The Big Landlord

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"An Zi Ran, you come out!"

Zheng Bi pushed away the maids that were holding her back. The maids were almost pushed down. She was already running in the direction of the study.

The maids hurried to catch up, but they were slower by a step.

Zheng Bi pushed open the door to the study room. The house rules were no longer in her mind. She rushed in, saw An Zi Ran, and started screaming, "Did you say something to Ke Xin? Why would she agree to marry to Tong Tai County?"

"Who let you in?" An Zi Ran\'s face was cold.

Zheng Bi\'s expression changed to a cold smile. She had nothing to fear now. Her daughter blamed her and wanted to leave her all alone. What was there left for her to feel attachment to? "Ke Xin haven\'t wronged you in any way. If you have the ability then come at me. Why do you have to go and target her?"

An Zi Ran put down the brush in his hand and stared straight at her. "The marriage is of her own consent. I didn\'t force her. If you don\'t believe it you can go ask her."

Zheng Bi\'s heart was shocked and immediately she subconsciously denied. "Impossible. You must have forced her."

She knew how much her daughter wished to marry someone of status. How could she agree to marry the into the Lin family of Tong Tai County? Although it was a big family in Tong Tai County, but the difference from their goal was too much. Marrying into the Lin family… how would they be able to strut around in front of An Zi Ran?

An Zi Ran did not respond to her this time.

If the upper bean is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked*. It was because the father and mother were irresponsible, so they turned an exquisite maiden into a brainless moron. And Zheng Bi, who was her mother, held the greatest responsibility of all.

[*T/N: subordinates follow their superior\'s example]

"I don\'t want to listen to your nonsense anymore. If you\'re done talking then get out."

An Zi Ran impolitely shooed her out. Right now, he had to draft up the dowry list. He had no time to play with her.

Zheng Bi did not plan to let this matter go just like that. She still wanted to say more. Steward Su suddenly rushed in. He saw Zheng Bi, paused, and frowned. Then he said to An Zi Ran, "Young Master, Lin family\'s gong zi has come bearing betrothal gifts to propose marriage."

Translations by Vanilla Muse

Although the marriage between the two families have already been determined, they still had to go through the customs, thus Lin Xin came with the betrothal gifts.

Zheng Bi was unable to speak. She rushed out of the study in a great hurry.

She almost knocked into Steward Su on the way out.

An Zi Ran put down the dowry list. Lin family\'s betrothal gift came just in time. He was still worried about what to include in the dowry. He had never done this before. Now he could just refer to the Lin family\'s betrothal gift.

When the two of them rushed to the courtyard, several mahogany boxes were already placed in the great hall. They were neatly arranged. In front of these boxes there was a figure. It was Zheng Bi who had ran ahead of them. Her eyes seemed to be shining with light as she stared at the things inside the boxes.

There was a large box filled with clothes for women, another box filled with silk and satin. They all looked very valuable and expensive. There was a second box filled with expensive bolts of cloth. Zheng Bi was eyeing it and unwilling to put it down. But her attention was quickly captured by the contents of another box. The betrothal gifts included other items such as gold and silver jewelry, rare antiques, the four treasures of study*, and so on.

[*T/N: writing brush, ink stick, paper, ink stone]

Zheng Bi had always thought that the Lin family was no big deal.

Although they were similarly rich, they were still lacking a little compared to the An family.

When she saw the betrothal gifts today, she found out that she was wrong.

"Young Landlord… uh no, I should change it to older brother*." Lin Xin saw An Zi Ran coming in and hurried over to greet him. Although he was obese, his attitude was very modest.

[*T/N: more specifically "wife\'s older brother" 大舅子]

An Zi Ran nodded and invited him to sit down.

After Lin Xin was seated, he took out a card from his sleeve and handed it to him. "Big brother, this is Lin family\'s betrothal gift list. Please look over it."

"Let me see."

Zheng Bi, who was admiring all the treasures, heard this sentence and quickly came over. She tried to grab the card, but Steward Su was faster. He grabbed the card first and handed it over to An Zi Ran.

Zheng Bi glared at Steward Su. Now, even this housekeeper didn\'t put her in his eyes.

An Zi Ran looked over the items on the list and clearly noted each one in his memory. The Lin family couldn\'t be considered a very wealthy family, but they were able to come up with so many gifts. It could be seen that they were very sincere, and that they really wanted to take An Ke Xin as a wife into the Lin family.

A maid was sent to bring An Ke Xin, and after a while she came following the maid. Once he saw her, Lin Xin instantly stood up from his seat with excitement. He stepped forward, wanting to hold An Ke Xin\'s hand, but the latter dodged his grasp.

An Ke Xin\'s expression was stiff as she explained, "Lin gong zi, we are not married yet. Men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things*."

[*T/N: 男女授受不亲 citation from Mencius]

Lin Xin patted his head. Once he saw the beauty his expression became stupid. "Right, right, right. Apologies. I was too happy, so I accidentally forgot."

On the contrary, Zheng Bi, who saw this scene, showed a thoughtful expression.

Later, Lin Xin and An Zi Ran agreed on an auspicious date for the groom\'s family to send a bridal sedan chair to fetch the bride. The date was set on May 15^th. Although there was only less than ten days left, that was still more time when compared to the time An Zi Ran got married. Besides, the An family would be moving to Jun Zi City soon, so there wasn\'t much time left.

An Ke Xin was a bit dissatisfied at the rush. Although she agreed to marry Lin Xin, she still had some rejection in her heart. She thought that her mother was the one most against it, so she hoped that her mother would say something, but Zheng Bi\'s reaction was unexpected to everyone.

"Then it is decided." Zheng Bi\'s smile was like a blooming flower. The gaze with which she looked upon Lin Xin was becoming more and more amiable.

An Zi Ran gave her a pensive look.

His mother-in-law agreed and his wife\'s big brother had no objection. Lin Xin was extremely happy. The gifts were delivered, and he had seen the beauty. After sitting for a while, he got up and said goodbye.