Chapter 19 (1/2)

T/N: Most readers seem to be okay with the comments section as it is, so I’m relieved ε-(´・｀) ﾌ Phew Thank you to everyone who replied and to everyone who left such kind and encouraging coreat motivation to me Noards with the story!

Chapter 19 - Engagement

The An fa De parted ways, was also considered a scholarly family

The Old Master was a ju ren In the Da Ya Dynasty, this achieveh to name him an official But the Old Master chose to return to his hometown and did not accept any official post This status made him a fish back in the water in the An Yuan County Even the county ive him face

[T/N: An Zi Ran's grandfather]

[T/N: 举人 ju ren: graduate / a successful candidate in the imperial provincial examination]

[T/N: ”Like a fish back in water” is an idios]

The Old Master placed great expectations on his two sons Although he was a ju ren, he was unable to go beyond ju ren His life as for the An family to produce a jin shi+ In the end, he pinned his wish on his two sons Of the two, only An Chang De had a little talent, and An Chang Fu was not scholarly material

[T/N: 进士 jin shi+: palace graduate / successful candidate in the highest imperial civil service examination]

However, even if this were the case, the An family already had a bit of reputation and fame in An Yuan County

The Old Master was an elegant scholar with literary talent His specialty was not poetry but painting There was a certain chars So to sell his work then they would fetch a very high price

But the Old Master was an obstinate person He viewed paintings as so the passion of a beautiful hobby Therefore, he was resolutely unwilling to measure it in terms of monetary benefits For precisely this reason, he became famous

When he was sixty years old, he h An Yuan County

The tourist claimed to be a businessman anted to settle in Jun Zi City with his family Jun Zi City was the capital of Da Ya It was very prosperous It was a place where ed for

[T/N: 君子城 jun zi cheng Literally ”gentleman city”]

At first, the Old Master did not like the other person because he was a businessh he was not particularly prejudiced towards businesset too close to theer son seemed to be interested in business

However, when the other person revealed his literary skills, the Old Master sat up and took notice

After that the two soon becae and also shared a common subject of conversation In the end they became sworn brothers The other party was very interested in the Old Master's paintings So the Old Master sent him several pieces of art that were his masterpieces

The other party knew that these paintings were the painstaking efforts of the Old Master and was greatly ave half of a jade pendant as a return gift

[T/N: The businessave half of the pendant Think of it as friendshi+p or couple necklaces where each party keeps one half of the jewelry as a sign of their close relation]

The jade pendant was a fahter-in-law It was very precious and expensive After knowing this, the Old Master refused to accept the jade pendant, thinking that his paintings could not be compared to the worth of this jade pendant As the result, the other party said that he was leaving it as a token for his future daughter-in-law

And thus, a ement was formed between the two families

Only Steward Su knew of thisat the Old Master's side He told Steward Su not to spread this matter about Not even his two sons were told

The Old Master's intention was to observe the daughters of his two sons and see which one was ood friend