Chapter Seventy-Five: Refusing Marriage

  Xu Mingxia stood there in a daze, Xuan Yuan saw her like this and quickly escaped from her side, taking the people sent by Princess Pingxi with him.

  It wasn't until a while later that Xu Mingxia finally came to her senses, and she gritted her teeth and cursed: "Xu Mingjin! I'm at odds with you!" Her voice was loud enough for everyone in the entire courtyard to hear.

  Xu Mingjin soon knew what Xu Mingxia had said, she smiled faintly and said: "It seems that I can only treat you as an enemy."

  When Xu Ruoyi arrived at the Emerald Garden, the gatekeeper reported to Xu Mingjin. However, Xu Mingjin didn't want to see him at all. She was still angry with Xu Ruoyi for tricking her into going to the study room to meet Xuan Yuan Qiyue and even wanting her to be alone with Xuan Yuan Qiyue. A father like this is no better than having none.

  But Xu Mingjin knew that she couldn't refuse Xu Ruoyi, or else her reputation for being unfilial would be confirmed. Moreover, she still wanted to know whether Xu Ruoyi had agreed to Xuan Yuan's proposal to marry her as a concubine. Thinking of this, she ordered someone to invite Xu Ruoyi in.

  Xu Ruoyi came in with a guilty look on his face, and apologized to Xu Mingjin: "It's Father's fault, I shouldn't have let you be alone with the Crown Prince, it was Father's mistake."

  Xu Mingjin saw Xu Ruoyi's hypocritical behavior and couldn't help but feel nauseous.

  Xu Mingjin endured her nausea and said: "Father is right, it's just that I'm a foolish daughter."

  Xu Ruoyi saw Xu Mingjin say this, and couldn't help but put down a hanging heart. This daughter will marry either a rich or noble family in the future, so he is being good to her now, and she will get more benefits later. Therefore, Xu Ruoyi kept asking Xu Mingjin about his well-being with an unprecedented warm attitude.

  Xu Mingjin couldn't help but feel suspicious: What's wrong with Xu Ruoyi?

  Xu Ruoyi didn't take the wrong medicine, he just happened to overhear Xu Mingjin and Xuan Yuan Qiyue's conversation in the study room.

  From the conversation, Xu Ruoyi learned that her daughter and the Second Prince had a deep relationship. This discovery made him both surprised and delighted. He did not expect that Ming Jin would still be able to catch the eye of the Second Prince. After all, there were countless talented women in the capital, and although Ming Jin was stunningly beautiful, there were many other women who were even more beautiful than her. But the Second Prince had taken a fancy to her! Moreover, the Second Prince had even gone so far as to expose the matter of Ping Xi Wangfei selecting Yang Ge's eldest grandson's daughter as his son's wife to the Emperor in order to prevent Ming Jin from marrying Xuan Yuan Qiyue. The Emperor indeed issued an imperial decree ordering a marriage. As a result, Xuan Yuan Qiyue had no way of marrying Ming Jin. The Second Prince had truly gone to great lengths to marry Ming Jin! In the future, after marrying Ming Jin, he would surely dote on her alone! Xu Ruoyi couldn't help but feel extremely proud. Look at his daughter - if she didn't make a move, then so be it, but once she did, she was bound to be extraordinary! This point was very similar to him.

  Xu Mingjin didn't know what Xu Ruoyi was thinking in her heart, if she knew, she would definitely sneer at him, who could be compared to such a greedy and selfish person!

  So, Xu Ruoyi locked himself in the study, thought for half a day and decided that he absolutely could not marry his daughter to Xuan Yuan Qiyue. Although he was good, but compared to the Second Prince Xuan Yuan Ze, he was far inferior! The Second Prince's elder brother was the Crown Prince, who was young and promising, and the Second Prince had been working hard to support his elder brother in recent years, and their relationship was extremely close. It can be said that after the Crown Prince ascended to the throne, the Second Prince's prestige in the court would definitely be unmatched! If Ming Jinruo could marry the Second Prince, then he would become the Second Prince's father-in-law! Just thinking about this made him excited beyond words.

