Besides these three, a matchmaker dressed in a purple vest and wearing a purple pendant followed behind them. Needless to say, she was also there to propose marriage.

Su Xun frowned slightly, but the emotion quickly disappeared, replaced by enthusiasm: "Good brother, what brings you two here today?"

Cheng Jun stepped forward and said with a smile, "Of course we've come to propose marriage. Last time we came, you refused, so we won't say anything more. Consider it a test for you."

“This time I have hired the best matchmaker and all the betrothal gifts are ready, so I am thinking of proposing marriage again.”

Madam Cheng came out at this moment and asked, "Brothers, what are you doing here today?"

“Brother, we have come here today to propose marriage.” Cheng Jun, being from a wealthy family, still maintained some composure and spoke patiently.

Madam Cheng and Su Xun exchanged a glance and said, "Brothers, Eighth Sister was engaged a few days ago. Yesterday, the two exchanged tokens and set a wedding date."

Cheng Jun looked surprised, but beneath the surprise was a hint of annoyance: "Whose good official is this?"

"The eldest son of the Marquis of Fuping, the top scholar who returned home a few days ago, is Master Han," Su Xun replied.

“We came to propose marriage some time ago. Could it be that this Mr. Han is the reason you turned us down?” Cheng Xu frowned and asked.

Su Xun shook his head and said, "It was the day after the two brothers proposed marriage that Han arrived. Besides, Han and Ba Niang had already met and were satisfied with each other."

"Does that mean our family's talents are insufficient to satisfy your daughter?"

Cheng Jun wasn't angry about these things; his anger stemmed more from his pride—he was the one who proposed first, but the one who proposed later had stolen his place.

Unlike the Tang Dynasty, where the government held absolute power and one's family was among the wealthiest in the area, this situation demands an explanation.

Su Xun was unwilling to marry Su Zhen to his in-laws in the first place, and now that he was being questioned like this, he was at a loss for words.

"Alright!" Madam Cheng said at this moment, "We already refused at the time, so let's not bring it up again."

Seeing that their eldest sister had spoken, the two younger brothers naturally dared not speak. Madam Cheng added, "Moreover, although we agreed to the marriage proposal from the Han family, in the end it still depends on Eighth Sister's wishes."

“If Eighth Sister doesn’t agree, it’s not right for us two adults to force her. But now that the two of them have fallen for each other, wouldn’t it be wrong of us to forcibly break up their relationship?”

The Cheng brothers were silent for a while, and then Cheng Xu spoke up: "That official Han is the top scholar in the provincial examination and is going to the capital to take the imperial examination. Even if Eighth Sister marries into that family, she will still be living alone in an empty room."

"Besides, he's the son of an official. If he goes to the capital to take the imperial examination and becomes a high-ranking official, he might not remain loyal. Wouldn't that be unfair to Eighth Sister?"

Su Xun then spoke up: "There's no need for you to worry about that, brother. Master Han once told us that we would get married on a chosen date. After the wedding, he would take Eighth Sister to the capital to take the imperial examination."

Now, the Cheng brothers were at a loss for words. Just then, Su Shi's voice came from the other side: "Brother, didn't you say that Han was a lecherous man? Why are you writing a poem to give him now?"

"What a sharp tongue you have! If you continue to talk badly about your brother-in-law, believe me, I'll teach you a lesson today!" With that, Su Zhen raised his hand, intending to twist his ear.

This startled Su Shi, who quickly covered his ears and asked, "But my sister has only met with Mr. Han a few times, how could she have fallen for him so quickly?"

"If you've taken a liking to someone, then you've taken a liking to them. What talent do I have? With your literary talent, I'm already captivated. Why should I need you to guess? If you're so capable, why don't you write a poem that describes a biting wind that seeps into your bones and soaks your battle robe?"

Su Shi quickly shook his head: "I can't even compare to my sister, let alone Mr. Han?"

The two siblings then "casually" walked towards Su Xun and the others, talking as they went. Only when they got closer did they "discover" the group. Su Xun and Madam Cheng exchanged a glance but remained silent.

On the contrary, the Cheng family members were somewhat angry at this point.

Su Zhen and Su Shi, still unaware of their uncles' odd behavior, politely bowed and said, "Greetings, my two uncles."

Cheng Jun and Cheng Xu were furious when they saw Su Zhen. However, with Madam Cheng present, they couldn't show their anger, so they could only snort and leave.

As for Cheng Zhicai, he raised his eyes to look at the beautiful lady. However, her attention was not on him at all, but on the invitation in her hand. Without a doubt, it was for that official Han.

So, Cheng Zhicai, who hadn't uttered a single word upon arriving at the Su family home, could only slink away with his father. Su Zhen and the others stood quietly in the hall, watching the Cheng family leave.

"Brother, you are truly brilliant!" Su Shi said with a smile after confirming that the Cheng family had gone far away.

Su Xun asked with a smile, "Eighth Sister, what brings you here?"

“Lord Fu, Shi’er overheard those words and came to find me. I felt that you would be troubled by the Cheng family, so I stepped in and staged a play,” Su Zhen replied.

Su Xun then said somewhat jokingly, "I thought you were telling the truth."

Su Zhen blushed immediately; she hadn't expected her father to tease her like that. She was instantly flustered, clutching the invitation in her hand, unsure whether to accept it or leave it.

In the end, he bowed to Su Xun and, using the excuse that "there are still things to do," turned to leave.

But before she could turn around, another servant rushed over and called out, "Madam! Master Han has sent over an item, saying it must be given to you."

Su Zhen turned around and saw a servant holding a scroll, seemingly for her. She glanced at Madam Cheng and Su Xun, quickly reached out, snatched the scroll, and fled towards her room as if escaping.

She ran back to her room and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one had followed her, then closed the door. Ultimately, she was still too shy; she had almost lost her composure after being teased by Su Xun.

Setting down the invitation in her hand, she glanced down at the scroll Han Zhi had brought. She blinked, a flicker of anticipation rising within her. Unrolling the scroll, she found it to contain an extremely long poem:

"From nothingness comes something, feeling the seasons, with every drop of water and every drop of ink, I capture the essence of life with my brush. I preserve the peaks of life, the beauty of the water, and the encounters of the four seasons, with beauties in the west... Colorful wings, whale tails, and red silks surround heaven and earth. Wherever my feelings lead, my heart roams freely."

This is a love letter!

A complete love letter!

Looking at the present and the past, there is no poem that can compare to this, let alone a love poem. It is not cheesy, but the emotions are all there, and both the rhymes and parallelism are easy to recite.

After reading it, Su Zhen immediately understood Han Zhi's thoughts, and her face flushed even more—he had just said Han Zhi was lazy yesterday, and today he had done this.

Even though she was well-read, she was still just a young woman of sixteen, how could she resist such a love letter? She put away the scroll, intending to toss it aside casually, but she quickly stopped herself and put it away properly.

Now, all the shyness ultimately boiled down to this one sentence:

"This rascal, how shameless of him..."