The mother and daughter huddled together gossiping, and Xu Rao, who was forced to listen in, was speechless. Was it too deliberate for him to stand up and leave now?

Soon, an old woman from the Wu family's courtyard came to invite Chen Zhaoci. Chen Zhaoci looked at Xu Zhi and saw that Xu Zhi was smiling at him. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. With such a large family living together, how could he possibly stay out of trouble?

Xu Zhi watched as Chen Zhaoci followed the old woman out of the courtyard gate and said to Xu Rao, "Father, tell me, does Grandmother's decision to have Mother go with Aunt and Auntie mean she agrees with or opposes Aunt's divorce?"

Xu Rao smiled and said, "Whether your aunt divorces or not, in our family, the person with the most say is your grandfather. Marriage is a union between two families. Although the Yongping Marquis's mansion is not as powerful as before, it is still a marquis's mansion and still controls some manpower and resources. The two families are related by marriage. No matter what happens in private, even if they are not allied, in many people's eyes, they are in the same boat. If they divorce, it will not only be losing this ally, but it may even cause this former ally to go to the opponent's camp and make an enemy. Do you think your grandfather would do such a losing deal?"

Thinking of Xu Shao, Xu Zhi said with some worry, "But it's Auntie who's living her life. What if she feels she really can't go on like this?"

Xu Rao shook the banana leaf fan in her hand, not only to cool herself but also to make Xu Zhi, who was sitting opposite her at the kang table, feel a bit of coolness.

Thinking of Xu Shao's temperament, Xu Rao said, "Your aunt is a bit impatient and naive. Years ago, your grandfather didn't agree to this marriage, but she insisted on marrying into it. Your grandfather and grandmother gave her a lot of dowry so that she could have a better life in the future. If she doesn't cause trouble and lives a stable life, with the annual output of that dowry, she can buy whatever she wants. With money in hand and confidence, why would she have to worry about not having a good life?"

Seeing that Xu Zhi was listening to him seriously, Xu Rao, also thinking of educating his daughter, sighed and said, "But what about her? She thinks that since she is the wife of the heir of the Marquis's mansion, she should be like the eldest daughter-in-law of many families in the capital, holding power in her hands, surrounded by servants when she goes out, and being very proud in front of and behind people."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi seemed to remember something and asked, "Does Auntie think that the eldest daughter-in-law should be in charge of managing the household affairs in any family?"

Xu Rao nodded and said, "That should be one of the reasons. When your aunt first married into the family, the old Marquis and his wife had just passed away. The current Marquis's wife had just taken over the household management from her mother-in-law. It seems that the ladies in the family are not good at budgeting. The Marquis's family has been struggling more and more each year. When your aunt married into the family, the Marquis's family was already experiencing more expenses than income."

Xu Zhi nodded and said, "I heard from my fifth sister that when my eldest aunt first married into the family, she was tricked by her mother-in-law into giving her a lot of money to cover the family's expenses."

Although Xu Rao knew that girls liked to gossip when they got together, she never expected that they would even gossip about the privacy of their elders.

After Xu Zhi finished speaking, she realized that what she said was somewhat inappropriate. Seeing Xu Rao's expression, she stuck out her tongue at Xu Rao and said, "Dad, we didn't say much, really." Even Xu Zhi herself felt that this explanation was a bit fake, and in the end, she couldn't help but laugh.

Xu Rao laughed along with her, and after laughing, he continued, "Xiao Jiu, I'm telling you all this today for no other reason than that you're married now. Your mother and I are at ease, but there's still the Pingxi Marquis's family. Although you've separated your households, you're still family in the eyes of outsiders. In the future, it's best not to interfere too much in the affairs of the Pingxi Marquis's residence."

Xu Zhi nodded vigorously and said, "Father, you don't need to say anything more about this. I'm hiding right now. You don't know, the Marquis of Pingxi insists on sending his son to my maternal uncle's place at the Jiangnan Academy. But the Marquis's wife is a doting mother and refuses to let him go to Jiangnan. It's been quite a commotion there these past few days."

Xu Rao sighed and said, "A doting mother often spoils her son; there's definitely some truth to that."

It was a rare opportunity for the father and son to talk like this, and the topic gradually shifted from Xu Shao to other things. Chen Zhaoci didn't return until it was almost time for dinner.

Upon seeing Chen Zhaoci return, Xu Zhi's eyes lit up immediately, and Xu Rao also stared intently at Chen Zhaoci.

Chen Zhaoci went to the corner room to wash her hands and wipe her face. When she came out, Xu Zhi had already poured her some herbal tea. Chen Zhaoci picked it up and drank a large cup before sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and saying, "I'm finally back."

Xu Zhi poured Chen Zhaoci another cup of tea and asked, "Mother, what is it that you need to go over there for?"

Chen Zhaoci thought about how she had spent the whole afternoon sitting there listening to Ning and Wu's earnest advice to Xu Shao, and later Zhou and Chen also offered some words of advice. She felt a bit bitter. Women in this era really had a hard time living.

Chen Zhaoci sighed and said, "What are you doing? Helping your grandmother persuade your eldest aunt not to divorce, and your eldest aunt and fourth aunt. They are all afraid that after your eldest aunt divorces, your sisters will be looked down upon in their husbands' families."

Seeing the slight anger on Chen Zhaoci's face, Xu Rao comforted her, "Everyone is doing this for the children."

Chen Zhaoci said, "Everyone is doing this for the children, but we should also think about the adults. They can't even make ends meet, yet they still have to endure it. Who can stand that?"

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