As soon as his parents passed away, his elder brother's marriage became a hot topic that was fought over by his own clan and his maternal grandparents. This fact made Xie Qingyao so angry that he trembled all over.

"What did my eldest brother say?"

"The prince said that he already had a marriage being discussed, and told my aunt and the eighth wife not to worry. But my aunt and the eighth wife didn't believe it and insisted on asking who the prince's proposed marriage was from." The maid mentioned this with anger on her face.

Xie Qingyao's expression became even uglier: "My elder brother didn't say anything, did he?"

The maid shook her head: "The prince didn't say anything. My aunt and the eighth wife thought that the prince's previous words were just excuses, so they started arguing again."

Xie Qingyao was furious and sneered, "What does this have to do with them?"

The maid quickly told what she had heard: "The Eighth Elder came on behalf of the clan leader. He said that it was the clan leader's intention to let the Crown Prince get married within seven days of the birth of the uncle and his wife. Miss, what should we do?"

After hearing this, Xie Qingyao's body swayed, and a nail that had dug into his palm broke.

At this point, she once again realized how sad it was to be without the protection of her parents.

The Eighth Elder is the clan leader's son and also their elder. If this is really what the clan leader meant, it would not be easy for her and her eldest brother to resist.

My eldest brother has not yet been promoted to a noble title, nor has he reached the age of coming of age. The elders in the clan have interfered in his marriage in the name of caring for their brothers and sisters. If my eldest brother handles the situation improperly and gets a reputation of being unfilial, it may very well affect his promotion to a noble title. After all, the Great Zhou ruled the world with filial piety, and the emperor attached the most importance to filial piety.

But how can my eldest brother's marriage be arranged in such a hurry? If he rashly marries an unsatisfactory wife, his life will be very miserable.

Xie Qingyao was so anxious that tears came to her eyes when she thought of this. She held Jiang Si's hand and murmured, "Ah Si, what should we do?"

"Qingyao, does the prince already have a marriage under discussion? I wonder what the woman's attitude is?" Jiang Si asked calmly.

Xie Qingyao is on the verge of emotional collapse right now, so she needs to stay calm.

What is happening now is completely different from the previous life. It seems that with the death of Yongchang Bo and his wife, the fate of the Xie brothers and sisters is heading in an uncontrollable direction.

She wanted to do her best to help the Xie brothers and sisters avoid these troubles. This was her responsibility.

Jiang Si mentioned the family that was discussing marriage with the Yongchang Earl's Mansion, just holding out for a glimmer of hope.

In the previous life, it was normal for the woman to give up the idea of ​​marriage because of the joke of Yongchang Bo. After all, it was just a marriage proposal, not an engagement. It was normal for the woman to be unwilling to marry Yongchang Bo after such a bizarre incident.

Now that the Yongchang Earl and his wife have passed away, it is difficult to predict the woman's attitude.

Perhaps she was worried that Xie Yinlou was too young to support the Earl's mansion and didn't want her daughter to marry into a family that was about to go bankrupt. Or perhaps she was pleased that her daughter would become the Earl's wife once she married and was willing to continue the marriage plan, so Jiang Si asked this question.

"What is the woman's attitude?" Although Xie Qingyao had experienced the blow of her parents' sudden death and her emotions were somewhat out of control, she still had the cleverness of a noble lady. Upon hearing this, she frowned, thought for a moment, and told the maid to ask the housekeeper to come over.

Soon the housekeeper came over.

Xie Qingyao did not avoid Jiang Si and asked directly, "Among those who came to pay their respects, is there anyone from the Wen family, the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer?"

In his previous life, the girl from the Wen family, who was the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, was the one who arranged a marriage with Xie Yinlou.

The Wen family was a well-known noble family in the capital. The second daughter of the Imperial College's chief academician was admitted to the palace as a concubine in her early years because of her talent and reputation. The son she gave birth to was the sixth son of Emperor Jingming, the Prince of Shu. The sixth prince probably inherited his mother's intelligence and was also loved by Emperor Jingming for his intelligence.

