The beauty of the Hou family and the king's plan

Early the next morning, the master asked for leave and brought the engagement letter from Mr. Qiao San to the Wu'an Earl's Mansion.

It was impossible to expect Wang to cancel the engagement. Master Shen did not dare to delay the emperor's important event, so he had to come forward in person.

More importantly, Shen Jing was his and Aunt Lan's beloved daughter. Thinking of Aunt Lan's thoughtful service last night, Master Shen felt relaxed all over, as if he had become ten years younger. He felt that Wang was more rigid and boring.

The matter happened suddenly, and no visiting card was handed in in advance. The servant stepped forward first and announced his name. When the doorman heard that it was someone from Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, he knew that it was the Third Young Master's in-laws' family.

He then led people to the flower hall and quickly informed the manager.

Not long after, Wu Anbo came in a hurry.

Unlike Master Shen, who was a scholar, Uncle Wu'an's ancestors were horse breeders, and Uncle Wu'an of this generation was also the Minister of Imperial Household Department. Not only did he help the court raise horses, but his family also had a horse farm that did not belong to the royal family.

The annual revenue of the horse farm alone is staggering.

In Kyoto, although the title of Wu'anbo is low, he is definitely ranked among the top in terms of wealth.

Wu'anbo was tall and strong. If the two of them stood together, he was a head taller than Master Shen if they looked vertically, and about one and a half times taller than Master Shen if they looked horizontally.

Although the two were colleagues, they did not have much contact on weekdays. A noble family like the Shen family would not have too much contact with the Wu'an Marquis's Mansion.

"Brother Shen, I am honored to have you visit my humble home today. Hahaha." Wu Anbo spoke in a loud voice, as loud as a bell.

By the way, he patted Master Shen on the shoulder, and Master Shen's legs immediately went limp and he sat down on the chair.

Some regretted coming here rashly to cancel the engagement today. I wondered if Wu Anbo would throw me out of the mansion when I said it later. I cursed Wang Shi a thousand times in my heart.

Master Shen swallowed his saliva and said nervously, "Master Qiao, there is something I don't know how to start."

"Brother Shen, you and I are about to become in-laws, so why shouldn't we talk about it? If you encounter any difficulties, please tell me so that I can help you find a solution."

Wu Anbo was a rough man who didn't know how to beat around the bush. Seeing that Master Shen was hesitant, he paved the way for him.

The third son of Qiao San was the third child, but he was a legitimate son. Although he was stupid, he was still the most beloved one in the Wu'an Marquis's mansion.

Since he came of age, I have been thinking about finding him a gentle and virtuous wife to take care of him for the rest of his life. I don't care about family background, as long as she is a decent person.

Master Shen drank a sip of tea and sighed at the extravagance of the Bo Mansion. He also thought that he had only tasted this top-grade Xueya tea once in the Qinzheng Palace and he could not forget the taste. Therefore, he could taste the flavor as soon as he took a sip today.

He sighed secretly, if the maid of the third room was not still young, it would be good to marry into the Wu'an Marquis's Mansion. Maybe we can drink Xueya every year.

Mr. Shen put down his teacup and sat upright. "Mr. Qiao, to be honest, I am here to cancel the engagement, hoping to get the engagement certificate for my children back."

When Wu Anbo heard about the cancellation of the engagement, his eyes suddenly shot towards Master Shen.

He said in a serious voice: "Are you kidding me, Brother Shen? This marriage was arranged by the imperial decree of your family. The Marquis's Mansion believed that the Marquis's Mansion sincerely wanted to marry."

"I don't know why you want to cancel the engagement again?"

When Master Shen saw that Wu Anbo did not use violence, he was relieved: "Master Qiao, you don't know, this matter was my wife's own decision."

"I only learned about this after receiving the imperial decree. I originally thought that since the imperial decree had been issued, it would be a good idea for us to become in-laws. But who knew yesterday..."

"What happened yesterday? Last night my wife came back and said that the fourth young lady of Ning'an Marquis's Mansion won the first prize in the Shangsi Festival competition. She praised the fourth young lady for being so outstanding, and the third young lady must also be the best among the boudoirs."

