Zhu Jiayu was taken aback, somewhat confused by Madam Ji's meaning. She looked at Madam Ji with a smile and asked, "Then what does Third Aunt want?"
Madam Ji took a sip of tea and said directly, "Ayu, I know the old lady valued you. After she passed away, your maid, Qingshang, even came to see you privately. I don't care what you two talked about, and I won't reveal this to the eldest or second branch of the family. Even if the old lady left you something, your aunt won't ask. But—"
She looked at Zhu Jiayu with eagerness and expectation in her eyes, and continued, "The old lady comes from the Lin family of Yujing, and you are her most beloved granddaughter. I suppose you will inherit the connections that the old lady made in Yujing when she was a member of the Lin family?"
As she spoke, her tone softened, as if to avoid making Zhu Jiayu laugh at her. Her dignified face remained calm, and she seemed not to be in a hurry. She took a sip of tea and slowly drew out her words, asking Zhu Jiayu, "How about Ayu act as a go-between, so that your two cousins can get acquainted with the young masters of the prominent families in Yujing?"
If Zhu Jiayu still can't understand what the Ji family means, then she can be considered a complete fool.
She truly hadn't expected that the Ji family would harbor such intentions; the vast Heling Mausoleum could no longer contain her ambitions.
She countered by asking Madam Ji, "And after you've become acquainted with the young master of the Yujing family, does that mean Third Aunt is now certain about my cousins' marriages? That they won't stay in Heling and follow in your footsteps?"
Incidentally, she felt that Madam Ji's attempt to play the victim was rather unsophisticated. After all, Madam Ji seemed to be living a very good life. Ordinary women, after marriage, still had to serve their parents-in-law and sisters-in-law, and also had to decide on the concubines for their husbands so that they could have children for their husbands' families. If they did not have a legitimate son to rely on, they would be so worried that they would lose their appetite and sleep. But Madam Ji had never experienced any of these things.
Although she was considered to have married up, and her husband was not as promising as her two older brothers and was born out of wedlock, the servants of the Qiu family still treated her as a proper mistress and never slighted her. The old lady treated her the same as her two legitimate daughters-in-law and never mistreated or belittled her. Qiu Weicha did not take any concubines or elevate any maids because she had given birth to two daughters.
Compared to many women in this world, Lady Ji's life was truly fulfilling, a blessing that many could only dream of. If she felt her life was miserable, then shouldn't Shoujuan have committed suicide to be reincarnated and escape her misery?
However, Ji's attitude towards Zhu Jiayu was completely unclear. Although she was born into a merchant family, the Ji family was not an ordinary merchant family. Her parents only had her as their daughter, and they treated her like a jewel from a young age, spoiling her as she grew up. Later, she married into the Qiu family, and Qiu Weicha also loved and cherished her, which led to her current inability to read people's expressions.
Furthermore, Zhu Jiayu's expression was indifferent, so even if she wanted to investigate further, she couldn't discern anything amiss. She simply assumed that Zhu Jiayu was genuinely asking her, so she nodded and replied, "Of course."
There was a hint of pride in his words.
She was indeed somewhat confident. As someone with experience in marrying into a wealthy family, she had a certain say in the matter and knew that marrying into a prestigious family in Yujing was not easy. However, since she had this idea, she was certainly not unprepared: "As long as Ayu helps to make the match, I will take care of the rest. I will not let Ayu do useless work."
She spoke casually, as if as long as Zhu Jiayu was willing to help, Qiu Boyan and Qiu Mingyan could easily marry into a high-ranking family in Yujing, and the titles of matriarch and mistress would all be within their grasp.
"Besides, your two older sisters have married into higher social classes, which is also beneficial to you. Forgive me for speaking frankly, but the Qiu family is really no match for the Prince Jing's mansion. Only when your two older sisters marry into higher social classes will you have the confidence and support to rely on when you marry into the mansion, right? It will also let the Prince Jing's mansion know that you, A-Yu, are protected by someone."
In just a few words, she had already concluded that Zhu Jiayu and Gu Zhongyi were not innocent.
Zhu Jiayu wanted to explain, but then she thought that her third aunt could come up with such an outrageous idea, so she felt that explaining would probably be useless.
The most urgent task is to persuade her to give up the idea of letting her two cousins marry far away in Yujing.
Thinking of this, she looked at Madam Ji and said softly, "My two cousins are naturally outstanding in character and talent. Not to mention marrying into an ordinary noble family, they could even marry into a duke's family and become the future mistress of the house. However, there is one thing I would like to ask my third aunt."
Ji was overjoyed by her words and even had the urge to consider the young girl a confidante. In her opinion, the same was true. However, although she was greedy and vain, she knew her limits. She could only dream of marrying into an ordinary noble family, but she would forget about marrying into a duke or marquis family. With the Qiu family's rank, they were simply not good enough.
With a beaming smile, she asked Zhu Jiayu, "Which one is Ayu referring to?"
Zhu Jiayu asked with some concern, "Are your two older cousins heartless?"
Heartless?
What's the significance of this?
Madam Ji shook her head, completely bewildered. Although she didn't understand why Zhu Jiayu asked that, as a mother herself, she naturally wanted to say the best side of things, so she said:
“Bo Yan and Ming Yan are sisters I watched grow up. I know them better than anyone else. They are both incredibly kind-hearted. When they were little, the two sisters found an injured sparrow under a tree and took good care of it for almost half a month before releasing it. During that time, they were really worried that the big yellow cat in the house would snatch the sparrow away.”
Zhu Jiayu shook her head regretfully: "That's probably not appropriate..." She took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, while observing Madam Ji's reaction. She saw Madam Ji first frown and wait for her to continue, and then she couldn't wait any longer and started urging her to ask for the reason. Only then did she finally speak slowly, "I heard about this from the young master. I told my aunt, but please don't spread it around."
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