"This is indeed a serious problem. When it was valuable, I kept wondering why the other party insisted on marrying such an excellent girl. Now I have some clues. It turns out marrying off a daughter is a pretense, and the real intention is to exchange for grain. Once a relationship is established, trade will follow, and we will be in-laws. This cannot be refused!" Chang Jianyi had been blinded by the joy of her daughter-in-law's arrival. Now, with Shen Feng's reminder, she immediately realized the truth.
"So, this plan to marry off their daughter was entirely designed to target our grain. If we directly agree, we will have to pay a large amount of grain. Even if they provide many well-managed properties as dowry, they are not comparable to the value of grain. You should understand this. Therefore, we should not make such a hasty decision. It's better to refuse them!" Shen Feng said earnestly.
Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi felt a great deal of reluctance. She had already seen many introductions in the document and understood that the girl from the other side was definitely outstanding. How could such a girl be let go? She must become her daughter-in-law. Although the age difference was a bit larger, it was only a few years, which was not a big deal.
So, Chang Jianyi was very conflicted. Finally, she said, "No, this plan must still be implemented. As for how much grain to give, I will find a way to gather it. I heard that there are many places with greenhouses in Yunnan Province. Let these places continuously produce grain, and we can gather a batch in a short time!"
Shen Feng never expected his senior sister's obsession to be so deep, that she would jump into a fire pit even when she knew it was one.
"Why bother with this?" Shen Feng asked helplessly.
Chang Jianyi said seriously, "It's because you are not sensitive enough to the importance of status. I rarely go out in Yuzhou, so I understand how tempting power is. Countless people want to climb to the top through various means, and our son is a good candidate. As long as any family has a suitable girl to marry our son, their family's status will immediately improve. You should understand this, so many girls from families are already learning various ways to please others! Rather than letting these girls deliberately try to please, it's better to choose a girl of similar status to marry into our family and extinguish the thoughts of others!"
Shen Feng could not refute this, because if it were truly from the perspective of status, then very few girls could match his son. This was the truth.
Chang Jianyi continued, "Our son has always lived in the Fengshen Palace. Even though he has various teachers to teach him and make him excellent, he knows nothing about the outside world. He doesn't know that as soon as he steps out, countless eyes are watching him and studying him. All his preferences have been collected by others, made into tables, and then researched!"
"The existence of power drives these people to desperately find ways to study. Therefore, our son, who is inexperienced, if he falls in love with someone, it is very likely to be arranged by others, including when he encounters a girl and when he has the opportunity to meet her. All of this could be pre-arranged. Facing so many cunning women, can our son truly find happiness? I have my doubts!" Chang Jianyi poured out everything she wanted to say in one breath.
Shen Feng was completely unable to refute it now, and could only remain silent, because what his senior sister said was indeed reasonable.
So, the final decision on whether to proceed awaited the start of the banquet. The banquet was a time for eating, and usually also a time for making decisions, because many decisions were made at the dining table, which is a Chinese tradition not found in other countries.
However, someone leaked the news, and Shen Xingzhi in the Fengshen Palace also learned about it. He was stunned because he couldn't understand why such an absurd thing was happening to him.
Shen Yishi, enjoying the show and adding fuel to the fire, said, "Congratulations, brother. You're getting married soon, and you'll have a very beautiful sister-in-law. I heard she knows everything. She must be a very excellent woman."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xingzhi immediately said indignantly, "Why should this happen to me? I'm not the oldest. I have an older brother and an older sister in front of me. Why should I be the first to get married? And this woman is several years older than me!"
The brother and sister Shen Xingzhi referred to were naturally Du Fansheng and Shen Hongxiu. By age, he was only the third child, but he had to marry someone he didn't like, and he hadn't even met the woman. If such a marriage were to happen to him, it would be too tragic.
Du Fansheng shrugged and said, "Who told you I'm not the biological son? I'm just an adopted son, so there's nothing I can do. Only you, the biological son, have to marry someone else."
