Chapter 1123: Chapter 616: Betrothal Gifts (Two-in-One) (Part 2)

Miss Lu widened her eyes and couldn’t help but ask, "Ms. Zhu, the Sikong Jing you’re talking about... is it the one I’ve seen before?"

"You’ve seen him?" Ms. Zhu was stunned and then remembered, "Oh, yes, that’s him... Lu’Er, you tell me, that kid is so silly, how could he match my Muyu Peak’s high cliff flower."

"..." Miss Lu didn’t speak, because she recalled the details of that day.

At that time, she didn’t think much of it, but afterward, some details seemed off, although she never had the opportunity to bring up the topic of the Immortal Sect, now seemed like a perfect chance,

"Ms. Zhu." Suddenly, Miss Lu asked, "You... you and that Young Master Sikong’s father, are you acquaintances?"

"Sikong Jing’s dad? Sikong Lixu?" Ms. Zhu waved her hand repeatedly, "I wouldn’t exactly call us acquaintances."

Even if they had the camaraderie from studying together at Ah Bai’s place, they hadn’t spoken in years, and the other party never looked at her seriously, so there was no real connection...

"But, why did you suddenly ask this?" Ms. Zhu was a bit puzzled, suddenly unable to understand Miss Lu.

With her understanding of Miss Lu, she thought Miss Lu should be full of interest in the gossip that Wen Li was once married, so why suddenly inquire about Sikong Jing’s father.

"Oh." Ms. Zhu suddenly understood and teased helplessly, "I mentioned Sikong Jing is the Young Sect Leader of the Profound Sword Bureau... You really have an eye for money, don’t think about it, I don’t know him well, you won’t get any benefits."

Miss Lu: "..."

She smiled helplessly, lowered her eyes, and said nothing.

Would she care about some Young Sect Leader?

Impossible.

Ms. Zhu really is, the only thing that could make her put down her interest in gossip would be Ms. Zhu herself... However, after hearing Ms. Zhu say she wasn’t really acquainted with him, she did breathe a little easier—no other reason, Miss Lu later thought how Sikong Jing’s husband’s might have feelings for Ms. Zhu.

Women’s intuition?

Not really.

It’s just that Ms. Zhu is overly dense, at that time Miss Lu was listening nearby, and more than once heard Sikong Jing mention ’my father this, my father that’, as the conversation paused, Miss Lu couldn’t shake the feeling that the other was emphasizing his father’s presence.

Perhaps it’s not a detail worth noting, but Miss Lu just noticed it.

She also knew, maybe it was because she herself liked Ms. Zhu, so any random man appearing seemed to also like Ms. Zhu...

But women are like that, overthinking, imagining, feeling uneasy.

"Are you okay?" Ms. Zhu looked at Miss Lu who was not even interested in gossip, worriedly touching Miss Lu’s forehead: "Could it be that these days making you do accounting tired you out?"

"It’s nothing... I’m just randomly speculating, no need to take it to heart, sister." Miss Lu coughed lightly.

She also found her unfounded assumptions quite amusing, how could there be such coincidences, how could any man from the Cultivation Realm randomly admire her Ms. Zhu?

If she told Ms. Zhu, wouldn’t she be laughed at?

Just think about the sleazy man so fascinated by Miss Yun’s fingers... as long as there’s someone she likes, it’s fine.

"What about that, what happened to Young Master Sikong? The girls don’t seem to have any ill feelings towards him." Miss Lu shifted the topic.

"Oh, the kid is a nice kid, just didn’t have a good father, raised him silly." Ms. Zhu waved her hand: "Ah Li, you don’t even know what Sikong Jing looks like."

Wen Li nodded.

She didn’t know him.

And found it somewhat strange.

Honestly, Wen Li didn’t want to discuss men other than her junior brother with Ms. Zhu because it’s meaningless, purely a waste of time.

"The most foolish thing Sikong Lixu did was not understanding Ah Li’s status on Muyu Peak before proposing." Ms. Zhu chuckled, "Nor knowing your past, since you’ve been married, how could you accept another proposal? No wonder the girls now get annoyed seeing people from the Profound Sword Bureau."

"...Mm." Wen Li nodded.

And with Wen Li’s acknowledgment, Miss Lu was stunned.

Admitted?

Fairy Wen was indeed married?

