CHAPTER 270: CHAPTER 264 PERSUASION

Although Zhao Kuan was not present at the time, as one of Zhao Hanzhang’s widely circulated deeds in Wu Castle for stopping a baby’s cries, he heard quite a bit about it from the clan members who were on site.

It is said that at the time, besides Fifth Uncle and Uncle Ming who reprimanded and stopped Seventh Ancestor, everyone else remained silent.

And Zhao Hanzhang pressed Seventh Ancestor against the coffin, pulling him to accompany the burial, stopping this farce.

Zhao Dong’s face was awkward, he glared at him, unwilling, but he began to seriously ponder.

Deep down, he didn’t want to agree. He couldn’t quite explain why, he just felt uneasy; how could his daughter go out and work publicly?

Zhao Kuan said: "Father, teaching is a very respectable job. You don’t have to worry about losing face, and besides, I’ll be there. I’ll take care of the younger sisters."

Aunt Dong held back all night, finally couldn’t help but whisper: "You should agree, look at the sister-in-law, now who in the clan dares to show her a long face? Even Fifth Uncle, who never liked her, has softened quite a bit. Is all this because of the late elder brother? Or Second Son?"

"No, it’s because of Third Lady," she said softly, "If my daughter can be as accomplished as Third Lady, I would also bask in glory."

Only then did Zhao Dong give his tacit consent.

Seeing he no longer opposed, Aunt Dong knew the matter was settled, and hurriedly nudged her son.

Zhao Kuan then smiled: "I’ll take the two younger sisters to the county town tomorrow."

Aunt Dong breathed a sigh of relief, smilingly said: "Take good care of them."

Zhao Dong asked: "What about your marriage with Fan Ying?"

He wanted to exchange one for another.

Zhao Kuan helplessly said: "Father, it’s just your wishful thinking, whether Fan Ying agrees or not is uncertain."

"You don’t need to care whether she agrees or not, just say whether you agree?"

After pondering for a moment Zhao Kuan said: "If father can arrange it, I will naturally have no objections."

Fan Ying will definitely not agree, the Fan Family values mourning, Fan Ying needs to observe mourning for her parents and family, and she won’t discuss marriage for at least two and a half years.

Zhao Dong however had his own plans, he let his wife approach Mrs. Wang, wanting Mrs. Wang to ask Zhao Hanzhang to bring up the marriage proposal.

Mrs. Wang didn’t even tell Zhao Hanzhang, she directly refused, saying: "Third Lady is still young; she’s an unmarried girl herself, how could she act as a matchmaker?"

Aunt Dong: ...

She hadn’t thought of such a reason and wanted to say more, but Mrs. Wang suddenly put away her smile, solemnly said: "This is just between you and me. If it were someone else, I would smash a tea mug in their face."

Aunt Dong was taken aback.

Mrs. Wang said: "I’m not as educated as you all, but I know the basic etiquette. The Fan Family values mourning; proposing marriage now is like stabbing Miss Fan in the back. Third Lady is also mourning, anyone who dares to propose now, I will throw them out."

"The Fan Family is gone, but we shouldn’t bully the orphaned girls," Mrs. Wang said softly, "Don’t bring up this kind of topic anymore."

Aunt Dong awkwardly said: "We know, and we’re not trying to fix the marriage immediately, just wanted Third Lady to mention it, if she’s interested, she could get to know Kuan’er in the next two years."

Mrs. Wang still refused, "It’s against etiquette."

Aunt Dong could only leave disappointed.

Turning around, Mrs. Wang complained to Zhao Hanzhang, "I’m not stupid. You are Fan Ying’s superior, she sees you as her savior and listens to you. If you bring it up, could she refuse?"

"But if she agrees, she may not be without concerns," Mrs. Wang said, "She is your subordinate, and if something happens to sour relations, what if she doesn’t work wholeheartedly in the future? We don’t do things that harm ourselves without benefit."

"Of course, if she is interested, that’s another matter."

Zhao Hanzhang thought of Fan Ying, who was fully immersed in her work now, and shook her head: "She’s still mourning, and she’s quite young. We’ll talk about marriage after the mourning period."

"That’s what I think too." Mrs. Wang served her various delicacies, asking: "How come it’s only you today, where’s Ting Han?"

Zhao Hanzhang: "He’s busy; I’ll bring him back for a meal in a few days."

Zhao Hanzhang was actually busy too, but she deliberately returned to invite Zhao Ming to oversee the county government; she had to go to Shangcai.

"Mother, Sister Yunying and Yunxin have already entered the school, please praise them in front of others and envy Aunt Dong a little more recently."

Mrs. Wang asked: "Someone else’s daughter caught your eye?"

"Every literate, capable young lady," Zhao Hanzhang said: "The school lacks people, not only literate ones but also those skilled in weaving and embroidery, but the family uncles surely wouldn’t approve of the sisters working as craftsmen teachers for me. Sigh, I can only focus on teaching."

Mrs. Wang started pondering.

Weaving is something most women in Great Jin can do, especially those from families with slightly better conditions; they all have looms at home.

The Zhao Family is no exception; although Mrs. Wang has many servants, she still needs to weave, cut and make clothes herself.

Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Erlang’s close-fitting clothes are mostly made from the fabrics she wove and tailored herself.

There are quite a few garments; she feels her weaving skills are decent, but...

She hesitated.

While wanting to share some burden for her daughter, she was also reluctant to publicly engage in such work, somewhat timid inside.

Zhao Hanzhang, sensitive to people’s emotions, seeing her unusual expression asked: "What’s wrong?"

Only then did Mrs. Wang say: "I do know how to weave..."

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes lit up, immediately asking: "Mother, are you going to help me at the school?"

Seeing her so happy, Mrs. Wang made up her mind, saying: "If someone wants to learn from me, I can indeed teach, and I won’t hold back."

Zhao Hanzhang immediately held her hand saying: "Great, when I return from Shangcai, I will personally escort Mother to the school."

"So cheeky," Mrs. Wang relaxed a bit too, while serving her food she asked, "What are you going to Shangcai for?"

Zhao Hanzhang chuckled: "I’m going to see County Magistrate Chai. Spring is here; I wonder how he’s doing?"

County Magistrate Chai is not doing well!

After the New Year’s Eve, the sun has been shining brightly for several days in a row, although still very cold, but the snow outside began to melt.

The hibernating villagers gradually stepped out of their homes, preparing for spring plowing, of course, everyone was still languid, not much work could be done, preparing grain seeds is the first task.

So people began to take out the seeds stored last year for selection, hoping to pick better ones, and County Magistrate Chai also needed to consider distributing some grain seeds.

Last year, life for the people of Shangcai County was really tough, he worried they might have eaten the reserved seeds, leaving none for this year’s planting, so he also needed to buy some seeds to distribute.

But upon checking the storeroom he found that he was extremely poor; after buying seeds, there’d be almost nothing left, yet there was still a long way to go till the summer harvest, how to feed these many officials in the county government, to pay salaries, what to do without money?