Qiao Sheng smiled and met his gaze, then took out a brocade box from the wicker basket: "Oh dear, the sugar spider is a symbol of good fortune, it's all for the festival. But it's also my fault for not thinking things through, I didn't expect someone to mistake the sugar spider for a real one, I didn't warn them beforehand, haha. Luckily I prepared a lot, there are still some here." As she spoke, she stuffed the brocade box into Wuyou's hands, "Everyone says it's delicious, you should try some too." Then she took out another brocade box, intending to hand it to Junheng.
The belief that spiders can indicate skill is indeed a custom of the Qixi Festival.
At night, live spiders are placed in a brocade box. When it is opened at dawn, the spiders are examined. Whoever's spider has spun the largest and densest web wins and is considered the most skillful woman.
However, girls are often timid, and very few dare to play with spiders, so most families do not engage in this activity.
Logically, it made sense, so Junheng couldn't blame her. He simply said, "I don't like sweets," and turned to leave.
The so-called "meeting" often simply involves the man and woman glancing at each other from afar to get a general idea of each other's appearance. Junheng and Yao Zhiwei not only met in person this time, but also exchanged words indirectly, making it a remarkably smooth process.
That evening, the two families inevitably tried to subtly inquire about each other's impressions.
Yao Zhiwei said, "He seems very composed and also cares for his younger sister."
Junheng said, "She's calm and collected in the face of adversity; she's a good girl."
Since you have a good first impression of each other, what reason is there not to continue?
The two matriarchs exchanged information and unanimously decided to strike while the iron was hot, quickly arranging a time and place for the second meeting.
At the same time, in the Zhenyuan General's Mansion, Qiao Sheng was being punished.
She was locked in the house and not allowed to go anywhere.
Qiao Sheng grew up in the military camp with her parents since she was a child. She was used to being unrestrained. After staying indoors for several days, she felt so bored that she felt like she was going to rot. She begged to be released several times but to no avail. She even tried to sneak out through the window, but was caught red-handed by her grandmother, Xiao Shi.
From then on, all the servants who had been watching over her were removed, and in their place were heavy brass locks and iron chains, which tightly locked the doors and windows.
"Grandmother, please, let me out." Qiao Sheng weakly pounded on the window.
Xiao sat contentedly at a stone table under a grape trellis, with chilled plum juice laid out on the table for her to drink, while two maids behind her took turns fanning her with round fans.
"Don't worry, I've already written to your father asking him to send someone to pick you up. You'll be able to come out then."
These words only made Qiao Sheng feel worse. A round trip between Beijing and Ningxia takes almost three months. The last time she saw the sun was in summer, and the next time... it would probably be the dead of winter.
"Grandmother, you can't do this. I came back because I missed you and Grandfather. Even if you have to send me back... I promise I'll be obedient. You don't need to lock me up. I promise I won't run away again." Qiao Sheng was quick-witted and tried to soften her words as much as possible.
"Hmm, I wasn't worried about you running away." Madam Xiao took a few sips of plum juice to moisten her throat, and her tone rose. "I was worried that you would run off to someone's house again and give some girl spiders and pythons. We are the General's Mansion, not the Five Poisons Sect. Whether you dress up as a man or wield swords and spears, no one has ever said a bad word about you since you were little. But giving poisons to people everywhere is unruly. You can be unruly, but our General's Mansion cannot be unruly. Now that your parents are not around, I, your grandmother, have to step in and play the villain."
"That's not a real spider!" Qiao Sheng pounded on the window until she was exhausted, then turned around and leaned against the wall. "It's made of sugar! I didn't mean to scare anyone, it's just for the festival, for the festival!"
"Hmph, you're my granddaughter, do you think I don't know what you're thinking? Chunjiang already said that on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, you wandered around the south city all day, looking for all the sugar figurine makers, and finally found a sugar spider that was made to look incredibly lifelike. Just to celebrate the festival? No one would believe you no matter how hard you try."
"Well, people have nothing to do and no one to keep them company, so they're incredibly bored and naturally spend a lot of time on trivial matters," Qiao Sheng said, feeling wronged.
Madam Xiao completely ignored her words, took a few more sips of plum juice, put down the bowl, and sighed, "If you've taken a fancy to the eldest son of the Jun family, then we can properly discuss marriage with them. But you came uninvited to the Marquis of Runan's residence to ruin their matchmaking. What kind of behavior is that? The family is kind and didn't suspect you. But can you live with yourself? As the saying goes, it's better to tear down ten temples than to ruin one marriage. What you did was a sin."
