Tong Lingling didn’t find out anything and was suddenly somewhat depressed, but she couldn’t dwell on it at the moment; she had to deal with Guan Qingshu first.
"Father, Mother, I fancy my cousin; I won’t marry anyone but him," Tong Lingling blurted out as soon as she saw Tong Gang and his wife.
"What kind of talk is that for a young lady?" Tong Gang glared at his daughter.
"Mom..." Tong Lingling immediately went over to Tong Liushi to act coquettishly.
"Alright," Tong Liushi patted her daughter’s hand, then turned to Tong Gang, "I told you to set the marriage between the two kids early on. You said your nephew wouldn’t be a problem, but now? It seems the Guan Family couple might be thinking of going back on their words..."
"Wasn’t it because Qingshu and the Yang Family had a verbal marriage agreement at that time?" Tong Gang frowned. "Who would have known..."
"And now?" Tong Liushi pursed her lips. "Qingshu has become a Scholar, and even the top one; becoming a successful candidate in the imperial examinations will surely be no problem. Later on, he’ll be a magistrate. If we don’t firm things up quickly, I’m afraid... "
Tong Gang waved his hand dismissively, then glanced at his daughter. "You rushed back home in such a hurry, did something happen?"
Tong Lingling recounted what had happened to Yang Rusong. "I’m afraid that cousin might be coveted by someone else. Besides, cousin is going to town to study, and then he won’t be with our family anymore..."
"Enough, you’ve just returned, go freshen up in your room," Tong Gang waved his hand again.
Tong Lingling then left reluctantly.
"Gang," Tong Liushi suddenly revealed a cunning smile. "Since your sister and brother-in-law have shown no kindness, then we can afford to be unrighteous too, right?" She was somewhat annoyed by the Guan Family couple’s ambiguous attitude. Their own daughter was framed, but she didn’t lose her virtue, and yet they displayed a disdainful attitude. What kind of thing was that? You look down on my daughter? I will make your son marry her.
"What do you mean?" Tong Gang frowned.
"We could do this and that..." Tong Liushi leaned in and whispered into Tong Gang’s ear.
"This..." Tong Gang frowned even more, clearly disapproving. "Isn’t that inappropriate?"
"What’s wrong with it?" Tong Liushi scoffed, "How much have we invested in Qingshu over the years? More than his own parents have. Now they want to turn their backs on us, why should they?"
Tong Gang fell silent.
"Besides, the two kids grew up together like siblings; it wouldn’t be bad if they really got together..." Tong Liushi looked sideways at Tong Gang, "Don’t you think?"
"I’m afraid Qingshu will hate us..."
"Once they’re married, what’s there to hate?" Tong Liushi, sensing a change in her husband’s tone, smiled immediately. "Who knows, he might even thank us later..."
"Do as you please," Tong Gang suddenly felt irritated and got up to leave, without agreeing or disagreeing.
Tong Liushi smiled; she knew her husband’s temper. This was, in fact, tacit approval.
Leaving aside Tong Gang and his wife’s scheming over Guan Qingshu for a moment, in the Yang Family’s courtyard, Liu Guang had visited again after a long absence, motivated by the imminent grand birthday of the Fang Family patriarch at the end of the month; naturally, Fang Tianze could not miss it and had to go back home to help with the preparations.
In reality, the old Fang was only fifty-nine this year, but the custom here was to celebrate a full year’s birthday ahead of time, so this year, they were preparing for a grand sixtieth birthday celebration. In an era when living to seventy was rare, a sixtieth birthday was an exceedingly grand affair.