Chapter 172: Ah Hao Likes It

Lady Lin hesitated: "The Prince Jing's Heir is indeed quite good, but his health is poor. That is a major issue."

What if he cannot grow old together with A-Hao?

The Old Madam's tone was indifferent: "But A-Hao likes him."

"Even if she likes him, one cannot make a hasty decision regarding matters of marriage."

"But A-Hao likes him."

"Mother!"

The Old Madam's expression turned solemn: "If you find a husband for A-Hao who is as sturdy as an ox, but she doesn't like him, will she be happy?"

An image of an ox abruptly flashed through Lady Lin's mind, and she hurriedly shook her head.

Who could be happy looking like that!

"I have watched him with a cold eye all these years. The Prince Jing's Heir's health is not as poor as the world believes; at most, he is merely frail. He is excellent in all aspects, and most importantly, the two children are in love with each other. In my view, it is best to follow A-Hao's heart; a precious treasure is hard to come by," the Old Madam said calmly.

At her age, having weathered so many storms, she had long since come to terms with many things. Even if the Prince Jing's Heir did not have a long life, it would be better for A-Hao to live a flavorful life with the person she loved than to spend her days in a daze married to someone she felt nothing for.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the man's parents must be of reliable character, and her maiden family must always be a place where she could seek shelter from the wind and rain.

Lady Lin was moved by the Old Madam's words.

Indeed, a precious treasure is hard to come by. When she had insisted on marrying Wen Rugui back then, she had not considered anything else. Compared to that man surnamed Wen, the Prince Jing's Heir was at least sincere toward A-Hao.

"Very well then. Mother has always had better vision than I. If you think it is alright, then it is alright."

Since they were willing to enter this marriage, the General's Mansion was not the type of family to play hard to get. By the afternoon, Lady Lin had sent a messenger to deliver an invitation to the Princess of Jing.

When the Princess of Jing received the invitation, she actually felt a bit nervous.

The invitation had come far too quickly!

After drinking two sips of tea, the Princess of Jing slowly opened the invitation. After quickly scanning the words, she could not help but reveal a smile.

The invitation invited the Princess of Jing to visit the General's Mansion when she was free; this was a tactful way of agreeing to the marriage proposal.

It seemed the General's Mansion had good taste after all.

The Princess of Jing let out a long sigh of relief and instructed her maid: "Go and invite the Heir over."

That unfilial son had come to pay his respects several times throughout the morning; he truly had no backbone!

Thinking of how her usually steady son was so restless, the Princess of Jing felt a bit sour in her heart.

Before long, the curtain was lifted, and Qi Shuo strode in.

"Did Mother seek me?"

"Mhm," the Princess of Jing responded unhurriedly, deciding to watch her son's anxious state.

Qi Shuo's peripheral vision fell upon the elegant invitation by the Princess of Jing's hand. His heart beat like a drum, yet his face remained perfectly calm.

Judging rationally, the General's Mansion should have agreed; otherwise, his mother would not be reacting this way.

Heaven knows the thing he feared most was seeing his mother with a gentle expression.

"The General's Mansion has replied—" the Princess of Jing drew out her words.

Qi Shuo became even more certain of his guess, yet he still grew nervous.

Until the result was made explicit, no amount of rational judgment could put his mind at ease.

"Then the General's Mansion's intention is—" Qi Shuo asked cooperatively.

A smile appeared on the Princess of Jing's lips: "Naturally, they have agreed."

Joy bloomed like fireworks in the young man's ink-dark eyes: "Thank you, Mother!"

The Princess of Jing gave him a sidelong glance: "You are no longer a child. Be more composed, or people will laugh at you."

Was this silly boy saying he wouldn't be getting a wife? It was infuriating.

The corners of Qi Shuo's lips simply would not descend: "Your son understands."

The Princess of Jing pointed toward the door: "Go back."

Just looking at him was irritating.

"Then your son takes his leave." Qi Shuo took two steps, then suddenly turned around and asked despite the Princess of Jing's eye-roll, "Mother, when will our family formally go to propose the marriage?"

