Madam Zheng walked in with a hearty laugh and said to Xue Zhi, “Miss Xue, you’ve come upon good fortune.”
Xue Zhi and Fu Shiyue exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.
With a “pfft,” Madam Zheng laughed out loud, a calculating smile in her eyes. “Miss Xue, look—Fu Lin is dead, you already obtained your separation letter, and you’ve cut ties with the Fu family.”
“Have you ever thought about remarrying?”
Before Xue Zhi could answer, Madam Zheng continued directly, “Let me put it plainly—I came today to arrange a marriage proposal for you.”
“Arrange a marriage?!”
Both Xue Zhi and Fu Shiyue exclaimed at the same time.
Fu Shiyue instinctively asked, “Which family?” His mind immediately began comparing: their appearance, age, and whether their parents were easy to get along with…
If they weren’t as good-looking as him, older than him, or had difficult parents, then absolutely not.
Without realizing it, he had already started comparing himself to other men.
Madam Zheng was stunned for a moment, then said, “Miss Xue, there are three families who want to marry you.”
“Three?!” Fu Shiyue’s pupils shook in shock.
So many?
Could he even win against them?
While Madam Zheng thought Fu Shiyue’s reaction was strange, she still continued, “Actually, there are even more people who’ve asked other matchmakers to inquire about you.”
“Miss Xue, you’re beautiful, gentle, hardworking, and capable. Everyone in the surrounding villages knows how good you are.”
“The young men have long been interested in you, just that they didn’t dare speak before because you were married. Now they’ve all asked me to come and ask you.”
“The first is from Xiangyou Village’s Xiang You. Their family has four sons and not much money. Xiang You is the youngest son.”
“He’s tall, hardworking, and good at farming. He’s obedient—whatever you say goes.”
“And the Xiang family even allows him to marry into your family. If you marry him, your children will take the Xue surname. No need to serve in-laws, just live your own life together.”
Hearing the word “matrilocal marriage,” Xue Zhi was indeed tempted.
In this world, very few men were willing to marry into a woman’s family unless they were truly impoverished.
But Fu Shiyue felt a faint sense of disappointment.
He couldn’t agree to that.
He still wanted to take the imperial examinations, and according to the laws of the Great An Kingdom, men who married into a family could not sit for the exams.
So… he lost this point.
Madam Zheng continued, “The second is the butcher from the town. He has a daughter from his previous marriage. You just need to give her food and raise her until she marries out. He treats his late wife very well, and he will treasure you too.”
“As for the third… this one is harder to say. It’s our village’s Sun Dajiang.”
“No way!” Fu Shiyue immediately interrupted, “He’s already old enough to be her father! He’s just a single man with nothing—how dare he propose marriage?”
Madam Zheng was startled by his strong reaction.
She hadn’t expected Fu Shiyue to care so much about Xue Zhi’s matters.
In her view, Fu Shiyue was a scholar with a bright future, while Xue Zhi was merely a divorced woman.
There shouldn’t be any connection between them at all.
Fu Shiyue looked at Xue Zhi and said firmly, though with a hint of jealousy, “Marriage is not a trivial matter. You must think carefully.”
Xue Zhi asked softly, “From your point of view, which one is better?”
Fu Shiyue hesitated, then replied, “Aside from the first one being barely acceptable, the others are not good.”
Madam Zheng immediately protested, but Fu Shiyue insisted the butcher had a child and was unsuitable.
In the end, only Xiang You remained.
Madam Zheng turned to Xue Zhi again, “What do you think, Miss Xue?”
Xue Zhi had already made her judgment.
Xiang You was poor, but willing to marry into her family.
The butcher had money but a child.
Sun Dajiang was old, poor, and undesirable.
Xiang You was the best among them.
But she still looked at Fu Shiyue and asked, “What do you think, Shiyue ge?”
Fu Shiyue panicked slightly.
“I… I…”
He couldn’t say it.
He couldn’t accept any of them.
No one was better than him—but he couldn’t give her what she needed.
So he remained silent.
Xue Zhi’s heart tightened. “Shiyue ge, this life was saved by you. I’ll listen to you.”
“If you tell me to marry, I’ll marry. If you don’t, I won’t.”
Madam Zheng frowned, sensing something odd in those words but unable to pinpoint it.
Fu Shiyue felt as if those words struck his heart.
Then, as if driven by impulse, he said firmly, “Then don’t marry.”
He quickly added, “I mean… none of them are good. You don’t need to rush. I’ll help you find better ones.”
For example—himself.
Madam Zheng immediately said, “Young Master Fu, that’s not quite right. Miss Xue is already divorced and has no family support. How can a woman survive alone? It’s better to choose a good match while she still can. What do you think, Miss Xue?”