  "Jin'er, don't worry, since you're not willing to marry the young master, Father will never force you to marry him!" Xu Ruoyi said hastily, feeling uneasy under Xu Mingjin's gaze.

  Xu Mingjin listened and nodded, saying: "I know."

  Xu Ruoyi thought and thought, finally couldn't help but ask: "Jin'er, how did you get to know the Second Prince?"

  Xu Mingjin looked at him in surprise, wondering how he knew about her and the Second Prince. But she immediately understood that this was why Xu Ruoyi had suddenly changed his attitude and refused Xuan Yuan's promise, considering that previously he had been more than willing to marry Xuan Yuan, a self-absorbed madman. Thinking of this, Xu Mingjin once again saw through Xu Ruoyi's true nature - he was someone who wouldn't lift a finger without benefitting himself.

  "Princess Jinglin took me to another villa, where I met him, what happened?"

  Xu Ruoyi was dissatisfied as soon as he heard it: "Jin'er, why didn't you tell me about such an important thing earlier?"

  Xu Mingjin glanced at him coldly: "It's just a casual meeting and a courtesy call, do you have to make such a big deal out of it?"

  Xu Ruoyi said seriously: "Of course it's worth it."

  Xu Mingjin didn't want to see his father's face, so he said: "Dad, I'm tired and want to rest." The underlying meaning was: Hurry up and leave, don't bother me!

  Xu Ruoyi was a clever person, but she couldn't understand the meaning behind Xu Mingjin's words. He felt somewhat unhappy, but he knew that his daughter was not what she used to be, so he went along with her and nodded, saying: "Rest well, if you need anything, have someone tell your father." Then he took his leave and left.

  Xu Ruoyi left, Xu Mingjin didn't mention resting anymore and went back to what he was doing.

  Wang San Niang had already made a big sale of the clothes made according to the first style, this time she ordered Yu Zhu to secretly leave the house and bring her new clothes styles. She then handed over the three-tenths profit silver that Xu Ming Jin should have received according to the contract to Yu Zhu, along with a detailed account book recording each transaction. Xu Ming Jin roughly flipped through a few pages, only to see dense rows of tiny characters, which made her head spin.

  Xu Mingjin handed the account book to Qiu Yun: "You are more meticulous, help me take a look inside for any errors or falsifications."

  After finishing, she picked up another envelope filled with silver tickets, counted them, and found that there were actually over a thousand taels. Yuzhu and Chunxiang were shocked with their mouths wide open. They did not expect that the young lady could get so much silver just by drawing a picture casually.

  Xu Mingjin was delighted, she calculated and felt that Wang San Niang was still a very honest person, the silver given to her had already exceeded her budget. Xu Mingjin was overjoyed, so she ordered: "This month, give everyone double pay!"

  As soon as she finished speaking, several maidservants cheered up.

  Xu Mingjin was also infected with emotions and felt extremely happy. It turned out that making others happy would make oneself even happier.

  Xuanyuan Qi's attempt to make Xu Mingjin his concubine came to nothing.

  These days, Xu Mingjin has been thinking about Xuan Yuan Jinglin again. This is all the trouble caused by not leaving the house for a whole day. She's almost suffocating to death. Coincidentally, Xuan Yuan Jinglin hasn't come looking for her these past few days, what about the hairpin she promised to give her?

  Xu Mingjin was unable to find her, so she ordered Yu Zhu to go and look for Xuan Yuan Jinglin. If she could find Xuan Yuan Ze that day, then she should be able to find Xuan Yuan Jinglin now.

  Before Yu Zhu left, Xu Mingjin handed over: "I want to see Jinglin, not the Second Prince."

  Jade Bamboo left with a heavy heart, walking while silently mourning for her former master: Master, hold on! Although in Miss's eyes, Xuan Yuan Jing Lin is more important than you, don't lose heart. One day, Miss will call your name like she calls Princess Jing Lin, not just coldly calling you the Second Prince. Poor Master, you've sacrificed so much for Miss...

