Just as Old Man Zhang had finished setting the tableware, he looked up at the sound. There he saw the attendant of Lord Wan pushing aside Zhang Mo. And the lofty Lord Wan was striding in.
As soon as they entered, they filled the whole yard. There were a full dozen people.
Lord Wan was as gentle as ever. He stepped forward and nodded. "Uncle, how are you?"
Old Man Zhang felt a surge of anger welling up. He snarled, "You abducted my child, and you still have the nerve to come here?"
Lord Wan casually glanced into the house. Since they were about to have a meal, stools of different heights were placed in the yard.
The attendant understood his intention and immediately fetched a stool. As if disliking it was dirty, he wiped it with his sleeve several times before helping Lord Wan to sit down.
Old Man Zhang grumbled in annoyance. "Oh, you're not that old, yet you need someone to help you. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Lord Wan wasn't angry. After sitting down, he said to Old Man Zhang patiently, "Uncle, you said I abducted your child. That's really unreasonable. I've inquired. That child is the biological daughter of Shen Jingui. I was just helping that poor father take his own daughter back."
Old Man Zhang was too lazy to argue with him. He just said impatiently, "What do you want to do today?"
Lord Wan clapped his hands, and the attendants went out again. They carried in two boxes from outside. When they opened the boxes, inside were all kinds of precious jewels, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings that they had never seen before.
Zhang Mo had never seen such a sight. Even though he tried hard to control himself, his hands and feet involuntarily moved forward to touch the boxes. Fortunately, he still had a shred of reason left. He only dared to touch the boxes and didn't dare to reach inside.
Seeing this, the attendant sneered contemptuously. "This box is made of century - old sandalwood and is worth a hundred taels of silver."
Zhang Mo trembled and quickly withdrew his hand, afraid of damaging the box because he couldn't afford to compensate.
Lord Wan smiled kindly. "Don't be so polite. I assume this gentleman is also an uncle in the family. These are the gifts I've brought. Uncle, don't be reserved. Just pick them up and take a look."
Zhang Mo was overjoyed and reached out his hand again. Just then, he heard his elder brother coughing heavily. He came to his senses, withdrew his hand, and forced himself not to look at the gold, stones, and jade inside. He said with an embarrassed smile, "Huzi might be waking up. I'll go and check."
At this moment, Shen Fugui and Zhang Rong also walked out, looking at the scene in front of them in confusion.
Lord Wan said politely, "After I went back, I thought it over and felt that my last visit was really too reckless. So this time I'm here to formally propose marriage. I hope Uncle will give his consent."
He thought he had shown enough courtesy, but the arrogance in his eyes and the contempt on his attendants' faces were impossible to hide.
Shen Fugui walked over angrily and roared, "I said last time that my sister doesn't take a fancy to you. Please go back!"
He involuntarily glanced at the two big boxes, trying hard to calm himself down, but his trembling hands had already betrayed his thoughts.
Lord Wan's arrogance grew even stronger. "Are you the second elder brother of Miss Shen? I've inquired. Miss Shen is in charge of the whole embroidery workshop. I also met her last time. I know she's a woman with her own ideas. I don't want to hear your words. Please ask Miss Shen to come out and discuss the marriage with me."
Shen Fugui's face flushed red. He pointed at Lord Wan and shouted, "You villain! My sister will never take a fancy to you!"
Lord Wan glanced at him. "You're really from a remote and backward place. You're so rude. But don't worry. I won't argue with you. And after Miss Shen goes with me, I will surely give you enough silver to live a worry - free life for the rest of your life."
These words were very flippant, as if Shen Fugui was the kind of person who would sell his sister for money. It was no wonder he thought so. Shen Jingui was willing to sell his sister as a concubine for just a hundred taels of silver. Lord Wan thought that Shen Fugui's unwillingness wasn't because he was kind - hearted, but just because the temptation wasn't big enough.
Old Man Zhang slapped the table heavily, his voice turning colder. "What do you mean by this? Do you think we'll sell Yuning to you for that little bit of silver?"
Lord Wan laughed heartily and then frowned. "I definitely don't mean that. I'm here sincerely to propose marriage. These are just a part of the betrothal gifts. As long as you're willing to let me marry Miss Shen, I'll treat both the Shen and Zhang families as Miss Shen's natal families and won't ignore you."
The contempt in his words was clearly shown. He obviously thought that the hundred taels of silver last time had made Old Man Zhang's family dissatisfied, which was why they didn't betroth Shen Yuning to him. Now that he had brought full sincerity, he was determined to succeed.
Old Man Zhang was so angry that he couldn't catch his breath. He took a few deep breaths. Surprisingly, he didn't fly into a rage. Instead, he looked at Lord Wan seriously and laughed too.
Seeing this, Lord Wan was extremely proud. Just two boxes of treasures could blind these people's eyes. It was really a worthwhile deal.
But Old Man Zhang quickly收敛 his smile. "We've all seen that embroidery screen of Lord Wan. Although Yuning in my family is an outstanding girl, there are countless good girls in the world. Lord Wan might as well work harder and look for someone who suits your heart. As for Yuning in my family, she has no feelings for you. As the saying goes, forced love never lasts. Why does Lord Wan have to cling to this one flower?"
Lord Wan also put away his smile. He didn't expect that a countryman in the countryside could say such words. He coldly sized up the people present. Although Miss Shen's elder brother wasn't as greedy as the other one, his envious look was real. Moreover, there was an old man holding a child standing behind, whose eyes seemed to be nailed to the treasure boxes.
First be polite and then resort to force. He had exhausted his politeness, and he couldn't believe that these people were so ungrateful.
