Chen Zhaoci was quite surprised to hear this. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "Your uncle is really a thoughtful person. Your aunt is now missing someone like Miss Zhou who is both capable and fearless."
When Xu Zhi was in Liaodong Prefecture, she had naturally met Miss Zhou. She frowned and said, "My aunt's family is a living hell. Sending Miss Zhou to marry my cousin is like pushing her into a fire pit."
Xu Di shook his head and said, "One man's poison is another man's honey. Miss Zhou is a thoughtful person with her own considerations. If she feels that the platform we've built for her is worth risking her marriage on, she won't hesitate. Since she has the courage to marry into the Yongping Marquis's household, she must have the ability to thrive in that household. After all, you can't take on a job you're not qualified for."
Xu Bai listened quietly to his older brother and sister talking. Finally, he sighed and said, "What my eldest brother said makes a lot of sense. I'm just afraid that my aunt won't be able to swallow this and will keep taking it out on Miss Zhou. In this day and age, it's so easy for a mother-in-law to control her daughter-in-law."
Chen Zhaoci said with a smile, "It's easy for a mother-in-law to control her daughter-in-law, but it also depends on whether the daughter-in-law can withstand the control of her mother-in-law. I don't think Miss Zhou is someone who can be easily controlled. Your aunt, on the surface, seems shrewd, but she is actually quite muddle-headed. She has been married into the Yongping Marquis's family for more than 20 years. If she could have learned to control some things, she wouldn't be living such a tiring life now."
Xu Di shook his head and said with a smile, "Mother, people have different pursuits. Maybe Auntie is enjoying her life now. She's outwitting and outmaneuvering her mother-in-law like this. She might even see herself as a hero."
The three people present remained silent after hearing this. Seeing this, Xu Di couldn't help but chuckle softly and asked Xu Zhi, "Xiao Jiu, how's the shop search going?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi sighed deeply and said, "Brother, it's really not easy to make a living in the capital. It's so hard to find a shop."
Xu Di nodded and said, "I'll help you find it."
Xu Zhi shook her head and said, "Big brother, I can't always rely on you to do this and that for me. This is my own business, and I have to do it myself."
Xu Di smiled with great satisfaction after hearing Xu Zhi's words. This little sister of his, he had raised her from such a tiny baby to where she is today. It had truly been a difficult journey for Xu Di.
Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Di urged Xu Bai and Xu Zhi to go to sleep, while he himself returned to his own courtyard.
Li Yuexi was still sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), doing needlework by the light of the glass lamp on the kang table. Xu Di's inner garment, middle garment, and shoes and socks were all made by Li Yuexi herself. As for his outer robe, his official robes were made by a special place, and his everyday clothes were also made by the most famous Jinxiuge in the capital.
Unlike usual, there was a small, four-cornered celadon bowl steaming on the kang table, and the aroma of Chinese herbal medicine could be smelled from a distance.
Xu Di was most impatient with drinking Chinese medicine, so he frowned and said, "Why are you drinking Chinese medicine? Are you feeling unwell?"
Li Yuexi quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed), helped Xu Di take off his robe and hang it up, and then went to a corner room to bring out hot water for washing his feet. She said, "This is the medicine my mother prescribed to nourish my body. Since we've decided to have a child, my mother said we should take good care of ourselves and have a healthy baby."
Xu Di then remembered this and said with a smile, "It's such a great benefit that my mother is a doctor. I haven't even asked yet, and she's already prescribed the medicine for me."
Li Yuexi had already placed the foot-washing water in front of a stool in front of the kang (a heated brick bed), but Xu Di quickly stopped her, saying, "You rest, I can do it myself."
Li Yuexi tucked a stray strand of hair that had fallen across her forehead behind her ear and said, "My husband must be tired after a long day."
Xu Di smiled and said, "I'm not tired at all. I just went to the Hanlin Academy and they don't give me any tasks. I just sit there and read some books. But my wife has to cook, make clothes and shoes at home. She must be very tired."
Li Yuexi thought it was nice that the young couple treated each other so respectfully. She sat down on the edge of the kang table and said with a smile, "Let's not be so polite. By the way, I just heard from the servants in the courtyard that something must have happened in the mansion. My eldest uncle and aunt went to my grandfather's study and invited my fourth sister there as well."
Xu Di then told Li Yuexi about Lin Zhining's desire to marry Xu Yao. After listening, Li Yuexi thought for a while and said, "Oh, I see. I just don't know what Fourth Sister means by that."
Xu Di said, "I'm just helping to put in a word. As for what happens next, Grandfather, Uncle, and Aunt will take care of it. My wife, it's late. Shouldn't we start thinking about what we need to think about?"
Li Yuexi didn't understand Xu Di's meaning at first, but after a while she understood, her face turned red. She gave Xu Di a reproachful look, then turned around and went to make the bed on the canopy bed opposite the kang. When Xu Di saw this, he laughed and poured out the water for washing his feet. He then brushed his teeth and washed his face in the corner room before blowing out the lamp on the kang table. He then took off his undergarments and went to bed by the light of a ram's horn palace lamp lit inside the canopy bed.
Some people slept soundly through the night, while others tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Xu Yao never expected that Lin Zhining would fall for her and come to ask her grandparents for their opinions, wanting to ask someone to propose marriage.
When Ning went to Xu Yao's courtyard to find her and told her about this, Xu Yao was somewhat incredulous. She never expected that the man she had met twice and who had caused her emotional turmoil would fall in love with her at first sight. After passing the imperial examination, he specially invited his elder brother to come to the house to ask for her opinion, sincerely wanting to ask to marry her.
As Xu Yao walked with her mother, Madam Ning, toward her grandfather's study, Madam Ning said to Xu Yao, "Yao'er, this marriage is the best choice for you. I hope you can think it through carefully and make your own decision. You have heard what the old lady said. Young Master Lin's grandfather and your grandfather are old acquaintances. With this guarantee, even if you marry far away, the Lin family will not look down on you."
Xu Yao nodded gently. Ning Shi was pleased to see that Xu Yao was willing to listen to her. In the past year or two, Xu Yao had been indifferent to her marriage. Whenever Ning Shi brought it up, she would say that she would leave it to her parents. Even if her parents made the decision, it was Xu Yao who was going to get married. Ning Shi hoped that Xu Yao would want to marry, rather than that she would force her to marry. After all, it was Xu Yao who would be living with the other person.
Ning secretly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, mustered her spirits, and led Xu Yao into the Marquis's study.
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