Insufficient balance

  Chen Jingyun could only bitterly smile at Sun Daoren's words!

  It is said that Chen Jingyun had a marriage arranged in the past, with a partner from a scholarly family in Hangzhou. Originally, they were supposed to get married after Chen Jingyun returned from studying abroad, but unexpectedly, the woman passed away due to illness before Chen Jingyun even came back. With the person gone, the marriage naturally didn't happen either. Later on, Chen Jingyun devoted himself to the 10th Regiment, and Yu Shi insisted that the Chen family was a prominent clan with a scholarly background, so she wanted to find a daughter-in-law from an equally prestigious family. As a result, Chen Jingyun's marriage was delayed.

  As for Chen Jingyun now, he doesn't have the mind to indulge in romantic love at all. These days are extremely critical times, Chen Jingyun's mind is filled with thoughts of how to launch a rebellion and become a warlord, but as for getting married and starting a family, he hasn't thought about it at all.

  "This marriage is the will of our parents, everything has been arranged by them!" Chen Jingyun responded casually, but since Sun Daoren brought up the topic of marriage, he naturally thought of it. In this era, men could have three wives and four concubines. Although in his previous life, women were not lacking, he still had a fantasy about openly having many women at the same time.

  Sun Daoren then chatted with Chen Jingyun about some trivial matters, and several more people entered the flower hall.

  The first to arrive was a noblewoman wearing a large red dress, whom Chen Jingyun recognized as Lin Shi, the legitimate wife of Sun Daoren. Beside Lin Shi stood another noblewoman in blue dress, with an older face that looked much more aged than Lin Shi. Behind them naturally followed maidservants attending to their needs.

  Seeing these two coming in, Chen Jingyun hastily stood up!

  Before anyone had entered, Mrs. Sun at the door had already spoken up: "This morning when Master said that Brother Chen was coming, I didn't believe it, but just now after hearing the servant's report, I knew that Brother Chen really came!"

  She said, as she entered the room and looked Chen Jingyun up and down: "Brother Chen's military uniform is quite handsome today! Our old master doesn't look good in this new-style military uniform!" After finishing speaking, she turned to face the noblewoman beside her: "Sister, don't you think so? Such a handsome young man is rarely seen in our Fuzhou city!"

  The noblewoman looked at Chen Jingyun with a very serious expression, then finally revealed a satisfied look and nodded: "Indeed, just like my sister said earlier, this appearance is worthy of the four words 'jade tree in the wind'!"

  Being praised by these two elderly women for being handsome and charming, even Chen Jingyun's thick skin couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed: "Madam, you're overpraising me!"

  "This is my sister, and her husband's family is the Lin family of Beijing!" After Madam Sun introduced them, Chen Jingyun then said: "I've met Madam Lin before!"

  Mrs. Lin hastily stretched out her hand and said: "Noble nephew, you're being polite, we're both guests, no need to be polite to me!"

  They've just met and Mrs. Lin already called him "Xian Sheng", this is really quite impolite.

  The four of them sat down again, starting a lively conversation with each other. Compared to Sun Dao Ren, Mrs. Sun was much more talkative, although they were only discussing trivial matters at home and outside. However, she made the conversations interesting, and her verbosity dominated the discussion among the group. Sun Dao Ren naturally followed along with his wife's words, occasionally interjecting a few sentences. Lin's wife, on the other hand, was not as talkative as Mrs. Sun, except for saying a few more sentences at the beginning, she spoke less afterwards, and even when she did speak, most of her words were focused on Chen Jing Yun.

  "Chen Xian's nephew went to the East and stayed overseas, this time going ten thousand miles away must be very hard!" Mrs. Lin was apparently very interested in Chen Jingyun's early academic experience.

  Chen Jingyun replied, "In the several years since I went to Japan, it wasn't that I was alone, there were many classmates and seniors around me taking care of me. Even though it was a foreign land and unfamiliar place, occasionally there would be some inconvenience, but hardship is not something that can be spoken of!"

