"I absolutely disagree!"

Li was furious at Zhang's idea of ​​betrothing Lin Yuqiao to the young master of the Yongle Marquis's mansion and refused without hesitation.

"Is the Yongle Marquis's mansion not good enough for Qiao Jie'er? Once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Crown Princess will become the Empress, and the young Marquis of Yongle will become the Emperor's brother-in-law. If Qiao Jie'er can marry into that family, she will enjoy immense prestige and honor in the future!"

Zhang looked at Li with anger at her lack of ambition, thinking that Li was too short-sighted and didn't want to seize such a good opportunity.

"Young Marquis Yongle is not even married yet, but he already has a bunch of concubines in his household. He spends his days playing with cats and dogs and is good for nothing. Who in the whole capital doesn't know this! I don't know who had no conscience to arrange this marriage. Isn't this pushing Qiao'er into a fire pit?"

Not daring to confront Zhang, Li cursed Jin angrily.

It's all because of that heartless Jin family. They wanted to climb the social ladder and then used her daughter as a stepping stone.

Madam Li was filled with resentment, feeling wronged for her children. Everyone in the household was making trouble for her children's marriages. Her older sons had finally managed to get married after some difficulties, but now her youngest son was facing this problem again.

Hearing Li's words, Zhang felt that she was being insulted in a veiled way, so her tone became even more impolite.

"Stop getting in my way. I've already discussed this with the Marquis. The Yongle Marquis's residence is the Crown Princess's maternal family, so it's not a disgrace for Qiao'er to marry into it! In a few days, you'll formally return to the Yongle Marquis's residence to prepare for the two families to meet."

Li Shi bit her lower lip until it bled. Hearing Zhang Shi's decision, which completely disregarded her opinion and made the final call, she could no longer bear it. All these years of working like a slave to please her had been in vain; in the end, Zhang Shi couldn't even have a say in her daughter's marriage. Zhang Shi's heart, like Chen Lianghou's, was made of iron.

"How dare you treat my child like this! Is Lin Yuqi the only human being, while my child is nothing but weeds! Just so that Brother Qi can climb into the Crown Prince's palace, you're pushing Sister Qiao into the wolf's den?"

Li cried out in a hoarse voice, as if she wanted to shout out all the forbearance she had endured over the years, each word filled with anguish.

"You don't need to be so busy scheming against us. I'm taking Qiao'er back to her parents' home right away. This mansion can't accommodate us, so we'll leave! If you want to curry favor with the Yongle Marquis's family, then go and marry him yourself. You won't get away with harming my daughter!"

Zhang was taken aback by the fact that the usually obedient Li Shi was resisting so fiercely. Regaining her composure, she quickly told the nanny to stop Li Shi.

What she didn't know was that when Chen Lianghou forced Lin Yucheng to marry the merchant's daughter, Li Shi had to consider that her children were still young, so no matter how angry she was, she couldn't confront him directly and had to swallow her anger.

Now that her sons are all married, and Lin Yuqiao is the only child left, Li Shi has no more reservations. Besides, Lin Yucheng is a man, so he won't suffer much loss, but Lin Yuqiao is a girl, and marrying the wrong person could ruin her life, just like her.

She didn't want her daughter to repeat the tragedies of her past. She had endured so much hardship in this second life so that her children could grow up safely and become successful. Without her children to support her, she wouldn't be able to survive a single day in this noble household.

Being stopped by the nanny and head maidservant around Madam Zhang, Madam Li became even more furious as she was pushed and shoved.

"You want to lock me up too? I'd like to see what excuse you have for doing so! When the scandal of the Marquis of Chenliang selling his daughter for personal gain gets out, do you think locking me up will solve anything?"

Compared to before, Li's words were now a blatant threat. Zhang's anger flared, and her chin trembled. She had lived her whole life as a woman of her word, and her son had always obeyed her. She never expected that in her old age, a daughter-in-law would dare to defy her.

