Chapter 21 Marriage

The eldest grandson's words were full of profound meaning, and Mrs. Xiao naturally heard it immediately.

She knew Mo'er's abilities very well. Since he said so, there must be solid evidence.

The old lady frowned and didn't speak for a while.

She suddenly recalled the palace banquet two years ago, when the girl from the Shen family shone brightly at the banquet, and even the emperor and empress praised her in person.

At that time, rumors spread that the royal family might have chosen Shen Jingshu.

But the rumor disappeared after a while, and she didn't take it to heart.

"Are you talking about the second prince?" the old lady asked in a low voice.

"It was the Queen who secretly gave the Shen family hope. Otherwise, why do you think the Shen family waited until now to come to our Duke's Mansion?" Xiao Mo's voice contained a hint of sarcasm, but his attitude was extremely casual.

The old lady frowned and thought of Ruan, whom she had just met today.

Ruan seemed to have a gentle personality and was very devoted to her daughter. She didn't seem like someone who would do such a thing.

However, nothing is absolute. Maybe she was wrong?

When the old lady looked at her eldest grandson again, a hint of pity appeared in her eyes: "When did you learn all this?"

"After returning to Beijing."

"Then you said at that time that I was the one who made the decision. Aren't you afraid that your grandmother would really help you to arrange a marriage?" Seeing the grandson in front of her with a calm face and a calm look, Old Lady Xiao felt a little depressed.

"You can't make up your mind then." Xiao Mo answered calmly.

The old lady's face froze, but when she saw the sarcasm in her grandson's eyes, she instantly understood what he meant.

That is to say, at that time, the daughters of the Shen family were still looking forward to the marriage arranged by the palace. Even if the Chengguo Mansion proposed marriage, they would find reasons to delay it.

After figuring out the whole story, Madam Xiao's expression turned cold.

At first she thought it was her family's fault, but she didn't expect there was such a hidden secret.

"Don't worry, your grandson is not in a hurry. My younger brothers in the house don't need to wait for me." Xiao Mo saw that the old lady seemed to be resentful, and he also knew that his grandmother was worried about his marriage, but he was really not in a hurry.

"That's all we can do. I'll talk to the second and third wives tomorrow and have them focus on the younger brothers." The old lady sighed and added, "But don't think it's easy. Even if we can't settle on the Shen family, we can still look at other young ladies."

Xiao Mo's eyes flashed with a smile: "It's up to grandma to arrange."

The old lady pretended to hit him, but was avoided.

The man stood up and replied, "Grandma, please take a rest first. I am tired today. I will go back and wash up." After saying this, he shook his official uniform.

The old lady waved her hand and told him to leave quickly.

As Chen expected, Songhetang recruited her and Liu the next day.

The old lady didn't beat around the bush. "Jinrong and Jinwen are both grown up now. It's time for you to take action and help them each choose a virtuous wife. The woman's family doesn't need to be prominent, as long as it doesn't bring disgrace to the reputation of our Chengguo Mansion."

After hearing this, Liu was overjoyed, and Chen also agreed with mixed feelings.

The old lady emphasized that family background is not important, so she is more likely to help her niece and stepson get together.

In fact, Liu had already secretly taken a fancy to several young ladies and was waiting for the old lady to agree!

So he hurried back after leaving Songhe Hall, not even caring about his sister-in-law Chen.

Although Chen walked back to Jinhua Courtyard in a leisurely manner, she immediately asked someone to go to Jiyunzhai to call Xu Shuyao.

Xu Shuyao got up in the morning and paid her respects to Chen. She didn't know why her aunt called her, but she followed the maid to Jinhua Hall without stopping for a moment.

When she entered, she saw Chen's face full of smiles. When she saw her, she called out affectionately, "Yao'er! Come here quickly! Are you tired from walking?"

Seeing a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, she scolded the maid who called for help, "Why don't you walk slower? Why are you in such a hurry?"

The maidservant naturally bowed her head and repeatedly admitted her mistake, but in her heart she remembered that her master had just said something different. When the Second Madam returned to Jinhua Hall, she hadn't even had time to change her clothes when she ordered her, "Hurry up and go to Jiyunzhai to call the cousin over!"

She jogged all the way, fearing that she would miss her master's business.

But a maid is just a maid, how could she dare to really question her master?

Xu Shuyao walked up to Chen and bowed, then she helped him up. "Don't bow every time you come. It makes us look like aunt and nephew are strangers."

As he spoke, he looked Xu Shuyao up and down, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became.

Chen knew that her niece was pretty. In her memory, little Chen was also pretty, but Xu Shuyao looked completely different from her mother.

Chen had never met Master Xu, so she naturally assumed that her niece had inherited her father's good looks.

If Xu Shuyao was still as green as a little flower bud two years ago, now the original flower bud has opened, revealing her beautiful and charming charm.

Chen was very satisfied looking at her niece like this.

Which man can ignore such a good-looking appearance?

Chen knew that her stepson was not as respectful to her as he appeared to be, and of course, he would definitely reject anyone who belonged to her.

But most men in the world say one thing and mean another, and she didn't believe that Xiao Jinrong could really refuse Xu Shuyao.

But we still have to take our time to figure out how to do this.

Chen knew that she could not discuss this marriage openly with the second master. After all, she was the stepmother, and Xu Shuyao was a real orphan with an unknown family background.

Anyone who hears this will surely say that she is an unkind stepmother.

But if Xiao Jinrong himself did something out of line, then it couldn't be her fault.

So she arranged Xu Shuyao to live in Jiyunzhai from the beginning, because she heard that her stepson often went there.

Xu Shuyao also felt at this moment that Chen was different from before. Although she had been close to her in the past, she had never been like this today. The look in her eyes seemed to be filled with honey, and that honey contained calculations.

She didn't know what her aunt was thinking, and what part of her plan was she in?

But she managed to calm her voice and said, "Don't scold her. It was my niece who asked us to hurry up because she was afraid of delaying my aunt's business."

Chen came back to her senses, took her hand and sat her down next to him, "Good girl! Don't be so soft-hearted all the time. If she hadn't shown any signs of anxiety, why would you have been anxious too?"

After saying that, he looked at Xu Shuyao and sighed, "You're sixteen this year, right? You'll be out of mourning next spring."

Xu Shuyao lowered her head slightly. This topic was very sensitive and she didn't know how to respond. She could only say softly, "Yes."

"Don't be shy. It's because you are in the mourning period that your aunt didn't rashly help you arrange a marriage. Your aunt knows what's going on, so don't worry!" Seeing Xu Shuyao look up, Chen gave her a meaningful smile.

Xu Shuyao's heart was pounding. Looking at her aunt's expression, it seemed that she already had an idea in mind.

She vaguely felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't say no.