Seeing that the old lady was getting agitated, Granny Shen quickly poured her a cup of hot tea. The old lady took a couple of sips and said, "Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. There's no point in saying more. Let's not bother with them anymore. I won't allow them to interfere in the marriage of the children in the manor again. Tell them to keep a close eye on things. The heir of the Yongping Marquis's manor is a woman who doesn't care about using any tricks."

Granny Shen nodded, and after watching the old lady fall asleep, she instructed the little maid to take good care of the sleeping old lady before leaving the old lady's room.

The old lady lived in the main house in the backyard, Zhang Zhaoci and Xu Bai lived in the east wing, Xu Zhi and Granny Lu lived in the west wing, and Xu Di lived in the front yard, where there was a study where he studied.

Seeing that Granny Lu and Zhang Zhaoci had not rested yet, Granny Shen went to Zhang Zhaoci's room.

Xu Bai was excited about the change of scenery. After eating, he didn't want to take a nap and tossed and turned on the kang (a heated brick bed). When Granny Lu saw Zhang Zhaoci reading a book, she brought over her sewing basket and kept Zhang Zhaoci company while doing her own needlework.

Seeing Granny Shen come in, the two quickly stood up. Granny Shen saw that Xu Bai was already somewhat drowsy and said with a smile in a low voice, "I saw that you hadn't rested, so I came over to talk to you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Bai knew that something was about to happen, so he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Sure enough, Granny Lu looked at Xu Bai, draped a piece of fine cotton cloth over Xu Bai's lower abdomen, and invited Granny Chen to sit on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed). She herself sat down on an official's hat chair in front of the edge of the kang.

Granny Shen whispered, "I was talking to the old lady just now, and we were talking about our eldest daughter-in-law. I heard from the people in the manor that she wants to arrange a marriage for the eldest young master. I remember our eldest young master is already engaged, isn't he?"

Zhang Zhaoci nodded and said, "I've heard people say that Xu Di wanted to come here to escape the summer heat because he didn't want to be bothered by certain people or things before the exam. Otherwise, with the exam so close, is it worth coming all this way?"

Granny Shen said, "Now that you know, that's good. The eldest aunt is very anxious about the marriage of her eldest son. It's also because the eldest aunt's mother-in-law has been controlling the power of the household management, so the eldest aunt's actions are not very easy."

Granny Lu smiled and said, "I know the wife of the Marquis of Yongping. She is no ordinary person. She likes to take charge and is somewhat domineering. It will probably be very difficult to take over the management of the household from her."

Seeing that both Granny Lu and Zhang Zhaoci knew about these things, Granny Shen stopped hiding it and said, "The eldest aunt is thinking of arranging a marriage for her eldest son with a girl from a prominent family, hoping to force her mother-in-law to relinquish the management of the household. I think the eldest aunt's idea is quite good, but it's not easy to implement. The Yongping Marquis's mansion has really not been doing well these past few years. I heard from the people who accompanied the eldest aunt to the Yongping Marquis's mansion that the eldest aunt's dowry of 100,000 taels has been spent quite a bit. If this continues, they might have to start selling their shops."

Xu Shao was the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yongning. She grew up in luxury and privilege. When she got married, not only did she receive money from the family's public funds, but she also received a quarter of her dowry from Madam Wu. Madam Wu was the most favored youngest daughter in her maternal family, and her dowry back then had attracted the envy of many.

Zhang Zhaoci didn't have a good impression of her sister-in-law, who was born on the same day as her husband. Xu Shao didn't look like Wu Shi, who was gentle and refined. Nor did she resemble the Marquis. Xu Shao was beautiful and domineering. Before she got married, she was a famous socialite in the capital. Later, when she married into the Yongning Marquis's mansion, her grand wedding procession was the envy of many. After her marriage, Xu Shao remained active in the social circles of the capital. Unfortunately, in recent years, the Yongning Marquis's mansion had lost Emperor Liang Cheng's favor and, through a few mishandled tasks, had taken away most of the power from the Marquis. Anyone with eyes could see what was going on. Xu Shao hadn't received any invitations to gatherings for a long time.

Zhang Zhaoci disliked Xu Shao because Xu Shao had always bullied Xu Rao since childhood. When Zhang Zhaoci and Xu Rao had just gotten married, Xu Shao took the opportunity of visiting her parents' home to come and ridicule the couple. Xu Rao remained silent, but Zhang Zhaoci was not one to tolerate anger for a moment. He said something that made Xu Shao leave. In addition, Zhang Zhaoci did not interact much with the people in the mansion, so Xu Shao gradually became afraid to go near Xu Rao.

Zhang Zhaoci said, "Our eldest aunt is the most influential one. I bet she's come over quite a few times to beg for money from the madam, hasn't she?"

Granny Shen smiled and said, "I'm really not sure about that."

Zhang Zhaoci said, "Madam is not our Third Master's biological mother, and we don't care about her things. Let whoever wants them have them. But if they try to scheme against our Di'er's marriage, I won't stand for it. Granny Shen, you and the Old Madam can rest assured. Our Di'er is smart enough to know what's going on. As for me, I like the woman who hasn't entered the family yet. It would be best if they would back down. Whatever means they want to use, we are not afraid to tear off the mask."

Granny Shen smiled and said, "Alright, I understand. It's getting late, you should all get some rest. I'll go check on the old lady."

After Granny Shen left, Zhang Zhaoci sneered and said, "We've already avoided them. Let's see what else they want to do."

Xu Di lived in the front courtyard and knew quite a bit about what was happening in the mansion. Zhang Zhaoci wasn't someone who knew nothing either; when people came to the mansion, she could at least find out what was going on. What she was most concerned about was what Xu Shao was discussing with the Lady of the Marquis when she returned to her parents' home. Zhang Zhaoci wasn't a naive person; she had seen it all and knew very well that at Xu Di's age, besides his studies, his marriage was the easiest thing for people to scheme against.

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