sbdcsierra Chapter 30 Congratulations from the Northern Desert
Chapter 30 Congratulations from the Northern Desert
When Zhao Shouyi told his father and mother the good news, they were overjoyed. The emperor generously rewarded them with one hundred taels of gold and a box of jewels.
Strike while the iron is hot. Just then, Zhao Shouyi asked his father, the Emperor, for a marriage decree. The Emperor was overjoyed and immediately agreed, personally writing the marriage certificate for them. Afterward, the Empress personally had someone calculate the wedding date for them. Once an auspicious day was chosen and the wedding was set, the Empress instructed Zhao Shouyi to take Nangong Xue'er to her parents' home to offer her congratulations.
Zhao Shouyi was a little nervous, but he still nodded in agreement. Afterwards, he explained his parents' wishes to Nangong Xue'er, who became restless. Zhao Shouyi couldn't understand why she seemed more nervous than him, her son-in-law, when they were going back to her own home.
"Xue'er, what's wrong?" Zhao Shouyi asked with concern.
"I don't want to go back," Nangong Xue'er said bluntly.
“We’re just going to offer our congratulations, not to stay for long,” Zhao Shouyi quickly and gently reassured her.
Nangong Xue'er then recounted her experience: "I ran away from home. Because I was born to a concubine and was an illegitimate child, I was never well-liked from a young age. Although I was nominally a young lady of the Nangong family, I actually lived worse than a maid. Later, my older sister went out to find work, and I went out with her. We got separated, and I had no choice but to go to work at the Ni Chang Pavilion. If I go back, given my father's violent temper, he will definitely order the servants to beat me severely."
"What is Bei Chen's status in your Mobei region that night? If he goes, will your father still make things difficult for you?" Zhao Shouyi asked curiously.
“He is the Crown Prince of our Northern Desert, equivalent to the Crown Prince of your Great Song Dynasty. His status is extremely noble. If he comes forward to explain this matter, the people of our Nangong family can only obey and cannot protest,” Nangong Xue’er truthfully informed her.
“Alright, let’s go find Ye Beichen for help. All I want now is to marry you as soon as possible so we can be together forever.” Zhao Shouyi responded excitedly, then grabbed Nangong Xue’er’s hand and went to find Ye Beichen.
At the Rainbow Pavilion, Ye Beichen responded with a bewildered look, "Young Master Zhao, it's you who's marrying her, not me, okay? You should handle this yourself. Why are you dragging me into it?"
At this moment, Zhao Shouyi replied with a troubled expression, "It's not that I'm unwilling to go, but Nangong Xue'er has already told me that she has no status at home. If I go to propose marriage now, her father will only embarrass her. If you go with me, at least Nangong Xue'er won't be punished by her father, out of respect for you."
Then, Nangong Xue'er, looking aggrieved, tugged at Ye Beichen's sleeve and pleaded, "Your Highness, please have mercy on me. If you don't go, I'll definitely be punished by my father. I'm pregnant now and can't bear any harm. Please put in a good word for me so that I can be with Young Master Zhao."
"Alright then, but I still need to make sure to inform Su Yuning beforehand. If she misunderstands again, then I'll have lost out." Ye Beichen nodded helplessly in agreement.
Afterwards, the two met at Su Muyang's shop, and Ye Beichen spoke gently.
"Yu Ning, I have something to tell you, please don't be angry, okay?"
Su Yuning replied, both amused and exasperated, "I don't even know what happened, why should I be angry?"
Su Muyang thought Ye Beichen was going to do something to betray his sister, so he quickly asked with a stern face.
"What's up? You just made up with my sister, you can't do anything to upset her again! If you dare to bully her, I'll be the first to stand up and teach you a lesson!"
Ye Beichen quickly explained, "You've misunderstood! I'm going to accompany Young Master Zhao and Nangong Xue'er back to Mobei in a couple of days to announce their marriage to Master Nangong."
At this moment, Su Yuning asked sourly, "What business is it of yours if someone gets married? Are you still hung up on that Miss Nangong?"
Ye Beichen waved his hand and said, "I have no relation to her. However, I am the Crown Prince of Mobei. If they want their marriage to be settled, I must step in to get Master Nangong's approval."
"Alright, go ahead." Su Yuning replied without hesitation.
Ye Beichen was a little uncomfortable with Su Yuning's reaction. "Are you really willing? You're not angry, are you?"
Su Yuning replied with a smile, "What do you take me for? Someone who gets angry so easily? Although I care about you quite a bit and often feel anxious, I can tell what's important and what's urgent. Just go ahead. Like you, I sincerely hope they can live a happy life."
"Alright, I'll listen to you," Ye Beichen replied with a smile.
At this moment, Su Muyang interjected again, "Ye Beichen, you should be secretly happy to have such an understanding girlfriend as my sister. You should cherish her, treat her well, and don't let her suffer any grievances!"
Ye Beichen nodded in agreement, "I understand, Second Brother. I will treat Su Yuning well and take care of her for the rest of my life."
"What did you call me? I didn't hear you clearly, say it again," Su Muyang asked playfully.
"Second Brother," Ye Beichen replied respectfully.
Su Muyang was overjoyed. "Good brother-in-law!" Su Yuning, who was standing nearby, was also amused by them.
In the village, with the full moon celebration banquet fast approaching, the eldest son of the Su family still hadn't raised enough money for the banquet, so he drank alone in the courtyard, feeling sullen.
At this moment, the woman came over and asked him a question.
"Son, what's bothering you? Tell me, and I'll see if I can help you."
The eldest son of the Su family didn't want his mother to worry, so he kept saying that everything was fine. Helpless, the woman had no choice but to leave.
Then, Yang Yuyan came over, took off the jade bracelet from her wrist, and gave it to the eldest son of the Su family.