"How far are you going to go before you stop? Don't you have any dignity left? If you don't want to stay in this mansion anymore, fine, I'll have Rong-ge'er give you a letter of divorce when he comes back tonight. As for taking Qiao-jie'er away, don't even think about it!"

"Heh." Li wiped away her tears and sneered. She had long seen through Zhang's true colors, so she wasn't afraid at all.

"Fine, if you dare to write the divorce papers, I'll take them! At worst, I'll just smash my head against the gate of the Marquis's mansion and die. You can't stop Qiao from observing mourning after I die, can you? Anyway, I won't let Qiao marry into that family! In any case, forcing a daughter-in-law to death just to sell her granddaughter is nothing to the old lady."

Seeing their masters making such a fuss, the servants below all lowered their heads, trying to make themselves less noticeable.

Seeing that things had gotten too out of control and that the situation was completely unexpected, Kim felt a little guilty and scared.

It was her suggestion to arrange a marriage with the Yongle Marquis's family. If something really goes wrong, she will always be held responsible.

So Jin started to smooth things over and tried to persuade Zhang.

“Mother also feels sorry for her younger sister. She is still young and there is no rush for her to get married. Why don’t we let Mother go back and think about it some more? Maybe Mother will change her mind in a couple of days.”

Originally, Madam Jin only wanted Lin Yuqiao to marry into a family with no powerful connections. However, after returning to her parents' home, she heard from her cousin-in-law that the old lady of the Yongle Marquis's mansion was looking for a wife for the young marquis.

Because her cousin-in-law was related to the old lady of the Yongle Marquis's mansion by marriage and was very familiar with the mansion, she inquired about it in detail. As a result, she heard a shocking secret from her cousin-in-law: the young Marquis of Yongle was actually a homosexual.

Knowing her grandson's true nature, the old lady of the Yongle Marquis had always wanted to change his ways, searching far and wide for beautiful concubines for him. However, the young marquis Yongle was not interested and continued to indulge in his love of actors. Fortunately, he knew how to cover it up with the concubines around him, so the rumors that he was a womanizer with many concubines were just a facade.

Even now, the old lady of the Yongle Marquis has not given up hope and is determined to find a wife for her grandson who can "correct" his ways. The first requirement for a wife is beauty. The old lady always felt that no man could resist beautiful women, and perhaps if she met a suitable beauty, her grandson would change his ways.

Furthermore, the old lady's conditions required both beauty and family background. Although there were a few girls in the capital who met the requirements, they were all unwilling to marry because of the reputation of the young Marquis Yongle for being uneducated, dissolute, and lecherous.

Thinking that Lin Yuqiao met both conditions, Jin couldn't help but have an idea.

If the young Marquis Yongle weren't homosexual, she wouldn't have dared to marry Lin Yuqiao into the Yongle Marquis's household. Once Lin Yuqiao wins the young marquis's heart, their main branch won't benefit at all.

However, the young marquis wasn't fond of women, so Lin Yuqiao couldn't win her husband's favor and therefore couldn't get any benefits for Lin Yucheng. Furthermore, Lin Yucheng was on the side of the Prince of Huaiyang, so he had no say in the Yongle Marquis's residence.

Lin Yuqiao will be unable to rely on her husband and will only be able to rely on her maternal family. Their eldest branch is on the Crown Prince's side. If Lin Yuqiao is smart and sensible, she will naturally know that she needs to please her own branch in order to have someone to rely on in the future.

If she could help the old lady of Yongle Marquis solve the problem of finding a granddaughter-in-law through her cousin-in-law's introduction, the Yongle Marquis's family would also owe her a debt of gratitude as the matchmaker. Wouldn't that make it easier for Lin Yuqi to get on the path of becoming the Crown Princess?

Jin had a good idea and successfully persuaded Zhang and Chen Lianghou. She originally thought that Li would definitely agree out of respect for the Yongle Marquis's family, but who knew that she would oppose it so vehemently.

