Xu Ling’er came out of the house and caught a glimpse of the two men standing at the courtyard entrance.
Her tears had not yet completely dispersed and her cheeks were covered with tear marks.
Meng Cheng could see them clearly, and the hand hanging at his side clenched, and it took the greatest of willpower not to run over.
Xu Ling’er approached the two with teary eyes.
Meng Cheng’s heart tightened and he stared at her closely.
Stopping in front of the two, Xu Ling’er’s voice was choked with sobs, “Third Young Master, Miss Song.”
Song Wangyue nodded and pretended to look towards the house, “I’m going to check on Grand Great Grandfather, cousin, you see her out.”
After saying that, without waiting for Meng Cheng to say anything, she quickly walked towards the house.
Meng Cheng wanted to call out to her, but opened his mouth but not a word came out, his hand reached into his sleeve and squeezed his handkerchief, but in the end he didn’t take it out, turning around, “Let’s go.”
Xu Ling’er followed him out of the house without uttering a word.
The carriage that brought her over had gone to the shop to make a delivery, and there was only the carriage that Meng Cheng was going to ride in front of the gate.
“Where are you going, I’ll give you a lift.”
“To deliver clothes to my father.”
Meng Cheng froze, Li An was repairing the aqueduct outside the city, it was at least half an hour past, why not give the clothes directly to the old man?
“Are you free?”
“Yes.”
Meng Cheng subconsciously replied, and before his words could leave his mouth, Xu Ling’er nodded, “Please.”
With that, he walked towards the carriage.
Meng Cheng intuited that something was wrong, but Xu Ling’er had already gotten into the carriage, so he couldn’t think about it and sat down on the front board, instructing the carriage driver to leave the city.
The street was full of people, noise and clamour.
Neither of them made a sound.
A few miles out of town, Xu Ling’er suddenly spoke out, “Stop!”
The coachman pulled the reins and the carriage stopped. Xu Ling’er lifted the curtain and met Meng Cheng’s eyes, “Third young master, I have something to say to you.”
Meng Cheng’s heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.
The carriage driver had already smartly jumped off the carriage and hitched the reins to the horse’s back and walked to the far side.
Xu Ling’er’s voice was exceptionally clear on the wide road, “I have my heart set on the Third Young Master, I wonder if the Third Young Master has this heart for me?”
Meng Cheng stared at her in a daze, forgetting to respond.
……
It was dark before Meng Yang returned and went straight to look for Song Wangyue. He didn’t find anyone, asked his subordinates to know that she was over at the old gentleman’s side and looked for her.
Once he entered, he couldn’t hide his smile, “Yue’er, I’ve already ordered that we build six more workshops at the same time, plus the original two, making four in the west and four in the east.”
“Then I must congratulate my uncle grandfather.”
Meng Yang smiled broadly and sat down after giving the old man a salute, with a look of ambition, “Old man, have you heard what Yue’er has told you, she will find a way to make me an imperial merchant.”
“Yes, I said, I think it’s feasible.”
Meng Yang was even happier, “If you think it’s feasible too, then it will definitely be possible. I never dreamed that I would have the chance to be an imperial merchant in my life.”
“Don’t be too happy, it’s not certain whether it will work or not.”
Song Wangyue poured a cup of tea and brought it over, Meng Yang took it and held it in his hand, “Whether it works or not, I am happy, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have such an opportunity.
“Then uncle grandfather will make a batch of soap quickly and bring it with us when we return.”
“You’re leaving?”
The old gentleman stroked his beard, “We’ve been out for more than two months, so it’s time to go back.”
“It’s not easy to come here, how can we go back so early, we’ll stay for another two months.”
Knowing that he would say this, Song Wangyue smiled, “We can go back sooner, so that we can help Uncle Grandfather fight for the imperial merchants sooner.”
Hearing her talk about the royal business, Meng Yang no longer insisted, but he really couldn’t let them go, especially his sister, who had come back for a trip after more than ten years, and he didn’t know when he would come back again. And the old man, who was already old, didn’t know if he would be able to come along next time.
Yue’er is already ten years old and will be married in a few years’ time, so she will not be so free once she gets married.
“We’ll come every other year from now on, whenever we have time.”
Meng Yang’s eyes lit up, “Is that true?”
“Of course.”
Meng Yang was relieved and was about to ask when they intended to leave when the curtain was lifted and Meng Cheng walked in, “Old sir, grandfather, Yue’er’s sister.”
Seeing that his clothes were stained with mud, Song Wan Yue raised an eyebrow.
Meng Yang also saw it, “What are you doing here?”
“Going outside the city to deliver clothes to Uncle Li.”
Uncle Li? Which Uncle Li?
Before Meng Yang could react, Meng Cheng lifted the hem of his clothes and knelt down, “Grandfather, I want to ask for Xu Ling’er’s hand in marriage, please make it happen.”
“No!”
Meng Yang didn’t even think about it, he directly disagreed, Huo had caused Wan’er to disappear for over ten years, how could his own grandson marry her granddaughter?
“Grandfather ……”
Meng Yang raised his hand, stopping his following words, “Do you know what Xu Ling’er is? She is ……”
“Sun’er knows, sister Yue’er told me.”
“You know you still want to marry her, are you trying to piss me off?”
Meng Yang was furious.
Song Wangyue helped him to smooth out his anger, “Uncle grandfather, I asked my grandmother, she said that Xu Ling’er has been taught by her great grandfather for many years, and is better than ordinary ladies of the house, cousin sees her, it proves that cousin has an eye for her, moreover, great grandfather doesn’t care about the past anymore, so you should agree.”
“How can I agree? If it weren’t for Huo, how could your mother have disappeared for over ten years?”
“Huo is Huo, Xu Ling’er is Xu Ling’er, she didn’t hurt my mother, you can’t blame her.”
“No!”
Song Wangyue pleaded like the old man for help.
Receiving her gaze, the old man spoke slowly, “Meng Yang, one’s life is a long one, it is a great blessing to be able to marry someone you love, to have a loving husband and wife, and to have a harmonious marriage. I know you can’t let go of your resentment, but think about the time when I asked your sister to marry my unfilial son in order to repay my kindness.
Xu Ling’er, whom I personally taught and raised, is comparable to those of the capital’s leading ladies, her heart is not bad, and her looks are even more reasonable.
Meng Yang still couldn’t get over the hurdle in his heart, but when the old man said so, he couldn’t refuse to give face, “You guys let me think about it.”
When Meng Cheng was about to say something, Song Wangyue gave him a wink and Meng Cheng could only swallow back what he was about to say.
“All right, you can get up first, don’t go to the farm these days, I’ve already ordered down to build a few more workshops, you can just go there and help.”
Meng Cheng could only agree.
Meng Yang didn’t want to see him again, and after shooing him away, he went to Meng’s place himself.