It is undoubtedly a great thing for the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion to marry into the Wen family.

However, at this time in his previous life, Jiang Si did not know who the bride was who was negotiating with the Yongchang Marquis's mansion. The marriage negotiation only said that the two families had this intention, and there were many variables involved. Before it was officially decided, they would keep silent, so that if the negotiation was not successful, it would not cause discussion.

Jiang Si knew which family the girl came from. It was because in her previous life, the marriage plan fell through after Yongchang Bo slept with a pig. Xie Qingyao came to her to confide in her because he was in a bad mood, and she only found out about it then.

The housekeeper was able to manage the backyard, so she must have some skills. After hearing Xie Qingyao's question, she thought for a moment and said, "This morning, the Wen family sent a housekeeper over to burn incense in front of the spirits of Master and Madam, and then left."

"You didn't say anything?" Xie Qingyao asked, her fingers tightly grasping the hem of her white linen skirt.

"No, just some polite words."

Xie Qingyao fluttered her eyelashes and looked at Jiang Si, a sneer on her lips: "Ah Si, what do you think the other party means by this?"

Jiang Si reached out and patted Xie Qingyao's arm.

Such a big thing has happened to the man who is being discussed for marriage. If the woman intends to continue, it is impossible for her to just send a steward to express condolences and then leave at this time.

All this can only mean that the other party is avoiding it.

Jiang Si thought of this, and Xie Qingyao naturally thought of it as well.

"It is easy to add flowers to a brocade, but difficult to provide timely assistance." Xie Qingyao murmured.

"Qingyao, I will accompany you through this difficult time."

Xie Qingyao's eyes turned slightly and fell on Jiang Si's face. His dark eyes suddenly lit up: "Ah Si, what do you think of my elder brother?"

Jiang Si was stunned by Xie Qingyao's question.

Xie Qingyao grabbed Jiang Si's hand and couldn't wait to say, "Tell me, what do you think of my elder brother?"

This question was too general, so Jiang Si could only answer vaguely, "Of course Brother Xie is very good."

"Then are you willing to marry my eldest brother?"

Jiang Si was completely stunned.

Xie Qingyao's eyes lit up more and more: "You and my eldest brother grew up together, and we are also close friends. It would be great if you could become my sister-in-law! I don't have to worry about my eldest brother hastily marrying an unsatisfactory wife, and those people don't have to think of any tricks. Anyway, no one knows who the girl is that my eldest brother is planning to marry. I will find a chance to tell my eldest brother, and then have him quietly send someone to talk to Uncle Jiang. As long as Uncle Jiang nods, the matter will be settled."

Xie Qingyao became more and more excited as he spoke, and nudged Jiang Si: "Ah Si, do you think this is feasible?"

Looking at his friend's bright eyes, Jiang Si fell silent.

My father has a good relationship with the Earl of Yongchang, and he watched Xie Yinlou grow up. If the Xie family sent someone to talk about this matter at this time, my father would most likely agree.

In her father's heart, Xie Yinlou was much better than Ji Chongyi, and it was much better for her to marry into the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion than into the Anguo Duke's Mansion.

But she didn't want to.

She was determined to do everything she could to help the Xie brothers and sisters, but that didn't include sacrificing her life.

In her previous life, she was tired of being someone else's substitute, tired of the man who originally belonged to her having another woman in his heart. If she were to put herself in his shoes, how could she be a good wife to Xie Yinlou if she still had someone else in her heart?

If that were the case, she would not be helping but ruining people.

This is unfair to Xie Yinlou, and this kind of bottomless help will only destroy the happiness he might have in the future.

"Qingyao, this is inappropriate."

The light in Xie Qingyao's eyes dimmed.

Jiang Si looked at the mountains outside the window, and whispered, "There is a better way."