(Diligent reading) Days, for Jiang Wanru, had never been filled with pleasant surprises, neither in the Jiang household nor in the Lian Wang Fu. Before she knew it, half a year had passed, and amidst the swirling snowflakes, she signed her name to a lucky phrase, freeing one family from the wooden root and another from slavery. She was originally grateful that this matter had been settled quickly, allowing her to focus on doing what she wanted to do with peace of mind. But then Fang Zheng sent someone to deliver an oral message from outside, saying that without the Lian Wang Fu's consent and seal, their two families could only be considered escaped slaves.

  After Jiang Wanru received the news, it was not her day to go out. She anxiously asked Jiyuan to privately spend some silver and ask a small servant from the Lian King's palace to pass on a message to Fang Zheng, asking him and Mugen to meet at the right side door of the Lian King's palace the next day to discuss matters. The next day, after breakfast, Fang Zheng and Mugen waited at the right side door, smiling as they listened to the conversation of the guards at the door. As soon as they heard the sound of footsteps on the snowy ground, they looked up and saw Jiang Wanru and Jiyuan hurrying towards them. Their eyes lit up, but then they slightly furrowed their brows.

  The Jiang Wanmu in front of him, after half a year, wore a magnificent cotton-padded jacket and exuded an unusual calmness. Jiang Wanmu looked at them with a faint smile in her eyes. Ji Yan exclaimed happily: "Brother is well, Mu Gen brother is well." Fang Zheng looked at his sister who had grown taller, watching her elegant demeanor, smiled at her and bowed to Jiang Wanmu saying: "Third young master's wife is well." Jiang Wanmu nodded slightly, she looked at Mu Gen and saw that his face was slightly red as he stared at Ji Yan.

  Mugwort heard Fang Zheng's words, looked up at Jiang Wanyu, glanced at her exposed hands, and said to Jiyuan with a displeased face: "Jiyuan, why didn't you prepare gloves for the young lady?" Jiang Wanyu and Fang Zheng heard his words and saw Jiyuan's wronged expression. The two of them smiled and retreated several steps, yielding a small space for the other two to have a good talk.

  Jiang Wanru turned her head to the two gatekeepers and smiled: "Uncle Chen, good fellow Fangyuan." Uncle Chen was a kind-hearted middle-aged man. In his younger years, he had been one of Prince Wang's personal attendants, and now he was in charge of the right side gatehouse. He shook his head and said: "Young Mistress, you should call me Old Chen. I don't dare to be called that way by you." Fangyuan, a young and clever servant, burst out laughing at Uncle Chen's words. He said: "Uncle Chen, I think Young Mistress and Jiyu sister are sincere, so just accept it. Hehe, I'll let Young Mistress call me Little Brother Fangyuan."

  "Fortunately, today's visitor is the young mistress. You can talk nonsense freely." Jiang Wanru knew that although Chen Shu's slap looked heavy, it wasn't actually painful. She said from the side, "Uncle Chen, I think Mr. Fangyuan is quite likable." Chen Shu glanced at Jiang Wanru and the people beside her. Thinking about the heavy snowfall, he said in a low voice, "Fangyuan is still young and doesn't know that speaking too much can lead to trouble."

  Jiang Wanru listened to this and fell silent. It seemed that Chen Shu had come from the side of the king, and was now standing at a slightly biased gate. There was still some connection between them. She sighed lightly and said: "Fang Yuan, I think you are a cautious person. He spoke a lot about Chen Shu, it seems he trusts Chen Shu quite a bit. Congratulations to Chen Shu, having such a loyal subordinate." Fang Yuan nodded vigorously on the side, while Fang Zheng followed up with another sentence: "Chen Shu, I think Fang Yuan is an astute person. You treat him too well, taking care of everything for him, that's why he has so much worry."

  "This is a gift from my two brothers, they had prepared it long ago. They said they often come to bother you, and now that the New Year is approaching, they were afraid they wouldn't have time to come over, so they gave it to me in advance. I was supposed to give it to you when the timing was right. Even if someone sees it later, just say that you are being rewarded by the young mistress for your hard work. I didn't expect my brothers to come again so soon today, so here you go."

  Chen Shu and Fang Yuan hurriedly pushed back, Ji Yan smiled and said: "You take it. Don't think the gift is too light, it's just their intention. Don't look at the appearance of the bean, it's actually a hollow golden bean. Hehe, I'm also waiting for them to make a fortune one day and send you solid golden beans. Thank you for always taking care of us, thinking of ways to help when we have something on our minds, and being considerate of us."

  Chen Shu took the hollow gold bean from Jiyuan and nodded to Fangyuan to follow. A smile spread across his face as he said, "Today's snow is heavy, I suppose you two brothers have come to see Young Mistress on some business. As long as Young Mistress and you two young gentlemen don't mind our humble side house, please come in and chat, and also take shelter from the heavy snow."

  Jiang Wanru heard Chen Shu's words and nodded immediately, saying: "It's just that we're going to talk in the inner room, won't it cause trouble for you?" Chen Shu smiled after hearing this and said: "This door is only used by the young mistress from time to time, other masters rarely pass through here. You can speak freely, don't worry. Fang Yuan and I will clear the snow at the entrance of the courtyard, in case the masters want to go out to enjoy the snow, seeing the ground clean and tidy will make them feel comfortable, and we'll get more rewards."

