Madam Qin was stunned to see Madam Yu speaking to her so cautiously. It seemed that Madam Yu truly cared about Lianhua and her feelings. Madam Qin felt respected once again, and the smile on her face kept widening.

"Sister-in-law, we're all family, why are you being so polite with me?"

Qin took her youngest son from her arms, looked at him with a loving expression, and then continued, "Lianhua is the only relative of my maternal family. Naturally, I would not bear to marry her off to another family. It is her good fortune to be able to marry Leizi, enter the Lu family, and have such a good mother-in-law as my sister-in-law."

This simple sentence already reveals the second wife's position.

Yu was instantly relieved. She was worried that Qin wouldn't budge, but before she could say anything, Qin took the initiative to speak.

"Oh, Lotus is wonderful too! We've all seen her along the way, and there's no girl better than her!"

Mrs. Yu was all smiles. If Mrs. Qin agreed, then the matter was half settled.

"Would Lianhua like my Leizi? Leizi is a year younger than Lianhua. I'm worried that Lianhua will think he's too young and won't be considerate!"

In general, when families arrange marriages, they prefer the woman to be older, as this is believed to make her more sensible and capable of taking care of her husband.

But the Lu family is different; the man is always two or three years older than the woman, because the older the man, the more he will dote on his wife.

But when it comes to Lei Zi, he's a year younger than Lianhua, and there's a fear that Lianhua might dislike him for that.

Before Qin could speak, Yu continued, "But don't worry, Second Sister-in-law, I will definitely teach Lei to take good care of Lianhua and never let her suffer the slightest grievance!"

Madam Qin smiled and said, "Lei Zi is someone I've watched grow up since he was a child. He's a good boy. Our Lu family has a good family tradition, and everyone knows how to cherish their wives, so I'm not worried about that. As for Lianhua, she came to talk to me first thing this morning, and I only agreed after asking her opinion."

That means you agree!

Yu slapped her thigh excitedly, making a loud slapping sound. Even He Jiuniang, watching from the side, felt a pang of pain.

"Oh, that puts my mind at ease! I'll go talk to Mother about it later. Our family is now even closer than the previous one, so let's follow the customs and take it slow! Let's settle the marriage first, then listen to my third brother's wife and wait until they turn eighteen before getting married. That would be perfect!"

Madam Qin nodded in agreement. That was what she had originally thought too; arranging the marriage would prevent a lot of trouble.

He Jiuniang was also very satisfied; the CP she had been shipping had finally come true, hehehe.

But what about Lu Xiaoyang...?

She could tell that Lu Xiaoyang had feelings for Lianhua, but he seemed to have restrained them a lot recently, so he must have given up.

That child is also heartbreaking.

Lei Zi and Lian Hua have basically made their relationship official, and now they'll be shipping Lu Xiao Yang.

But when will Lu Xiaoyang's official love interest appear?

Liu Yuexiang was very troubled. When she left the Lu family yesterday, she received an invitation from her brother Rong, inviting her to admire the plum blossoms the next day.

In the past, she would have been happy to do so, but now that she has figured out the pros and cons, she no longer has those feelings for Li Rong and naturally doesn't want to go with him to admire the plum blossoms.

Furthermore, she clearly saw Li Rong staring blankly at the lotus yesterday, obviously he also liked the lotus, so why didn't he send an invitation to the lotus in the end, but instead sent it to her?

Did something happen that she didn't know about?

She needs to send someone to investigate; she can't let herself be used as a pawn.

After dealing with these matters, Liu Yuexiang went to see Zhang Lanxiang, and the two of them went together to see the county magistrate and his wife.

The two young girls wanted to become Lianhua's apprentices and do business with her. The county magistrate's wife, Madam Lü, had already mentioned this to her husband. Magistrate Zhang did not refuse outright, saying he would seriously consider it, but the two girls were clearly impatient.

“Uncle, the Lu family will be going to the prefectural city in a few days. They will be busy with other things then, so they won’t have time to see us. Let’s take advantage of the fact that the Lu family is still in the county town now, so that we can have a better talk!”

It must be said that Liu Yuexiang is a girl with her own opinions. Once she makes a decision, she wants to implement it as soon as possible. If her uncle does not agree, she will write a letter home and ask her father to make a trip.

Oh right, I still need to tell my parents!

She continued, "I'll write to my parents in a bit and ask them to come over. We can visit together then, which will show more sincerity!"

Her sincerity left Magistrate Zhang somewhat bewildered.

Magistrate Zhang initially thought that his niece might have taken a fancy to the young man from the Lu family and wanted to use this as an excuse to get close to him, but he couldn't see any other intentions in her behavior. Could it be that she really only wanted to do business? Had he misunderstood?

"Yuexiang, tell your uncle, why did you suddenly want to learn how to do business?"

Magistrate Zhang was quite patient with the children in his family and was not in a hurry to refuse or agree. Since this involved the Lu family, he still needed to find out the details first.

"I want to have money to spend."

Liu Yuexiang's answer was simple; in just one sentence, she shut down all of Magistrate Zhang's numerous questions.

She continued, "My dad's salary isn't much, and he doesn't give me much either, but things outside are getting more and more expensive. I want to wear nice clothes, use nice things, and buy whatever I want, so I want to earn money."

“Uncle, I want to become Lianhua’s apprentice not just to learn how to do business, but also because she is not only good at business. She understands human relationships, music theory, and even learns martial arts with the men of the Lu family. I want to become as powerful as her, so I want to become her apprentice.”

She had heard yesterday that Lotus had taken on a few apprentices in the prefectural city. Those apprentices were paid to teach, and although the price was very expensive, she felt it was worth it and was willing to spend the money. It was much more cost-effective than hiring a female tutor to teach her how to be a good wife and mother.

Magistrate Zhang fell silent. Who wouldn't want to be rich?

The social hierarchy is scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant, and merchant, with merchants ranked last. Although the current dynasty allows officials to engage in commerce, very few people actually do it, as they feel it's a loss of face and they'll be ridiculed if they go out.

Moreover, it would be very damaging to the reputation of young girls like them to go out and show their faces in public if word got out.

Have you thought this through? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?

"People only laugh at you if you're broke!"

Liu Yuexiang spoke without hesitation, continuing, "Lianhua is also in business, but you all know what happened yesterday. Who wouldn't want to be the son-in-law of the Lu family? Who wouldn't be captivated by Lianhua's talent?"

She was quite dismissive at first, but she was proven wrong later. Now she dreams of becoming like Lotus, shining brightly in a crowd and attracting everyone's attention.

Liu Yuexiang's words were so persuasive that even Magistrate Zhang was at a loss for words.

He turned to his daughter and asked, "What about you? Do you think the same way as Yuexiang?"

He still had some expectations for his daughter. He would be pleased if she had the same thoughts as his niece, since his daughter seemed to never grow up and was a headache to deal with.

Zhang Lanxiang thought for a moment and said, "I... I just thought that if I did business with Lianhua, I could have an unlimited supply of Lu Hei Ya (a type of braised duck)..."