Beside her, Yun Qian blinked a little faster, she sat up slightly, looking at Wen Li, "You... also have a husband?"

"Is this considered having or not having one..." Wen Li hadn’t responded yet, when Ms. Zhu interjected first, then snapped her fingers and turned to Miss Lu, "Ni Zi, Chang’an really likes Li Hua, right?"

Miss Lu: "..."

Wen Li remained very calm.

She knew what Ms. Zhu wanted to say, but it’s okay, it wasn’t something shameful, so even if it was about her, she had no psychological fluctuations.

Upon hearing this, Yun Qian squinted, pondering the term Li Hua, glanced at Wen Li.

Miss Lu couldn’t help but grit her teeth.

What Li Hua?

She’s waiting for the gossip, who would care about Li Hua or not.

"The Young Master really likes Li Hua."

"Right." Ms. Zhu stretched lazily: Above her was a shadow of lamp light, the scenery under her long dress in full view, her slender legs swaying to the rhythm: "Then, just like the ceremony of apprenticeship, you have many Mao’Er in Flower Moon Building, sometimes wanting to gift Mao’Er also requires etiquette, right."

"Etiquette?" Miss Lu was stunned, then nodded, "Yes, isn’t it called proposal for raccoon, proposal for cat."

"Proposal for cat?" Yun Qian seemed interested, "What’s that?"

Proposal, she understood.

Mao’Er... It’s about Wen Li then.

At this point, Yun Qian vaguely guessed what Wen Li meant by being married.

"Explain it to Ms. Yun." Ms. Zhu’s smile became even more vibrant.

Miss Lu was originally a bit impatient, but seeing Yun Qian’s interest, her attitude changed completely, she remembered the gentle tone Wen Li used to explain the apprenticeship ceremony to Yun Qian previously, now it’s her turn.

Fairy explaining the apprenticeship ceremony.

She explains the proposal ceremony.

With a slightly softer tone, Miss Lu slowly spoke.

"Miss Yun, Proposal for Cat as the name suggests, according to the rules, to get Li Hua from a maiden’s hand requires giving a betrothal gift." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Ms. Zhu’s eye twitched.

Tsk.

This girl speaking softly really is enough to disgust people.

But as a mother, she wouldn’t intentionally embarrass Miss Lu now, so she quietly listened.

"Betrothal?" Yun Qian blinked and said, "Books say betrothal is the exchange of property and money at engagement, how is it related to Li Hua."

"That’s an age-old rule." Miss Lu thought for a moment and said, "This little thing, Raccoon Slave, has been raised in Flower Moon Building for years, because it can catch mice, it’s somewhat valued... After all, outside, the mouse plague is still terrifying, Li Hua happens to be a good hand at catching mice, can protect the seedlings in the fields."

"Protecting seedlings?" Yun Qian nodded, her husband also farmed on the island, though there were no mice, she thought of the characters Xu Chang’an wrote, pondering: "So, the right half of the character for cat is the character for seedling? How interesting."

"Eh? Is that a thing?" Miss Lu was surprised.

"It is a thing." Ms. Zhu snorted, "You didn’t study much, always embarrassing me."

Yun Qian didn’t know the apprenticeship ceremony, but she understood character meanings.

"What’s there to be embarrassed about?" Miss Lu didn’t mind at all, she was going to be Madam Xu’s maid, isn’t it the norm to not compare to the madam?

She continued:

"Since it can protect food, Li Hua is important, so those who read referred to leading cats as ’proposal for cat’, using ’proposal’ to make it look more dignified... And because it’s a proposal for a cat, if you lead a kitten back from somewhere, you have to buy fish and thread willow as a gift."

Using Yu’Er as a betrothal gift to "propose" Li Hua home, buying fish threading willow for the raccoon slave is the meaning.

"Wrap salt and obtain a little raccoon slave, fully protect the study with ten thousand scrolls." Ms. Zhu glanced at her for you, agreeing while saying, "But the brothel girls only raise Li Hua because they’re cute, although they don’t quite understand pleasing the owners, they are easy to care for... And the more brothel girls, the more they care about etiquette, hence when they gift cats to each other, they use the term ’proposal’."

"I see." Yun Qian nodded, showing she understood, then asked, "What’s included in the betrothal gifts?"