Prologue (2/2)

”You dare to interfere with my matters?!”  Luo Ji Cai reached out his hand and pushed the Captain.

The Captain jumped away and Luo Ji Cai who was unstable on his feet crashed into the wall and fell on the ground.

”The Patrol hit people!”  Luo Ji Cai shouted out loudly.

”Everyone saw you crashed into the wall because you drank too much.”  Hua Ming Zi sneered as she folded her arms over her chest.

The Patrol team surrounded Luo Ji Cai to help him stand up.

”Get lost!”  Once Luo Ji Cai had stood up firmly, he pushed everyone away.

”Luo Gongzi, this way, please!  Luo Daren* had instructed us that should Luo Gongzi have a dispute with anyone, we are to request you to leave first.”  The Captain gave his men a meaningful look and instantly two of his men stood on either side of Luo Ji Cai.

(Daren means Lord or Master.)

”My Elder Sister is an Imperial Concubine!  Don't you dare touch me!”  Luo Ji Cai glared at the Captain.

”Luo Daren said he wants to see you immediately.”  The Captain said.

While dragging his feet to leave reluctantly, Luo Ji Cai glared at him fiercely while he muttered and swore and the words that slipped from his mouth shocked everyone around him.

Hua Ming Zi folded her arms across her chest and held back the urge to push Luo Ji Cai down the stairs.

”There is no one that I, Luo Ji Cai, can't have.”  Luo Ji Cai turned around to look back at her just before he descended the stairs.

”Luo Gongzi, pay attention to your footsteps.  Otherwise, you will be like a dog eating s.h.i.+t or you will end up being unconscious.”  Hua Ming Zi taunted.

Luo Ji Cai's face turned pale and his face sank as he walked down the stairs amidst everyone's laughter.

After Hua Ming Zi nodded at the Captain who was walking behind Luo Ji Cai, she went downstairs by another set of small stairs and told the Shopkeeper to send everyone a complimentary pot of tea to calm their nerves.

The moment Ying Xue Wen saw the Dangjia of Hua Family had left, he immediately leaned over to his brother and said.  ”Oh my G.o.d!   When that Hua Dangjia slapped on the table, it instantly collapsed!  It can be seen she is very highly skilled in martial arts.  She is so fierce and tough, how will anyone dare to marry her in future?”

”She used her brains and not martial arts to deal with the matter.  Didn't you see her look out the window just now?  She was actually waiting for the Patrol to arrive.”  Ying Yan Long looked at the broken table - that table always seemed to be unoccupied, so there must be a problem with the table.

”Did she?”  Ying Xue Wen asked with a frown.

”You only stared at the girl who was singing and she smiled at you several times.   Then you felt so happy that you floated in the air.  How would you be able to observe other matters?”  Ying Yan Long said with a dead-pan expression and he has long been accustomed to his brother's att.i.tude which was always not serious.

Ying Xue Wen's expression turned gloomy but very quickly he recovered and said.  ”Elder Brother, this Hua Dangjia is so fierce.......was Elder Sister-in-law as fierce as her the last time?”

”Hua Dangjia knows how to deal with matters according to the situation.”  The moment his late wife got emotional, she would disregard all feelings even in public.

In the beginning, he and his deceased wife were well matched and she had good business sense.  Their marriage was celebrated with a grand wedding.  Who knew that the moment she married into the Ying Family, both of them would always quarrel due to differences in opinions.  After being married for less than a year, his wife requested to leave with a group of businessmen who were venturing overseas.  Unexpectedly, the group encountered a sea storm and his wife lost her life in the deep sea.

”Elder Brother, if you were to marry again, would you choose to marry a female Dangjia again?”  Ying Xue Wen asked.

”It is enough for a family to have one capable person.”  A peaceful home is a blessing.  He just wanted a gentle woman to take care of the family and give him peace of mind.

”That is not necessarily true.  Maybe you just love females who are Dangjia........”

After Ying Yan Long threw a glance at his brother, he stood up and walked towards the stairs.  If it was not for the reason he wanted to see how Hua Ming Zi was going to deal with that matter just now, he would have long left to make preparations to enter the palace.  The Ying Medical Halls had the trust of the royal family and therefore, once a month he would have to report to the Emperor on the current health status of a few of the Emperor's royal treasures.

When Ying Yan Long walked out of the Hua Ji Restaurant, there was a carriage standing in front of the entrance that was about to leave.

Sitting in the carriage, Hua Ming Zi, who had taken off her veil, was holding up her swollen right hand for her maid, Cui Xuan, to apply a layer of the medicine, White Gra.s.s Ointment from the Ying Medical Halls.

”That ghost Luo Ji Cai!   Sooner or later, I will definitely have a showdown with him to see whether he will dare to cause me trouble again!”

After she had said those words, she closed her eyes to take a rest.

She did not want to waste time on Luo Ji Cai.  She had to make use of every second she could to take a rest so that she could allocate more time to do more things for the Hua Ji Restaurants.  After all......

For a woman to be the Dangjia of a household is definitely not easy!

In addition to dealing with the restaurants' businesses, she had to deal with her marriage matters.  Furthermore, she had to obey her father's orders to look for someone to go to the Ying Family to propose marriage to their Dangjia, Ying Yan Long.

Interesting notes:

In the olden days, it is normal for the Male's Family to propose to the Female's Family but if the Female's Family is of higher status and richer, and the Female takes a liking to a Male of lower status, sometimes the reverse will happen although it is rare.

As in Hua Ming Zi's case, since she had pa.s.sed the marriageable age and with her excellent business capability, it would be difficult for her to find a suitable match as no man would dare to marry her.

A suitable match would be 'wooden door faces wooden door, bamboo door faces bamboo door' meaning both families of the same level in status and wealth.

So, the Hua Family proposed marriage to the Ying Family instead of waiting for a suitable proposal to come along as no one seemed to be brave enough to ask for her hand in marriage.

An interesting point to note is when a woman marries into a family as a 'Tian Fang' she would not have the same status as the deceased First Wife and would be regarded as the Second Wife with the t.i.tle Second Madam. She will not have any status in the household and is looked down upon by other members of the family. This situation is even worse if the Tian Fang is a young woman married to an old man.

'Tian Fang' literary means 'fill up the house or room' and from the words, one can deduce the woman's low value as she would only be filling in the vacant position of a wife.

For this reason, normally a reputable family will never allow their daughter to be married as a Tian Fang unless under unavoidable circ.u.mstances.  The women are merely taken in as a Second Wife to satisfy the husband's physical needs, serve the husband and look after the household.  They do not even have any say in the upbringing of the children of the deceased First Wife if there is any.  The women chosen are usually widows, divorcees, or a poor girl that is sold into the family as these women do not have strong family backing and they are obedient.

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