“So it was like that.” Lin Shuxuan closed his fan. However, his expression didn’t change, so it was clear that he didn’t believe Tang Doudou’s explanation.
“The person named Hibiscus contributed a lot to Hibiscus Garrison. Later, she had to leave for some reason, so this tradition of bestowing the title Hibiscus to a virtuous beauty was started in her honor.”
“That’s quite interesting,” said Tang Doudou with a laugh. Then she pointed to the building that opposite them that was decorated with countless flower garlands and asked, “So Brother Lin means that the lady seeking a match this time is the most beautiful lady in Hibiscus Garrison?”
Lin Shuxuan nodded, then shook his head.
“What is it? Could it be that there’s some other mystery involved?” Tang Doudou was surprised.
“It can’t count as a mystery. Brother Tang came from far away, so it’s not strange that you don’t know about this. There’s actually more than one lady being matched today. Of course, the most beautiful lady is also among them.”
Tang Doudou nodded. “No wonder it was so lively. So it turned out that this matchmaking event was being held for more than just one lady.”
“That’s right! These past two years, a lot of the garrison’s good-looking young men has been kidnapped so all that are left are ugly and old men. These women had been forced to come up with this idea in order get married before they get too old.” As Lin Shuxuan said this, he carefully scrutinized Tang Doudou’s expression.
Tang Doudou expressed normal surprise, but inwardly, waves of questions were surging up. Young, good-looking men were kidnapped… Why did it feel like Flowing Clouds Palace’s doing?
Could it be that the good-looking young men in Flowing Clouds Palace were all kidnapped from different places?
Why did they insist on picking young men?
Tang Doudou was puzzled. Most of the time, the people who were kidnapped were young girls that have yet to get married. Regardless of whether it’s to train or to gift away, young girls were much easier to control, yet Flowing Clouds Palace was going with men. What exactly was their motive?
“This is quite novel!” Tang Doudou looked towards Lin Shuxuan. “Usually I only hear that human traffickers like to kidnap young girls. When had their preferences changed?”
Lin Shuxuan shook his head. “How would I know? But…”
He glanced around before whispering, “I heard that it wasn’t a human trafficker that kidnapped them.”
“Huh?”
“Ahem, but it’s only something I heard. Probably only the people of the imperial household would be able to find out for sure.”
Tang Doudou asked, “The imperial household has gotten involved?”
Lin Shuxuan glanced at her, surprised. “Everyone has been discussing this topic lately. It’s not just the imperial household, many of the powers on the Jianghu are also getting involved, so why does it seem like Brother Tang hasn’t heard about this at all?”
“Aiy, isn’t it all because of that master of mine? He insisted on dragging me into the mountains to train. It was very hard for me to finally come out. When I heard my cousin say that there was a fun event here, I decided that there was no harm in taking a look.” Lin Shuxuan couldn’t see anything wrong with Tang Doudou’s excuse.
“Look over there, that old man next to County Magistrate Tao is the imperial envoy sent by the imperial family. He’s been here for almost three months but he hasn’t found a single thing,” said Lin Shuxuan in a disdainful tone.
Tang Doudou glanced over and saw that a stern-looking old man was sitting there and chatting lightheartedly with County Magistrate Tao.
“Could it be that these incidents have only happened to Hibiscus Garrison?”
“The same things have happened in the neighboring villages as well, but it’s just more severe here. In addition, this imperial envoy and County Magistrate Tao have ties through their extended families, that’s why the imperial envoy is staying here,” explained Lin Shuxuan.
“Young Master Lin, it’s starting!” Just as Tang Doudou was about to steer the conversation towards news of Nangong Yan, another young man spoke.
Lin Shuxuan said, “Brother Tang, the first hibiscus is about to come out.”
“Haha, then I have to take a good look!” Tang Doudou retrieved her thoughts and looked towards the building. The crowd below the building was bustling with excitement. It was mostly men, but they were on the older side and not very good-looking. The majority were even handicapped.
They all looked excitedly towards the building as two maids walked out with a lady whose features were covered by a veil.
“Unexpectedly, the first hibiscus turned out to be Lady Su.” Lin Shuxuan glanced at the woman’s figure and immediately identified her by name.”
“Brother Lin is sure an outstanding person, to be able to have such discerning vision!”
“Brother Tang is misunderstanding. Everyone of Hibiscus Garrison knows of Lady Su. Her left shoulder droops slightly more than her right shoulder and due to that fact, she’s not liked by the wealthy families despite her flower-like facial features. She’s close to passing the marriageable age, which is why her parents signed her up for this event.” When Lin Shuxuan spoke to here, he sighed and turned around. “Li Ziyu, why don’t you go snatch her embroidered ball and marry her?”
(The Chinese marriage embroidery ball tossed into the air by the woman seeking to get married and the men who are interested scramble to get the ball. The man that succeeds gets to take the woman as his wife.)
The one who was addressed as Li Ziyu was also one of the guys that had come with them. However, he seemed of the quiet type since he hadn’t said much on their way here. When Lin Shuxuan teased him, he smiled wryly and said, “Young Master Lin, please stop teasing me. It’s not like you don’t know what that female tiger in my family is like. Haaa…”
Tang Doudou inwardly gave a cold laugh. He was outside flirting with the flowers, yet he had the nerve to call his wife a female tiger? How shameless.
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