Chu Yunyi still couldn't get used to it. His sister was apparently a normal person, but when she was with her brother-in-law, she was like a boneless person. She even had to have her brother-in-law feed her a loquat himself.

He tried hard not to pay attention to the idle business of the "pot lid" in front of him, and focused on the business, saying seriously: "Sister, brother-in-law, I don't care what others say."

Chu Yunyi was sincere in what he said. He really didn't care what others said about him. It was not like he had never been gossiped about behind his back.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but think: Will others say what his sister said, that she persuaded her brother-in-law to give him all the opportunities because he was her younger brother, and that his sister participated in politics from the harem?

Thinking of this, Chu Yunyi clenched his fists tighter, his eyes deep.

His elder sister was about to become the most honorable queen, but she only had her brother-in-law, and she was powerless in the harem and the court...

Chu Yunyi couldn't help but think of the topic of the beauty pageant that the Minister of Rites had just mentioned. If the Chu family was the Shangshu Mansion, if the Chu family could have someone like Su Mubai to support the family, why would the Minister of Rites think about a beauty pageant at this time? He would at least test the opinions of the Queen's family.

It is said that the heart of the emperor is fickle. If even the brother-in-law does not help the sister in the future, what should the sister do? The brother-in-law of other families can still come to the door and vent his anger on his sister. With his current situation, can he have the confidence to go to the emperor and support his sister? !

A sense of urgency suddenly arose in Chu Yunyi's heart.

Not enough! A title of Yongding Hou is not enough. He is now building up military merits from scratch, which means it may take nearly 20 years like his ancestor Chu Yuanhong? The more Chu Yunyi thought about it, the more he felt that time was not enough. He looked at Shen Qianchen as if he was looking at a poor little thing who was bullied in the deep palace.

However, Shen Qianchen, who was eating loquats and spitting out loquat seeds, had his head down and happened not to see the look in his silly brother's eyes.

When she took a sip of tea, wiped the corners of her mouth, and looked up again, Gu Jue said nonchalantly: "Brother Yi, you can do better. Let the Chu family regain its glory in your hands, from a marquisate to a duke's house, or even be crowned a king."

Shen Qianchen blinked, her face slightly twisted. Why did she feel that the prince was making empty promises to Chu Yunyi?

Chu Yunyi was tricked by Gu Jue and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that what Gu Jue said made sense. Only when he stood more firmly in the court would no one dare to bully his sister.

Just like Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, when Wei Qing was still alive, Wei Zifu relied on her outstanding brother and nephew to stand firm in the harem, and Emperor Wu of Han doted on her. But when Huo Qubing and Wei Qing passed away one after another, everything changed...

After a moment, Chu Yunyi raised his eyes and met Gu Jue's eyes. His eyes were dark and bright, and he nodded firmly: "Yes, brother-in-law, I understand!"

He decided that he wanted to be a general, he wanted to gain a foothold in the court, and he wanted to make the Yongding Marquisate gain a firm foothold in the court again.

Seeing that this silly boy no longer said that he didn't want a title or anything like that, Shen Qianchen burst out laughing and clapped his hands, saying, "Your Highness is really amazing and knows how to coax people."

Her smile was so cute, she was as adorable as she could be; so sweet as she could be.

In fact, she laughed so hard that her stomach started to hurt.

She decided that from now on, the prince would take full responsibility for taking care of her silly brother.

Shen Qianchen looked like an innocent white rabbit, which made Chu Yunyi, who was so excited, forget for a moment that his sister had two faces, and he started to worry about the talent show again.

The brother and sister had their own thoughts. Shen Qianchen wanted to laugh as soon as he saw Chu Yunyi, but he thought that for the sake of his aching stomach, it would be better to slow down.

"Wait for me, I'll make tea for you." Shen Qianchen got up and ran away.

Seeing her back disappear, Chu Yunyi, who was originally worrying about how to find an opportunity to be alone with Gu Jue, breathed a sigh of relief and felt grateful that someone handed him a pillow just when he felt sleepy.

"Brother-in-law," Chu Yunyi lowered his voice carefully, fearing that Shen Qianchen would hear him, "Are you going to participate in the talent show?"

So, things changed and it was Gu Jue's turn to be confused.

"Who said that?" This time, even Gu Jue couldn't help but look in the direction where Shen Qianchen had just walked away.

In addition to being shocked and puzzled, he realized that there was actually a trace of nervousness in his heart at this moment.

This emotion was too new for him.

