The end of the year was approaching. After a busy month of autumn harvest, Flourishing Flower Yard entered preparations for the New Year.
During this time, many things happened in Fanluo City, both big and small.
The most talked-about topic in Flourishing Flower Town was its neighbor, Qingtian Town, which had been bought by a mysterious outsider.
The price and the subsequent restructuring plan were similar to that of Flourishing Flower Town.
This matter made Fanluo City lively for a long time, until the arrival of another major event — the replacement of Fanluo City's mayor.
Fanluo City, which hadn't had any official news for a long time, was in an uproar for an entire month.
It was said that the thirty-one mayors of Dahui's subordinate cities were selected by Emperor Dahui from the civil and military officials over the years. They were selected based on character, talent, skills, martial prowess, management, and other aspects.
Of course, there was no shortage of mayors who had been selected through improper means.
But most of them were reliable.
After all, the mayors had to go through three comprehensive competitions in the civil, military, talent, and social fields before being selected by the civil and military officials. Only the top three winners each year could enter the Emperor's talent pool for the selection of mayors.
Year after year, the talent pool was filled to the brim.
Therefore, after the current Emperor, Li Wenxiu, ascended to the throne, the first thing he did was to shorten the term of office of the City Lord from the original fifteen years to eight years. He also extended the talent test that was held once a year to once every three years.
This was to reduce the backlog in the talent pool.
However, the mayors of Fanluo City were replaced — or, more accurately, promoted — in less than eight years. When the mayors of Watermoon City came to an end, the mayors of Fanluo City would be transferred to Watermoon City for the remaining three years.
The reason it was called a promotion was because Watermoon City was several times more prosperous than Fanluo City.
It should be said that the remote and small Fanluo City was the lowest of the thirty-one cities.
Before the mayors of Fanluo City took office, everyone in and out of Fanluo City wondered who would be so unlucky as to be assigned to this lowly city by the Emperor.
"In that case, the rumors outside are all true?
Then he had to congratulate the City Lord.
It's said that Watermoon City is twice as big as Fanluo City. "
In the front hall of Yueyun Embroidery House, Jiang Yingyue, the head shopkeeper, greeted Xi Youdao, who was about to step down as the city lord of Fanluo City, with tea in place of wine.
"Head Shopkeeper, you're too polite.
I've come here to say goodbye, and I have a presumptuous request. I wonder if the head shopkeeper … "
"City Lord is too polite. If you have any instructions, feel free to tell me. As long as Ying Yue is able to do it, I will definitely do my best."
"Ahem … Then I won't be polite.
It's like this … ahem … My son, Jing Rui, has always been thinking about Miss Yingyun.
As soon as the transfer order was issued, he insisted that I come to propose marriage.
But because my family has already arranged a marriage for him, and the other party is an official of the imperial court, I can't refuse.
In this way, if Miss Yingyun were to enter the family, she would definitely have to suffer a bit.
But don't worry, Head Shopkeeper, I will definitely … "
Hearing that, Jiang Yingyue knew what Xi Youdao was going to say next. He was going to promise to treat his younger sister well.
But this wasn't what she wanted, nor was it what her younger sister wanted.
"City Lord, allow me to interrupt. After the new year, my younger sister will be twenty four years old. I remember that Young Master Xi is only nineteen this year. At this age …" Don't tell me he's going to marry Yingyun off to be a nanny?
"Ahem … Head Shopkeeper, you don't know. His mother and I have tried to persuade him countless times, but we couldn't dissuade him. That's why we shamelessly came here to propose marriage."
Is this a marriage proposal?
Ha!
What a joke!
He even said that he wanted to secretly send Yingyun to his son as a concubine.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yingyue's anger grew. She almost exploded on the spot.
"City Lord, you also don't know. Actually, my younger sister is already engaged.
Otherwise, with her good qualifications, why would she stay in the embroidery house and not get married?!
You also know that I only have one precious sister, and I don't want her to marry far away.
I wanted the man to move to Fan Luo City before I agreed to their marriage.
As a matter of fact, the man's family is quite big in the north. They can't move here in a short time, so they can only delay for so many years.
This is also my fault.
However, I heard that everything has been settled. After the New Year, they will move here. So … "
"Is that so?
But I heard … "Wasn't there a rumor that the head shopkeeper of the Joyous Cloud Embroidery House was looking for a husband for his sister?
Could it be false?
"Those are all rumors. They can't be taken seriously." Jiang Yingyue waved her hand, indicating that she was just messing around with nothing better to do.
Her goal was to lure her perfect brother-in-law to her.
"In that case, I congratulate the head shopkeeper first.
Haha … My son will probably drop the matter after he hears about it. "
Xi Youdao naturally didn't really want to propose marriage. He just couldn't dissuade his youngest son, so he made the trip.
Now that he saw that Jiang Yingyun already had a close fiancé, he was naturally happy to go back and remind his stubborn and disobedient son.
Although the Jiang Family only had two sisters, and they had accumulated a lot of wealth over the years, they were still a merchant family. How could they have the qualifications to marry into the Xi Family?