Ultimately, Qi Shuo escaped amidst the Princess of Jing's laughing scoldings, only to run straight into the little Princess, Qi Qiong.

Qi Qiong had overheard a bit and asked in confusion: "Big Brother, did you make Mother angry?"

Qi Shuo regained his composure: "No."

Qi Qiong sized up her brother and felt relieved.

His joy was so obvious he couldn't hide it; then he probably hadn't made Mother angry, otherwise, he would be far too unfilial.

Qi Qiong entered the room and saw the Princess of Jing with a stern face.

She walked forward lightly and took the Princess of Jing's arm: "What's wrong, Mother?"

The Princess of Jing looked at her beautiful, flower-like daughter and sighed: "Qiong'er, you must strive to be capable!"

She was also a mother of a daughter!

"Oh." Qi Qiong was bewildered and nodded.

Returning to the courtyard, Qi Shuo practiced a set of martial arts before he could manage to suppress his soaring mood.

Chang Shun scratched his head and whispered to Chang Ning: "The Heir looks very happy."

Chang Ning blinked: "Is that so?"

Chang Shun took another glance and became even more certain: "There is no mistake. But the Heir hasn't even left the house today; why is he suddenly so happy?"

Chang Ning echoed the question: "Yeah, why is that?"

It wasn't until the matchmaker hired by the Prince Jing's Mansion went to the General's Mansion to formally propose, and brought back the good news that the lady's side had agreed, that Chang Shun heard the news and slumped onto the steps as if struck by lightning.

After a long while, he tugged at Chang Ning's sleeve: "Chang Ning, pinch me."

Chang Ning reached out without any hesitation.

"Ow!" Chang Shun let out a miserable cry, the pain bringing tears to his eyes. "Who told you to pinch so hard!"

Chang Ning chuckled: "Wasn't I just helping you wake up?"

He had never seen anyone so stupid.

Oh, no, there was also that maid named Baozhu by the Heir's side.

"Chang Ning, I think it's very unreasonable that marriage matters depend entirely on the parents' command..." Chang Shun had not yet recovered from the shock.

The Second Miss of the Lin family, who occasionally climbed walls and could beat up kidnappers, was going to become their Heir's wife?

Chang Ning looked at his companion with sympathy, patted his shoulder, and said earnestly: "Chang Shun, think about why the Heir is so happy."

Even after Chang Ning went to congratulate Qi Shuo, Chang Shun remained in a state of呆若木鸡 (stunned silence).

As soon as the news of the marriage between the Prince Jing's Mansion and the General's Mansion spread, there was no shortage of people as shocked as Chang Shun.

Lady Lin's public explanation was beyond thorough: "The two children grew up under the watchful eyes of both families, and there has long been an intention to marry them. The eldest daughter is ill; perhaps by catching the auspiciousness of her younger sister's engagement, she might recover."

Many noble ladies could not help but feel a sting of envy in private.

The eldest Miss Lin was seriously ill and had proactively withdrawn from her engagement to Prince Wei; people thought the General's Mansion was on the decline, but they didn't expect the Second Miss Lin to secure such a fine marriage.

That was the legitimate eldest son of a Prince. He was young, handsome, and even more rare was the fact that Prince Jing did not even have a concubine and was famously devoted to the Princess of Jing. With such a proper "upper beam," the "lower beam" certainly wouldn't be crooked.

When Princess Yi'an went to the Kou residence to visit her mother, she heard her mother's lamentations.

The young girl accompanying Mother Kou, whose features bore a slight resemblance to Princess Yi'an, said with an impatient look: "Mother, you have said those words several times already. Sister has rarely returned; why do you keep bringing it up?"

Wasn't it just that she envied the Second Miss Lin for obtaining a good marriage and felt she was being uncompetitive?

But was that something she could fix just by being competitive?

"If you thought the Prince Jing's Heir was a good son-in-law, you should have moved next door to the Prince Jing's Mansion ten years ago," the girl said crossly.