  Jade bamboo muttered to herself as she walked.

  Xu Mingjin had no idea what Yuzhu was thinking, she was busy dressing up and changing into her outerwear. It was already very cold today, Chun Xiang feared that Xu Mingjin would catch a chill, so she kept putting layer after layer of clothing on him.

  Xuan Yuan Jinglin received Yu Zhu's message and rushed over, only to see Xu Mingjin wrapped up like a big white bear. She couldn't help but laugh.

  Xu Mingjin wasn't annoyed either, she looked at Xuan Yuan Jinglin's extremely thin figure and couldn't help but envy her: "It's still better to know martial arts, then you won't have to dress like me."

  Xuan Yuan Jing Lin laughed enough and then asked: "Where are we going today?"

  Xu Mingjin thought and thought, thinking for half a day, suddenly remembering the taste of the wontons he had eaten in that small restaurant on that broken old alley.

  Xuan Yuan Jinglin looked at Xu Mingjin and couldn't help but reveal her craving when talking about wontons, she also had the idea of trying one, the two of them immediately agreed to go.

  Once again in that small restaurant, the old lady still remembered Xu Mingjin and was very happy to see her, saying: "The method you told me last time is great, I followed your recipe and really made those two things. Wait a minute, I'll bring up two plates for you to try."

  Xu Mingjin nodded. He could still taste the apple pie and apple cider, today was really worth it.

  When the old lady went to the backyard to work, Xuan Yuan Jinglin asked: "What is she talking about?"

  Xu Mingjin smiled slightly and said, "The last time I met Xuan Yuan Qi at the Fragrant Village, my elder sister even slapped me. After leaving there, I came to this small restaurant to eat. The old couple's relatives from their hometown brought them many apples, but the old woman and her husband had no teeth and couldn't bite into them. They were worried about what to do with these apples when I saw them and taught them a method to make apple pies and vinegar."

  Xuan Yuan Jing Lin knew that Xu Ming Jin was referring to the time she met Xuan Yuan Qi Yi and Xu Ming Xia at Wen Xiang Lai, but what caught her attention was: "Ming Jin, I didn't expect that after something like that happened, you can still eat? Don't you feel nauseous and lose your appetite?"

  Xu Ming said with a strange tone: "I'm hungry, of course I want to eat. Why should I punish my stomach for someone else's sake?"

  Xuan Yuan Jinglin was speechless. For the first time, she discovered that Xu Mingjin was actually a weirdo, his way of thinking was just not like normal people's.

  As they were talking, the old woman came over with a tray and placed a bowl of fragrant dumplings in front of Xu Mingjin and Xuan Yuanjing, just like last time.

  "Old lady, make another bowl of wontons."

  The old woman nodded and went to get busy. After a while, she brought up another plate of apple fritters, two small dishes, and two large cups full of apple cider. The apple fritters were round and plump, arranged in a circle on the plate, fried golden yellow, with white sesame seeds stuck all over them, and the strong aroma of apples immediately wafted out. The smell was so appetizing that it made one's appetite increase greatly. Upon closer inspection, the apple cider was also golden yellow, exactly like the apple cider Xu Mingjin had drunk in his past life.

  Xu Mingjin had an appetite at first sight and hurriedly invited Xuan Yuan Jinglin to start eating.

  Xuan Yuan Jing Lin was having her first meal in this small restaurant, and after taking a look around, she believed what Xu Ming Jin had told her - it was very clean and tidy inside. Upon looking at the food in front of her again, except for the wontons, everything else was something she hadn't eaten before. But the wontons looked pretty good too.

  She learned from Xu Mingjin, first pinching a piece of apple pie, taking a bite, sour and sweet, then drinking a mouthful of apple vinegar, also with a sour and sweet taste. It's very good to drink, different from the wine she drank before, and the plum juice is not the same either. She couldn't help but ask: "Do you like eating things that are both sour and sweet?"

  Xu Mingjin nodded and said, "Yes."