Wang Chunhua asked Li Mingwei to think about whether there were any guests she wanted to invite. Speaking of which, she had been in town for so long yet barely had any friends, only able to add Mr. Jin, Yun Sister, and female embroiderer Yu so far.
She was pondering whether to include Chen Jie when a child came running up excitedly: "Teacher Li, there's someone outside looking for you!"
"Looking for me? Who is it?"
"Don't know him, it's an old man."
Li Mingwei didn't know any old men, but still went out to take a look.
Private advisor bowed with clasped hands: "Miss Li Mingwei, I am the private advisor from the county government."
So he was Lord Tang's man! Li Mingwei glanced at the children playing in the yard and led him to a secluded place: "May I ask why my schoolmate is looking for me?"
Private advisor respectfully handed her Lord Tang's letter. Li Mingwei read it quickly - he mainly asked if her engagement to Liu Yizhu was known in the capital, and if not, whether she would reconsider.
"Please tell Lord Tang that I will take them back to the capital after getting married, so I don't want my family knowing about this beforehand."
"At that time, I'll have to trouble my schoolmate to prepare carriages and horses for me."
Private advisor kept bowing: "It's nothing, just let me know the date when Miss decides it."
Li Mingwei saluted: "Then I'll have to trouble you, please convey my thanks to my schoolmate."
Upon receiving the news brought back by Private advisor, Lord Tang was so anxious that his hair was almost falling out. She had specifically said not to tell the capital side, so he really couldn't directly disobey.
He paced irritably in the study, suddenly looking at Private advisor below: "What kind of person is that Liu Yizhu? Have you investigated clearly?"
"Yes, My Lord. I've investigated everything about him clearly - his parents, teacher, and even some little things about his interactions with Miss Li." Since Lord Tang had always stationed people in Qingshi Town to protect Li Mingwei, news came back very quickly.
"What do I feed those people for!" Lord Tang was furious. If they had noticed earlier, why didn't they report back sooner? The wedding invitations had reached his son before he even knew she was getting married!
"They were only ordered to protect Miss Li, and didn't know they needed to inquire about her marriage."
Lord Tang glared - so he was implying that he hadn't explained clearly enough?
He held on to the chair back, huffing angrily. Good for nothing, stupid fools!
Seeing his raging anger, Private advisor quickly stepped forward to comfort him: "I think although that Liu scholar's family background is lacking, he's handsome and extraordinary, with excellent learning. If he can pass the imperial exams in the future and become an official, it wouldn't be considered an embarrassment for Miss Li's sincere affection either."
Lord Tang snorted and shook his hand off: "Whether it's embarrassing or not isn't for us to say."
"But Mr. Li has never cared about background. As long as Liu's learning isn't lacking, and he isn't extremely radical, Mr. Li wouldn't make things too difficult for him either. With Mr. Li's capabilities, Liu definitely has prospects in the future!"
Why didn't his stupid son have such good luck? If he had managed to pair up with the Li family, would he still be worrying about his son's exams next year?
Sigh, everything was fated!
Lord Tang clenched the chair tightly. For now, he still had to get his son to befriend Liu Yizhu. After all they were classmates - if his son encountered any difficulties after entering court in the future, Liu would definitely lend a hand, naturally bringing in the Li family as well.
He couldn't let his son miss such a good opportunity.
Li Mingwei of course didn't know about Lord Tang's thoughts, she just wanted to make things easier for herself. With the county government providing carriages and horses, at least safety wouldn't be a concern for the journey. As for the human relationships problem, she'd leave that for her family to handle when the time came.
She leisurely walked back to the school, and was grabbed by Aunt Cui: "Hurry, Liu Mother is fighting with someone!"
"What?"
"Nevermind, you'll see when you get there. I think it's a relative from Liu's side, something about borrowing money. Liu scholar isn't around and you'll be marrying in soon, so you should take a look."
Li Mingwei nodded and quickly followed her. She remembered from Sister Chunhua that Liu Family had cut ties with several relatives over borrowed money issues.
The Liu who came today was Older Fourth Liu, the son of Liu Hongsheng's uncle. He was Liu's cousin, and hadn't visited for a long time, only occasionally bumping into and exchanging a few words with his wife. Liu Mother didn't know what he had come for but still let him in.
Unexpectedly, the first thing this guy did was pick an argument, demanding that Liu Mother call off the engagement, saying that marrying Yizhu to Li Mingwei was her cutting off the roots of the Liu Family!
Liu Mother's face fell and she grabbed a broom from the yard and started beating him out: "Cutting off your Liu Family's roots? Is my family's Liu the same as your Liu?"
"Don't think I don't know your daughter-in-law has long wanted to marry your daughter into my family. Take a look in the mirror, with your daughter's looks like yours, what makes her worthy of my son!"
She beat Older Fourth Liu steadily with the broom: "Get lost! Don't ever come again, or I'll beat you every time I see you!"
Older Fourth Liu was confused by the beating and roared: "You shrew!"
"Even if my family's Liu isn't your Liu, Liu Hongsheng was still my cousin. You wanting to cut off my cousin's roots means no deal! You want to make my cousin unable to rest in peace!"
"Whether it goes through is not for you to say! When I die, I'll naturally find him in the afterlife - it's none of your damn business to come ordering people around here!"
Liu Mother scoffed. "As I see it, not many in your Liu Family have good hearts, and you're the most malicious of the bunch. If you really want me to spell it out, was I the one who borrowed money from you back then?"
"Your cousin died suddenly and had lent you money before his death without requiring an IOU since you were so trustworthy, only for you to deny it after he died!"
Older Fourth Liu's heart skipped a beat and he looked around at the onlookers, straightening his neck: "What evidence do you have? Don't frame me, I don't acknowledge it!"
"You don't acknowledge it, so be it! I don't have evidence and can't take it back, might as well have fed it to the dogs! Only you know if you have no conscience, when we die, we'll see who dares meet your cousin without shame!"
She raised the broom again to beat him. Older Fourth Liu quickly retreated a few steps but was blocked by someone - Dong Shan grabbed his collar: "What nonsense were you spouting about my sister out there just now?"
Older Fourth Liu shook his head and pointed at Liu Mother: "No, I didn't say anything about your sister, I was talking about that old hag!"
"Who are you calling an old hag? She's my damn mother-in-law, not someone you can insult casually!"
Dong Shan threw him onto the ground. "I'm letting you go just this once since you're older and it's my brother-in-law's big day today - I don't want any bad omens. Come cause trouble again, and I'll really take action then!"
Wang Chunhua also stepped forward and spat: "Anyone who dares slander my sister again, let's see whose mouth is tougher - yours or my man's fist!"
She glared threateningly at everyone before turning to help Liu Mother up: "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Wang Chunhua breathed a sigh of relief. The wedding date had been set already, she couldn't afford any bad luck.
When Aunt Cui brought Li Mingwei over, almost everyone had dispersed. Only a broom remained at Liu's door.
Aunt Cui sighed disappointedly: "Who knows where you disappeared to earlier. We looked for half a day without seeing anything happen."
