Chapter 237

No matter how angry or disappointed she was, there was no other way now.

Lady Lin forced herself to calm down and greeted the old sisters, asking them to keep their lips sealed and not to speak of today's events, so as not to damage Lin Ruonan's reputation.

The few naturally agreed readily.

Seeing Lady Lin's face as black as pot carbon, they didn't want to stay and watch the fun, so they tactfully took their leave.

After they left, Lady Lin immediately ordered someone to "invite" the bearded man who had molested her daughter into a dark room, interrogating him severely and checking his ancestors back eighteen generations.

She almost went up to count how many hairs were on his face.

Finally, she reached the following conclusion.

This man's surname is Wang, given name Bujiu, twenty-four years old this year, from Baishui Village, Xiushan Zhen, Wutou Xian. His father died early, and he has a widowed mother.

He currently works in the Ya Men, has decent martial arts, and his character is okay.

The shortcomings are that he has no land, no property, and no scholarly honor; he only has three broken thatched huts and a rented small courtyard, and his monthly salary isn't much.

That's not worth mentioning; at worst, her maiden family could help out a bit.

What Lady Lin found most unacceptable was that Wang Bujiu had already been married once. His wife thought he was sloppy and often didn't come home, and finally, unable to bear the loneliness, she ran off with a peddler.

If her daughter married him, she would definitely be a second wife!

Lady Lin clutched her chest, almost unable to catch her breath.

But soon she comforted herself: forget it, he wasn't completely useless; there were advantages too.

For example, the family population was simple, and there was no need to deal with those gossiping aunts and sisters-in-law, which was just right for Lin Ruonan's carefree personality.

And for example, Wang Bujiu was big and had strong muscles, so he could take a beating.

Thinking this way, Lady Lin's mood finally smoothed out, and her face didn't look so ugly anymore.

She locked Wang Bujiu in the room, not allowing him to leave, and then turned to find her husband, beating her chest and stamping her feet as she told Lin Xianling about the matter.

Lin Xianling was actually quite calm.

"Constable Wang is a decent person. He volunteered to go on the bandit suppression mission this time; he is a man who values loyalty. Besides, Ruonan mentioned to me that if it weren't for Constable Wang protecting her many times, she might not have returned unscathed."

Although he couldn't become in-laws with Jiang Mo Nian, Lin Xianling felt very regretful.

However, fate is determined by heaven and cannot be forced. He could only say that he and Jiang Mo Nian had no fate in this life; perhaps in a hundred years, there would be a chance to find him in the underworld to drink tea and play chess.

After discussing it, the couple went to see Wang Bujiu together and told him to come to the Lin residence to propose marriage in three days.

"What? Propose marriage?" Wang Bujiu jumped up on the spot.

Lady Lin slapped the table and said angrily, "What's wrong? You've already taken advantage of the situation, and you're still not happy?"

Wang Bujiu wasn't happy, but she wasn't happy either!

If it hadn't been seen by so many people on the spot, she would never have looked for such a rough, wild brute as a son-in-law. Wasn't the handsome and refined Prefectural Top Scholar a hundred times better than this guy?

Wang Bujiu touched his nose guiltily.

He wasn't the kind of person who lacked responsibility. He had kissed the girl, and although it was accidental, he still had to be responsible.

It was just that when he thought of that tomboy having no chest and no butt, like a malnourished bean sprout, he was a bit reluctant.

Wang Bujiu struggled in his death throes, "Is... is there no other solution?"

"Yes, there is," Lady Lin sat gracefully on the official chair, smiling without warmth, "Molesting an official's daughter, according to the Da Zhao Lüfa, is forty strokes of the cane, plus a formal apology."

Wang Bujiu: "..."

Taking a beating wasn't a big deal; he had thick skin and flesh, and he would be fine after lying down for a few days.

But it would be shameful if it got out!

How would he be able to mix in the Ya Men in the future? How would he face those constable brothers?

"How about it, Constable Wang, pick one?" Lady Lin squinted at him and snorted coldly.

Lin Xianling was amiable, "It doesn't matter. If Constable Wang really doesn't like Ruonan, then let's not mention this matter. Ruonan's reputation is already damaged, so at worst, she can be an old maid at home for the rest of her life. This official can afford to support her."

The couple sang the good cop/bad cop routine, one threatening and forcing, the other using moral kidnapping, cooperating perfectly.

What else could Wang Bujiu say? He could only agree.

"Fine, I'll be there on time in three days. Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, just wait."

Lin Xianling nodded with a smile.

Lady Lin spat, "What father-in-law and mother-in-law? It's not time yet, call us that after the wedding!"

After saying this, she stood up angrily and turned to leave.

The marriage between Lin Ruonan and Wang Bujiu was thus settled.

Having dealt with the trouble here, there was still Shen Jing Bin's trouble waiting to be handled. Lin Xianling went to the guest room without stopping to discuss it with Li Xianling.

The two whispered for a long time and finally made a decision.

Shen Jing Bin could not stay any longer; he had to be sent back to Fengyang Prefecture as soon as possible, the faster the better, to avoid him making a fool of himself here.

So, while Shen Jing Bin was still unconscious, the two magistrates had people throw him and Xun Hua into a carriage and rushed back to the station at the foot of Yugui Shan overnight.

The first thing they did upon returning to the station was to summon several centurions for a meeting.

The centurions had long disliked Shen Jing Bin, and hearing that he had made such a big fool of himself at the farewell banquet, they felt even more ashamed.

They wished they could immediately throw him to the Prefect and let him see what absurd things his nephew had done!

