Seeing the sky getting dark.
Mrs. Min should have left by now, but she remained as steady as a mountain.
Tong Huaqiong couldn’t rush her.
Moreover, Mrs. Min had an excellent character and spoke with delightful humor, sharing many big pieces of gossip from Shengjing. Everyone listened and lost track of time.
"Grandmother, I’m here to take you home." Su Chengmin returned from duty and came directly to Tong Huaqiong’s place to escort Mrs. Min home.
Mrs. Min looked disappointed.
She deliberately waited until evening, hoping her son would come to the Gu Family to pick her up.
Her always dutiful son didn’t show up, but her grandson did.
"Where’s your uncle?" Mrs. Min asked.
Su Chengmin replied with a smile, "Uncle went to Jiangbei Camp again in the afternoon, then went straight home and asked me to bring you back."
Mrs. Min pouted.
Mother and son are connected in spirit; she knew her son was thinking about Tong Dajiao, but now that he’s in Shengjing, he still didn’t come to meet her.
She wondered what sentimental nonsense her son was up to.
However, she had been out for a day and really should return home.
Mrs. Min stood up and said to Tong Huaqiong, "In a few days, please come to my home as a guest. You haven’t seen Han Niu in over twenty years, so you should meet him."
Tong Huaqiong wiped some sweat off her face and agreed verbally.
Su Chengmin supported Mrs. Min as they walked outside, with Tong Huaqiong and others accompanying them to the main door.
A Min Family carriage was parked not far away.
Mrs. Min got on the carriage, waved to Tong Huaqiong, and shouted, "You can go back now."
Tong Huaqiong watched the carriage disappear before returning home.
"You’re a Mighty General who has commanded thousands of troops, yet you don’t dare to meet Tong Dajiao and hide in the carriage just to sneak a peek. If you go out, don’t say you’re my son, it’s embarrassing," Mrs. Min said to the Mighty General.
The Mighty General sat in the carriage, his heart pounding.
After hesitating for a long time, he came to pick up Mrs. Min, but didn’t have the courage to get off the carriage and go to the Gu Family, so he sent his nephew instead.
Normally, he didn’t like riding in carriages and preferred to ride horses directly, but riding a horse would make it easy to be spotted, hence the carriage.
He parked the carriage near Tong Huaqiong’s home, almost suffocating when he saw Tong Huaqiong walk out.
This was the second time he’d seen Tong Huaqiong since they parted as youngsters.
The first time was yesterday when welcoming the heir to the palace; he took a distant look but didn’t see clearly.
Today, the sky was too dark to see clearly again.
Through the hazy lantern light, the girl in his memory stood at the door, her silhouette seeming just as before.
"Mother, it’s not that I dare not see her. She has kids but no husband, if I go, what would outsiders say? It could negatively impact her reputation since she just arrived in Shengjing," said the Mighty General.
Mrs. Min rolled her eyes at her son, wondering what excuse he was looking for.
Today she heard Tong Dajiao had a confrontation with Prince Yu Mansion and was faster than anyone to run away.
"Tong Dajiao even has grandchildren now, what could be said about you two? I think you’re clearly still fond of her and feeling guilty, that’s why you worry it would lead to rumors. If you act honorably, who’d spread tales about you two?"
Mrs. Min scolded her son, secretly wishing for the rumors to be true.
Her son had been a bachelor all his life, renewing ties with Tong Dajiao wouldn’t be bad.
Tong Dajiao can be a stepmother, why can’t her son be a stepfather to Tong Dajiao’s kids?
Moreover, Tong Dajiao’s children are quite accomplished and wouldn’t need Min Han Niu to work hard raising them.
She had it all planned: once Su Chengmin and Taohua marry, they could dedicate a child to the Min Family to carry on the family name.
Two families merging into one would be better than anything.
"You’ve stayed single your whole life because of Tong Dajiao, talking about battlefield dangers impeding others; you can fool the Emperor with that talk but not your mother," Mrs. Min said.
Upon hearing his grandmother’s scolding of his uncle, Su Chengmin added, "Uncle, since you always think of Aunt Tong, why not find a time to clarify things with her? Then you won’t keep dwelling on it. She’s not the kind of person to be sentimental. If she likes you as well, you two could be together. If not, you’d have closure."
Su Chengmin genuinely cared about his uncle’s lifelong happiness.
In Su Chengmin’s heart, his uncle was more upright than his father, Su Shihang.
Su Shihang clearly held feelings for his original wife, but married his mother for his future, letting two women tear each other apart in the house.
One was forced to death, the other turned dark.
He hated his stepmother for her constant provocations against his mother and being harsh on him after his mother passed. His father was the root cause he despised most.
Min Han Niu flicked Su Chengmin’s forehead, saying, "Impudent boy, at our age talking of marriage would be a joke."
Though he said so, he couldn’t suppress a smile.
With Tong Huaqiong far from Qinghe Bay and without familiar people around, maybe she’d be willing to renew ties.
Su Chengmin said, "Age is just a number! You make your enemies tremble, Mighty General; if you wanted to marry, plenty would offer their daughters. You’re still robust and vigorous."
"But Uncle, if you want to be with Aunt Tong, don’t be so hesitant. You can’t expect Aunt Tong to chase after you, right?"
Seeing his unruly nephew, the Mighty General was instantly pacified.
The nephew’s suggestion wasn’t lacking merit.
But surely he should ask Tong Dajiao’s opinion?
Min Han Niu asked, "When you went to get your grandmother, did you mention me to Aunt Tong?"
Su Chengmin replied honestly, "No, you told me not to mention you."
Min Han Niu glared at Su Chengmin, not allowed to mention, so you don’t?
Mrs. Min said, "Do you want to know if Tong Dajiao brought you up? Let me tell you frankly, no, she didn’t mention you all day."
Min Han Niu felt deflated instantly.
While in the carriage, he wished Tong Huaqiong would escort his mother to the carriage, anticipating how he should greet and converse, even rehearsing in his mind the encounter dialogue, yet Tong Huaqiong stopped at the door.
His excitement wasted for nothing.
Seeing her son’s disappointed eyes, Mrs. Min said, "With the daughter-in-law and daughter there, it’s normal for Tong Dajiao not to mention you. Cheer up; she’s in Shengjing now, you can meet anytime. As soon as the palace banquet for welcoming the heir passes, I’ll host a gathering at home, inviting Tong Dajiao and Taohua over for food and drinks—creating an opportunity for you two."
Min Han Niu felt like his mother was arranging for him and Tong Dajiao to meet clandestinely, chuckling sheepishly.
Finished with the uncle’s matter, Su Chengmin felt it was time to address his own, asking, "So Grandmother, did you talk to Aunt Tong about me and Taohua?"
Mrs. Min shook her head and said, "Your Aunt Tong just got to Shengjing, talking about Taohua’s marriage would be too hasty now. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely bring it up in due time."
Mrs. Min looked at the two single men, both old and young before her, sighing internally.
One after another, neither allowing her peace of mind.
But compared to her son, Su Chengmin’s marriage was her greater concern.
After all, her "good" son-in-law, Su Shihang, suddenly remembered he still had a son unmarried and started organizing Su Chengmin’s marriage, even after she scolded him, he wouldn’t give up.
Su Shihang was quite favored by the Old Emperor; she genuinely feared Su Shihang would ask the Emperor to grant Su Chengmin a marriage.
Blocking Su Shihang from leveraging Su Chengmin’s marriage as a political alliance wasn’t easy, so finalizing Su Chengmin’s marriage quickly was the best strategy.