  Sun Daoren also chimed in at this time: "I knew back then that Zihua was someone who could endure hardship, otherwise he wouldn't have been chosen to go abroad among so many people!"

  At that time, Chen Jingyun also talked about some interesting things abroad, and what he had seen and heard during his studies. Sun Daoren and the two ladies were all old-fashioned people who only knew that there were other countries outside of Qing Dynasty, but they didn't know much about Japan and Western countries. When Chen Jingyun spoke, he mentioned some later events, which also made everyone listen with great interest.

  About a moment later, Mrs. Sun took Mrs. Lin to bid farewell and left the flower hall. After these two left, Mr. Sun waved his hand, and then the servants of the Sun Mansion began to serve the dishes.

  Because it's a home-cooked meal, there are only six or seven ordinary dishes at the banquet, but although these dishes are ordinary, they already show off the skills of the Sun Mansion chef just from their appearance and aroma.

  After dinner, Chen Jingyun and Sun Daoren had another pot of tea. Chen Jingyun then bid farewell and left. Before he left, Sun Daoren once again reminded Chen Jingyun to be more careful in the coming days and not let those revolutionary party people take advantage of the situation to cause trouble.

  At the same time, in a pavilion in the backyard of Sun's mansion, faint sounds of a woman sobbing could be heard. Amidst the sobbing, a woman's voice was mixed in: "Yuner, mother knows you're not satisfied, but you also need to think about our family, and your younger brother Haorer!"

  "Ever since your father passed away, the uncles in our clan have been bullying us three women. Your brother is also useless and now owes so much debt from gambling. Even if we sell all of our ancestral lands, it won't be enough!" Madam Lin's voice was filled with sighs.

  "I've taken note of the Chen family, they're quite wealthy and come from a scholarly background, considered one of the prominent families in Fuzhou. Mrs. Chen also said that as long as the marriage is settled, she'll prepare a dowry of 10,000 taels." Madam Lin continued: "This way, not only can Haor's gambling debts be repaid, but he can also start his own business and won't have to live in someone else's house like now!"

  "Is this how you're going to sell my daughter like a commodity?!" A voice as melodious as the oriole's rang out, and through the window screen, one could vaguely see a young woman wearing a yellow silk skirt, clutching a handkerchief, bowed over the table.

  "This... how can you say it's a sale! Besides, I also saw the young master of the Chen family earlier, and he's quite handsome. Moreover, he's returned from studying abroad. In terms of knowledge, he's far superior to that mediocre Beiman Girls' School of yours. As for his future prospects, he's currently serving in the New Army, with a third-rank official position, and has gained recognition from your sister's husband. It's not impossible that he'll become a high-ranking official in the future. Is someone like him really going to be humiliated by you?" Lady Lin said, getting more agitated as she spoke. She was very satisfied with Chen Jingyun as her son-in-law. Although the Qing dynasty's official ranks weren't worth much, officials with both rank and actual power were rare.

  "But... but..." Lin Yun seemed still unwilling: "I don't want to marry a person I've never met!"

  "You've read too many novels, I suppose you really think you can be like those young masters in the garden, under the moonlight! Hmph, I knew it was a mistake to send you to that new school. Otherwise, you wouldn't dare speak to me like this!" As she spoke, Mrs. Lin stood up and walked towards the door, saying: "Marriage is a big deal, it's our parents' order. I've already discussed it with Mrs. Chen, and we'll start sending out betrothal gifts in these few days!"

  Yuan Yun heard this and started sobbing on the table, after a while, the door was pushed open and a 13 or 14-year-old maid walked in: "Miss, don't cry anymore, your eyes will be swollen!"

  Lin Yun lifted her face, and the bright tears still hung on her delicate face: "Cry if I must! Anyway, I'll be sold by my mother!"

  That little girl seemed to disagree with Lin Yun's words: "Miss, actually the lady is right, I think the uncle is quite good, he even brought your favorite osmanthus cake when he came."