Shen Hongxiu also said, "I'm just a girl, and I'm still young. Father won't bear to marry me off!"
Shen Xingzhi was very agitated because he couldn't understand why such a thing was happening to him. However, he was still young and didn't know what to do.
Finally, Du Fansheng, being older, said, "I heard that my uncle also encountered a similar situation before, but he resolved it perfectly. So, I suggest you go find him for help. Perhaps he can provide a solution!"
Shen Xingzhi immediately felt hope and quickly called Chang Haojie, asking him to come to the house immediately, as there was an important matter he wanted to consult in person.
Chang Haojie didn't understand what was so urgent, so he went to Fengshen Palace and found Shen Xingzhi to understand the situation: "Xiao Hu, what do you want to tell me? Say it now. I don't have much time to stay here. I still have to accompany your aunt shopping."
Shen Xingzhi immediately explained the situation he was facing and asked for help.
Upon hearing this, Chang Haojie immediately recalled what happened back then and could only shake his head helplessly, saying, "I didn't expect sister to have such strong control. I don't have any good solutions in this situation. So, I suggest you go find your father! He is soft-hearted. If you beg him, he will help you. As for me, I can't interfere in this matter!"
Shen Xingzhi asked confusedly, "You are my maternal uncle. At this point, why are you still unwilling to help me? Do you want me to enter the grave of love?"
People in the world say that marriage is the grave of love, so many people keep this phrase in mind and like to bring it up at critical moments to show off their erudition.
However, Shen Xingzhi now truly felt that he was about to enter the grave of love.
Chang Haojie said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. Who told you I'm afraid of your sister?"
So, Shen Xingzhi went to wait for his father to come home and then begged him to help him solve this thorny problem.
Shen Feng didn't know what to say. On one hand, there were the realistic circumstances described by his wife, and on the other hand, there was his son's plea. Whichever side he leaned towards would be unfair. To resolve this matter, unless he had three heads and six arms, he wouldn't be able to handle it properly.
"I will do my best to help you with this, but don't have too much hope, because many things are not decided by me. Even though I am the head of the household, at critical moments, I still need to listen to your mother's advice," Shen Feng said helplessly.
Shen Xingzhi could only think of ways to resolve it. How could he prevent this from happening?
The banquet was held as scheduled, and Ke Yiming also attended with his wife. A sumptuous banquet was laid out here. Although there was a grain shortage, with Chang Jianyi present, all kinds of delicacies were still available.
As long as one controls power, one will not lack any resources, at least not worldwide.
Gu Yanxiao saw Shen Xingzhi and praised him repeatedly, "I didn't expect you to be so old. I held you when you were little. When you were sick before, you looked sickly and cried loudly whenever you saw a stranger. Now that you've grown so big, you should have corrected your old problems, right?"
Shen Xingzhi looked at his father, as if asking for the truth, because he had long forgotten what happened in his infancy and could not recall it now.
Shen Feng nodded and said, "It really happened. You were kidnapped back then and given medicine. It was this aunt who saved you! You have never repaid her life-saving grace. Why don't you quickly greet this aunt?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Xingzhi was about to bow, but was then stopped.
"There's no need to mention this. After all, I haven't just held you. This is my duty as a doctor, and you don't need to keep it in mind. Speaking of which, I also held another child, who is also Shen Feng's son!" Gu Yanxiao stopped Shen Xingzhi's bow and casually mentioned another matter.
Now, upon hearing this, Shen Feng immediately understood that the other party was referring to something else.
"Is this woman talking about Mu Ying? This is really bad. I didn't expect her to want to reveal this!" Shen Feng's heart suddenly jumped into his throat.
Fortunately, at this moment, Du Fansheng stepped forward and said, "Hello, Aunt Gu. I remember seeing you when I was little. You are still so beautiful! Thank you for your help back then!"