"It’s from the fourth branch of the family; after visiting the Old Grand Master, they went and got upset with our Old Master, insisting that the Old Grand Master should recuperate in their branch." Fugui hurriedly replied, "Our Old Master disagrees, and the people from the fourth branch are causing a fuss, with Land Officer Yang and others present."
"Hmph, I didn’t realize he had such filial piety." Upon hearing that Yang Xiaochuan and Ms. Luo were causing a row, Yang Chuxia was not in a good mood.
Glancing at Fugui with his arm still in a sling, she couldn’t help saying, "You’ve worked hard these past days, still on duty even with an injury. After the New Year, I’ll give you two months off so you can go back to your hometown and fulfill your filial duties."
"That would be wonderful; thank you so much, madam!" Fugui’s cheerfulness was evident. In truth, compared to the others, he was already faring much better; his injury was only to his arm, and with Divine Doctor Mu personally dressing and tending to it, there surely wouldn’t be any serious problems.
Now, with the household in trouble, he wasn’t so injured that he couldn’t move, so how could he justify resting? Moreover, such behavior wasn’t befitting of a servant.
Yang Chuxia regarded Fugui, who had been accompanying her to check on the shops these past years, sometimes even managing the accounts in her stead. His work was not only steady but adaptable; he was the most valuable and trusted person at her side.
However, he was still unmarried. Previously, she had suggested Xiu’er take a look among a few people, but then a distraction arose and the matter was shelved.
Now, looking at Fugui, a fine young man, she couldn’t delay any further, otherwise he’d end up an old bachelor.
After some thought, she beckoned Fugui to step ahead a few paces.
In a low voice, she asked, "Fugui, do you currently have your eye on any girl? Or is there someone you like?"
"Ah?" Fugui was taken aback. Why was she asking him this now?
Seeing his silence, Yang Chuxia pressed on, "What do you think of Xiu’er? And there’s Mingcui and Ming Liu beside me, they’re a bit young, but in two more years they’ll be of age."
Hearing this, Fugui understood that the master’s family intended to arrange a marriage for him. He ran the three girls by Yang Chuxia through his mind, and after some thought, decided he preferred Ming Liu, who didn’t talk much.
So he said, "I think Ming Liu is not bad."
"Ming Liu?" Yang Chuxia let out a light laugh. "She is indeed not bad, just a bit young. If you’ve made up your mind, you’ll still have to wait two years to get married. I originally thought you might fancy someone like Xiu’er. I was considering letting you marry before the New Year if you took a liking to Xiu’er, especially since the family has encountered such an incident recently and could really use some happy news." There was also a point she hadn’t expressed: to stabilize morale.
After such an incident, the remaining servants were bound to feel uneasy. She needed to use some event to remind everyone that the Yang Family was still the Yang Family and wouldn’t collapse because of a small issue.
What Yang Chuxia didn’t know was that Yang Dachuan’s decision to find a broker to buy servants was motivated by the same rationale; he too wanted to tell everyone that even after such an incident, the Yang Family wouldn’t fall, and it was not something anyone could take advantage of.
At this moment, hearing Yang Chuxia speak thus, Fugui also understood part of her intent. But since he had already spoken his mind, changing his answer now might make him seem fickle and unreliable to his master. After some consideration, he decided to remain silent.
Yang Chuxia, in fact, had no intention of forcibly marrying him to Xiu’er and so she said, "Since you’ve taken a liking to Ming Liu, in a few days I’ll speak with her family. If there are no objections, we’ll arrange the betrothal. As for Xiu’er, I’ll look into it. Tieshu and some others aren’t married yet either."
Upon hearing this, Fugui’s eyes lit up, and then he said, "Madam, I think you could ask Tieshu about it."