"My lord, I know you're worried about the full moon celebration. Take this and exchange it for money to tide you over for now."
The eldest son of the Su family waved his hands repeatedly in refusal, saying, "No, no, no, this is your dowry, how can I possibly use it?"
At this moment, Yang Yuyan said to him, "We're family, so let's not stand on ceremony. Take this in case of emergency!"
At this moment, the eldest son of the Su family was deeply moved and hugged his wife tightly, saying, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't lost the purse, you wouldn't have had to use your dowry to help with household expenses. I will work hard to earn money and try to redeem your bracelet as soon as possible."
Yang Yuyan replied softly, "You don't need to blame yourself too much. Losing money is a good thing, and our lives will definitely go smoothly from now on."
The eldest son of the Su family nodded in agreement, "Yes, everything will be alright."
At the Yang family home, Yang Yuxuan brought up his girlfriend to his parents again.
"Mom and Dad, let me tell you about my girlfriend. She's a hunter's daughter, very brave and confident. She can climb mountains and trees to pick wild fruits, and her archery skills are excellent—she's almost always right. Would you like to meet my girlfriend?"
Yang the blacksmith replied with a look of disgust, "Isn't climbing trees something only monkeys do? Girls should be at home embroidering, why are they climbing trees?"
Madam Yang also disapproved of their relationship. "Son, listen to your mother's advice. Our family is wealthy and powerful; we can find any kind of wife we want. That Zhou Xi you mentioned, with her tree-climbing and archery skills, sounds very barbaric. You should break up with her as soon as possible. If she keeps bothering you, just give her ten taels of silver to get rid of her."
"Smash!" Yang Yuxuan angrily slammed down her chopsticks and left home without looking back.
"Why is this child so disobedient? How could I have such a son? It's so worrying!" Yang the blacksmith complained angrily.
"Our son has gone out. Should we send someone to follow him?" Madam Yang asked with a worried expression.
"He's not a three-year-old child, he can't just get lost, can he? Just leave him alone! Let him do whatever he wants!" Yang the blacksmith said, and left the table.
At this point, Madam Yang also lost her appetite and sat in front of the table, lost in thought, resting her chin on her hands.
"Madam, why don't we let the young master marry the girl he loves? Judging from his expression, he's really fallen for her," the butler kindly suggested as he walked over.
Mrs. Yang responded with tears welling up in her eyes, "If such a barbaric girl were to enter our home, would my husband and I have any peace? Wouldn't she be scolding us several times a day?"
At this moment, the butler took out a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not saying anything more.
Feeling depressed, Yang Yuxuan wanted to go to town to drink and drown his sorrows, but all the shops were closed. So, he decided to take advantage of the moonlight and travel to the Su family's house to stay overnight.
At this time, only Old Su lived in the Su family home. When he saw Yang Yuxuan, who had come uninvited, he asked her curiously...
"Young Master Yang, what brings you here so late?"
With tears streaming down her face, Yang Yuxuan replied, "Uncle, my parents don't agree to me marrying Zhou Xi. They're so unreasonable. I ran away in a fit of anger."
Old Su secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, the young man hadn't set his sights on his daughter. He then responded politely.
"Good things come to those who wait. There are no smooth sailing things in this world. The reason they don't agree to you two being together is because they don't know Zhou Xi. Zhou Xi is a hardworking and beautiful girl, and she's a good person to settle down with. You can go to Zhou Xi's house to meet her father first, express your feelings, and then take her to meet her parents. I believe that given enough time, once they accept Zhou Xi, they will definitely agree to your marriage."
Seeing that Lao Su was quite supportive of her being with Zhou Xi, Yang Yuxuan was overjoyed.
"Thank you for supporting us, sir. You will surely be rewarded for your good deeds."
At this moment, Old Su asked him, "Your parents don't know you're out, right? Are you going back tonight?"
Yang Yuxuan shook her head repeatedly, "I'm not going back, Uncle. I'll stay here for the night."
Old Su was worried about having no one to keep him company, so he happily agreed, "If you want to stay, you can stay here. Just talk to me more often to relieve your boredom."
"Okay, Uncle!" The conditions weren't difficult, and Yang Yuxuan readily agreed.
One problem after another. The eldest son of the Su family has been having a run of bad luck lately. First, he lost his money pouch. The next day, he went out to set up a stall to sell braised pork offal, but a customer who ate his braised pork offal got a stomachache and insisted that there was something wrong with it, so he dragged him to the government office.
The official asked him, "Did you feed your customers unclean or unhygienic braised pork offal?"
The eldest son of the Su family waved his hands repeatedly in refusal, "Sir, I'm innocent! My braised dishes are all made with fresh ingredients and braised to order. Please investigate thoroughly!"
"Does the guest have anything to add?" the official asked, turning to look at the customer.
"I only ate the braised pork offal from his stall today, and I ended up with severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. If his ingredients were fresh, how could this happen?" the customer retorted. "There's something wrong with his braised pork offal. Your Honor must punish this wicked person severely!"
The eldest son of the Su family panicked when something happened. He stood there trembling, making it obvious to everyone that something was wrong with him.
Fortunately, Zhou Xi arrived at that moment, and she also brought the cold drink vendor from the market with her.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, this is the owner of the cold drink shop. He can testify on behalf of the eldest son of the Su family that this matter has little to do with the braised pork," Zhou Xi reported while bowing.
The official looked at the ice cream stall owner and asked, "Can you testify for him? What evidence do you have?"
The ice cream shop owner stepped forward, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, and replied, "I dare not hide anything. Today, this customer drank three bowls of cold fruit tea first, and then went to buy braised pork. His diarrhea is very likely related to the ice cream."