Looking at the wealthy families in the village with red lanterns hanging and the young women inside, Li Yuan was, to be honest, very excited.
In his previous life, he hadn't even had a girlfriend, but this time he was directly choosing a wife.
Li Yuan calculated the time; it should be enough for him to walk around the village once.
Then I must choose carefully.
At this moment, inside a house at the east end of the village, a pair of sisters were busy at the stove.
The older sister had a dignified and beautiful appearance with an uncommon temperament, and she was taller than ordinary women.
Even in coarse linen clothes, her figure was well-proportioned.
The younger sister had sweet features and a light, agile figure, still carrying the youthful innocence of a young girl.
But at this moment, these two beautiful sisters looked at the table in the courtyard with faces full of sorrow.
On the table, there was only a plate of boiled wild vegetables and half a pot of millet porridge; there was nothing else.
The younger sister, with tear stains on her face, timidly said, "Sister, with such a simple welcoming banquet for our husband, if the husband assigned by the government truly comes, won't he be furious?"
The older sister's face was full of desolation.
"Alas, there's nothing we can do."
"It's all my fault for being incompetent and not being able to keep an eye on the family's money."
"Sister, don't say that; losing money is a small matter, as long as you are safe."
It turned out that after these two sisters were chosen as wealthy families by the Military Governor's Office and were to be assigned husbands, to raise money for the welcoming banquet's ingredients, the sisters could only desperately spin thread and work.
They finally managed to save a few hundred coins, but yesterday, when the sisters went out to fetch water, they returned to find their home had been robbed.
Not only was the money for the welcoming banquet gone, but most of the millet in their rice jar had also been stolen.
This made the sisters cry all night.
Today was the day to welcome their husband, so the sisters, left with no choice, could only scrape together what they could.
That's how they managed to put together the few crude dishes on the table.
Having grown up in a Soldier Family village, the sisters knew that those who came to be Soldier Family members were mostly crude men, all with violent tempers, who would either beat or scold their wives and daughters.
With only such a crude welcoming banquet, they feared that their newly assigned husband would surely be furious.
Making their husband lose so much face, they would probably have to endure a beating.
Thinking of this, the sisters' faces couldn't help but turn sorrowful.
The two of them were sighing sadly in the house when they suddenly heard someone knocking at the courtyard gate.
Both sisters were startled.
They wondered, had the husband assigned by the government arrived so quickly?
The younger sister quickly ran to the courtyard gate and gently pushed open the simple wooden door.
Standing at the entrance was a tall, handsome man.
Under the afternoon sun, the man in front of her seemed to be enveloped in a soft halo.
He had distinct features, a jade-like countenance, and eyes as bright as stars.
His every movement exuded a heroic and vigorous aura.
This Lang Jun was too handsome!
The younger sister stared blankly for a moment, forgetting to speak.
It was the older sister who reacted quickly; although she too was astonished by the man at the door, she quickly composed herself.
She hurried over, bowed to the man at the door, and asked, "May I ask, Lang Jun, what is the matter?"
The handsome man first sized up the two sisters in front of him, seemingly very pleased, then politely cupped his hands and said, "I am Li Yuan, a Soldier Family assigned by the Military Governor's Office to East Village."
"From today onwards, I will be your husband."
Upon hearing this, the sisters were stunned.
They truly couldn't believe that their husband was such a handsome Lang Jun.
The sisters had lived in the military camp for a long time.
They had seen the Soldier Family members previously assigned by the Military Governor's Office.
Most were crude farmers, some even ruffians, or exiled prisoners.
In their hearts, they would be content if the husband assigned by the government was a good person, not daring to ask for anything else, as long as his appearance wasn't too unpleasant.
But they never expected that the Lang Jun standing at the door would have such an outstanding appearance and temperament.
This truly made them disbelieving, as if in a dream.
Li Yuan saw the two women's reactions and shook his head with a wry smile, then intended to walk directly into the courtyard.
The older sister, having recovered, quickly said to the man in front of her, "Lang Jun, please wait a moment."
"According to the rules, may this servant check your waist token?"
Li Yuan nodded. "Of course."
With that, he unfastened the ebony waist token from his waist and handed it to the two sisters.
The older sister was very serious and meticulous in her actions.
She had heard that in the past, during the process of selecting Soldier Family members and replacing households, incidents of impersonation had occurred.
There had even been cases where auxiliary soldiers, who were only eligible for lower-class households, impersonated others to enter wealthy families and took their wives and daughters.
Once a man entered a household, a woman's chastity became unclear.
Verifying the husband's identity was a big deal for the sisters.
The two women took the waist token and were surprised to find it was made of ebony.
Having lived in the military camp for a long time, they naturally knew this was a warrior's waist token.
Those who could wear such a token were strong warriors who could lift a three-hundred-jin stone lock during the selection process.
The two couldn't help but secretly glance at Li Yuan again.
This Lang Jun had handsome features, but his physique was quite strong and tall.
The sisters' faces couldn't help but blush again.
They knew that warriors holding ebony waist tokens had priority in entering the village to choose a household.
This meant that they, the sisters, had been personally chosen by this handsome Lang Jun to be his wives.
Moreover, the Military Governor's Office strictly supervised such ebony waist tokens.
Those who forged or misused them would be dealt with by military law.
They had also never heard of anyone daring to impersonate a warrior holding an ebony waist token.
Seeing that the waist token was correct, the older sister pulled her younger sister.
The two exchanged glances, nodded, and knelt on the ground to perform a grand bow to Li Yuan.
"Chu Wanjun and Chu Xiao Zhu, sisters, greet our husband."
Performing the husband-greeting ritual meant that the two sisters had acknowledged this husband as their own man.
Li Yuan was naturally very happy to see that the two women had acknowledged him, and he quickly extended his hands to help them up, saying softly, "My wives, please rise."
Unexpectedly, the two women did not get up, and Li Yuan was a bit confused and about to ask when the older sister, Chu Wanjun, said with a look of shame, "Husband, please forgive us."
Li Yuan was full of questions. "What wrong have you done?"
The older sister continued, "Because my sister and I carelessly lost our money yesterday, the welcoming banquet for our husband is crude, and we fear it will make husband lose face."
"Please punish us, husband."
After saying that, the older sister bowed even lower, holding up a rattan cane with both hands.
Her meaning was, 'Husband, please hit us to vent your anger.'
Li Yuan was stunned; what was this all about?
He saw that both sisters were trembling, seemingly genuinely afraid.
He felt a slight confusion, then looked at the table behind the two women.
Li Yuan roughly understood what was going on.
These sisters had unexpectedly lost the money they had painstakingly saved.
They couldn't prepare a decent welcoming banquet for their husband.
When Old Village Chief and the Baizhang of the Soldier Family came to congratulate them later, the sisters wouldn't have food and drink to entertain them.
This would undoubtedly make their husband lose face.
This was a big deal in a Soldier Family village.
Rather than waiting for their husband to become furious later, it was better to let him hit them now to vent his anger.
However, the sisters hadn't accounted for their husband being a warrior who could lift a three-hundred-jin stone lock.
They thought that the strength in their husband's hands must be considerable.
They wondered if the sisters would be able to withstand the beating they were about to receive.
That's why they were trembling with unease and fear.