The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 340: Attitudes Toward the Imperial Decree
"Zhaoyang, do you have something to say to me?"
The banquet was lively until the evening, and as Tong Huaqiong was seeing off the guests, Lu Zhaoyang followed her closely, never leaving her side.
This made many people mistakenly think that Lu Zhaoyang was her young son who was still studying.
Tong Huaqiong guessed that Lu Zhaoyang had something to tell her, but he remained silent, so she couldn’t help but ask.
"Um, Aunt Tong..." Lu Zhaoyang said, blushing, "Grandfather asked you to help me with matchmaking. Have you found any suitable young lady?"
Seeing Lu Zhaoyang’s face as red as a dripping blood, Tong Huaqiong asked back, "Is there a girl you’ve taken a liking to and want me to play matchmaker?"
Despite being shy, Lu Zhaoyang was honest about the girl he had set his eyes on and said, "To be honest, Aunt Tong, I fell in love with Miss Huang at first sight."
So it was true!
Lu Zhaoyang had taken a liking to Huang Jingshan.
Good taste.
In his past life, Lu Zhaoyang died early and had no interaction with Huang Jingshan.
In this life, they crossed paths, but Huang Jingshan was already engaged, making their timing unfortunate.
Tong Huaqiong said, "Miss Huang is a good match for you, but she is already engaged."
A shadow of gloom passed through Lu Zhaoyang’s eyes.
From childhood to adulthood, he had been engrossed in studies and had never been interested in any girl.
It was hard to come across someone he liked, only to find out she was engaged.
Initially, when Lu Zhaoyang recovered from his illness, he felt fate was favoring him, but now he felt that fate was teasing him.
Tong Huaqiong said, "She is engaged to the Lian Family in Pingchuan County, a wealthy family, and the young master she is engaged to is also a scholar."
Lu Zhaoyang said, "Aunt Tong, I understand. Let’s pretend I never mentioned this."
Tong Huaqiong sighed and said, "These marriages are destined by heaven; if there’s a fate, it will be yours, and if not, no matter how you seek, it won’t come. Don’t dwell too much on it. I and your cousin from the Liu family will keep an eye for other suitable young ladies."
Tong Huaqiong could only say this.
She would never advise Lu Zhaoyang to intercept the engagement, knowing that Huang Jingshan would be unhappy at the Lian Family and might be divorced.
Even if she did say, could Lu Zhaoyang make Huang Jingshan break the engagement?
In this era, only when a man has made enough mistakes can the lady break the engagement without criticism.
Overall, until everything is almost certain, Tong Huaqiong won’t reveal any past-life information regarding Huang Jingshan to Lu Zhaoyang.
Lu Zhaoyang offered a deep bow to Tong Huaqiong.
It was at this moment that Old Mrs. Huang brought Huang Jingshan to bid farewell.
Mrs. Han, accompanied by Liu Yanhong, also took the opportunity to say goodbye.
Since the family’s carriage followed County Magistrate Liu and left early, Mrs. Han planned to ride in the Huang family carriage to Yan Guan Town and then hire a carriage to Pingchuan County.
"Cousin, I’m also heading from Pingchuan back to the city, so I’ll go with you," Lu Zhaoyang said.
Lu Zhaoyang had come on horseback, so after escorting Mrs. Han and Liu Yanhong onto the Huang family carriage, he rode his horse ahead to lead the way.
Old Mrs. Huang peered through the curtain at Lu Zhaoyang, once again feeling regretful that her granddaughter was already engaged.
After the villagers completely dispersed, it was already getting dark.
Everyone was gathered in the main room except for Gu Dashu.
Gu Taohua lit two oil lamps, and the Imperial Decree shone even more brilliantly under the lamp’s illumination.
During the day, the family had many guests and didn’t have time to carefully examine the Imperial Decree.
At this moment, Gu Jingzhe and others were very excited as they looked at the Imperial Decree.
To be honest, Tong Huaqiong, who had a modern soul, was only curious about the Imperial Decree, not excited, but for ancient loyalists like Gu Jingzhe, an Imperial Decree from the emperor was a great honor.
