Chapter 2

"Why did you give me a gift?" After asking, Bai Minghe gently patted his head and said, "I am a juren (scholar)!"

"Do you want to break the engagement?" Sun Yuanjun stood in front of Bai Minghe, asking word by word, and after speaking, she tightly bit her lips.

Bai Minghe did not answer immediately; he was still organizing his thoughts. He had no memories from before, but there were vague traces of past knowledge, though not very clear. The biggest issue now was whether all this was a dream, whether it was real, and whether he could go back.

While thinking about this, he heard Sun Yuanjun's voice become very gentle and slow.

"Thirty-seven years ago, my grandfather and your grandfather made an agreement. If they had sons, they would be brothers; if they had daughters, they would be sisters; if different, they would be husband and wife. If the same, they would marry in our generation. So, three years after our birth, we exchanged marriage contracts. You are the eldest grandson of the Bai family in Guanzhong, and I am the eldest daughter of the Sun family in Zhuo Prefecture, and the only one in the third branch."

Bai Minghe still did not react. He heard her, but he did not feel much agreement in his heart.

"This year, you are eighteen, and I am sixteen. You were born in the first month, and I was born in the ninth month. The letters in your bag from your grandfather and my father-in-law, and the ones from my mother-in-law..." This time, Sun Yuanjun did not speak but raised her hand to show Bai Minghe the bracelet on her wrist.

"A perfect match!" Bai Minghe said subconsciously.

What is a perfect match? Sun Yuanjun did not understand, but Bai Minghe was thinking: Pisces and Scorpio, really a perfect match.

The conversation ended there, and for the whole day, neither of them spoke again. In the evening, Bai Minghe did not stay in this courtyard. According to the head of the Sun family, he and Sun Yuanjun had already completed five of the six rites, so living together was fine, but the last rite had to be held at the Bai family ancestral temple. After the ancestral worship at the Sun family temple the next day, he would move in with Sun Yuanjun.

What are the six rites?

Bai Minghe was not a historian and did not understand such complex and high-level things.

After listening to his old uncle's rambling for a long time, Bai Minghe finally understood that, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, this woman was his legal wife. To divorce her, he would first need to meet the seven grounds for divorce, and as a juren, his reputation was important.

That night, he did not sleep well, not because of worry, but because the bed was too cold, hard, and dry.

As for the matter of time travel, Bai Minghe had already resigned himself to it. There was no regret pill in this world. He just felt it was very strange that a little boy could help people time travel and even control the details of the travel.

Insomnia has its limits, and when he was extremely tired, he fell asleep.

The next day, his old uncle did not keep him for breakfast but hurriedly sent him back to Sun Yuanjun.

On the table was a small bowl of porridge, still warm. It was so thin that you could see your reflection in it, and there was no pickled vegetable. Sun Yuanjun was sitting by the window reading a book. She knew Bai Minghe had come in but did not look back at him.

According to the etiquette of the time, this was already a breach of manners.

Bai Minghe did not understand, thinking the girl was either angry or a bit sad. After all, with a birthmark on her face, being considered unattractive and being rejected by her husband was not a happy thing.

He drank the porridge in one gulp to break the awkward silence and asked, "What are you reading?"

"In response to my husband, I am reading the Records of the Grand Historian, specifically the chapter on the disciples of Confucius. The sentence I am reading now is: 'I judge people by their words and am deceived by Zai Yu; I judge people by their appearance and am deceived by Zi Yu.'" As she spoke, Sun Yuanjun stared directly into Bai Minghe's eyes.

Indeed, she is a Scorpio woman. Bai Minghe smiled awkwardly, and despite his pride in his eloquence, he was speechless.

Even if modern people do not know much about the Four Books and Five Classics, a simple sentence about judging people by their appearance is clear to anyone but a fool.

But Sun Yuanjun did not let Bai Minghe off the hook and added, "A gentleman stands on his own, and when he marries, he marries for virtue!"

At that moment, someone outside the door shouted, "The Lu family has come, the Lu family has come."

What a good opportunity, Bai Minghe thought, and immediately said, "I'll go see."

But Sun Yuanjun blocked the door first, "The Lu family is here to collect a debt. It's a family matter, not your concern."

Bai Minghe plopped down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to him, "Come sit down, I want to talk to you." Bai Minghe, who had debated many people in the business world, did not believe he would be silenced by a little girl today.

Sun Yuanjun put down her book but did not sit on the bed. Instead, she pulled a stool and sat opposite Bai Minghe.

"Listen to me, I'm confused right now. I can't remember the past, and my head isn't working. They say the imperial examination in the capital, but with my current state, I have no chance of passing. What do you think?" Bai Minghe started by admitting his weakness, essentially playing the pity card.

To his surprise, Sun Yuanjun, who had been stern, suddenly laughed.

If it weren't for the birthmark, she would be absolutely stunning, a beauty of the highest level.

"The Ming Dynasty holds the imperial examination every three years, and only three thousand juren have the资格 to take it, with one in ten passing. Even if you are the only juren in your life, you can still live a prosperous life after returning home. You can openly say you don't want to marry me because I am ugly, so this act of playing the pity card is really foolish, just as foolish as it was ten years ago."

Ten years ago?

So long ago, does he have such a memory? Bai Minghe tried hard to recall, but there was no such memory in his head.

Since one strategy didn't work, he tried another.

Bai Minghe took a deep breath, maintained his composure, and stared into Sun Yuanjun's eyes, "As a juren, I want to take a concubine."

"Sure, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, taking a concubine requires the consent of the main wife. So, for me to agree, there must be a condition."

Is reading really that good? Bai Minghe finally understood what it meant for a woman to have virtue without talent. Just looking at the books in this room, he realized that the more books, the less virtue, and reading too much is terrifying.

Scholars in the Ming Dynasty valued their reputation more than their lives. Bai Minghe, now in the Ming Dynasty, was also afraid.

With some caution, Bai Minghe tried to show his masculinity and asked with authority, "Speak, what condition?"

"A concubine in the Bai family must at least be a... county lady!" Sun Yuanjun's heart was also pounding. She knew she might be overstepping, but she was really angry. Did Bai Minghe really not remember her after being hit by a stone? Did he really forget the promise by the stream ten years ago?

And did he really forget her appearance, thinking she was just an ugly woman?

The more she thought, the angrier she became. She gritted her teeth and loudly said, "A concubine in the Bai family must at least be a county lady!"

"What?" Bai Minghe jumped up in shock, scaring Sun Yuanjun, who quickly stepped back. Her heart was pounding so hard it almost jumped out of her chest.

Was she overdoing the joke? Sun Yuanjun was also a bit scared.