But without Shen Jing Bin's orders, the team couldn't move...

Just as they were in a dilemma, Xiong Er arrived.

After several days of treatment, the snake venom in Xiong Er's body had been completely cleared, and he had regained his spirit.

He took a secret letter from his bosom and handed it to Li Xianling, "This is the written order given to me by the Prefect before departure. It clearly states that if General Shen acts improperly and refuses to change despite repeated advice, I can temporarily act as the person in charge."

Since that was the case, things were easy to handle.

Xiong Er ordered the camp to be broken overnight and to set off for Fengyang Prefecture at dawn!

The station suddenly became busy.

Lin Xianling and Li Xianling also stayed up half the night and finally wrote two letters, detailing the entire process of the bandit suppression and mentioning the three people with the greatest credit.

Namely Jiang Li, Wang Bujiu, and Lin Ruonan.

As for Shen Jing Bin, they wrote only a few lines, neither praising nor criticizing.

After all, he was Prefect Su's direct nephew. If the Prefect favored Shen Jing Bin and they kept saying bad things about him, they were afraid the Prefect wouldn't be happy.

They were all in the officialdom; they had that much sense.

However, there was no need for them to say anything; once Xiong Er returned, the Prefect would naturally know everything.

The next morning, the local army that had been stationed for more than twenty days finally left Yugui Shan in a grand manner and headed toward the prefecture city.

At this time, Du Ruo and Jiang Li were also standing at the gate of the Lin residence, preparing to return to Wutou Xian.

Wang Bujiu followed behind, looking wilted.

Lady Lin got angry just looking at him, as if this marriage was a great grievance to him.

She snorted coldly through her nose, walked over, grabbed Du Ruo's hand, and sighed, "I'm sorry, Lady Du. Just pretend I never said what I mentioned to you yesterday. I didn't expect it to turn out like this..."

"It's fine, Madam," Du Ruo looked at Wang Bujiu and smiled, speaking up for him, "Actually, Brother Wang is a very good person. Don't look at his rough appearance; he is actually attentive, and most importantly, he values loyalty. In the future, he will definitely be good to Miss Ruonan."

Lady Lin pulled the corners of her mouth reluctantly.

She hoped so.

It was just that both of them had explosive tempers, and she was afraid they would fight at the slightest disagreement, leading to a home without peace.

Forget it, she couldn't worry about that much anymore. As a mother, she had already done everything she could. Whether it was good or bad was her fate...

The Lin residence servants called a carriage, and the three of them sat in it, waving goodbye.

After traveling only a hundred meters, the carriage was suddenly forced to stop.

Standing in front was a young boy holding a whip, oh no, it should be a girl.

Dressed in men's clothing, she looked heroic, but she wasn't tall, probably only reaching Wang Bujiu's armpit.

Wasn't that Lin Ruonan?

Lin Ruonan pointed the whip in her hand at the carriage and said loudly, "Big dummy, come out!"

Du Ruo and Jiang Li looked at each other, then looked at Wang Bujiu in unison.

Wang Bujiu lifted the curtain and poked out his bearded face, not in a good mood, "What for? You want to fight again?"

"Not today, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Lin Ruonan retracted the whip, lifted her chin, and said haughtily, "Let me tell you, if you don't come to propose marriage in three days, I'll come and fight my way to your door."

Wang Bujiu rolled his eyes, "Got it, I'm not running."

Seriously, the monk might run, but the temple couldn't. His mother and good brothers were all in Wutou Xian.

After saying this, he retracted his head and signaled the driver, "Go, go!"

In the carriage, Du Ruo chuckled.

"Brother Wang, it seems Miss Lin has quite a heart for you."

Wang Bujiu looked at her sideways, "I say, sister-in-law, that's not kind. Are you laughing at me? Yes, she does have a heart for me; she probably has been craving my body for a long time, calculating to marry me. After all, who can take a beating better than me?"

Hahaha, Du Ruo was amused by these words.

Jiang Li also raised the corners of his mouth, reached out his large palm to hold her small hand, his heart overflowing with gratitude to the heavens.

There are many unhappy couples in this world, and those who love each other are rare. How lucky he was to find a soulmate like his wife to accompany him until old age...

Perhaps it was because Jiang Li's aura and Wang Bujiu's size were so intimidating, the journey was very smooth, and not a single refugee dared to come up and disturb them.

Just past noon, the carriage arrived at Wutou Xian.

Wang Bujiu went directly to the rented small courtyard to find his mother and discuss the marriage proposal.

There were still a bunch of things to prepare next. Lin Ruonan was an official's daughter, so it certainly wouldn't be allowed to be done carelessly.

The three letters and six etiquettes, the betrothal gifts, the setting of the date...

Oh my, it's too troublesome.

Better let his mother worry about these things.

Oh right, there was also Qin Shi and the child. Now that he was getting married, his mother would definitely have to move in and live with the son and daughter-in-law, and Qin Shi would probably have to make other arrangements.

He would discuss it with Brother Jiang later to see what was appropriate.

Wang Bujiu thought as he walked.

As for Du Ruo and Jiang Li, the young couple first found a place to fill their stomachs, then returned to the Ya Men to retrieve their own carriage.

Just as they drove the carriage out, not knowing who tipped him off, Du Ren Mei ran out of the Ya Men, panting and holding his official robe, and stopped Du Ruo.

"Aman, you're back? How was it, did it go smoothly? I've already received news that the bandit suppression was successful, that's great..." he chattered on.

Du Ruo sneered, "Then did Lord Du receive news that the Yang Dian Feng you sent to protect me almost killed me?"