Not to mention touching it, even looking at it felt like a desecration.
Gu Taohua reached out her hand and said, "This is the Imperial Decree, let me touch it."
Gu Jingzhe exclaimed, "Taohua, don’t be reckless. What if you damage it?"
Gu Taohua retracted her hand.
Su Chengmin scoffed on the side, "If it’s damaged, only heaven, earth, and you know, how would the emperor find out? Who can blame Taohua?"
Su Chengmin’s dismissive attitude towards the emperor made Gu Jingzhe quite unhappy.
"Lai Fu is right, even if it’s damaged, so what? Besides, the emperor wouldn’t be so petty to issue an imperial decree on a fragile piece of cloth."
Tong Huaqiong said this as she reached out and handed the Imperial Decree to Gu Taohua.
"Touch it, feel free. Let everyone have a touch."
Gu Jingzhe sighed, seeing how his mother treated the Imperial Decree like a regular cabbage.
Gu Taohua touched and said, "The material feels nice."
"Sister, let me touch it too," Liu Yueer said happily.
Gu Taohua handed the Imperial Decree to Liu Yueer.
Liu Yueer had washed her hands with soap and applied rose balm after tidying up in the evening just to touch the Imperial Decree.
"Yaozu, you should feel it too," Liu Yueer handed it to Yaozu.
Gu Jingzhe stopped him, saying, "Yaozu’s hands are always dirty from climbing, what if it gets damaged?"
Yaozu stretched out his hand and said, "Third Uncle, my hands are clean."
As soon as he got home from school, Liu Yueer made sure he washed his hands thoroughly.
Yaozu’s fingers carefully slid over the Imperial Decree.
Liu Yueer said, "Yaozu, you must study hard and make us proud. I don’t have the skills like your grandma to earn a title myself, so I’ll be counting on you for that."
Yaozu nodded with half-understanding, "I’ll earn the title for you, mother."
Liu Yueer looked relieved and pleased.
Then it was Man Er’s turn to hold the Imperial Decree. He touched it seriously and said to Chen Sufen and Gu Taohua, "I’ll earn the title for mom in the future, and also for aunt."
Yaozu retorted, "You’re a girl. How can you study for exams and become an official? You can’t earn it."
Man Er lifted her head defiantly and said, "I will earn it."
Yaozu was stubborn, saying, "You can’t."
Man Er’s face turned red with anger.
Tong Huaqiong said to Man Er, "Grandma believes you can earn the title for your mother."
If the path continues as the last lifetime, they might unexpectedly raise her band of bad bamboo to be kin of the emperor.
"Mom, grandma says I can earn it, so I can. You should touch the Imperial Decree too," Man Er handed it to Chen Sufen.
With trembling hands, Chen Sufen barely touched it like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water.
"Dad, you should also touch it," Man Er said to Gu Dahuan.
Gu Dahuan barely touched the edge of the Decree and said, "I won’t touch it anymore, there’s nothing special about it."
Gu Dahuan felt his hands were too rough from work, and he might unintentionally scratch the Imperial Decree, so he firmly refused to touch it.
Finally, it was Gu Jingzhe’s turn. Despite worrying about the Decree getting damaged, he couldn’t resist the bright yellow glow and held the Imperial Decree tightly.
Gu Jingzhe was the most excited of the entire family.
He studied and took exams just to sell himself to the royal family, hoping for the Imperial Decree’s bestowment.
"Xiao Long, Uncle Lai Fu, do you two want to touch it?" Man Er, seeing everyone in the family had touched it, turned to the only ones left, Su Chengmin and Xiao Long.
Su Chengmin refused and said, "No."
Xiao Long shook his head and said, "It’s not something good, so no need to touch it."
Everyone’s gaze was on Xiao Long, who pressed his lips tightly.
For Xiao Long, the Imperial Decree truly wasn’t something good; his father’s death was probably decreed by one.
Tong Huaqiong, worried that the Decree might trigger PTSD in Xiao Long, said, "That’s enough, everyone’s had a touch, nothing special, put it away."
With that, she rolled up the Imperial Decree and placed it back in the box.
