"Speak." Yang Ruxin put down the pen and turned to sit with Yan Yuyu nearby.
"Isn’t your third sister also eleven years old?" Yan Yuyu widened her eyes at Yang Ruxin.
Yang Ruxin looked puzzled: "Yes, her birthday is in April."
"Well, someone asked me to find out if she’s been promised to anyone."
Yang Ruxin suddenly laughed, "She’s only eleven, and someone’s already proposing?"
"Don’t laugh." Yan Yuyu hurriedly waved her hand. "It’s about looking first; if it’s suitable, then get engaged. Preparing everything takes years, and if it’s not suitable, you can keep looking. So, it’s not really that early."
Yang Ruxin sighed. It seemed like it was typical for girls from aristocratic families of this era to start matchmaking and engagements at such a young age. She couldn’t help but rub her forehead. "Sister Yan, to be honest, my family doesn’t support arranged marriages. I advocate for them to fall in love freely."
"What?" Yan Yuyu stared, astonished, "Free love?"
Yang Ruxin nodded, "Yes, mutual affection. I believe my younger siblings should choose based on genuine feelings, and the other external conditions are secondary. Even if everything else seems perfect, I wouldn’t agree if they don’t genuinely like each other."
For a moment, Yan Yuyu didn’t know what to say.
"Moreover, my family’s rule is that men don’t take concubines, and women don’t bee concubines." Yang Ruxin smiled faintly. "Of course, I also hope that my brothers-in-law won’t take concubines."
"How is that possible?" Yan Yuyu blurted out. After all, even if her husband treated her well, there were still two concubines. Whenever her husband went to their rooms, she couldn’t sleep the whole night.
"Why wouldn’t it be possible?" Yang Ruxin raised an eyebrow slightly, "My husband doesn’t have any concubines, and neither does my second brother-in-law."
"But..."
"Sister Yan, maybe you find it unbelievable, but these are my standards. Women bring trouble when they’re many, and I find house fights the most annoying."
"Xinxin, I suddenly admire you tremendously." Yan Yuyu suddenly laughed. "Looking across all of Daxuan, no, even including the surrounding countries, only you have such a mindset and have expressed it and put it into practice." If she was previously somewhat opportunistic in befriending Yang Ruxin, now she was genuinely forming a friendship, because she felt the other did what she herself wanted to do but didn’t dare.
"In fact, many women are unwilling to share their husbands with others. After all, love is selfish, but to maintain a reputation for being magnanimous and virtuous, they arrange concubines for their husbands. I really don’t get it; can reputations be eaten or spent like silver? Anyway, I don’t care about fame. Whether people praise me or criticize me, I’m still the same." Yang Ruxin shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, "As long as I’m fortable, that’s what matters."
"What you’ve said really makes me..." Yan Yuyu took a deep breath. "Makes me feel like I’ve been living in vain until now." She had already started to plot in her mind; she could let her own rascal spend more time with the young girls from the Yang Family. Who knows, maybe one of them might bee his wife.
Thinking about the girls she had met, Mimi was great, Lanlan and that Xiaobao were also good. Even though Xiaobao wasn’t directly of the Yang Family, Yang Ruxin treated her no differently than a real sister. Oh well, she’ll leave it up to that rascal’s own ability.
To hell with concubines!
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