Chengteng was very displeased with the candidate Ruolan Zhuang and suspected that she was not diligent enough.
Ruolan felt uneasy inside. To be able to choose within ten days, already very challenging, she said, "Father, I've approached the families you favored, but their madams and leading grandmothers have all tactfully declined. Father, there's nothing I can do." The families would refuse as soon as they heard it was for the Second Young Master. Ruolan understood why these madams would decline; Ma Yue was not empathetic and was considered at best, clean-looking, not appealing enough for those families.
In Ruolan's own opinion, Ma Yue was not even worthy of these two families' daughters. Not to mention the case with Keyue, a grown man who, failing to pass the examination, blamed it on his daughter who was just a month old; such a man could not be relied upon.
Chengteng felt that his eldest daughter-in-law was outwardly compliant but secretly opposed him.
