Don't Force Me to Go on Blind Dates, or Else...

Zhao Ruxi politely declined a few times, then sat down.

"I spoiled Ruotong. She's rather aloof and doesn't like to talk to people. She's never had any close friends growing up. I never expected that she would meet a little girl like you while teaching at the academy."

Zhao Ruxi didn't know what the Princess of Zhennan meant by "who," so she just smiled and didn't say anything.

"Ruotong said that next time we meet, you shouldn't call her 'Master' anymore; it's too formal and makes her sound old. You can just call her 'Sister'."

As she spoke, Princess of Zhennan sighed, "She's a few years older than you, yet she's not as sensible as you."

Zhao Ruxi felt something was off about what she heard. Besides, she couldn't remain silent forever.

She asked in confusion, "Next time we meet? Master, oh, no..." She covered her mouth, "Isn't Sister Ruotong home?"

Princess of Zhennan laughed, "She went back to the Duke of Ying's Residence. After you persuaded her last time, she came to her senses and said she wanted to go back and give it a try. Actually, once she gets over this hurdle, things will definitely go smoothly from now on."

"Yes, Sister Ruotong's life will definitely get better and better." Zhao Ruxi casually agreed, not too surprised that Xiao Ruotong was going back.

Judging from Xiao Ruotong's expression, you can tell that she has deep feelings for the Duke of Ying's son, and it's not something she can just let go of.

If that's the case, we might as well go back and give it a try.

Since Xiao Ruotong wasn't there, she didn't want to stay any longer.

She waved to Qingfeng, took the flower basket from Qingfeng hand, and said, "Sister Ruotong lacks nothing, and I don't have anything good to give her, so I arranged this basket of flowers myself. They're just ordinary flowers, just for their rustic charm. If it's convenient for Your Highness, please have someone give them to Sister Ruotong; if not, it's fine, they're not valuable. I'll arrange another one for her next time."

"Oh my, they're beautiful." Princess of Zhennan took the flower basket, looked at it, handed it to the maid behind her, and smiled at Zhao Ruxi, "I'll have someone deliver them to her. Thank you."

"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave." Zhao Ruxi stood up.

"Etc."

Princess of Zhennan gestured to the maid beside her, who immediately stepped forward, opened a beautiful little box, and presented it to Zhao Ruxi.

"Inside are four invitations to the birthday banquet of our late Princess Consort, the date being the day after tomorrow. If you are free, please come with your grandmother and parents."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Zhao Ruxi accepted the gift and bowed to the Princess of Zhennan. "In that case, I shall take my leave."

Upon returning home, Zhao Ruxi went to pay her respects to the old lady as usual and placed the box in front of her. "Grandmother, this is an invitation to the birthday banquet of the former Princess Prince of Zhennan's Residence. Would you like to attend?"

The old lady's body stiffened. She reached out, took the invitation, glanced at it, and her eyes welled up with tears. She sighed, "Our family hasn't received an invitation like this for years."

"Yes," Lady Zhu said with emotion. "Back then, when my eldest and second daughters were getting engaged, I had to ask the Wife of the Duke of Wei and my sister-in-law from my own family to help me get a few invitations and take them there. That's how I secured those two good marriages."

To put it bluntly, these banquets are places where wealthy ladies arrange marriages for their children.

As everyone eats, drinks, chats, and laughs, the personality, temperament, interpersonal skills, and competence of some young women can be discerned through subtle details.

The character of each mother-in-law will be carefully observed by families with daughters. If a woman is mean-spirited, even if her husband is of high status, a mother who loves her daughter will not want to marry into the family and let her daughter end up with a wicked mother-in-law.

If a family has someone they like, they will have their daughters intentionally befriend that young lady, forming a close friendship and inviting each other to their homes. The boys do the same. After getting to know each other for a while, and truly understanding each other's temperament and background, they will then bring up the matter of marriage.

Although there are official matchmakers in the capital, they only serve as a bridge of communication during the stages of marriage negotiation, engagement, and wedding.

However, due to the decline of the Earl of Suiping's Residence, no one in the upper circles was sending them invitations anymore. The Earl of Suiping's Residence lost a very important channel if they wanted to marry their daughters into prominent families.

Now that Princess of Zhennan has sent an invitation to Zhao Ruxi, it's basically offering her a good marriage. With Princess Zhennan's support, and if Zhao Ruxi performs well, her chances of being noticed by the noble ladies and becoming a potential daughter-in-law will greatly increase.

Once Zhao Ruxi understood all this, she directly refused. "No, I don't need to discuss marriage now. I'm still young, I just returned to my grandmother and mother's side, and I want to stay at home for a few more years. Let's consider this matter when I'm seventeen or eighteen."

"Nonsense!" Lady Zhu laughed and scolded. "Seventeen or eighteen years old is already considered an old maid. What good family can you find to marry into at that age? You'll only end up as someone's second wife."

"Uh, really?" Zhao Ruxi felt sorry for the young women of the Great Jin.

A girl of eighteen is in her prime, the most beautiful and youthful time. Yet, in the Great Jin, she's already being rejected?

"Usually, girls are settling down for marriage at fourteen or fifteen. After a year or two of this process, once a suitable family is chosen, they are fifteen or sixteen. At this point, they go through the procedures of betrothal, asking the girl's name, and auspicious date selection. Once these procedures are completed, the girl is seventeen or eighteen, just the right age to get married."

The old lady nodded, agreeing with her daughter-in-law, "That's right. Which good family's daughter doesn't carefully select a husband? If things go smoothly, that's fine, but if not, she might spend a year or two without finding someone she likes, wouldn't that waste her chance to find a husband? The same goes for boys. Good boys are basically engaged by sixteen or seventeen. Those who aren't engaged by seventeen or eighteen usually have some problems."

Zhao Ruxi: "..."

As a single person who was nearly thirty years old in her previous life and had no plans to get married, she had mixed feelings upon hearing these words.

"I don't want to get married," she stated firmly. "My good days have just begun, and I'm already going to have to serve someone else's whole family, follow the rules to serve my mother-in-law, watch my husband's face, and even compete with concubines for his man. Is our family's food not good enough, or is our house not big enough? Do I really want to debase myself like this?"

Before the two could reprimand her, she, under the dark faces of the old lady and Lady Zhu, uttered another harsh remark. "If you force me to go on blind dates and get married, I'll buy a house and move out myself."

These words shocked the old lady and Lady Zhu... or so they thought.

Lady Zhu slapped Zhao Ruxi's arm.

"You silly child, what nonsense are you spouting? What young lady speaks so recklessly? Moving out already? You think you're all grown up now?" Lady Zhu said, while winking at her daughter.

Zhao Ruxi, however, seemed not to understand her meaning, pouting and ignoring her, huffing, "I'm not talking nonsense, that's exactly what I plan to do."