Matchmaker Lady Hao & Wenmin's Father

Chen Jiahao arrived at the village head's house and knocked on his door. He waited outside for a while when Uncle Yichen finally let him in. Uncle Yichen took him to the living room, where his son and his grandchild were.

Jiahao saw how peaceful it is in the village head's household. No scheming relatives and no quarrels, not like his nor Li Wenmin's house. The peaceful environment strengthened his desire to create a family with Wenmin.

They both sat down and Jiahao began to tell what he and Wenmin decided before he came here, he told the village head that he wants to the village head to act as his elder and go together to search for a reliable and honest matchmaker.

It's not that the matchmaker that has been to the village before were unreliable, it's just that they tend to gossip and act a bit boastful. Jiahao has the money, he just doesn't want to use his money to hire annoying people.

When he talked about Wenmin and matchmaking, his expression softened so that the living room could see it. "Uncle Yichen, please be my elder and representative in the wedding ceremony. I don't have my parents anymore; you are the only one in my family. My parents would be happy to have you as my guardian."

Uncle Yichen's face was when he heard that there was a mixture between happiness and sadness. I guess the kid he watched when he was a baby, finally going to have his own family, overwhelmed the village head a little bit. "Jiahao ah, even without you asking, I am willing."

The village head and Jiahao went to Wenmin's house to get his birth date, and they both left for town. They went to meet the famous and respectable matchmaker Hao, she was respectable because of her background. She once worked in the palace and attends to the emperor's concubine. She was loved by the concubine as she was a good mother figure to a person who seldom goes out of the palace.

When she left the palace to come back to her hometown, the concubine rewarded her greatly and even gave her attendees to help her at home. Thus, she was called the respectable Lady Hao. Chen Jiahao met her once when he was still a general since they came from the same place, and with Jiahao's stoic personality, Lady Hao has good feelings for him.

She promised to be his matchmaker once he comes back if he found someone he loves. Now is the right time to meet her. Jiahao doesn't want to waste time and he wants to honour Wenmin and show it to the villagers.

When they arrived at Lady Hao's gate, coincidentally the attendees who were always with Lady Hao recognized him and invited him in. Uncle Yichen was surprised that Jiahao knew the respectable Lady Hao, but he was much more surprised that he picked Lady Hao to be the matchmaker. Showing this much importance to Li Wenmin shows how much Jiahao loves him.

They drank some tea and there were desserts, Jiahao wasn't too fond of sweets so he didn't touch them. A few minutes passed then Lady Hao entered the hall. She was around her late 40s but still looked like she was in her late 30s. With her elegant gown and sophisticated aura around her, people would wonder why such a woman live in a small town.

"Jiahao boy, you came here to see me, do you have someone you like?" teased Lady Hao. She likes how Jiahao never tries to kiss the higher-ups. She also knew how Jiahao got into the military, since she worked in the palace, she couldn't marry and regards Jiahao as her son.

Jiahao paid his respects and introduced the village head as his father's cousin. Meaning the cousin who always helped his family and took care of him. Since he once told Lady Hao everything about his life, Lady Hao knew about Uncle Yichen. "The reason I come here is as Lady Hao guessed. I found someone who I like, he is the ger son of my saviour. His name is Li Wenmin and this is his birth date."

Jiahao handed a piece of paper containing Wenmin's birth date and his own. Lady Hao calculate their birth date and there was a subtle smile on her face once she finish. "Jiahao ah, you found a good person to marry. Looking at the dates, both of you will live peacefully with children and grandchildren, there will be some bumps but not internally. It was like the heavens created you two for each other."

This is what regular matchmaker always says, but if it comes out of Lady Hao's mouth, it will be as she says. It's because of her background as a concubine attendee, but more of how she has the power to see and feel happiness for married couples. That's why she was also given the task of being a matchmaker for the nobles while still in the palace.

They discussed the perfect date for the marriage and Lady Hao said it is best to do it at the end of September. Now they are entering the autumn season, they have at least a month before the wedding date. It's not rushed and they still have time. Jiahao wants to earn more money, but the gold and silver in his possession are still being kept secret.

At least to cover up how he has a lot of money when the villagers didn't even know that he was a general in the military. He asked Lady Hao if there was any job that requires strong men, knowing his intentions, Lady Hao invited him to work for her.

Ever since she came back, so many people came to her gate just to take a look inside the gate, so she didn't feel safe. She said that having Jiahao working as a guard might be a bit rude for his reputation and status but to the ignorant villagers and townspeople, this is a perfect cover-up.

Calling Jiahao a guard is wrong, Lady Hao wanted Jiahao to be her bodyguard whenever she goes out for business, and Jiahao can also gain information and safety alerts head-on. Even though the war has ended a few years ago but there are still things that will never end.

"Jiahao, you don't have to come every day, you can just come for three days a week and escort me to town or if I am meeting someone. You never know if something might happen. Ah, you can also bring your future husband with you. I would love to see him who managed to capture your heart hahaha" despite her age and aura, she treats Jiahao and teases him a lot.

Since they're done with their business, Jiahao, and Uncle Yichen excused themselves. Lady Hao ordered the maids to wrap a few more desserts and asked Jiahao to give them to Wenmin and his friend. When they were reaching the gate, Lady Hao suddenly said something to Jiahao.

"Li Wenmin's father is someone who you know closely. It might not be the right time to tell you yet, but when I was still in the palace, Great General Li Jiguang always come to this town before the war. However, he never told anyone why he always spend so much time here. Later, when he was about to go to war, he said to me that he found someone he love in Chen Village, and if he returns alive and well, he wants me to be his matchmaker." this was something Lady Hao said quietly to Jiahao when they finally reach the gate.

Chen Jiahao was shocked. Who would've thought that the person he admired and his mentor would be his father-in-law to be. Lady Hao didn't say much after that as they both know what happened to Great General Li. He was at war for 10 years, and when he came back, he even wrote two books on war strategies and what he saw during those ten years.

He managed to live for a few more years, that was the time when Chen Jiahao entered the military. He knew that Chen Jiahao was from the Chen Village and even asked him about Wenmin's ama. That time, Jiahao was curious how the great general knew about a commoner but Great General Li only said that Wenmin's ama once showed him around town and they got to know each other.

Chen Jiahao told him about how Wenmin's ama was never married but had a ger son named Li Wenmin, he was also the person whom Jiahao regarded as his saviour when the people he called as relatives exchanged him for money to enter the military. He said a lot but he didn't realise the sad and melancholy look on his face especially when he knew that he had a son.

'So that was the reason why he asked me about Wenmin's ama.' Jiahao thought to himself. Unfortunately, Great General Li's body was getting weaker due to the wars that he had been through for 10 years. He lost an arm and his left eye was blinded by the enemy. 'Maybe that's why he didn't come back here. I'll better send him a letter.'

They rushed to the village and went straight to Wenmin's house. Since Wenmin is busy with his garden and making sure this month's supply for the restaurant is enough, Jiahao and the village head didn't stay long.

They told Wenmin about the wedding date and Jiahao gave the desserts he got from Lady Hao. He also handed Wenmin 50 taels of silver to use for the wedding preparations since he doesn't have any elders with him.

Wenmin wanted to refuse but Jiahao said that since they will be married in a month it was not wrong to give him a little bit now, at the end of the day, Wenmin will be managing the money once they got married. What Jiahao said got Wenmin all red and panicking. Uncle Yichen just turn a blind eye to their pink bubble atmosphere. 'Alas, young love is so sweet' he sighed.