CHAPTER 369: CHAPTER 362: I’M JUST A SUCKER FOR PRETTY FACES 4

"Ningning, Ningning."

Anning heard An Xin calling her.

"What’s up?"

An Xin said softly, "That Xu Bao’er isn’t bad, you know."

Anning smiled too: "She’s a nice girl."

An Xin had been secluded for a long time and had finally leveled up, perhaps feeling cooped up for too long, she was now a bit chatty: "I just heard Xu Bao’er talking to herself, wondering whether or not to switch the marriage arrangements. Initially, she was against switching, set on marrying into the Yue Family. But then she thought about the situation of the Xiao Family and worries that you marrying into the Xiao Family would suffer the same hardships she did in her past life. She’s torn about it now."

"Xu Bao’er is a very good girl."

Anning quite liked Xu Bao’er: "This girl is a bit naive, but she has a very kind heart. Despite all the pains she’s been through, she has remained true to her initial intentions. In her past life, that’s how she was. Even after becoming widowed, whenever she met Anning, who had become a first-rank wife, she never showed any jealousy, even though the marital destiny should have been hers, she never held any resentment."

An Xin also liked such a pure-hearted girl: "Ningning, Xu Bao’er is so good, marrying Yue Zhong seems a bit... I feel like Yue Zhong does not deserve her."

Anning nodded: "I feel the same way, but Xu Bao’er can’t break off the engagement, and Xu Pengju wouldn’t let her either."

Now that the Yue Family has fallen, if Xu Bao’er were to break off the engagement, she would end up with a reputation for despising poverty and loving wealth, which would be very bad for the Xu Family.

Moreover, a girl who has broken off an engagement usually cannot find another good family to marry into.

The most critical point is that Yue Zhong is very vindictive. If Xu Bao’er were to break off the engagement with him, and he were to become successful in the future, he would surely seek revenge. This would truly be a loss not worth the gain.

Even if Anning could step in and keep Yue Zhong mediocre for life, who can guarantee that the family Xu Bao’er marries into after breaking off the engagement would be particularly good?

Although Yue Zhong may not be good, in the past life, he always treated He Anning with great respect and never allowed any concubines to overstep He Anning.

He is a typical ancient man who believes in the clear distinction between the legitimate wife and concubines, trusting and favoring the legitimate wife, while the concubines are just playthings, never really taken to heart.

If Xu Bao’er were to marry him, at least on this point, she would not be wronged.

But if she were to marry a man who favored concubines over his wife, that would be truly disastrous.

Don’t even mention monogamy—finding a lifetime partner in this era is incredibly rare.

Take Xu Pengju for instance. He is especially good to Mrs. Xu, but he still took several concubines for the sake of having offspring. For some reason, all these years, they only had Xu Bao’er.

There’s also He Anning’s father, He Juren, who said he wouldn’t remarry after the death of He Anning’s mother.

But not remarrying did not mean there were no women in his life, he had a concubine to attend to his needs.

If they were like this, not to mention other men.

Anning gradually shared these analysis with An Xin.

An Xin started to feel troubled too: "It’s really tough in this era. If this were modern times, it would be so simple for Xu Bao’er to break up with Yue Zhong."

An Xin was truly worried for Xu Bao’er: "What should Xu Bao’er do? I just can’t bear to let her marry Yue Zhong."

Anning smiled and nodded at An Xin: "Let’s take it one step at a time, see as we go."

After that, she didn’t mind An Xin anymore and laid down to sleep.

An Xin called Anning a few times but when she got no response, she started to amuse herself.

Anning got up early that day. After getting out of bed, she busied herself in the kitchen, and then she went to see Xu Bao’er, carrying a box of food with her.

Xu Bao’er had just woken up when the young girl Du Juan brought Anning into the room. On seeing Anning, Xu Bao’er smiled and said, "Sister Ning is here, please sit down quickly. Du Juan, pour some tea for Sister Ning."

Anning quickly stopped Du Juan: "I’ve already eaten and I don’t need tea. Don’t busy yourself."

Du Juan stepped aside with a smile.

Anning took the porridge she had prepared in the food box and handed it to Du Juan to feed Xu Bao’er.

Xu Bao’er ate the porridge obediently, and Anning sat beside her with a smile, while tucking her in and saying, "I heard from your mother that yesterday, Madam Yue visited you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Bao’er’s expression became somewhat inexplicably somber: "Is that so? I didn’t see her."

"Maybe you were still not awake at that time." Anning smiled, holding Xu Bao’er’s hand, "You have no idea how worried your father, mother, and I have been while you were unconscious these days. Your mother has cried enough tears to fill a jar. If you hadn’t woken up, she would probably have cried another jar. From now on, you really can’t be so mischievous again."

Xu Bao’er, looking down, replied shyly, "I wasn’t being mischievous. I just thought the lotus leaves in the pond looked fun and wanted to play with some, but I unexpectedly lost my footing and fell in."

"You," Anning patted Xu Bao’er’s hand, "if you like lotus leaves, you could just ask the maids to pick some, or even the boys to dive in and get them for you. There’s no need for you to do it yourself and end up suffering so much. You still look a bit pale; you really need to take good care of yourself."

Xu Bao’er smiled lightly: "Alright, I’ll listen to you, Sister."

Anning smiled again: "You must recover soon. The Yue Family is eagerly waiting to marry you over. I heard that Mr. Yue is incredibly talented and will surely pass the rural examination the year after next. Then you will be the Madam of Scholar, and if he even manages to pass the Imperial Examination, you might just secure the title of Imperial Decree Lady."

When Xu Bao’er heard this, she didn’t feel happy at all, but rather saddened.

She tightly grasped Anning’s hand: "What about you, Sister?"

"What about me?"

Anning raised an eyebrow.

Xu Bao’er asked, "Don’t you want to become an Imperial Decree Lady, to not want to enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth?"

Anning let out a chuckle, tapping Xu Bao’er on the forehead: "Imperial Decree Lady or not, I’ve never thought about these things. All I want is to live a loving life with Xiao Yuan as husband and wife until we grow old together."

Xu Bao’er paused: "Sister... do you like... Young Master Xiao?"

Anning nodded emphatically: "Yes, I really like him..."

At this point, Anning’s face turned as red as an apple. She covered her face with one hand: "To be shamelessly honest, he and I have already committed ourselves to each other for life. He’s handsome, and I just like attractive looks."

Xu Bao’er frowned slightly: "Sister, if, I mean, suppose there were two men, one not handsome but set to become a high official, and another who’s handsome but very poor, which one would you choose?"

She was particularly nervous asking this question.

Xu Bao’er was very eager to see what Anning would choose.

She thought, if Anning chose the one set to become a high official, she wouldn’t say anything more. When the time came for marriage, she would let her father arrange a different match, allowing Anning to enjoy a lifetime of wealth and luxury.

As for herself, she would marry Xiao Yuan, but would make trouble before Xiao Yuan turned bad, seeking an early separation.

Xu Bao’er actually believed that Anning would choose the one set to be a high official.

But she didn’t expect Anning to laugh and say, "I would pick the handsome one."

She whispered into Xu Bao’er’s ear: "You see, I just like someone who’s attractive. My future husband must be as handsome as Pan An. Even if marrying him means eating coarse grains, I’d be happy. But if he’s ugly, no matter if I’m clothed in silk and fed with jade, I would feel miserable every day."

"Is that so?"

Xu Bao’er pondered thoughtfully.