Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 301 - 300: Father and Daughter

The house, although not large, was exquisite. Mrs. Jiang lived in the main court; Chen Yulan lived in the West Cross Court; The three daughters of Chen Afu were appointed to stay in the rear shelter room.

A willow tree, budding with new green, stood in the courtyard of the rear shelter house. In the middle was a curved azure pond where several koi fish were raised. Large stones were randomly piled up by the pond.

The main room consisted of five spaces with two additional ear rooms on each side. Three more rooms were connected to the east and west sides of the house, each with two more ear rooms included.

Chen Afu and Chen Yuqing each occupied a room on the eastern and western ends, respectively, while Chen Yuxia stayed in the west wing room.

The next day, Mrs. Jiang returned her four siblings to their mother’s home, The Jiangs’. The Jiang family was indeed a prominent one in Huguang. It had many officials serving all over the Dashun dynasty, though not as influential as the two preceding generations. The highest-ranking official was Mrs. Jiang’s father, Mr. Jiang, who currently holds a third-rank position of Grand Coachman.

Despite having the most ordinary looks among the Jiang’s daughters and enduring two marriageable men she engaged in dying, Mrs. Jiang’s husband was one of the finest among the Jiang’s sons-in-law. Although Chen Shiying was a scholar of humble origin, he had outstanding academic achievements and impressive tact, accumulating over ten years to earn a fourth-rank officer position. Even though he was just a governor, he held the significant strategic position in the key city of Dingzhou. Whoever performed well in this position had a promising future.

When the Chen siblings paid respects to Mrs. Jiang, she gave Chen Afu and Chen Yuxia gifts. She then cuddled Chen Yuqing and Chen Yulan in her arms, calling them endearing terms like "treasure" and "sweetheart."

When Chen Afu realized her presence as a "step-granddaughter" was unsettling, she took Chen Yuxia away with her to the garden, guided by one of Jiang’s daughters. In their absence, the others could enjoy their intimate conversation.

On the morning of the 25th, red silk swarmed and festive lanterns hung around the Chen’s Mansion. Its main doors swung wide open. It was the day The Chus’ Mansion came to give the betrothal gifts.

Due to Chen Shiying’s absence, Mrs. Jiang’s brother was invited over to receive guests.

Chu Lingxuan and Mr. Fu, an influential matchmaker who took leave for the occasion, came to propose marriage personally. The betrothal gifts consisted of 64 loads, with the betrothal money amounting to five thousand silvers.

In line with Chen Shiying’s suggestion, Mrs. Jiang incorporated the betrothal money and the bridal gifts into Chen Afu’s trousseau, which summed up to six thousand silvers. Having such a generous trousseau, she was undoubtedly a little wealthy woman.

On February 6th, The Chens’ Mansion headed over to The Chus’ Mansion to set the bridal bed.

Chen Afu’s heart began to race as the wedding date was getting closer day by day.

On the afternoon of February 9th, the three sisters of Chen Afu were sitting and chatting on the heated bed in the east room while Chen Yulan was sitting on a brocade stool nearby. Chen Shiying arrived; he had just come to the Capital City and immediately came here after taking his meals.

The four siblings quickly rose from their seat to greet him, calling out, "Father."

Chen Shiying acknowledged them with satisfaction, and said, "Your elder sister is getting married. Spend more time with her."

Knowing that their father wanted to spend some alone time with her sister, Chen Yuqing took Chen Yulan and Chen Yuxia out of the room.

Chen Shiying sat down on the bed, patting the space next to him, and said to the still-standing Chen Afu, "Sit down next to me, my daughter. After this, you will become a part of your husband’s family. You must respect and uphold their traditions." He then exhaled heavily, as though stricken with desolation.

In the modern age, intimacy between a father and his daughter was considered quite normal. There was even a heartwarming saying that daughters were their fathers’ lovers from their previous lives, destined to be loved by them for a lifetime.

However, in ancient times, parents were rarely overly affectionate with their children.

Moreover, Chen Afu was seventeen years old and would soon be married. It was rather inappropriate for Chen Shiying to act the way he did, but being well-read and quite emotional at heart, Chen Shiying didn’t constrain himself to traditional norms and wasn’t afraid to be seen as a reformist.

Given that Chen Afu wasn’t from this era, she didn’t hesitate to sit next to her father.

Chen Shiying held her hand and said, "Fufu, you didn’t grow up with your father. There are occasions your father missed, like cradling you, guiding you by hand while writing or reading a poem, feeding you sweets or meals. These are life-long regrets of mine. When you first appeared in front of me, you had already blossomed into a young lady. I have a lifetime left to make up for these regrets. But come tomorrow, you will no longer be a Chen’s daughter, but a daughter-in-law of the Chu family. We may not spend time together as much after that. Your father... hates to part..."

His voice choked with emotion before he finished speaking, and his eyes reddened.

The words of Chen Shiying awakened the deepest memories in Chen Afu’s mind. It was when she was still known as Chen Yanyan. At the age of three, her father held her high in the air, tickling her with his rough stubble. It tickled so much that she giggled, and that make her mother laugh as well. These fragments of memories which didn’t resurface no matter how hard she thought about, suddenly appeared vividly in front of her. Moreover, the warmth and expression in her father’s eyes greatly resembled Chen Shiying’s.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she sobbed gently, calling out, "Father... Father..."

He misheard her as saying "Dad", and upon seeing her tears, comforted her with greater tenderness, "Do not cry, my child. Even though you will be married, you are still your father’s daughter. In the future, if Chu Lingxuan dares bully you or the Chu family allows you to be wronged, do not endure it. Come back and tell your father. Even though I hold a smaller title than they do, I will not allow our daughter to be mistreated. I cannot stand to see you continuously subjected to unbearable mistreatment as you have in the past..."

When Chen Shiying and Chen Afu appeared in the main court’s dining room, everyone could tell they had just cried.

Mrs. Jiang teased, laughing, "With our elder daughter getting married, my dear husband must find it hard to let go, isn’t he?"

Chen Shiying bashfully avoided eye contact.

Mrs. Jiang laughed again, "Not just your father but even I find it hard to let go. Despite not giving birth to Chen Afu, we share a close bond. We’ve only recently met and she’s already getting married. It’s been keeping me up at night."

And with that, she wiped away the tears in her eyes.

Listening to her kind words, Chen Afu quickly rose to embrace her arm, calling out softly, "Mother."

Chen Shiying laughed, "Really, women always let their emotions take over at crucial moments. The wedding should be a happy occasion, yet there’s so much crying."

After dinner, Chen Shiying met with others in the reception room for a chat. Mrs. Jiang caught up later, and just as Chen Shiying and the other children left the room, she softly said to the leaning Chen Yuqing, "Look at you, getting all jealous."

Chen Yuqing indeed felt jealous. Sulking, she said, "Father always treats elder sister better than me."

Mrs. Jiang replied, "Regardless of how good your father treats her, she cannot take away your status as your father’s legitimate daughter. Don’t fuss over such pointless jealousy. Your father is our support; you must follow whatever is most beneficial for you..."