The servant was utterly bewildered and couldn't help but presume, "Young master, that Princess Heyang is clearly humiliating you. Why are you doing this?"
Qiao Xiuyu was not annoyed by the servant's rude remarks, but smiled and said, "She did not insult me. She is a very lovely girl."
servant: "..."
Indeed, she was the first woman to praise the prince's piano playing, so he would have found it adorable too.
The servant only dared to say this in his heart, and Qiao Xiuyu, of course, knew nothing of it. She still smiled shyly and said, "When I return to Northern Zhou, I will ask my father to ask Princess Heyang for my hand in marriage. We will definitely have an extremely beautiful child then... Anan, what do you think would be a good name for our child?"
Anan, who was about to get some snacks: "
Qiao Xiuyu thought for a moment and stopped Anan: "No, no. I'll go get it myself. If Heyang asks, he'll be happy to know that I picked it out myself."
Anan thought with a sense of despair, "I always knew that the young master was naive, but I never realized that he was also a lovestruck fool!"
Qiao Xiuyu ignored Anan and went straight to the imperial kitchen.
The powerful and wealthy in Nanchen were extravagant, and even a simple dessert was made with great care—when Qiao Xiuyu first arrived in Nanchen, she found it utterly incomprehensible.
Why make it so elaborate? It's all food we're going to eat anyway, is it really necessary to be so particular?
But now, Qiao Xiuyu genuinely felt that a delicate and lovely lady like Princess Heyang should use exquisite things and eat exquisite snacks.
As he walked into the imperial kitchen, he was filled with a bittersweet thought—sigh, once he returned to Northern Zhou, he would have to work hard to make money and conquer the country, otherwise how could he support Princess Heyang?
...
It was late at night, and Shang Shaoyan, who had been born and raised, was still talking excitedly with Granny Li: "Granny, I heard that Li Sanniang is going to bring her half-sister tomorrow. How interesting!"
Granny Li had been keeping an eye on the affairs of the Duke of Chengen's mansion, and upon hearing this, her expression turned strange: "Speaking of which, the Duke of Chengen's mansion is originally a branch of the Li family... I don't know where they got the nerve to ask for the county princess's hand in marriage."
Shang Shaoyan was unaware of this matter and immediately asked, "Collateral branches? How can collateral branches be granted titles? What about the direct branches?"
Granny Li looked around and saw the maids laughing and joking outside the door, so she was relieved: "Does the county princess know that the current empress and Consort Zhao are cousins? Consort Zhao is the daughter of the direct line."
Then, she recounted Consort Zhao's background, and lowered her voice to say, "While the main branch of the Li family was weakened, they actually helped the Emperor stab the main branch in the back, saying that although Consort Zhao was the principal wife, she was ugly and unfit to be empress, and they sent their daughter into the palace to become the empress..."
Shang Shaoyan was speechless, and couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for this Consort Zhao whom he had never met before.
After sighing for a moment, Granny Li smiled and said, "However, Consort Zhao, like the County Princess, is a daughter of a military family. She is strong-willed and has never suffered any losses except for this matter. In addition, the Emperor feels guilty towards her, so he turns a blind eye to many of the things she does."
In Shang Shaoyan's mind, a heroic and valiant older sister figure appeared. He cursed the emperor in his heart as a scumbag, but managed to hold back from saying it out loud.
"So I don't know what Li San Niang has to be proud of." Granny Li sneered, "A year ago she was still playing in the mud in the countryside. At that time, His Majesty had just ascended the throne. As soon as Li Shi took the throne, she couldn't wait to promote the young ladies in the family."
Granny Li's use of "countryside" was a bit of an exaggeration. After all, she was a relative of the General of the Cavalry. Although she couldn't get into the center of power and wealth, she shouldn't be doing too badly.
“Our Shang family has been a military family for a hundred years. If it weren’t for Empress Li’s influence, how would the Li family have dared to propose marriage?” Granny Li frowned and continued, “They are truly restless and petty!”
Upon hearing this, Shang Shaoyan laughed in anger: "I vaguely remember that she seemed to want to marry the Third Princess to my former fiancé, which led to Madam Chen coming to break off the engagement... First she instigated the marriage proposal, and then she tried to bribe her to break off the engagement. She said she had no objections to our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, but I don't believe it. This is clearly just playing with monkeys."
Granny Li, unaware of the existence of the Third Princess, immediately turned sour: "Back then, the Shang family helped the Holy Ancestor Emperor conquer the country. Not to mention the collateral branches of the Li family, even the direct branches were still digging mud in the countryside! Bah, they're so ugly, yet they have such beautiful dreams!"
Shang Shaoyan: "..."
Granny Li really liked to use the phrase "playing in the mud in the countryside" to satirize people.
To be fair, her ex-fiancé, Li Chengye, was quite good-looking.
Thinking this, she spoke up.
Granny Li was both amused and exasperated, and grasped Shang Shaoyan's hand: "My dear county princess! That Li Chengye is not even three-tenths as handsome as that girl from Zhaixing Pavilion!"
Upon reflection, Shang Shaoyan realized it made sense—Qiao Xiuyu was indeed incredibly beautiful; otherwise, someone as composed as her wouldn't have thought of luring someone home after just one meeting.
Seeing that Shang Shaoyan blushed, Granny Li couldn't help but tease, "This old servant thinks that he has some genuine feelings for the county princess. Who knows, this old servant might end up accompanying the county princess to Northern Zhou in the future."
Shang Shaoyan smiled but remained silent.
After all, Granny Li was unaware of her plans, otherwise she certainly wouldn't have said that.
Shang Shaoyan feigned shyness and changed the subject, saying, "Then, Granny, do you think I should teach Li Sanniang a lesson tomorrow?"
Granny Li snorted coldly: "Give it to me, why wouldn't I?"
She paused, then looked intently at Shang Shaoyan, speaking earnestly: "Princess, our Shang family has its own unyielding spirit. The power and wealth of our family are all earned by the hard work of our children. The Li family is just relying on nepotism. What are we afraid of? Back when the current emperor was not yet on the throne, the late emperor also respected us."
This is practically saying outright, "There's nothing to fear even when facing the emperor."
Shang Shaoyan felt relieved. It seemed that Granny Li was not blindly loyal, which meant there would be fewer obstacles in the future.
As she thought this, the smile on her face became more genuine, and she said, half-jokingly, "It wouldn't be a problem to beat her up?"
Granny Li laughed and said, "What could possibly happen? Even if it reaches the Emperor's ears, we'll still be in the right."
Shang Shaoyan almost blurted out, "But that dog emperor is never reasonable," but silently dismissed the thought.
We still need to take a softer approach.
Shang Shaoyan changed the subject again: "Granny, I plan to go to Shuzhou next spring to seek medical treatment for my brother at Qingcheng Mountain. I should be able to return before his birthday. While I'm away, I'll trouble you to take good care of my brother's health."
Granny Li was quite gratified—the brother and sister used to have a good relationship, but they were both troublesome. Now it was different; these two masters were reliable and dependable.
She's getting old and doesn't have the energy to worry about trivial matters anymore. She's fine as she is now.
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