"Hmph, she's short-sighted and won't be able to hold my granddaughter back. Anyway, if Qiao'er doesn't marry well in the future, it'll be her mother's fault."

Zhang was also afraid that if she pushed Li too hard, something might happen. She didn't care whether Li lived or died; she was only worried about the Marquis's mansion getting a bad reputation. Therefore, she quickly backed down after getting a way out from Jin.

Back in the courtyard, Li could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the couch, as if all her strength had been used up in the argument.

Upon hearing the news that Li had returned home, Lin Yuqiao rushed over to find out what had happened.

Seeing her daughter rushing in anxiously, Li couldn't help but shed tears again.

“My poor child, why were you born into such a family?”

Hearing the sorrow in Li's words, Lin Yuqiao's eyes also reddened, and she hugged Li and buried her head in the crook of her neck.

"Qiao'er, don't worry, Mother won't let you marry him."

Knowing that her daughter would definitely worry about this, Li quickly wiped away her tears and explained to her what had just happened.

"You should always leave yourself a way out. Do you really think you'll get away with this? Do you really think you can protect my older brother and the others for the rest of your life?"

Moved by Li's strong defense of her rights, Lin Yuqiao harbored even more resentment towards Chen Lianghou and Zhang.

The way they scheme about their marriage is absolutely disgusting.

Lin Yuqiao couldn't understand Chen Lianghou and the others' thoughts. Just because Lin Yuqi would inherit the Marquis's Mansion and lead the entire clan in the future, and needed absolute authority, and they were afraid that they would become a threat to Lin Yuqi one day, so they didn't even try to win them over, but instead suppressed them.

In Chen Lianghou and Zhang Shi's minds, they all should be like the Second Master, indifferent to worldly affairs, and utterly respectful to Lin Yuqi. If they succeeded in the future, they would serve the family under Lin Yuqi's guidance. Those who couldn't were considered ungrateful, and as elders, they would need to step in to help Lin Yuqi.

But they weren't as weak-willed as the second master. They had had enough of being favored and neglected since childhood, and who would want to live an unhappy life forever?

Ironically, the stronger they become, the greater the threat they pose to Lin Yuqi. Even if Lin Yucheng doesn't want to replace Lin Yuqi, Lin Yuqi, as the eldest son, will find her position in the clan unstable. And since they cannot leave the clan, this becomes a deadlock.

Lin Yuqiao knew perfectly well that Lin Yuqi was indecisive and not ruthless enough, and the Jin family valued their reputation too much; neither of them could accomplish anything significant. However, their underhanded tactics were still quite unpleasant to deal with.

“That couple will never amount to anything. Your eldest brother, a grown man, uses womanly tricks all day long. He's not even a hair on your head as good as your second brother.”

Li's views coincided with Lin Yuqiao's, and considering that Lin Yuqiao's marriage was imminent, she suddenly realized that she had to make preparations as soon as possible.

"Only those who are incompetent are always eyeing others. I've already chosen a good family for you. If they don't agree, I'll take you back to your maternal grandparents' house and have your maternal grandfather intervene. Anyway, I won't let you marry into the Yongle Marquis's family."

Lin Yuqiao sighed inwardly. Going to her maternal grandparents' house was the last resort, and she couldn't choose it unless absolutely necessary.

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with the marriage, except that the young marquis was dissolute, lecherous, and unambitious. But in this era, that wasn't considered a major problem. "He'll improve after marriage" was an almost universal excuse. As for whether that was really the case, only the bitter truth would know.

Furthermore, compared to the Marquis's mansion, the Li family was ultimately weaker and more isolated, and since the Yongle Marquis's mansion was the Crown Princess's maternal family, they couldn't openly criticize them. Therefore, even if Madam Li had her maternal family intervene, the two families would definitely fall out without any resolution.