The old lady said, "I didn't ask you to assign them any high-ranking positions. As long as they have a job and can support themselves, that's fine."

"They come to the capital looking for jobs, but I'm afraid they won't want to do the hard and tiring ones, right? Living in the capital is not easy. For positions below the sixth rank, the salary is enough for daily living, but buying a house will be difficult. Where will they live in the future?"

In the capital, owning a house is the dream of many minor officials.

Where does my uncle's family live? Are they planning to stay at the Marquis's mansion long-term?

During the day, the old lady only thought about how to find jobs for her nephews and grandnephews, but she never thought about what would happen if they planned to become one family in the Marquis's mansion.

Gu Boyu immediately exclaimed, "Mother, you can't be foolish! You can't agree to let them stay in the Marquis's mansion. If you treat all fifty-odd people like masters, Tu Shi, the head of the household, will have no way to manage things."

The old lady immediately thought of something, looked at Gu Shaoyu, and said, "Speaking of managing the household affairs, neither Tu Shi nor Lu Shi are as capable as Xie Shi. Could you ask Xie Shi to take over the management of the household affairs? Mother is getting old and really can't afford to worry about it anymore."

Without even thinking, Gu Shaoyu refused outright: "It's enough that my sister-in-law is in charge. The third branch of the family is neither the eldest nor has inherited any title. There's no reason for the third branch to be in charge of the household affairs."

The old lady said, "Which branch of the family is in charge of the household affairs is up to Mother. Your eldest and second sisters-in-law would never say anything."

“Mother Xie doesn’t like to meddle in other people’s business, so let’s maintain the status quo.” Gu Shaoyu stood up and took his leave. “Mother, I’m tired after a long day. I have to go to court early tomorrow, so I’ll head back now.”

He stepped out the door, then turned back; some things needed to be laid out on the table and made clear.

“Mother, I have handed over all my salary, shops and land. If we are frugal, the Marquis’s mansion can still manage. I will never touch Xie’s dowry, and you should not even think about it. I hope you will give me some face.”

He left after he finished speaking.

Gu Zhongyu asked the old lady in a daze, "Mother, what does Third Brother mean by that?"

The old lady lost face, coughed for a while, and then angrily said, "What do you mean? Isn't it because you two are useless?"

Gu Zhongyu was completely confused. What does this have to do with me?

"Mother, many people wait their whole lives for a real post, and you can't find anyone like you in the whole capital. You asked my third brother to arrange eleven for them all at once!"

"In my opinion, Mother, you shouldn't have accepted such a request. What if someone impeaches my third brother because of this and brings him down? Our entire Marquis's mansion will collapse. Then you'll see, all these relatives will run away faster than anyone else!"

Gu Zhongyu was a military officer with no real achievements, yet he forced his third brother to arrange things for outsiders? He was still full of resentment.

The old lady pointed at Gu Zhongyu angrily and said, "You are useless yourself, and you won't even ask your third brother for help. Did I raise you all for nothing?"

“Mother, my third brother is capable, but that's because he's worked hard on his own. If you force him to arrange things for us brothers or our nephews, that makes some sense.”

"But you're arranging for my cousins, my nephews, and other distant relatives? How many layers of kinship are they? Let alone him, I don't even want to worry about this," Gu Zhongyu continued.

The old lady grabbed the soup bowl from the table and threw it at him: "You don't want to worry? You want to worry, but do you have the ability?"

Gu Zhongyu couldn't dodge in time and got a bump on his head. He was so angry that he stood up and left, saying, "I don't care anymore. Do whatever you want. I'm useless anyway."

When Gu Shaoyu returned to Qingpu Courtyard, Xie Zhaozhao was still awake, discussing accounts with Yuanyuan under the lamp.

The dowry shops and estates were all the most profitable ones that Xie Yu had chosen for her, and the managers and accountants were all very good.

Upon hearing that Gu Shaoyu had returned, she hurriedly asked, "Would you like to have some more food?"

Gu Shaoyu said, "Get me some soup. I'm having a bit of an upset stomach while accompanying His Majesty to toast the elders."

Xie Zhaozhao quickly asked Yuan Yuanman to bring over a bowl of mung bean porridge. Gu Shaoyu drank it, leaned back in his chair, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're not feeling well, so just let your relatives back home do you a favor. Don't take on too much responsibility; I don't owe them any favors."

"good."

Xie Zhaozhao told him to relax and gave him a shoulder massage.

Gu Shaoyu had been sitting for a long time reviewing documents, and his neck and shoulders were feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Xie Zhaozhao started by gently massaging his shoulders from his neck. His shoulders were very thick, and the acupoints were a bit stiff, so she had to use force to loosen them.

After kneading for a while, I gently pounded it with my fist.

Gu Shaoyu grabbed her hand, kissed it, and said, "Stop squeezing, don't tire yourself out."

"Then you sit down, I'll comb your hair."

Xie Zhaozhao untied his hair, carefully combed it, and then gently combed it from the scalp.

Afraid of hurting him, I used all ten fingers to carefully comb his scalp from the hairline, pressing on acupoints with my fingertips.

Sure enough, after pressing for less than a quarter of an hour, she heard Gu Shaoyu's even breathing.

He was already asleep.

Xie Zhaozhao continued massaging for a while, then quietly called Yuanyuan over to help lift him onto the bed.

Just as Yuanyuan approached, before she could even touch him, he woke up, suddenly opened his dark eyes, and shot out a terrifying cold arrow.

Yuanyuan was startled and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, it was Madam who asked me to help carry you to bed."

"Hmm, thank you, but no need." Gu Shaoyu stood up by himself, and Yuanyuan immediately left.

Xie Zhaozhao said with concern, "You've had a long day, go to sleep quickly."

He was indeed tired, so he obediently lay down and insisted on pulling her to sleep with him: "I'm used to having you next to me, sleeping together."

The next morning, Gu Shaoyu got up on time to attend court and instructed Bei Chen to keep a close watch on the courtyard and not let anyone in.

Xie Zhaozhao wasn't seriously ill; she was just menstruating. Yet, she still got up early to dress Gu Shaoyu and tie his belt. These were small tasks, but she did them with utmost devotion.

Gu Shaoyu gladly accepted, spreading his arms to watch her tie his belt, feeling warm and fragrant in his arms, and was very happy.

She has changed somewhat after all.

He begged her to be with him.

She married him according to her parents' wishes and the matchmaker's arrangement.

Her refinement and manners would make her a very qualified matriarch, even someone who would live in perfect harmony with him.

But he wasn't satisfied with that. What he wanted was her heart, without any doubt or distance, with no one else in between, a heart that beat only with his.

He wanted her to laugh heartily from the bottom of her heart, to have light in her eyes, and to have an unbreakable bond with him.

He made no attempt to hide himself from her, revealing his true self in the hopes of receiving a genuine version of her in return.

Watching her fasten her belt, he gently kissed her forehead and left.

Yuanyuan said, "Miss, I haven't been to Nancheng for a long time. I guess Xiaoxin has a lot of news backlogged. I'll go there first?"

Xie Zhaozhao then remembered and said, "You should go quickly."

Yuanyuan returned in less than an hour, took the horse to the stable, and hurriedly returned to Qingpu Courtyard.

“Miss, Guan Yingying went to the Nanzhao Kingdom a month ago.”