Chapter Fifty-Seven: Pretentious

  As soon as he heard that his father was going to find a husband for his sister, Kong Lin's mind began to turn. For their kind of merchant family, the marriage of children has always been a link between the family and the outside world, and it is rare for them to be able to choose for themselves. Everything is prioritized according to the interests of the family, and this perspective has been deeply ingrained in people's minds for generations.

  At this time, when he heard his father say so, Kong Lin's mind naturally thought of how to choose a suitable marriage for his sister in order to strengthen the family's power.

  After some thought, Kong Lin asked tentatively: "Father, my sister is now of marriageable age. In Yangzhou City, there are many merchant families that can be on an equal footing with our Kong family. At least twenty or thirty families come to mind. Which one do you have in mind?"

  "What do you think, Lin Er?" Kong Wen didn't answer but instead asked back, sitting aside and slowly sipping his tea.

  "This..."

  Kong Lin realized that this was obviously his father testing him. The more satisfactory his answers were to his father, the sooner he would delegate power to him.

  After some thought, Kong Lin said cautiously: "Father, I think that the current court situation is turbulent and the bandits are rampant. Our family's jewelry business is getting harder to do, which is also a matter of course. Since the jewelry business is difficult to do, we can temporarily shift the focus of our business elsewhere. As for which family Lan'er will marry into, it depends on where our family wants to develop."

  "Hmm!" Kong Wenjing sat in the chair, slightly nodding her head as if asking another unrelated question, "Lin Er, what do you think of that Pang Baihu who came today? Will he achieve great things in the future?"

  Kong Lin replied honestly: "I don't know, but just now I wanted to send him two song girls to serve him in bed, but he refused. From this, it can be seen that his conduct should not be too bad. I estimate that as long as he doesn't die suddenly on the battlefield, at least his official career won't be too bad."

  Here is the translation:

  As he said this, Kong Lin's heart moved slightly. "Could it be that Father intends for that hundred-household?" As soon as he thought of this, he shook his head again. Although a hundred-household was a fifth-rank official, to be honest, in the late Ming dynasty, the social status of military generals was not very high, and couldn't compare to those local officials who were like parents to the people. Compared to the Kong family's status in Yangzhou, this hundred-household position was still somewhat inferior.

  Looking back, his father sat quietly at the desk, his eyes slightly closed, his hands resting on the armrests of the chair, and he leaned against the chair with his eyes closed, cultivating his spirit. Kong Lin didn't dare disturb him, standing by his side like this, and for a while, the room was silent.

  At the same time, in a small courtyard house at the northeast corner of Kong's compound, more than a dozen candles illuminated a boudoir, and on a long table were placed numerous account books. In the candlelight, a slender figure sat with her back to the door, writing ceaselessly.

  At this time, the door opened and a small, delicate figure rushed in hastily, saying: "Miss, miss, it's so lively outside tonight! The old master is greeting guests outside. And also, many officials and soldiers have arrived at the outer courtyard. Those officials and soldiers are different from the ones we usually see in Yangzhou City, they look quite intimidating with their furrowed brows...

  The figure that rushed in was a young girl, wearing a white silk jacket with a red skirt tied around her waist, and a small green apron wrapped around her waist, looking neat and lovely. The girl rushed to the front of the long table like a gust of wind, chattering away like a happy little sparrow.

  The figure who was originally writing at the desk turned around and said helplessly, "Ling'er, can't you not be so surprised? Father treating guests is a common thing, even if it's a banquet for military officers, it's not a big deal, you don't have to make such a fuss."

  When this beauty turned around, the face of a lovely woman appeared in front of Little Yutou. What struck people most about this beauty was that she had a pair of eyes that seemed to smile and frown at the same time, as if they could speak. She leaned alone against the long table, with the firelight shining on her, her complexion was crystal clear like jade, like the new moon rising from the clouds, like flowers and trees covered in snow. Her figure was elegant and refined, her demeanor calm and leisurely, her emotions gentle and subtle, her language soft and delicate, and her beauty was beyond compare.