  Jiang Wanru and a few others entered the wing room, which was not very large, divided into two compartments. In front, there was only a simple table and two stools, with a charcoal fire burning inside. After Jiang Wanru came in, she and Jiyuan directly squatted beside the charcoal fire. Mugen immediately pulled over two stools and said to her, "Don't squat, sit on the stool instead." After Jiang Wanru sat down obediently, she saw him signal to Jiyuan to get up and sit on the stool, and the two of them exchanged a brief glance, thinking no one had seen.

  Jiang Wanmu gazed at Ji Yan's rosy face, then glanced at Fang Zheng and Mu Gen who were crouched down toasting fire. Her eyes sparkled as she intentionally looked at Fang Zheng, inquiring about the truth with her gaze. Seeing him slightly shake his head, Jiang Wanmu glanced at Mu Gen and couldn't help but say in a low voice: "Brother, Ji Yan is growing up day by day, and her temperament is good too. If this were to be seen by others, how would it be? You should call the wet nurse early and propose marriage to Ji Yan's parents." Jiang Wanmu spoke with an air of authority, but only Fang Zheng found it somewhat amusing and suppressed his smile.

  Mugon's face turned bright red, and he didn't dare to look up at Jiyen again. Jiyen had his hands clasped together, staring intently at the fire in the charcoal brazier. Mugon's face was still flushed as he glanced at Jiyen, then stood up straight and spoke in a low voice to Jiang Wenyu: "Father and mother have already privately discussed the marriage with uncle and aunt, but it hasn't been formally arranged yet. We need to choose an auspicious day to propose. We wanted to find an opportunity to talk to you about this, but every time you all come together...". He quickly glanced at Jiyen again, his eyes filled with deep emotions.

  Jiang Wan understood what Mu Gen didn't say, and nodded: "Yes, after brother has a wife, sister is not that important, I understand brother's intention." Mu Gen's face turned red, and he said angrily: "Sister, you're talking nonsense again. When did I forget about you? In my heart, father, mother, you, and Jiyuan are equally important. Jiyuan has a thin face, I'm afraid that if I discuss this with you in front of her, she'll be too embarrassed to go out with you afterwards."

  Jiang Wanmu suppressed a smile and said to Jiyan, whose ears had turned red: "Sister-in-law, my brother said he has feelings for you. He's worried that if it gets out, your face will be too thin-skinned and you won't dare come out to see him again." Mugen looked at Jiyan's embarrassed expression, then glanced at Jiang Wanmu, whose eyes were full of laughter, and stared at Fang Zheng, saying: "Fang Zheng, you clearly knew about that matter, but intentionally hinted to my sister that it didn't exist, teasing our family like this." Fang Zheng slanted his eyes at him and said: "When you came to my house with your parents to discuss the engagement, you didn't tell me beforehand either. This is a new marriage that hasn't even passed the door yet, and the matchmaker has already thrown it over the wall."

  Mugun was a straightforward person, and his words were always straightforward. Jiyen raised her head and bit the corner of her mouth, looking at Fangzheng with an air of injustice, saying: "Brother, you're just a bad guy." Jiang Wenyu looked at Fangzheng's face, which was red with anger and unable to speak, and she covered her mouth, laughing softly, saying: "In this world, only Jiyen can suppress Fangzheng. Brother, looking at Fangzheng's angry expression, this marriage must be settled as soon as possible." Mugun smiled and glanced at Jiyen's red face, seeing the joy in her eyes, layer by layer.

  Fang Zheng glared at the pair exchanging glances and said, "The engagement can be arranged first. The wedding will take place when you turn 16." Mu Gen looked at Ji Yan with some disappointment, then turned to Fang Zheng and urged him to continue, "Don't mention that for now. Speak clearly, hurry up and say what's important." Fang Zheng took out a package from his pocket and carefully handed it over to Ji Yan, saying, "Take good care of this." Ji Yan carefully accepted the package and put it in her bosom.

  "Miss, we need to get the stamp from the Wang's mansion first before we can process your freedom citizen registration," Fang Zheng said. Jiang Wanru nodded and replied, "I'll find someone to stamp it as soon as possible and bring it back to you. But I remember when I inquired about this during the summer, it wasn't so troublesome? Has something happened recently that made things more complicated?"

  Fang Zheng and Mu Gen exchanged a look, Mu Gen smiled and stood up straight, swaying to the door to take a look outside before shaking his head. Fang Zheng then said in a soft voice: "In the past, when such things happened, people from official families would often open the 'convenient gate'. Because every family has servants who were released due to their master's kindness. I heard that this time, it's not just our two families' people who didn't pass, but also some released servants from other prominent families who need to return to their respective estates to get stamped." Jiang Wanru felt that things weren't so simple, curiosity surged in her eyes as she leaned in to listen to Fang Zheng continue.

  Fang looked at Jiang Wanru and Ji Yan with wide eyes, thinking that his own sister had been taught by her master to be more daring. He said in a low voice: "I heard it was several servants from the mansion who couldn't stand their master. They came up with a plan, stole their master's handwriting, asked someone to learn their master's handwriting, and then stole the deeds of several families. After doing all this, they regained their freedom and ran away. The master of that mansion didn't know about it until much later, when he reported it to the government office. Now, the people from the public gate are arguing with each other." Jiang Wanru said with admiration: "Hmm, those people are really capable, they can even think of this trick." Ji Yan nodded in agreement: "Hmm, they're more daring than Miss." As soon as these words came out, the three people in the room stared at Ji Yan.

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  Hard study