"Fanyang Lu Clan?!" Qing Mo murmured under his breath!
"Yes!"
"This afternoon, while my brother-in-law was still at work, people from the Fanyang Lu Clan went to see him and brought up this matter!"
Zheng Ping'an kept his head slightly lowered, his voice still soft and his tone calm, as though he were speaking of something utterly ordinary!
But whether this was truly an ordinary matter, everyone knew perfectly well!
Although people of this era married early, and girls of thirteen or fourteen could already be wed!
Who in all of Great Tang did not know that Li Shande's daughter, Li Xiu'er, had been personally acknowledged by the Immortal Imperial Preceptor Qing Mo as his goddaughter!
She was said to be his goddaughter!
But those in the know understood that Qing Mo and his two wives truly cherished Li Xiu'er, this goddaughter of theirs, as dearly as if she were their own daughter!
Moreover, the newspapers promoted by the court over the past two years had greatly suppressed the Five Great Clans and Seven Prominent Families' hold over public discourse and their prestige among the common people!
Combined with the fine things Qing Mo had previously produced, the various high-yield grain seeds, and the advanced imperial examination system used by the court to select talent!
Their influence and control over the court and other spheres had been further severely undermined!
By now, a quarter of the officials in the entire court were sons of humble families who had entered the court through their own learning and the advanced imperial examination system!
Though the Five Great Clans and Seven Prominent Families still maintained the dignity of great aristocratic houses on the surface, inwardly they had long since declined far from their former glory!
The Fanyang Lu Clan's proposal for Li Xiu'er