Granny Lu nodded and said, "If you can understand this, what about others? Since Lord Chen retired, there have been no scholars in the next two generations of the Chen family. However, Chen's elder brother is a very good businessman. After he built up his business with Lord Chen's help, he also helped manage his sister's dowry very well. I guess the young man you met at the trading house is the eldest son of the Marquis of Pingxi. After the Marquis of Pingxi married his second wife, he did not allow her to have children for the first few years. Moreover, the Chen family also took the initiative to seal up Chen's dowry and handed over the shops and estates in the dowry to the Chen family to manage."

Xu Zhi nodded and said, "Fortunately, there are still some sensible people in the Chen family. As long as we have these things, the two children will be safe in the future."

Granny Lu sighed and said, "It's not as simple as you make it out to be. The two children have no ability to protect themselves, yet they have a large sum of money. Aren't they a thorn in the side of many people? Since the Marquis of Pingxi's second wife entered the family, he has rarely let people know about what's going on in the mansion. It's because the Marquis of Pingxi's second wife is a capable person and has really kept such a large mansion under her control. The old master of the Chen family also passed away a couple of years ago. Now the Chen family is in charge, but the current Marquis of Pingxi's wife is the Chen family's concubine's daughter. That concubine's daughter also has aunts and brothers. Do you think the Chen family's father won't favor that concubine's daughter from back then?"

Xu Zhi nodded and said, "That's natural. The Chen family doesn't have any capable people right now, so they rely on the Pingxi Marquis's mansion. The head mistress of the Pingxi Marquis's mansion is his illegitimate daughter, so he will naturally favor the concubine who gave birth to the illegitimate daughter."

Granny Lu said, "To be honest, Chen's maternal family and your maternal family were neighbors back then. Your mother and Chen probably met before, otherwise, would Chen's caravan have been able to help our family bring things from the south here so often?"

Xu Zhi said with a smile, "Granny, you are really amazing. No matter what I ask you, you know the answer."

Granny Lu said with a smile, "Back then, I served the Empress Dowager. After leaving the palace, I taught etiquette to the girls in many families. The backyard was the best place to find out all sorts of information."

Xu Zhi nodded and said, "Granny, then tell me, why did the eldest son of the Pingxi Marquis's mansion come to Hexi? Even if his family has a business in Hexi, as the eldest son of the Pingxi Marquis's mansion, and a legitimate son at that, there is no need for him to come to such a far place. Moreover, I heard that he has been here for three months. It's not that he doesn't want to leave, but that others don't want him to leave."

Granny Lu said, "Something must have happened. In the deep courtyards of mansions, some things, though done without knives, can really drive people to their deaths."

Xu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Granny, the Marquis of Pingxi has never established an heir. Logically speaking, their eldest son is the legitimate son."

Granny Lu said, "Establishing an heir is a matter for the Marquis's own household. As long as they request the imperial decree, the emperor will usually grant them the title of heir. However, if an heir is not established, it is because the imperial decree has not been requested. The Marquis of Xiping's household has never requested the imperial decree. Originally, it was because the child born to Madam Chen was still young. The Marquis of Xiping's reason was that the child was still young and he was afraid that the heir would not be able to establish himself properly. Later, it was because Madam Chen gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. In our vast capital, among so many marquis families, there are twins, but a boy and a girl is the first pair in recent years. Because of this, people in the capital say that Madam Chen is a blessed person."

Xu Zhi nodded and said, "I don't believe there's nothing going on here, Granny. I'm starting to think that Da Chen's difficult childbirth was also a conspiracy."

Granny Lu sighed and said, "So many years have passed, who still talks about it? Madam Chen is indeed a remarkable person. She managed the Xiping Marquis's mansion flawlessly. Moreover, over the years, Madam Chen has always been known as a virtuous and kind person. She is gentle, eloquent, and gets along very well with the ladies and mistresses of many families in the capital."

Xu Zhi sighed and said, "Who remembers the past? Those who do remember are usually very close people. Anything that can be remembered for a lifetime must be the loss of something very, very important. But those past events are things that many people can't forget. Granny, I think this young master is really pitiful."

Granny Lu said, "Yes, how can a child who has lost his mother not be pitiful?"

After talking with Granny Lu for a long time, Xu Zhi returned to her room in the front, feeling quite disappointed.

Xu Bai had been keeping an eye on Xu Zhi. When he saw Xu Zhi return, his expression turned somewhat serious. He then leaned closer and said with a grin, "Sister, sister, I want to eat frozen persimmons. Shall we go to the backyard and see if there are any frozen persimmons left by brother?"

Xu Zhi said, "That stuff is too cold, it's not good for you to eat it, so you shouldn't. I still have a lot of osmanthus flowers that I dried in the fall, let's make osmanthus cake together?"

Seeing that Xu Zhi had put her mind back on making things, Xu Bai felt relieved and followed her into the kitchen.

After seeing the person she had always kept in her heart, Xu Zhi was thinking about how to find another reason to see him. But before she could find a reason, Zhang's third uncle arrived, and he brought someone with him into the Xu family home.

The arrival of Zhang's third uncle was quite sudden. The Xu family did not expect him to come at this time. He not only brought Xu Di a lot of gifts prepared by the Zhang family, but also some plant seeds brought back from overseas. They did not know what they were, and they would only know after they were planted. These seeds made Xu Di quite excited.

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