  "What's good about it! Have you seen it or have I seen it!" Lin Yun stopped crying and sat up straight: "Anyway, I won't get married, even if I become a nun, I won't get married!"

  "Miss, are you going to run away from marriage?"

  Lin Yun muttered to herself, "Elopement?" But thinking of her brother Lin Hao's huge debt from gambling made her heart sink, and then tears flowed down again: "You think I haven't thought about it?!"

  "Miss, you don't get married and you don't run away from marriage either. What do you want to do? Do you really want to be a spinster?" The little girl showed an extremely innocent expression, looking at Lin Yun with a puzzled face full of doubts.

  "I...I..." Lin Yun muttered for half a day without making any sense, and the next moment, a low sobbing sound echoed again!

  At this moment, Chen Jingyun naturally did not know what was happening in the Sun Mansion's detached courtyard. After returning home with a group of people, he planned to see his mother before heading back to the South Campus. The current situation is tense, and if Chen Jingyun wants to successfully start a rebellion, there are many preparations that cannot be neglected. In addition to contacting the revolutionary party, it is even more important to win over his subordinates, after all, one person alone cannot start a rebellion, he needs to bring along a large number of mid-to-low-level military officers to do it together.

  However, after seeing Yu Shi, he had just mentioned the matter of Sun Fu's side, but Yu Shi told Chen Jingyun that she had helped Chen Jingyun find a marriage. The other party was Lin's family, the wife's brother's family of Sun Daoren. When Chen Jingyun first heard the two words "marriage", he was still a little surprised, but after reacting and thinking about today's trip to Sun Fu, he also remembered that Mrs. Lin had paid much attention to him at that time, so he calmed down.

  "Lin family? I heard they are not native Fuzhou people!" Chen Jingyun knew that Yu Shi attached great importance to so-called family background, if the other party was not a scholarly family or a prominent clan, Yu Shi would look down on them.

  Yu Shi explained: "That Lin family man was originally a government official in the capital, and he was a fourth-rank official in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. After Lin's husband left, Mrs. Lin took their daughter and son to live with her sister's husband, Sun Gong. Their family background is similar to ours. The Lin family's daughter is 17 years old, and her mother had seen me before. She is beautiful and elegant, and she has attended a new-style girls' school. She would be a perfect match for my son! Earlier, Sun Gong invited my son over because Mrs. Lin wanted to take a look at you!"

  As for marriage, Chen Jingyun had not thought about it before. After all, the most important thing for him now is to make revolution and rebel, and everything else is secondary. But now, a marriage suddenly pops up, and the other party is also related to Sun Daoren, which makes Chen Jingyun have to be cautious. No matter what Lin's daughter is like, it doesn't matter anymore. The most important thing is Sun Daoren in the middle, and now Chen Jingyun needs Sun Daoren's trust, at least before the uprising he needs to gain Sun Daoren's trust.

  After some thought, Chen Jingyun said: "The marriage is naturally up to Mother! The child has no objection! It's just that the child's military duties have been a bit busy lately, so it's best to put off this marriage for now!"

  Seeing Chen Jingyun agree so easily, Yu Shi also smiled all over her face: "Mother had already found someone to calculate it earlier, December 17th three months later is an auspicious day, and having three months of preparation doesn't count as rushed."

  "Everything depends on my mother!" Chen Jingyun readily agreed, and this marriage was destined to become a bubble. To say nothing of three months later, even if it were just one month later, Chen Jingyun would have already rebelled against the Qing dynasty. At that time, even if he himself wanted to marry, the other party would probably not dare to marry him. Even if the woman dared to marry, at that time he wouldn't need to consider Sun Daoren's face and could simply find an excuse to divorce her, which wouldn't be a big deal.

  PS1: All materials in this book come from Baidu. Please forgive any errors or omissions! Also, please give guidance, you can post a review, and join the group...

  This book was signed before its release and has been stored for two months, so please don't worry about the update issue, it will be updated at 11:30 and 19:30 every day, with an additional 3,000 words per chapter, and occasional extra updates.

  PS3, last routine: ask for votes... collect...