  This is none other than the talented Miss Kong Wénfù's daughter, Kǒng Ruòlán, and the one who just rushed in is her personal maid, Língér.

  After Miss said that, Ling'er didn't lose heart, but instead stepped forward and grabbed Kong Rulan's jade-like hand, saying: "It's not like that, miss. Although the military officer who was invited by Master tonight is not a high-ranking official, I heard from Wang Shu in the outer courtyard that it was this very military officer who escorted Young Master back home safely, and it was all thanks to him that Young Master avoided being harmed by bandits on the road. That's why Master specially set up a banquet to entertain him."

  Ling'er chattered excitedly to her young mistress about the rumors she had heard, while Kong Rulan was a good listener, silently analyzing the impact of these events on their family.

  Kong Rulan was born into a merchant family, intelligent and beautiful since childhood, with a clever personality. What's more rare is that she has an extremely high talent for business. She started helping her father manage the family business at the age of eight and became Kong Wen's trusted assistant, doing an excellent job. This often made Kong Wen sigh: if Rulan were not his daughter, he would have handed over the family business to her long ago.

  Because he treasured this daughter so much, Kong Wen had declined many proposals in recent years, to the point where she was almost seventeen and still not betrothed.

  He knew that his elder brother Kong Lin had gone to Qingzhou to buy goods some time ago, and he also predicted the danger in it. Therefore, she now has a few points of gratitude towards the military officer who escorted her brother back.

  Kong Rulan knew that her personal maid liked lively scenes, and today the outer courtyard was so lively that she would definitely go to sneak a peek. "Ling'er, how is Bai Hu's personality when escorting Big Brother back?"

  Ling'er giggled and said with a pleased smile: "Miss, I didn't know you were curious too! Let me tell you, just now I saw that hundred-household outside the main hall. He's really young, about the same age as Young Master. He's tall and handsome, although not extremely good-looking, but he has a very majestic aura, people can't help but feel intimidated when they see him. Even some of the little maids in our household sneaked out to take a peek at him... I'm telling you..."

  Facing this little girl Kong Rulan who couldn't stop talking, she really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Irritated, she scolded: "You just talk about others, but are you yourself also feeling romantic? If so, I'll tell big brother tomorrow and send you to that gentleman, let you get what you want?"

  "Miss, you're teasing me again." Ling'er pouted and pulled at Kong Ruo Lan's sleeve, "I said I'd serve you for the rest of my life, wherever Miss goes, I'll follow."

  Kong Ruo Lan saw Ling Er anxious, and with a smile, she stretched out her slender jade finger to point at Ling Er's small, upturned nose tip. "Alright, I was just joking with you, but you really got anxious, haha... fine, fine, I promise you that in the future, I'll definitely bring you along."

  "Hehe, I knew Miss would be the best." Ling'er only smiled after hearing her own miss make a guarantee.

  During the feudal era of China, officials and wealthy families would raise one or more maidservants from a young age to serve their daughters. Since these maidservants grew up with the mistress, their loyalty was generally very high. When the mistress got married, these maidservants would often be taken along as dowry servants, serving as concubines or even secondary wives. This way, when the mistress competed for favor in her husband's household, she had a reliable helper by her side. This practice reached its peak during the Ming dynasty.

  These two women who were frolicking in the boudoir did not know that, in a guest room of the Kong's residence, the hundred households they mentioned were lying alone on a soft and comfortable big bed, unable to sleep, with a strong smell of wine in their mouths, muttering some vague words: "Brothers are really stupid, someone wants to send such a good sister to warm the bed for themselves, but they don't want it, pretending to be hypocritical..."

  Something's up, tonight a friend of mine opened a new restaurant, I brought my son and daughter-in-law to his place for drinks, didn't realize the time and ended up drinking till dawn, sorry about that, only updating now!

  At this point, Adou saw that Shen wasn't a classmate's reward, thank you!