Chapter 265 Urging Benjamin

During the few days she stayed at the Chen family's house, Mianyao steadfastly stayed by Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi's side.

Even if Chen Zhihua had some ideas in her mind, she had no way to put them into practice.

Mianyao would never allow Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi to be separated, nor would she allow Chen Zhihua to have any time alone with them.

Mianyao's actions pleased Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi greatly.

However, this also made the Chen family feel very embarrassed and Chen Zhihua very discouraged.

"Zhihua, how have you thought things through these past few days?" Knowing that she would be leaving the Chen family tomorrow, the old lady went to ask Chen Zhihua for her thoughts.

"Zhihua will listen to the Empress Dowager." Chen Zhihua also understood that Yongqi's side probably had no chance.

Since the Empress Dowager intends to arrange a marriage for her, she should accept it.

She had also heard about the Sixth Prince Yongrong.

He doesn't have a principal wife yet. If she marries into his household, she will be the only woman by his side.

There won't be any more concubines or anything like that in the short term.

Just as Mianyao said, life will be pretty good.

Since she couldn't achieve her goals through upward mobility, she decided to take the safer path. She wasn't willing to risk the entire Chen family's lives for her own ambitions.

Emperor Qianlong also received a letter from Yongrong.

Yongrong had already heard of Chen Zhihua's name and knew that she was proficient in all the arts, so he had no objections to the marriage.

Emperor Qianlong laughed and said, "It seems that once we return, we can proceed with Yongrong's marriage."

After Yongrong and Chen Zhihua's marriage was settled, Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi, the young couple, were finally relieved.

“It seems I really have to call her Sixth Aunt.” Mianyao pouted. “But calling her Sixth Aunt is fine, it’s better than her marrying Father.”

Mianhua smiled and said, "That's true."

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The next morning, the group set off again.

This time, Xiao Yanzi and Xia Ziwei sat together, accompanied by Mianyao and Fu Peidong. Mianhua was in Qianlong's carriage, and Xiao Yucheng, as usual, followed Qing'er and the Empress Dowager.

As they walked alongside the carriage, Mianyao lifted the curtain and peeked out, asking curiously, "Mother, where are we going next?"

"Hangzhou, that's my and your uncle's hometown."

Mianyao smiled and said, "Then can we go for a visit to West Lake?"

Xia Ziwei nodded, "Yes, then you will be able to see the beautiful scenery of West Lake."

"The water sparkles beautifully on a sunny day, and the mountains are shrouded in mist, equally enchanting in the rain. If one were to compare West Lake to Xi Shi, she would be beautiful whether adorned or plain."

"Mother, am I right?" Mianyao recited a poem she remembered, looking at Xiaoyanzi with delight.

Little Swallow nodded, "Yao'er is amazing, she remembered everything perfectly!"

Mianyao said proudly, "That's right. Father and Mother are both so smart, so I, Mianyao, can't be too bad either."

"Moreover, I heard from my uncle that my maternal grandfather and grandmother were both highly learned and eloquent. It was because of their excellent maternal grandfather and grandmother that my uncle and mother were also excellent."

Hearing Mianyao's words, Xiaoyanzi smiled and said, "Your uncle's talent was taught by his master, and my skills were taught by your father."

“When I was your age, I was still in Baiyun Temple, always running around and jumping around, never serious.”

"She only knows a little bit of basic kung fu and nothing else. Master Jinghui has had a lot of headaches with her."

“My life only changed when I was nine years old and was rescued by your father and brought into the palace.”

Mianyao picked at her ear. "Mother, you're here again. I've already memorized your encounter with Father. You don't need to repeat it again."

Ever since she was old enough to speak and remember things, she has listened to her mother constantly reminiscing about the past. At first, she found it very interesting, but after listening for a long time, she started to get bored.

“Mother, if you want to reminisce about the past, you can go to Father. You don’t need to tell me.”

Xia Ziwei and her son Fu Peidong couldn't help but laugh when they heard Mianyao's words.

Xiao Yanzi was a little annoyed by Mian Yao's retort, so she immediately lifted the carriage curtain and said, "Stop the carriage."

Xiao Yanzi's carriage stopped, which naturally caught the attention of Yongqi, who was walking ahead. "Xiao Yanzi, what's wrong?"

Little Swallow pouted and looked at Yongqi, "I want to ride a horse with you."

Seeing Xiao Yanzi's expression, and then glancing at Mian Yao who was covering her mouth and laughing behind her, he knew that it must have been that little girl Mian Yao who upset Xiao Yanzi.

"Come on up." Yongqi reached out and pulled Xiaoyanzi up, letting her sit in the front.

To avoid spilling the dog food to others, Yongqi sped up and walked to the front of the group, with Fu Erkang and Xiao Jian following behind.

As Yongqi looked ahead, he whispered in Xiaoyanzi's ear, "What's wrong? Did Yao'er upset you again?"

"Your dear daughter thinks my story is boring..."

Yongqi chuckled, "You must have told her about what happened after we met again. You've told her this story thousands of times. She's such a little kid, she must be tired of hearing it..."

"If you ever want to reminisce about the past, just come find me, and I'll be happy to oblige!"

As Yongqi spoke, he bit her earlobe, "I have other ways to remember..."

Little Swallow's cheeks instantly turned red. "How can you comfort someone like that?"

Yongqi chuckled softly, "I've always been like this, and this is the quickest way to make you stop being angry! Right now, you can't think about me anymore, can you?"

Little Swallow pouted, "You win."

"I haven't been able to get close to you much these past few days at the Chen residence. Now that I'm in Hangzhou, you'll have to keep me company..."

"..." Little Swallow was slightly speechless. "Why are you so enthusiastic about this kind of thing?"

"Don't you care about my health?" Yongqi's question silenced Xiaoyanzi again.

It would be a lie to say she doesn't miss it, but whenever she does that kind of thing, her back just starts to hurt, she can't take it!

“My dear wife, I was still on the road on my birthday and you couldn’t give it to me. Now that we’ve arrived in Hangzhou, we can have a good rest, and you can give it to me then…”

Considering they were still on the main road, Little Swallow had no choice but to nod. "I promise you, but don't say it again!"

The two of them were being all lovey-dovey up front, and Fu Erkang and Xiao Jian couldn't resist pulling their respective wives out to ride horses with them.

Benjamin rolled his eyes. "Hey, do you guys have to provoke me like this?"

Xiao Jian laughed and said, "If you feel lonely, you should hurry up and find someone to marry."

Fu Erkang chimed in, "Yes, all of us here have children, and you're the only one left."

Xia Ziwei continued, "Benjamin, Liu Qing and Jin Suo had a son two years ago, and Gao Ming and Liu Hong had a daughter a few days ago. You're still single. You really should think about your marriage."

"That's right, you're already 28 years old this year. If you don't consider it soon, there won't be many girls willing to marry you."

Benjamin said helplessly, "Even if I wanted to get married, there has to be someone willing to marry me, right?"

"If I were to marry a Chinese girl, I would definitely take her back to meet my parents. Would she be willing to come all this way with me?"

“If I marry a girl from my hometown, I’ll have to go back there, and you might not be able to attend my wedding.”

Xiao Jian frowned and said, "Why can't you go? If you want to go back to find a girl, then go back. Before your wedding, just let us know the time, and we'll definitely come to support you."