Xu Bai's greatest pleasure now is when Xu Zhi comes home from school and talks to Zhang Zhaoci about things related to family education.
Xu Bai had met all nine girls in the Xu family. They were all beautiful and had their own unique features. In fact, they were all considered beauties, just with different personal characteristics.
The grandfather of the Marquis of Yongning, who was also the old lady's father-in-law, was a decisive and ruthless man on the battlefield, but he was somewhat confused about his own family. He doted on his concubine and, by extension, loved the children born to her. The family was in chaos. It was at that time that the former wife of the Marquis of Yongning had a good relationship with the late Empress Dowager and tried to marry the daughter of the Marquis of Yongyi.
After the old lady entered the household, her mother-in-law immediately handed over the power to manage the household to her. The old lady lived up to expectations and managed to clean up the backyard. After her father-in-law passed away, she separated the illegitimate sons of the Marquis's mansion and established a rule that a Marquis's sons could only take a concubine if they had no sons by the age of thirty. Now, among the descendants of the Marquis's mansion, only Xu Rao is an illegitimate son; the others are all legitimate sons. There are concubines and maids in the mansion, but none of them have been allowed to be adopted. As for the current Marquis of Yongning, Xu Zhen, he was entrusted by someone to help the concubine Zhu who was in dire straits. Originally, he did not intend to bring the concubine Zhu into the mansion, but he became infatuated and became pregnant. It was not until the child was more than seven months old that she was brought into the mansion. This is also the reason why the Marquis's wife, Madam Wu, has been so resentful for so many years.
Although the Yongning Marquis's mansion is not particularly prominent now, its family traditions are still quite upright, and the marriages of its descendants have been relatively smooth. Otherwise, the Marquis's eldest daughter, Xu Shao, would not have married into her current family.
The eldest daughter of the Crown Prince, Xu Gao, was the first child of the Crown Prince and his wife, and also the first child of this generation in the mansion. From a young age, she received much favor from the adults in the family, so her marriage was naturally a major focus of the family. Although the Qingping Earl's mansion had been downgraded from a marquis's mansion to an earl's mansion, the Earl of Qingping was a close minister of Emperor Liang Cheng and was favored by the emperor. The Earl of Qingping had been with Emperor Liang Cheng since he was a teenager, and the two had an extraordinary relationship. The Earl of Qingping's heir, Cheng Kai, was only in his early twenties, but he was already a bodyguard in front of Emperor Liang Cheng, and his future was naturally bright.
Xu Gao's marriage was arranged with the help of the old lady. The marriage was set four years ago, not long after Xu Rao and his family left. The old lady had a good relationship with the Grand Madam of the Qingping Marquis's Mansion, and both families admired each other's children. Ning Shi was arranging a marriage for Xu Gao. Ning Shi went through all the eligible unmarried young men in the capital and thought that Cheng Kai from the Cheng family was the best. After finding out about the relationship between the old lady and the Grand Madam of the Qingping Marquis's Mansion, she asked the old lady to help her.
The old lady thought the Qingping Marquis's family was acceptable, so she helped arrange Xu Gao's marriage. Both families were relatively low-key, and after the engagement, they would visit each other according to etiquette during festivals. Both Xu Gao and Cheng Kai were quite satisfied with each other.
Xu Gao no longer attends the family school. The eldest daughter, Xu Tao, helps take care of her younger sisters there. Currently, only these two girls in the household are engaged, and the younger ones are still unmarried.
Because her father was the heir apparent and her mother was the heir apparent's wife, Xu Gao was raised from a young age according to the standards of a matriarch of the imperial family. She was upright, honest, and fair in handling matters. These were Xu Zhi's evaluations of Xu Gao. Xu Zhi liked this older sister very much, and she also liked Xu Tao, because Xu Tao was a very gentle person and very tolerant of her younger sisters. When the younger sisters had some conflicts, Xu Tao would help to resolve them.
Xu Zhi disliked Xu Yao the most. As the youngest daughter of the Crown Prince, Xu Yao was pampered since childhood. In addition, she had an older sister and brother, so she was somewhat domineering. Furthermore, Xu Zhi was forced to take the place of Xu Yao, who did not have parents, because of the marriage contract that Xu Yao did not want. As a result, Xu Zhi was exiled to Lingnan and eventually committed suicide.
After Xu Zhi studied at home for a few days, she would talk to her mother, Granny Lu, about what happened at home and the little conflicts between the sisters every day when she came back. Zhang Zhaoci thought this was actually quite good. This is how a child should grow up, surrounded by people of similar age. Even if there are conflicts, it should be part of life experience.
Granny Lu listened attentively to Xu Zhi's words. Sometimes, a child's attitude reflects the adult's attitude. When Zhang Zhaoci brought the child back from Hexi, the adults' attitudes were sometimes reflected in their children. After listening to this a few times, Granny Lu analyzed this with Zhang Zhaoci and her analysis was quite accurate.
Life passed uneventfully. Zhang Zhaoci wasn't a sociable person. Sometimes when she received an invitation, she would send a generous gift to the host, explaining that her child was still young and needed constant care, meaning she wouldn't attend. Over time, Zhang Zhaoci received far fewer invitations. The Zhang family hadn't returned from the south, and Zhang Zhaoci didn't have many close relatives. The invitations she received were usually from relatives of other family members who were organizing flower parties or similar events. In reality, these events were for finding suitable partners for her children. They would use the flower party as an excuse to bring her children together for a meal, and also to observe the other family's children. If someone seemed suitable, she would inquire further. If they found someone with good character, a suitable family background, and a decent mother-in-law and sister-in-law, she would find a matchmaker, and a marriage would be arranged.
Xu Di's marriage has been arranged, but Xu Zhi is still young. Zhang Zhaoci doesn't want to arrange a marriage for Xu Zhi now. She wants to find someone around the same age, as it's difficult to judge a person's character at that age. Zhang Zhaoci plans to wait until Xu Zhi is thirteen or fourteen before arranging a marriage. She doesn't require a high family background, as long as the family is upright, the person is of good character, and the mother-in-law is easy to get along with. Zhang Zhaoci is very clear that Xu Rao is an illegitimate son of a marquis, so even if she were to find someone else, she wouldn't choose a noble family. Even if she were to marry into such a family, people would look down on Xu Zhi because of Xu Rao's status as an illegitimate son.
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