After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

A marriage proposal? What a unique proposal!

Landlord Jiang looked around at his children. Apart from his fourth daughter and his beloved grandson, whose marriages were still undecided, all the other children were either married or engaged.

Who are you asking for help from? Humph! You ruined my family's picnic, and asking anyone won't help!

My precious grandson is still young! I'll have to choose my fourth daughter carefully.

"This must be Old Master Jiang! Old Master Jiang, I'm here on behalf of my master to propose marriage!"

The middle-aged man who looked like the manager stood on tiptoe and called out to Landlord Jiang through the human wall formed by the guards.

Landlord Jiang didn't respond, so the man continued, "My master is Master Chen from the south of the city. The biggest grain store in the capital belongs to Master Chen!"

"What Master Chen? I've never even heard of him..."

Dong Jin wasn't worried. He and his wife had been married for so long and already had a child, so it was none of his business who proposed marriage.

"There seems to be a grain merchant in the capital surnamed Chen, but it seems the Chen family doesn't have any sons..."

Madam Xue knew no one in the capital except the Jiang family. Occasionally, she would go out for a stroll, usually with the servants who came to buy supplies, to rice shops and vegetable stalls.

I did hear from the vegetable vendor that this grain merchant surnamed Chen was incredibly wealthy; his rats were even bigger than other people's piglets.

"No son? So they're going to marry off their daughter? How old is Mingfei? He's only twelve! How could this family come up with such a thing!"

Lin Yueniang's face instantly darkened, as if she could draw her sword and drive people away at any moment.

Just as everyone was wondering, the steward hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "Master, Madam, you have misunderstood!"

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Our young lady is already over twenty, how could she be a match for your young master…”

At this point, the steward looked in the direction of Jiang Wenqing.

Jiang Wenqing was gnawing on his father's fish, which had gotten cold but he wasn't eating it. He was wasting a perfectly good grilled fish!

"My young lady was once engaged, but unfortunately the man was not fortunate enough to marry her and passed away before the wedding. My young lady has been wasting her life ever since..."

Your master is also in his prime, and our master said that my young lady and Mr. Jiang are quite suitable, so…”

Before he could finish speaking, Landlord Jiang suddenly stood up!

Pushing aside the wall of guards he had formed, he pointed at the steward and shouted, "What did you say?! Say it again!"

His daughter-in-law and grandchildren are right here! What kind of nonsense is this guy spouting!

My hands are so itchy! I wish I had a feather duster with me right now!

The steward also noticed that Jiang Di was angry, and was quite puzzled—

What's going on? My husband is practically offering himself up to a woman, what kind of reaction is this?!

This... isn't right...

"My master said that, regardless of rank, I could be a concubine..."

"Old Master Jiang, would you... would you consider it?"

As Landlord Jiang's face grew darker, the manager's voice grew softer.

"What are you all standing there for? Get out of here! Get out of here!"

Zhang, the head guard, reacted the fastest, grabbing the steward by the back of the neck and throwing him back into the carriage they had come from.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!" He used the scabbard of his sword to strike the horses pulling the carriage several times.

The horse, in pain, neighed and galloped away!

The other guards followed suit, each grabbing a servant and throwing them all onto the carriage, patting the horse's rump.

The carriages arrived and left as they did, but their speed was noticeably increased by several gears!

The dust and smoke were even thicker than before, and Jiang Xiaoqi had no choice but to wait a little longer before going to the carriage to get the meat skewers.

The people were driven away, but Landlord Jiang was still furious.

Dong Jin hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him, "Grandfather, please don't get upset. There's no need to pay attention to such a person who doesn't know manners."

Landlord Jiang snorted, "This Chen family! They're utterly absurd!"

Landlord Jiang was very worried that his daughter-in-law might have some lingering resentment because of what had just happened, but as her father-in-law, he couldn't say anything.

Sigh... Another day of missing my wife...

Dong Jin glanced at his father-in-law, who seemed completely unaffected, and sighed at his father-in-law's "easygoing nature."