"So, you think my gifts aren't generous enough and you want to make an exorbitant demand?"
Old Man Zhang shook his head. "People like us have never seen much silver in our lives. Your jewels are probably enough for us to live for several lifetimes. But even the poor have their backbone. We earn money with our own hands. We dare not take the money obtained by selling our relatives. We're afraid that our ancestors will come to claim our lives at night and blame us for doing something wrong."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Fugui immediately stood up straight and stared at Lord Wan. "Do you think you're great just because you have a little money? I tell you, even if it's a mountain of gold and silver, I'll never exchange my sister for it!"
Lord Wan was stunned. Looking at the people in front of him, even the old man with a glint in his eyes, who was clearly very tempted, forced himself to turn his head and didn't look at the boxes on the ground anymore.
He was confused. He had lived for more than thirty years and knew well the benefits of money. Beautiful women and power, as long as he wanted, money could buy them. But here, in front of this barbaric old man, all these seemed impossible.
"You... you don't want money?"
"Who wouldn't want money when they've been poor for so long?" Old Man Zhang said casually. "But we have hands, and we can work by ourselves."
Lord Wan still didn't believe it. He grabbed a handful of pearls and held them in front of the old man. "You've probably never seen these pearls before. With your ability, even if you work hard for ten years, you might not be able to buy one of them."
Old Man Zhang laughed heartily and looked at him like he was a fool. "What can these pearls do? Can you eat or drink them? At most, they can be a toy for my Huzi. In the village, they might not even be as good as a fish eye."
Lord Wan was a bit speechless. Yes, for them, it seemed that having enough to eat and wear was the most important thing. Gold and silver jewels weren't their pursuit.
He asked unwillingly, "If it's just for food and drink, why do you work so hard to open shops? I heard that you've already opened five embroidery workshops and there's a trend to expand. Such hard work is just for money, isn't it?"
"You're right. It's just for money."
Shen Yuning's voice came from behind.
Shen Fugui stepped forward to greet her and whispered while supporting his sister, "You're still sick. Why did you come out? We're here. Don't worry."
Shen Yuning shook her head gently. "I know you're here, but he came for me. I'm afraid he'll make things difficult for you."
Zhang Rong had already gone into the house. She fetched a thin blanket and put it on Shen Yuning, then moved a chair for her to sit on. "We're united. We're not afraid of him making things difficult."
After several days, when Lord Wan saw Shen Yuning again, he seemed to notice something different about her. She was sick, and it seemed to be a serious illness. In just a few days, her cheeks had sunken in, and her face was sallow. She was far from as stunning as last time. But even so, she still made his heart flutter a little.
What made his heart flutter wasn't her beautiful appearance, but the same sincerity in her eyes as the people beside her.
Shen Yuning drank some water with Zhang Rong's help. Then she asked Zhang Rong and Shen Fugui to send water to Lord Wan and his attendants. Only then did she smile and look at Lord Wan.
"Lord Wan must have had a hard journey. Have some water to quench your thirst first."
However, the attendant beside Lord Wan was vigilant and didn't dare to take the water bowls handed over by the couple.
Shen Yuning didn't mind. She nodded and then said seriously to Lord Wan, "Lord Wan just said that we work so hard just for money. That's natural. In this life, we always have to work hard for the future. Just like Lord Wan's ancestors, they probably spent a lot of effort to build the family business to such a scale, so that their descendants could live without worries."
Lord Wan didn't know her intention. He just rubbed the jade ring on his finger and didn't answer.
Shen Yuning continued, "Besides making money, I also have my own dreams. Lord Wan came aggressively. You've done your homework and know about my deeds in the folk."
Lord Wan squinted his eyes. She was talking about the things she did, running around and cooperating with the government to promote the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Indeed, this was also the reason why he took a fancy to her. Otherwise, a village girl, even if she was as beautiful as a celestial being, wasn't worth his two boxes of jewels.
But wasn't this kind of thing just for fame and reputation?
"Just like you colluded with my elder brother and tried to buy me with money. I'm not willing, and those who love me are willing to protect me. But how many women in the folk have suffered because of this? They've been sold as concubines, and some poor ones have been sold to dirty places and can never get out. Their relatives don't treat them as human beings, and even they themselves don't understand the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They don't know that they can protect themselves. At first, I opened the embroidery workshop. One reason was to earn money to support my family, but the more important reason was that I hoped that when the Great Zhou Dynasty was prosperous, women could also be independent and not be controlled by others all their lives."
Lord Wan was in a daze. Something strange in his heart seemed about to burst out.
"But... aren't those things that officials should do?"
Shen Yuning asked with a smile, "Then, Lord Wan, what do you think the Wan family should do for the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty now that it has reached such a high level?"
Lord Wan couldn't say a word for a long time. Then he heard the weak girl's voice, sonorous and powerful.
"When one is poor, one should cultivate one's own moral character; when one is prosperous, one should bring benefits to the whole world. If everyone can do this, the Great Zhou Dynasty will truly thrive. The Wan family is extremely wealthy. Isn't it ridiculous to chase after those illusory reputations? Lord Wan came for my reputation in the folk, but no matter how well - known I am, it's only in the small Yun County. If Lord Wan calms down and benefits the people of the whole Great Zhou Dynasty, why does he need the little reputation of this little girl?"
At this moment, it was completely silent all around. Lord Wan seemed to be able to hear his own heartbeat, which was a lively and passionate one. He had lived for more than thirty years, and it seemed that only when he was ten years old did he have such an excited mood. Now, this girl's words had stirred up the turmoil in his heart.
Chasing fame and fortune was a habitual thing, but she was right. Beyond fame and fortune, there were so many things that were really worth pursuing.