If I tell others, they might interpret this emotion as "henpecked"? Gu Jue felt even more surprised, but he was used to not showing his emotions, so Chu Yunyi didn't see much clues on his face.

Chu Yunyi answered honestly: "Just before I came in, I saw several elders leaving here, and happened to hear one of them talking about this matter."

Although the thirteen-year-old boy was taller than Shen Qianchen, he was still young after all, and his youthful spirit was frankly revealed on his face and in his eyes.

Gu Jue had no doubt that if he dared to be perfunctory, the boy would just raise his fist and beat him up without any care.

This brat! Gu Jue looked at Chu Yunyi with a softer look in his eyes. He also looked serious and denied it concisely: "No."

Chu Yunyi was still worried: "Really?"

Gu Jue patted the boy's shoulder speechlessly: "Really."

The two words were spoken crisply and without hesitation.

Chu Yunyi felt relieved and temporarily reassured, thinking to himself: Well, my brother-in-law is still the same brother-in-law.

At this time, Shen Qianchen came with two cups of freshly brewed tea.

She didn't hear what the two had just said, but she felt that the atmosphere was indescribably strange.

Before she sat down, Chu Yunyi stood up and said goodbye tactfully: "Sister, brother-in-law, I'm leaving." Anyway, there was no share of tea for him, so he was redundant.

Chu Yunyi walked away distractedly, holding the decree in his hand, feeling very strange: he had clearly come here to decline the title, so judging from the result, today's trip seemed to be a failure.

However, judging from the conversation he had just had with Gu Jue, it seemed that he had gained a lot in the end.

To sum up, the process was unexpected, the ending was a failure, but the gain was huge.

Shen Qianchen brought a cup of tea to Gu Jue. She originally wanted to give the other cup of tea to Chu Yunyi, but Chu Yunyi left, so she decided to let it cool first. If she drank it now, she would probably choke from laughing.

She asked casually, "What happened to him?"

"What should I reward him with?" Gu Jue answered the question irrelevantly.

Shen Qianchen: "..." Whatever.

As a result, as soon as Chu Yunyi entered the gate of Yongding Prefecture, boxes of rewards from the palace were delivered to the Marquis' Mansion by a team of eunuchs under the escort of the Jinwu Guards.

Many people in the capital were keeping an eye on what was happening in the palace. When they saw Chu Yunyi inherit the title and receive rewards from Prince Chen after coming out of the palace, anyone could see that although Shen Zhi and Chu Lingxiao were divorced, Chu Yunyi was still very much loved by his sister, the Princess of Chen.

After receiving the edict of succession to the title in the morning, the Yongding Marquis' Mansion was once again in an uproar. Everyone's face was filled with joy, and even their steps became lighter.

The lady was also ecstatic, feeling that the bad luck of the recent period had been swept away and that their Chu family had finally turned the corner and was about to rise again.

Minshan and Huang Jie'er were both right, Yi Ge'er was the most presentable child in the Chu family.

The lady was in a good mood. When she saw Chu Yunyi coming back, she chattered non-stop: "I've made up my mind. We will go to the ancestral hall later to tell our ancestors about this happy event, and we will also enshrine the decree of the Prince of Chen."

"Brother Yi, there is another great happy event for Grandmother. Did you know that your marriage has been settled? Your succession to the title has just been decided, and the sister of the wife of Marquis Anding came to the Marquis's house to test whether you are engaged or not."

"Don't worry, grandmother knows that it's a national mourning period, so we can't discuss marriage openly. Both sides just tried to test the waters. I think the second daughter of the Marquis of Anding is good. She has no faults in character or family background. Besides, you two are both young, so you can get engaged first and get married a few years later when you are fifteen or sixteen."

Chu Yunyi listened to the lady talking nonstop with a wooden expression. He really wanted to ask his grandmother, why was she so impatient to discuss marriage with another family? Has she forgotten that his second uncle just passed away and that he, as a nephew, had to mourn for his uncle for a year?

However, the Madam Tai was unaware of the disappointment in Chu Yunyi's eyes, and continued to say happily: "The new emperor will be crowned and will soon be selecting a concubine. The eldest daughter of Anding Mansion is just sixteen years old and plans to participate in the selection. Our two families will be married, and in the future, it will be a closer relationship, which will be good for you and your second sister, and you can help each other."

Chu Yunyi: “!”

Chu Yunyi widened his eyes and looked at the lady who was immersed in her own world with increasingly disappointed eyes.

(End of this chapter)