"Phew!
What kind of person is this!
You still want to stick your nose in before you leave! "
Jiang Yingyue took a "Peony Painting" and politely sent off the satisfied Xi Youdao. She leaned weakly against the back of the chair, cursing repeatedly.
Hopefully, that hedonistic Xi Jingrui wouldn't be waiting here to see her so-called brother-in-law.
If that was the case, she wouldn't have time to find a man who was compatible with Yingyun.
Ai, that's why you can't lie. Once you do, you have to come up with countless lies to cover it up.
But what's wrong with Yingyun recently?
She's been busy recently, but the New Year is coming, so there isn't much to do.
But she's still like a spinning top, refusing to stop.
It's really strange.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, she frequently ran to Blossom Town, saying that she wanted to persuade Shuiche to invest in the Joyous Cloud Embroidery House.
But after the Mid-Autumn Festival, she hasn't been to Blossom Town. Did something happen?
Could it be that she quarreled with Shuiche?
But that was impossible. That girl, Shui Yan, although she was already the mother of two children, her temperament was still delicate and quiet. She would never quarrel with others. Even if someone used a knife to force her to quarrel, she might not necessarily quarrel.
Then what could it be?
But that girl Yingyun's mouth is as hard as a clamshell. It's harder to get any information from her than to reach the heavens.
That's right, how could I forget about her …
"Xiao Qi, prepare the carriage. I want to go out immediately."
Jiang Yingyue quickly got up, tidied her clothes, and called for an assistant in the inner hall. She then walked out of the embroidery house.
… …
Qingyang Medical Centre has been very busy recently.
The New Year is coming, but more and more people are getting sick.
Perhaps it's because of the cold weather.
Most of them have caught a cold, and taking a few decoctions made by the medical centre will immediately take effect. It can be said that the medicine is effective.
Therefore, in just a few months, Qingyang Medical Centre's reputation has spread throughout Fanluo City.
Even Yang Jingzhi and Qing Lan are so busy that their feet barely touch the bed.
"Sister, today is the first time I've had a good rest in three days. What's so urgent that you have to wake me up?" Yang Jingzhi yawned and complained.
"You've lost a lot of weight.
I'll ask the cook to make some tonic soup for you two later. "
"No need. As long as I can have a good sleep, everything will be fine."
"I see … Girl, I'll ask you one thing. If you know anything, you have to tell me honestly. Do you know what happened to Yingyun recently?
Why didn't she go to Flower Town and pretend to be busy in the embroidery house? She didn't even have a chance to ask her a few questions.
It's unbelievable. "
Jiang Yingyue saw that Yang Jingzhi was really tired, so she didn't hesitate and directly expressed her intention.
"Well … It should be related to men.
But I'm not very clear about the details.
I only go there once a month, and I'm surrounded by the villagers in the infirmary. I don't have time to listen to gossip.
Sister, I'm so sleepy. I'm going to sleep. Qing Lan, help me entertain Sister Jiang … "
Was it related to men?
Did Yingyun really have a relationship with a man behind her back?
But why didn't she bring him for her to see?
Or … was it just one-sided love? She was rejected by the man after she confessed during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Was that why there was such a big contrast?
With doubts, Jiang Yingyue stepped into Flower Town for the first time, which was now Flower Yard.
But no one led her and she didn't know there was a peach forest maze at the entrance. She, Little Seven, and a luxurious carriage were trapped in the peach forest for an hour until Meng Qiaozhi, who was patrolling, found them.
"Madam, this is Martial Aunt's courtyard. Look, that's Martial Aunt's head maid, Xin Lan.
Miss Xin Lan — "Meng Qiaozhi took Jiang Yingyue to the gate of Su Shuiche's courtyard and happened to see Xin Lan coming out of the central room.
"A man?"
Su Shuiche was a bit confused after hearing Jiang Yingyun's explanation. Then she remembered that Jiang Yingyun did have a strong interest in Sirou at the beginning, but nothing happened between them.
Could it be that the man Sister Jiang mentioned who made Jiang Yingyun so different was really Sirou?
But Sirou left after the Mid-Autumn Festival and hadn't returned yet.
"Shuiche, you know, don't you?
Sister just wants to see that person and won't say anything outrageous.
After all, the marriage between a man and a woman is about mutual love. "
"But … Sister, I don't know if my guess is right. If it's true … he's not here now and I don't know when he'll come back."
Su Shuiche explained awkwardly. She didn't know much about Sirou. She only knew that his personality was similar to Ah Yao's and that he kept his distance from people or things that he didn't want to get close to.
Other than Ah Yao, Louis Stu, and Si Chong, the only people who could get close to him were the twins.
If this kind of man really fell in love with a woman, what kind of reaction would he have?
After Jiang Yingyue left in disappointment, Su Shuiche sat in front of the window and looked at the courtyard that was gradually snowing. But she still couldn't figure it out.
On the other hand, Lin Siyao, after hearing Jiang Yingyue's motive for coming, calmly said something that almost made Su Shuiche jump up, "He's running away."
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