The room remained quiet for a long time, so long that Madam Xiao thought Qiao Sheng had fallen asleep. She slowly finished her plum juice and was about to leave when she suddenly heard Qiao Sheng's voice: "Back in Ningxia, Father asked him. He said he didn't want to get married, that he never wanted to. But back in the capital, he actually started looking for wives. Why look for wives if he doesn't want to get married? He lied! I'm not convinced..."
Madam Xiao stopped in her tracks, realizing there was more to the story. She felt sorry for her child, who had been wronged, and her tone softened: "Good child, it's his loss if he doesn't like you. We can't let him make us suffer. With my granddaughter's looks and character, finding someone a hundred or a thousand times better than him would be a piece of cake. We don't care about him."
Even if he were a hundred or a thousand times stronger, he still wouldn't be Junheng.
Qiao Sheng slid to the ground, hugged her knees, and buried her head in them.
At first, she didn't pay much attention to Junheng. It was her father, Qiao Gang, who particularly admired him and planned to have him as his son-in-law. After hearing many stories about Junheng, she gradually developed feelings for him.
To everyone's surprise, Junheng flatly refused the marriage proposal. Qiao Gang had been guarding the Northwest for over a decade, and Qiao Sheng, as the eldest daughter, had always been the object of flattery and fawning, never having experienced such a setback. Junheng's refusal did not chill her heart; instead, it ignited her pride.
Who would never marry? Qiao Sheng simply didn't believe that.
Junheng must not understand her. If he were more familiar with her, he would definitely change his mind.
So Qiao Sheng risked leaving home, using both threats and inducements to finally persuade Jun Heng to take her along. She also made sure to impress him in every way, but he remained as stubborn as a rock, not responding at all from beginning to end.
If it were just a rock, that would be fine, but he insisted on looking at it as soon as he got home.
Qiao Sheng learned about this from Chu Wan's reply and was so angry that he completely lost his mind, which is why he deliberately asked Sugar Spider to scare Yao Zhiwei, who was interested in him.
After calming down, she realized she was wrong, but didn't know how to make amends.
"Grandmother, I know I was wrong. Let me out, and I'll apologize to him. No, I'll help bring them together," Qiao Sheng pleaded. Jun Heng would eventually have to get married, and since he didn't like her, she would help him marry the girl he liked as soon as possible.
Qiao Sheng's attitude changed so quickly that Xiao Shi was a little taken aback, and asked with a mixture of disbelief and doubt, "Are you serious? You really won't cause trouble anymore? You can even help bring them together?"
Unsure of her granddaughter's thoughts, she dared not let her out easily.
Qiao Sheng was quite resolute: "If you don't trust me, you can trust my older cousin and Wanwan, right? They can definitely manage me."
Xiao Shi narrowed her eyes; what she said made sense. One of the siblings was incredibly perceptive and ruthless, making him feared throughout the country; the other was innocent and naive, completely unaware of hidden meanings—the sugar spider incident was something she had told herself as an anecdote. Having them follow Qiao Sheng meant she wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing through her, nor would she have to worry about anyone returning to report.
"Alright, I'll trust you this once." Madam Xiao agreed, then turned and beckoned the head maid to open the door for Qiao Sheng.
Chapter Index 107 | 105 | 106
Chapter 106:
After an autumn rain, the second viewing event between the Jun and Yao families officially began. [To read the latest chapters of this book, please visit...]
Although everyone is aware of the truth now, a reason still needs to be found to avoid too much embarrassment when the parties involved meet.
Thus, Wuyou, whose wedding was imminent, was put on the table.
According to the customs of the capital, before a young woman gets married, she must always pray at the Flower Goddess Temple, asking the Flower Goddess to bless her, ensure a harmonious marriage, and have many children. The matriarch of the Jun family arranged for Wushuang and Wuhui to accompany her, while Junheng was responsible for escorting his younger sisters. The matriarch of the Yao family, taking advantage of the situation, said that her granddaughter was of marriageable age and she also wanted to ask the Flower Goddess for help in finding a good match. However, the elders and brothers were all busy and couldn't spare the time to accompany her, so this time Yao Zhiwei and Wuyou could accompany her.
The Flower Goddess Temple is located in the southern suburbs, about an hour's journey by carriage. The two families met at the city gate as agreed. Chu Wan, who loves to join in the fun with Wu Shuang, couldn't stand being left out and came along with her brother and cousin.