"Did the Crown Prince say anything?"

"He just said I would probably agree, with a look of certainty in his eyes," Gu Shaoyu said. "Ten million strings of cash is too much; I won't approve it."

He is the youngest Grand Secretary in the imperial court and cannot be held hostage by anyone.

Xie Zhaozhao pondered for a while and was certain that, at least for now, the Crown Prince had no concrete evidence that "Tu Qianyue" was Guan Yingying.

Given Guan Yingying's personality and pride, she definitely wouldn't want to be "Guan Yingying" of the Guan family, and Gu Chengyan would never admit that she was Guan Yingying, even if it meant his death.

Therefore, the Crown Prince only had some suspicions and was testing Gu Shaoyu; there was nothing to fear.

"If I can be the first to open up trade routes to the south, and even to Xiandou, will the imperial court compete with the people for profit?" she asked Gu Shaoyu.

"No! According to the Crown Prince, the court has allocated ten million taels of silver to open inland trade routes, and His Majesty will not consider this trade route for the next three to five years."

If the imperial court decides to open a trade route, it will systematically save up silver over three to five years, accumulating an extra ten million taels of silver before the plan can be implemented.

In three to five years, Xie Zhaozhao's business routes should be complete, and she should have already earned all the money she was supposed to.

The people who had worked hard had already received fresh supplies, so it was no longer meaningful for the imperial court to spend a lot of money to open up trade routes.

Seeing that her expression had relaxed, Gu Shaoyu said, "I've saved up some money over the years, and I'll give it all to you later to help with your business."

Xie Zhaozhao was very curious that he would have a secret stash of money. The Marquis's mansion must be so poor that they have to eat dirt.

"Then let Mo Yan go to the Marquis's residence to get it tomorrow?"

"No need, I'll have Nanxing deliver it."

Xie Zhaozhao didn't stand on ceremony. The Marquis's mansion was almost bankrupt, yet the Grand Secretary was still keeping some private money for her. This made her even happier than if she had earned millions.

Unconsciously, she began to regard him as one of her own, and she never wanted to use any of his money to subsidize that scumbag family.

Not long after Gu Shaoyu left, Nanxing came over and handed her a box.

He also reminded her, "Miss, this money is from the Grand Secretary's private treasury and has nothing to do with the Marquis's mansion."

This is to tell her not to tell anyone, and not to let the people of the Marquis's mansion know, right?

When Xie Zhaozhao opened it, she found 300,000 taels of silver notes inside.

She counted it several times; yes, it was 300,000 taels.

Good heavens, Grand Secretary Gu actually hid 300,000 taels of private money. He's practically a master at hiding money.

His salary shouldn't be that much, right? How could he have so much silver?

Embezzlement?

However, she felt that Gu Shaoyu was not the kind of person who would embezzle, so the 300,000 taels must have been a reward from the emperor?

***

The entire capital city had suddenly become much quieter lately, and many of the纨绔 (sons of wealthy and powerful families) at the arena were puzzled: "Where did Yin Er go?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen Li Er."

They stopped Zhou Lingyin and asked him if he knew where Yin Jin'an and Li Yunmu had gone.

Zhou Lingyin shrugged: "I don't know, I'm very motivated now! I study hard at the academy every day, maybe I'll be the top scholar in the next imperial examination!"

The group of spoiled brats rolled their eyes. "I don't believe you!"

Before we knew it, it was the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, and the wedding day was fast approaching.

The entire Xie residence was once again decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers.

People kept coming to add to the makeup.

The Xie family held a very solemn ceremony for their eldest daughter's marriage, with a five-day banquet for relatives and friends: three days before the wedding and two days after.

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, people from all the mansions came to add to the dowry for the two legitimate daughters.

Madam Xu is the matriarch of the main branch of the family, and Miss Xie is the younger sister of the next head of the family. Xie Yu treats his sister like the apple of his eye, so everyone wants to curry favor with Madam Xu, but no one dares to look down on Xie Zhaozhao.

Each branch and household in the clan prepared identical dowries for the two young ladies.