Jiang Xiaoqi finally got her meat skewers back and quickly grilled more than a dozen to share with everyone, which eased the tension in the family a little.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wenqing, the protagonist of the incident, was enjoying a grilled lamb skewer given to him by his son.

Did Jiang Wenqing really not hear what the Chen family steward said? Of course not, he's not deaf!

Sigh... Ever since that incident with Concubine Qin, he's been avoiding his concubines like the plague.

People of lowly status, over time, will become jealous and competitive, and develop malicious intentions—that's poison!

He still remembered that Aunt Pan's child was gone just like that, and it would be impossible for him not to feel any regret.

Even though there are many children in the family, we can't take human life lightly!

In recent years, he hasn't gone into Aunt Pan's room much, but isn't it because every time he gets close, he's reminded of the year she miscarried...?

Over the years, Yue Niang has been indifferent to me, and this is only the beginning of her change. I can't let some random cats and dogs outside ruin things!

All the daughters were close to Yue Niang, and the sons were even more like a stepfather than a son!

These meat skewers are really delicious! I want a few more!

Jiang Xiaoqi's hands flew up and down, and she grilled more than a dozen more meat skewers that smelled delicious for miles around.

"Grandpa, have some meat skewers to calm down. Don't let random people and things ruin your picnic mood!"

"Good, good, good! Mingfei is really good. Look at these little meat skewers, they're perfectly grilled, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and they smell amazing!"

"Yes, yes, the meat skewers my brother grilled smell so delicious, and I want to eat them again and again!"

Foodie Jiang Lian'er only had empty skewers left in her hand. Now, staring at the meat skewers in Jiang Xiaoqi's hand, she couldn't help but drool.

"Slurp~" Oh my, this is so delicious! It smells so good! I want more!

Seemingly hearing her fourth sister's thoughts, Jiang Xiaoqi gave five or six skewers of meat to her fourth sister, Jiang Lian'er, and gave the rest to her grandfather.

Landlord Jiang smiled, his eyes crinkling. His beloved grandson was indeed the most filial to him; everyone else had to take a backseat.

Jiang Wenqing watched longingly from the side, and Jiang Xiaoqi had no choice but to resign herself to picking up another handful of meat skewers and grilling them.

"Young master, please teach me, I'll do it!"

Seeing that his young master's face was covered in patches of black and white, Li Mo couldn't help but interrupt.

"Okay, you come and learn. We can do Barbie Q whenever we have free time. I've got a lot of spices; they'll last a long time!"

Li Mo had also gone to the Northern Border, so he knew that his young master had exchanged a pretty stone for a packet of seeds.

I never imagined that powdered stuff would smell so good on meat! His young master is so talented! How does he know everything?

Even after all the meat skewers brought from the carriage had been grilled, everyone was still a little reluctant to leave.

As the sun set, we packed our things and headed home.

After this outing, it's time to go back to the closed-door preparation mode before the palace examination.

Jiang Xiaoqi doesn't plan to provide any exam preparation guides this time, since there's only one palace examination.

The exam still tests national policies related to government affairs. At this time, it would be most useful to have an official in the court provide some of the latest official reports and decrees.

Does the Jiang family have such relatives? Yes, but Jiang Xiaoqi doesn't plan to use them.

If something can be solved with money, don't waste your favors.

The Jiang family's carriage finally made it into the city before dark. Everyone had eaten quite a few meat skewers and wasn't hungry, so they weren't in a hurry to continue their journey and decided to enjoy their leisure time.

Jiang Xiaoqi smells of cumin all over now; it seems she marinated herself while grilling the skewers.

There was a "clunk" sound, the sound of the car wheel hitting something.

"Wenbin, what's wrong?"

"Young master, there's a problem with our carriage. It looks like the wheel is about to fall off. Please get out and go to Madam's carriage!"

"Alright, you all be careful too, let's separate the carriage and the horses first."

Jiang Xiaoqi lifted her robe and got out of the carriage, walking towards Lin Yueniang's carriage. Before she even got there, she bumped into a handsome and refined young man.

PS: While you, dear readers, are lying in your warm beds, opening this chapter on your phones, the poor author hasn't finished writing the next chapter yet.

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