Chapter 214 Changing Carriages
Meng Yuanzhou quickly said, "Qianhuan, I don't mind your identity as a peasant girl. Don't worry, if my mother disagrees, I will definitely find a way to convince her."
Qianhuan knew that a young boy who was just beginning to fall in love was very stubborn. Even if she said more now, he probably wouldn't listen. So she let reality teach him a lesson.
She said, "Then you should first get past the princess before talking to me about marriage. Before that, please just treat me as an ordinary friend."
Meng Yuanzhou nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll tell my mother about this when I get back."
Qianhuan thought that the Chu family was just a merchant family. Mrs. Chu had despised her because she was a peasant girl, so she strongly opposed Chu Yichen marrying her.
It would be wishful thinking to expect such high-ranking royal relatives like them to not care about their status.
In fact, Qianhuan didn't think this way out of self-deprecation. She never felt that she was bad, nor did she feel that she was unworthy of these princes and nobles.
She had simply seen too much. In the modern society where everyone is equal, she had seen many men and women fall in love freely, but in the end, because of the disparity in their status, they were separated by their family elders. There were countless such examples, not to mention that this was ancient times.
After they finished their meal, the young marquis sent Qianhuan back to the teahouse, and then immediately returned home.
Qianhuan entered the teahouse, went back to the backyard to change into men's clothes, and then took Ji Feng to the carriage shop to buy a carriage. She didn't want Wenjie to be laughed at by his classmates because his carriage was too shabby.
Not far away, the princess's maid Cai Lian was secretly following the young marquis and Qian Huan.
When she saw Qianhuan enter the teahouse, she thought she was going in to drink tea and listen to opera, so Cailian waited outside the Banri Qinghuan Garden, waiting for her to come out.
When the young marquis returned home, before he could go to find the eldest princess, the eldest princess sent her maid to call him over.
"I heard that you had a big fight with Princess Ning Jia on the street today over a girl? Tell me quickly, do you like that girl?"
Meng Yuanzhou blushed and nodded, "Yes, mother, I do like her."
The eldest princess looked very happy. Her son would be coming of age next year. She had asked someone to put two bed-warming maids in his room, but he didn't even touch them.
The eldest princess was originally worried that there might be something wrong with him, but unexpectedly, he has come to his senses and actually has a girl he likes.
"Tell me quickly, which family's daughter is she from? I will prepare the betrothal gifts and go to propose marriage for you personally."
"Mom, she's not some rich girl. Her parents are farmers, and she runs a teahouse herself."
The princess's expression changed immediately when she heard this. "What? That woman's status is so lowly?"
"Mother, I don't care about her status. I just want to marry her. Please help me."
"No, you are the young marquis of Pingyang, how can you marry a peasant girl? What's more, that girl is out doing business on her own. Look at our Dayuan country, which girl would be so unruly and go out to show her face? If you marry her, where will the face of our princess mansion be? Mother will never agree to it no matter what."
Meng Yuanzhou didn't expect that Qianhuan was right. His mother actually cared so much about identity.
Meng Yuanzhou thought that in the past, whenever he wanted something, he only had to ask his mother and she would agree. So he started to use the same trick again, coaxing his mother into giving him whatever he wanted.
But this time the princess was very resolute, "Don't waste your time, I will never allow such a woman to enter the palace. The Queen Mother's birthday is coming soon, and many noble ladies from aristocratic families will come to the palace to attend the banquet. Don't worry, those noble ladies from aristocratic families will definitely be better than that peasant girl in terms of status, appearance, and talent. Take a good look at them and tell me which one you like."
Meng Yuanzhou retorted, "Mother, she is just of a lower status, but her appearance and talent are first-class, and even the ladies of noble families may not be able to compare with her."
"You haven't even seen those noble ladies from aristocratic families, so how do you know she's better than them? Just listen to your mother and go to the birthday banquet first and take a good look."
Meng Yuanzhou had no choice but to nod and agree to the eldest princess' request.
Meng Yuanzhou was afraid that Princess Ning Jia would take revenge on Qianhuan and would not let him go, so he asked Adong to send two secret guards to guard near the teahouse to secretly protect Qianhuan's safety.
Princess Ningjia's maid Cailian had been squatting outside the teahouse, but she didn't see Qianhuan come out until the evening, so Cailian went back to Prince Duan's Mansion.
Princess Ningjia was scolded by the young marquis because she failed to buy the headwear she wanted, and she was so angry that she kept smashing things in the room.
After Cai Lian came back, she stepped forward cautiously and advised, "Princess, please don't be angry. It's not worth it if you get sick from anger."
When Princess Ningjia saw Cailian coming back, she immediately asked, "I asked you to follow that bitch. How is it going? Did you find out who she is?"
Cai Lian said hurriedly, "Princess, that woman has been with the young marquis. After the young marquis left, I saw that woman go into the newly opened Half Day Qing Huan Garden. I have been waiting until now but have not seen that woman come out. I guess that woman is most likely an actor in the teahouse."
When Princess Ningjia heard this, she slapped Cailian in anger and said, "Your guess is useless. I want to find the person. I can't swallow this anger today."
Cai Lian covered her beaten face and said tremblingly, "Yes, Princess, I will go and ask around immediately and help you find the person."
In fact, our protagonist had already changed into men's clothes in the afternoon and went to the carriage shop to buy a carriage. Cai Lian did not notice Qianhuan who was wearing men's clothes.
Qianhuan changed to a large and luxurious carriage, and she also bought herself a good horse. She hadn't ridden a horse for a long time since coming to the capital, and she thought that when she had some free time, she would go riding a horse in the suburbs of the capital.
When the Imperial College was dismissed in the evening, Wenjie and Potato searched for their own carriage among the many carriages. "Potato, did my sister forget to ask someone to pick me up today? Why can't I see our carriage?"
Potato was also very puzzled. At this time of the day, wouldn't Ji Feng be waiting outside the Imperial College?
A group of Wenjie's classmates laughed and said, "Humph, I guess your family knows that your carriage is too shabby, so they are embarrassed to come to the Imperial College to pick you up again."
Wenjie was too lazy to pay attention to these people. He was still standing on tiptoe searching for his own carriage.
At this time, Ji Feng discovered the two people and shouted, "Master Wenjie, we are here."
Wenjie saw that Ji Feng had actually changed his carriage today. Although this carriage could not be compared with the carriages of the princes, princesses, and ministers of the fourth rank and above, it was many times better than the carriages of officials below the fourth rank.
Wenjie happily ran towards his own carriage, and Qianhuan also got off the carriage.
Wenjie asked excitedly, "Brother Shanbo, is this the new carriage you bought?"
"Well, how was it? Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I like it very much."
"That's good. Remember, although our family doesn't have a noble status, our life is no worse than anyone else's. Don't let those people who look down on others bully you in the future."
Qianhuan said this deliberately for some of Wenjie's classmates nearby to hear.
"Well, I see."
Those classmates didn't expect that his family would just change the carriage, and change it to such a luxurious one. At this time, they were a little envious.
You have to know that in the capital, buying a carriage this big would cost at least tens of thousands of taels of silver. Even many small officials' families might not have such strong financial resources, unless that person was a corrupt official.