Consort Xi, the Noble Consort of the Palace, also sent her two nieces dowry gifts to her head maid, without showing favoritism, giving them two identical gifts.

However, Xie Anfeng doted on his daughter, Xie Yu doted on his younger sister, and Xu Mama adored the young lady. All of Xie Zhaozhao's dowry left by her mother was given to Xie Zhaozhao.

How could Xie Zhaozhao take everything with her? Apart from the estate and shops she used to manage, she left everything else to her brother.

In the manor, the dowries given to the two young ladies were almost identical, with each receiving sixty loads of dowry.

The rest depends on the mother.

How can Xie Xiangxiang compete with Xie Zhaozhao? What can she use to compete?

On the day of the wedding, Xu Huanzhang, the head of the Xu family and a renowned scholar, came with his wife and son.

He is Xie Zhaozhao's maternal uncle.

Naturally, it was to add to Xie Zhaozhao's dowry. Xie Xiangxiang and the others didn't care. Although Xu Shi was also a daughter of the Xu family, she was an illegitimate daughter, and Xu Huanzhang didn't even want to do anything to save face.

The dowry for Xie Zhaozhao consisted of six palanquins, gold, silver jewelry, and banknotes—truly substantial gifts.

Her aunt grasped her hand, both happy and sad: "She was such a little bundle of joy, and now she's getting married. Knowing that you're marrying Grand Secretary Gu, I can finally rest easy. My sister in heaven must be at peace now."

Uncle Xu Huanzhang stroked his beard, quite proudly saying, "Zhaozhao, the entire Xu family is very pleased that you can marry my disciple."

Xie Zhaozhao then realized that Xu Huanzhang was actually Gu Shaoyu's mentor, who had taught him for ten years.

"Uncle, how did he become your disciple?" Xie Zhaozhao was very surprised; this was kept a secret for too long.

"Back then, the Marquis of Pingyang was a rough soldier who was illiterate. He doted on his youngest son and knelt at the gate of the Xu residence, praising his son's intelligence and begging me to teach him. I was so pestered that I agreed to ask the boy about his studies."

Xu Huanzhang said, "This child is extremely intelligent. He not only has a photographic memory, but he can also apply his knowledge to other situations. He is even better than your older cousin."

The old Marquis was a peasant, but he was a man of honest heart. He kept asking around in the whole of Daqian about who was the most learned, and when he heard that Xu Huanzhang was a great Confucian scholar, and that no one in Daqian was more learned than Xu Huanzhang, he kept pestering him.

Xu Huanzhang didn't accept him at the time, not because he looked down on his background, but because Gu Shaoyu was only three years old. How smart could a three-year-old child be? It was just that the old Marquis spoiled his son.

However, the old Marquis was very persistent, kneeling in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer, which finally moved Xu Huanzhang, who then accepted Gu Shaoyu.

Who knew that this teaching would last for ten years, imparting all his knowledge, taking in a genius and nurturing a young Grand Secretary.

However, Xu Huanzhang was afraid that someone in the royal family would imitate the old Marquis, so he made an agreement with the old Marquis and Gu Shaoyu that they were not allowed to say that he was his disciple.

Many years ago, Xu Huanzhang fell seriously ill and withdrew from the court. Later, Emperor Hui visited him once. The emperor and his ministers talked about something, and then Xu Huanzhang went into seclusion.

Now my cousin Xu Wenrong is also famous throughout the country, but he does not take up an official post. Instead, he works as a teacher in the Xu family's private school.

Xie Zhaozhao was talking to the Xu family when Xu Li ran back happily from outside, searching everywhere in the yard for Yuanyuan and Manman.

"Sister Yuanyuan, I'm so worried!"

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the weather was unbearably hot. Xu Li, who was already chubby, was almost as big as a water balloon.

Yuanyuan scolded, "Everyone's here to help Miss with her makeup today, what are you doing making such a rash noise?"

"Sister Yuanyuan, Second Master Yin and Second Master Li are back. They've come to add to Miss's dowry!"