"My family thinks that you are marrying above your station, so we are going to prepare a generous betrothal gift and come to propose marriage soon."

When Mr. Shen heard the generous betrothal gift, his eyes twitched.

But when he thought about sending another daughter to the palace as a concubine, this kind of honor could not be bought with any amount of money. The little regret in his heart disappeared.

"Mr. Qiao, you don't know that it was not the Marquis's Mansion's intention to cancel the engagement this time. It was the intention of the one above." Master Shen stretched out his index finger and pointed upwards.

Wu Anbo only looks rough and unsophisticated, but he is not really unfamiliar with officialdom. Otherwise, he would not have managed the Bofu to such a huge profit over the years.

After hearing what Master Shen said, although he didn't know why the emperor would care about such trivial matters as his children's marriage, he also knew that if it was not true, the other party would not dare to use the emperor as an excuse.

Wu Anbo pondered for a while, then ordered the maid to go to the inner courtyard to get Shen Jing's engagement letter, and then asked tentatively, "I wonder what the Zhongyibo Mansion has to say about this matter?"

Master Shen was stunned for a moment, not knowing why Wu Anbo mentioned the House of Loyalty and Righteousness. He said, "The marriage and the cancellation of the marriage are matters between our two families. What does it have to do with the House of Loyalty and Righteousness?"

After hearing this, what else did Wu Anbo not understand? He originally thought that it was the Zhongyi Marquis's Mansion that persuaded the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion to marry his daughter off, but he didn't expect that there were other twists and turns in the middle.

Master Shen probably doesn't know the whole story, otherwise he wouldn't play dumb.

However, Wu Anbo had no intention of hiding this matter. After all, it was his family that suffered the loss, so there had to be an explanation.

"Originally, the son of the Loyalty Earl said that there was an excellent marriage for my third son, but I didn't believe it. To be honest with you, Brother Shen, everyone in Kyoto knows about my third son's situation."

"In recent years, his marriage has been a major concern for my wife and me. We have no other requirements. As long as the girl has a clean family background and is willing and gentle, my family is willing."

"Not long after, we received the imperial decree from the Queen Mother granting the marriage, and my family was extremely happy. I think the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion must be satisfied with my family before asking for the imperial decree."

The corner of Master Shen's eye twitched. Wu Anbo felt good about himself. Just based on the character of his third son, how could he think that Ning Anhou Mansion was satisfied with his family?

After hearing this, Master Shen also got a rough idea. It turned out that his concubine's daughter was used as a favor by the Loyalty Earl's Mansion. Wang Shi was really good.

Using the daughter of the Shen family to seek benefits for the Wang family. A traitor!

The more Master Shen thought about it, the angrier he got. If he hadn't still had some sense and knew that they were in someone else's house, he would have rushed to Yuqing Garden to ask that bitch Wang what her intentions were.

Master Shen suppressed his anger and said, "I wonder why my good nephew suddenly wants to be a matchmaker for the third son of your family?"

Seeing Master Shen's expression, Marquis Wu'an knew that his family had been tricked by Marquis Zhongyi's family, so he did not hide anything and told the whole story about how Marquis Zhongyi's son was a gambler and had borrowed 30,000 taels of silver from Marquis Wu'an to pay off his debt to the gambling house.

Master Shen was furious when he heard this. The son of the Loyalty Earl said that he was acting as a matchmaker for the Third Young Master of the Wu'an Earl, but in fact, he gave the daughter of the Shen family to the Qiao family to fill the hole.

Unable to say anything, he just bowed to Uncle Qiao and took the exchanged engagement letter from Shen Jing and said, "I have something else to do today. I will treat Uncle Qiao to a drink next time."

"Regarding the matter of the Loyalty Earl borrowing money, it is only natural to repay debts. Lord Earl does not need to worry about the Shen family, just do what you have to do."

After saying this, Master Shen walked away with big strides, his robes fluttering and almost knocking over the potted plants behind the hanging flower door.