"Has Miss Cai Wei gone out? Where has she gone? When will she be back?"
Hearing that Cai Wei had left, Huo Yuan’s heart ’thumped’ in fear that she had gone to Lingbei to find him. Fortunately, Mu Zhongqing said, "Her master sent her on some errands and she will be back in a few days."
Knowing that Cai Wei had not gone to Lingbei, Huo Yuan eased his fears, chatted with Mu Zhongqing for a while, and then made his excuses to leave.
Knowing that he had been detained by the Ying Tianfu, his family must already know about it. He needed to return to the mansion, pay respects to his mother, and take the opportunity to deal with those who wanted to stir up trouble in his absence!
Not long after Huo Yuan left, a fat woman in a floral brocade beizi came in, followed by eight young servants, all carrying boxes and rolls of silk tied with red ribbons.
Mu Zhongqing and Zhao Yang were stunned. No matter how you looked at it, this fat woman looked like a typical matchmaker, and the things carried by the servants behind her, all tied with red ribbons, seemed like bridal gifts. What on earth was going on?
The fat woman, swaying her waist like a water bucket, approached Mu Zhongqing with a huge smile, fluttered her handkerchief, and said in a thin voice, "Oh my, are you Scholar Mu, Elder Mu?"
Mu Zhongqing nodded, still looking completely lost, "May I ask, who are you....."
The fat woman covered her mouth with a giggle, her full face scrunching up into a pile of folds and pushing down the layer of thick white powder on her face which began to crumble.
"Hehe, my name is Lady Zhang. In the capital, I’m known as the golden-mouthed matchmaker. I’ve been a matchmaker in the capital for thirty years now. I’ve successfully paired countless beautiful women and talented men, earning so much merit!"
Upon hearing the woman was a matchmaker, Mu Zhongqing’s heart fluttered. His thoughts immediately turned to Huo Yuan, who had just left. He couldn’t help but think, "Could it be... is that boy so impatient that he sent someone else to propose marriage?"
While Mu Zhongqing was still lost in thought, Matchmaker Zhang swayed her robust waist, bent down, and, smiling from ear to ear, said, "Congratulations, Elder Mu! This is indeed a huge celebration for you!"
Mu Zhongqing cleared his throat, and said with an awkward expression, "Please have a seat upstairs, Matchmaker Zhang. We can talk upstairs."
Matchmaker Zhang grinned showing her big yellow teeth, "Sure, sure. May I ask Elder Mu to lead the way." After that, she waved her handkerchief, and the eight similarly dressed little guys carrying boxes followed her, trailing behind Mu Zhongqing to go upstairs.
Downstairs, a customer buying dim sum laughed and said, "Looks like there’s going to be a joyous event in Scholar Mu’s family!"
Zhao Yun, who was weighing the dim sum, blandly said, "A hundred families pursue a daughter. Without a formal marriage proposal, it can’t be considered a joyful event."
The assembled onlookers lost interest after that bucket of cold water, so they shut up and went back to buying their dim sum.
Not long afterwards, a clamor could be heard from upstairs. The previously jovial Matchmaker Zhang stormed down, followed by a disgruntled servant.
"Hmph! Does their family even consider their own social status? The very fact of becoming a common consort is an honor for them! Yet, they even dare to dream of their daughter becoming prince consort of the Guangling royal palace? Ptooey!"
The embittered Matchmaker Zhang, hands on her hips, cursed, seemingly oblivious to whether or not Mu Zhongqing upstairs had heard her.
She’d been a matchmaker for over thirty years and had a reputation in the capital as Matchmaker Zhang with the golden mouth. Over the years, whether she’d visited any family’s mansion, the sons and daughters, masters and madams of the house would always give her some face, addressing her as "Mother Zhang". But just now, when Mu Zhongqing heard that the son of the king of Guangling wanted to take his daughter as a common consort, he outrageously told her to get out and dared to call her an old pious woman! She was absolutely livid!