Tang Mingrui had asked Mo Hanyue to marry him several times, but even someone as experienced with all kinds of people as Tang Mingrui felt somewhat embarrassed as Mo Hanyue rejected him repeatedly. His hand holding the money pouch didn't know whether to move forward or to pull back.
Just then, Old Lady Mo came out from the room. She had heard the commotion in the yard and after watching for a while, she decided to come out to help her daughter defuse the situation. However, before she could say anything, Meng Huaining, who had remained silent all this time, came up to her.
Meng Huaining was very respectful. He bowed deeply to Old Lady Mo and said, "Good day, Old Lady Mo."
Old Lady Mo nodded benevolently, "What brings Mister Meng to our humble abode today?"
Meng Huaining clenched and unclenched his fists hidden in his sleeves. After a long while, he finally steeled his resolve and said, "This junior wishes to ask for Mo Hanyue's hand in marriage. I pledge to make her my only wife in this lifetime and never take a concubine, even if I remain childless."
God knows how much courage Meng Huaining had mustered to say those words in front of so many people.
He had originally planned to get more familiar with Mo Hanyue first, to make the young lady like him more before sending a formal letter to his family asking his sister-in-law to come and help propose the marriage. That would also show how much he valued Mo Hanyue.
But after seeing how obvious Tang Mingrui's intentions were today, if he continued that tactic of slowly boiling the frog, he was afraid the bride would be snatched away by someone else.
From Old Lady Mo's understanding of Meng Huaining's character, he was not the rash type.
Moreover, she could also see that the young man was about to send someone to their home with a formal proposal.
Meng Huaining's words really caught Old Lady Mo off guard. However, since she had approved of her daughter marrying Meng Huaining in the first place, she naturally could not reject him now.
"Since Mister Meng is interested, we can sit down to discuss this."
Old Lady Mo's words were like giving Meng Huaining a huge reassurance.
Meng Huaining quickly cupped his fists, "Old Lady, please give me three days. I will prepare the betrothal gifts and send the best matchmaker in the city to your home with the official proposal."
Time was tight, so asking his sister-in-law to come help was probably not feasible. Hiring the best matchmaker in the city would surely not shortchange Mo Hanyue.
Moreover, Old Lady Mo did not reject him outright, which meant she did not oppose the marriage.
Therefore, he must not give the Mo family any chance to reconsider.
When Meng Huaining was speaking just now, he had sneakily glanced at Mo Hanyue.
The young lady was now hiding bashfully behind her sisters-in-law, knowing it was improper for her to be present during such discussions but unable to tear herself away as she wanted to listen in on what would happen next.
Meanwhile, Tang Mingrui was dumbfounded.
What was going on here? The girl he liked was getting proposed to by someone else?
Moreover, from Old Lady Mo's smiling expression, she seemed to highly approve of it.
Did this mean... he had no chance at all now?
Even so, Tang Mingrui was unwilling to admit defeat without even putting up a fight. That was not his style.
After organizing his thoughts, Tang Mingrui stepped up beside Meng Huaining.
But just as he was about to say something, from the corner of his eye he caught Mo Hanyue looking at Meng Huaining bashfully yet eagerly.
Even if Tang Mingrui wanted to fight for her, upon seeing Mo Hanyue's gaze, he could only retreat.
That was clearly a look of admiration, unfortunately not directed at him.
In this situation, if he insisted on barging forward, he would only embarrass himself.
Therefore, he changed what he had originally wanted to say.
"Congratulations, Mister Meng and Miss Mo."
Meng Huaining smiled mildly, "Thank you for your well wishes, Master Tang."
Seeing the matter was settled, Mo Hanyue quietly slipped away from the crowd.
Tang Mingrui also tactfully took his leave. Seeing that Mo Hanyue had gone, he discreetly tucked the pouch containing the ginseng seeds into his clothes, pretending nothing had happened today.
His main purpose in coming today was to collect the goods. Not only had the Mo family produced a large quantity of Cold Rabbit Snacks today, they also had over a hundred rabbit pendents.
Plus the two dozen or so pet rabbits from Mo Hanyue, he was taking them all away.
Tang Mingrui knew when to advance and when to retreat. Since he and Mo Hanyue no longer had a chance, he saw no need to linger.
The sooner he took away the goods to earn more money and bring his business to greater heights, that would become his sole goal going forward.
To spend more time at the Mo residence, Meng Huaining had already arranged all the matters at the yamen yesterday.
But with how things had developed, since he had already proposed to Mo Hanyue, he had to rush back immediately to prepare betrothal gifts and other matters.
Thus, not long after Tang Mingrui's departure, Meng Huaining also hastily took his leave.
After Meng Huaining left, Old Lady Mo called all the family members into her room.
In the Mo family's minds, Mo Hanyue's marriage was the biggest event in the household. Everyone held their breaths waiting for Old Lady Mo to speak.
"Hanyue is grown up now, at the age to be married off. She and Mister Meng are fond of each other, so as her mother I must do right by her. Do any of you have any objections?"
He Zhiran secretly laughed to herself.
She thought: You've already agreed to it, what objections could we possibly have?
Besides, it's a case of a willing couple, who would object?
While Old Lady Mo's actions today felt unfamiliar to He Zhiran, the other sisters-in-law thought it was perfectly normal.
Back in the capital, the Mo family had also been a prestigious and powerful household. As the lady of the house, Old Lady Mo naturally had her dignity and authority.
After many years of running the household, ever since they were exiled, she had put away her stern side.
Yet today, the aura she used to have as the lady of the house in the capital emerged once again, showing how much Old Lady Mo valued her daughter's marriage.
The Eldest Sister-in-law slowly stood up and said, "There are feelings between Hanyue and Mister Meng. This is a rare good match. Mother's judgement has always been spot on. I believe their future will definitely be a happy one."
The Seventh Sister-In-Law also stood up and echoed, "That's right, Mother. Hanyue clearly has great fortune. It looks like us sisters-in-law need to start preparing her bridal outfits."
Seeing that both daughters-in-law spoke in agreement, Old Lady Mo instantly beamed happily.
"Wonderful, wonderful. It's time our Mo family had a joyous occasion to liven things up."
Then she added, "The reason I called you here today is to discuss Hanyue's wedding date."
Everyone, including the Mo brothers, was puzzled by this statement.
The Fifth Elder Brother stood up and asked, "Mother, isn't the wedding date always decided by the groom's side? Besides, our Hanyue isn't some old spinster who can't find a match. Why are we in such a rush?"
After the Fifth Elder Brother voiced the question, everyone looked to Old Lady Mo, equally confused.
In the Great Shun Dynasty, after a marriage was agreed upon, the groom's side would take both parties' birth dates to a fortune teller to select auspicious wedding dates based on their eight characters.
These matters were all handled by the groom's family, while the bride's side simply had to wait for them to finalize the wedding day and inform them.
So why was Mother bringing up the wedding date with them?
"Mother, are you worried that since our family is down and out now, Mister Meng might go back on his word, and Hanyue won't be able to find such a good match again in the future?"
Other than that, Mo Jinnian could not think of any other reason for his mother's actions.
