"The young lady is so beautiful, and she is so quiet and dignified," said Lady Qingxiang. "I wonder what kind of family she will be betrothed to in the future. It's just a pity she wasn't born into your mother's womb."
Third Sister, however, was very protective of her own, saying, "Even though she's born out of wedlock, I only treat her as my own sister. The elders in the family also dote on her, so naturally I can't just marry her off to anyone."
Lady Qingxiang couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're still the same as always. I was just saying it casually."
After speaking, her gaze involuntarily fell on An Ran again. The young girl had a graceful figure, delicate features, and an air of elegance and nobility in every gesture.
She couldn't help but say, "I do have a good match, but I wonder if you'd be interested?" (Readers, you can search for "" to find this site immediately.)
Chapter 53 The Divine Intervention
"Tell me about it," Third Sister said, still not giving in. She reminded her, "Make it clear first, I can't make the decision, I'm just listening."
Lady Qingxiang was well aware of Third Sister's temperament, so she wasn't surprised.
“He is my nephew from my maternal family, Fang Ting, the eldest son of the Marquis of Dingbei. He is twenty years old this year. Although he cannot inherit the title, he is ambitious and has not relied on connections to obtain an official position. He has already passed the imperial examination twice and was recently promoted to a junior official. I am not praising my own child, but Ting-ge is handsome and has a superior appearance.”
As soon as she spoke, even the usually critical Third Sister thought it was good.
"His room is spotless, no one's married yet. I wouldn't even consider making connections with anyone else, but I really liked your sister today, so I told you about it." Lady Qingxiang asked, "How about this marriage?"
After hearing this, Third Sister raised her eyebrows and said, "Since you've said it's good, then it is. However, Ninth Sister is still young, and no one in the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion has ever seen her. It's probably too early to talk about these things."
Lady Qingxiang had no intention of settling things down so easily. Although Fang Ting was a son born out of wedlock, he was highly regarded in the family, and his marriage was not something that could be decided casually. In any case, it would just give both sides more options.
After that conversation ended, the two started talking about other things.
While talking to Lady Qingxiang, San Niang also turned her attention to An Ran. Although An Ran expressed her desire to return to Yangzhou, San Niang simply assumed that An Ran was new to the capital and was not yet used to it.
After settling down here, one might find that the capital is still better. If a suitable marriage comes along, Third Sister will keep an eye out for her.
The Marquis of Nan'an's mansion has a good marriage prospect readily available, but even Third Sister thinks it's unlikely. Her family acted dishonestly back then, so why should they seek a marriage with the Marquis of Pingyuan's mansion now that they've gained prominence?
Third Sister had met Lu Mingxiu. He appeared composed and reserved, with a slightly aloof demeanor. Yun Shen had worked with him before. As a member of the imperial clan, Yun Shen was inevitably a bit arrogant, but after returning, he showed him great respect.
There are probably quite a few noble ladies in the capital who want to marry Lu Mingxiu. Not to mention that Jiu Niang is just a concubine's daughter, even if she is registered under her mother's name and given the status of a legitimate daughter, it would probably be difficult.
But when his father brought it up, Lu Mingxiu didn't refuse... Did he want the concubine's daughter from the Marquis of Nan'an's mansion to become his concubine?
Thinking of this, Third Sister became somewhat displeased.
We should still find a respectable family for Jiu Niang to marry into, even if it's a lower-status one, it's still a hundred times better than being a concubine.
The nephew from the maternal family that Lady Qingxiang mentioned was indeed quite eligible.
The three young ladies from the Marquis of Tongqing Township were speaking calmly, unaware that she had already been criticized by others. She wasn't familiar with the three young ladies, but she wasn't in a hurry to join them. She simply listened attentively, nodding or smiling occasionally to indicate that she was listening carefully.
As a result, they actually developed a much better impression of An Ran.
As lunchtime approached, Lady Qingxiang Hou simply told Third Sister not to leave and to have a vegetarian meal with her sisters there.
Third Sister knew that she intended to meet Anran, so she did not refuse.
She secretly rejoiced that she had tidied up Jiu Niang properly before leaving home that morning; otherwise, her own attire would have seemed too simple.
Jiu Niang may have found it a burden, but to outsiders, it would only seem that she was neglected and unloved at home.
As expected, Lady Qingxiang spoke a few more words with Anran and occasionally paid attention to her table manners.
She answered her questions with ease and grace, without any shyness, her speech and actions were composed and unhurried. During meals, she was elegant and unpretentious, clearly the result of careful upbringing.
When Lady Qingxiang looked at Anran again, she couldn't help but feel more satisfied.
An Ran wasn't stupid. Seeing that the Lady of Qingxiang Marquis seemed to be paying too much attention to her, she felt uneasy. She couldn't immediately guess the Lady of Qingxiang Marquis's intentions. Perhaps it was because she was Third Sister's sister?
After finally finishing lunch and resting for a while, the two families returned home together from the temple.
Upon arriving at Prince Yi's residence, Yunlan and the other two returned to Xiujin Courtyard, while Anran followed her third sister back to the main courtyard.
East wing room.
After Anran returned home, she let her hair down, washed her face, changed into casual clothes, and went to bed to rest. Qingmei noticed that the jewelry wasn't the one Anran had taken out that morning and was about to ask when Anran spoke up.
"Put these away and send them back to the Crown Princess."
Qingmei agreed and was about to leave when Huaping arrived first. She was holding a gilded box, which Anran found very familiar.
"The Crown Princess asked me to bring over the remaining pieces of jewelry, saying that you should keep this set of headdress." Huaping smiled and said, "The Crown Princess just said that this set of headdress would suit you very well."
An Ran's first reaction was to politely decline.
She received quite a few valuable things from Third Sister on her last visit and this one as well.
“Ninth Miss, you know the Princess Consort’s temper,” Huaping said. “Since she said she would give it to you, there’s no reason for her to take it back. She’ll be happy if you accept it.”
Helpless, Anran could only ask Huaping to go back and thank Sanniang, and to have Qingmei keep the items safe for her.
"Miss, was there anything amiss in the Stele Forest today?" Huaping saw that only Qingxing was in the room, so she lowered her voice and said, "I think I heard you call me and Qingxing, but I was too far away to hear clearly."
An Ran nodded solemnly.
“That’s right.” An Ran took a deep breath before saying, “I somehow got lost south of the Stele Forest and seemed to wander into the woods next to it. I hadn’t walked a few steps when I felt like I heard footsteps behind me, so I quickly walked away. But I think I also saw the figure of a man.”
She was unwilling to admit that she had met Chen Qian, and ultimately concealed her experience of having encountered him.
“I lost my handkerchief too; I was in such a hurry when I left,” An Ran sighed. “I was so flustered at the time that I didn’t care about anything else.”
Hua Ping felt a surge of anxiety upon hearing this.