Discussion

"If you insist on him doing it himself, in the end, he'll have to sacrifice himself and his fiancée just to avoid upsetting his younger siblings. This is a major life event for him, and if you, as his father, don't step in and make arrangements, then I'll tell Young Master Li to pretend he doesn't have a father and abandon you. Anyway, I raised him; he doesn't owe you anything. You can decide what to do."

Zhao Yuanliang immediately shrank back, repeatedly assuring, "I know, I know, I'll go back and check the account books, and plan things out carefully. No matter when they reply, I'll prepare everything here first. I'll show the betrothal gift list to my sister-in-law the day after tomorrow; it'll only be approved if you approve. What do you think?"

"That's more like it." Lady Zhu's expression softened slightly.

She turned to Zhao Jingli and said, "Your father is unreliable, so you'll have to keep an eye on things yourself. Don't be shy; you're the eldest son, and according to the family division rules, you should get 70%. Your wedding dowry and your wife's betrothal gifts must be better than your younger siblings', otherwise she won't be able to manage the household and will be the root of family chaos. So don't overthink it; what's yours will be yours."

"If you're doing well, and your younger siblings aren't, you can at least help them out. If you leave your things to them, and they can't hold onto them, then they become someone else's property, and you won't be able to help them even if you want to. So you need to be clear-headed about this and not make a mistake. Don't ruin a perfectly good marriage."

As soon as Lady Zhu turned to him, Zhao Jingli stood up to listen to the reprimand. As he listened, his eyes slowly reddened.

After Lady Zhu finished speaking, he should have said, "Auntie is right, I will remember."

But he simply refused to say those words.

He wanted to call her "Mother," not "Auntie."

Only Lady Zhu still treated him like a son, which is why she was so concerned about his marriage. Only a broad-minded girl like Zhao Ruxi wouldn't mind Lady Zhu's kindness to her.

He was grateful to those two people for the rest of his life.

He will treat them well for the rest of his life.

The He Family of four returned home, Master He. He inquired about the situation from Lady Wang and He Zhi. Hearing that Lady Wang and He Zhi both held a positive view of the Zhao Family, he then looked at He Yuqi and asked, "What are your thoughts?"

He Zhi immediately retorted, "If I hadn't stopped her, my sister would have agreed to the marriage right then and there."

He Yuqi glared at her brother fiercely. "Nonsense. I didn't."

He Zhi touched his nose, unwilling to argue with his sister about this issue.

Lady Wang then looked at Master He curiously. "What kind of person is Second Master Zhao?"

If the father-in-law is muddle-headed, then this marriage needs to be reconsidered.

Although Master He was extremely pleased with Zhao Yuanliang at the Earl of Suiping's Residence, and the two quickly became close friends, he remained quite clear-headed.

He said, "He's a good person, very frank, and says he doesn't like to worry about things. He'll leave the household affairs to Eldest Young Master Zhao. If Yuqi marries into the family, she'll be the matriarch, and the young couple will manage all the household matters."

He also said that he had no plans to remarry or have any more children. He felt the current number of children was enough; more would be troublesome, worrisome, and expensive. He added that if his second son failed the preliminary examination next year, he would have to find a way to make a living and not just stay at home and eat for free. The family's assets were limited, and they simply couldn't afford to support so many people who were freeloading.

Finally, he concluded, "When I first heard Zhuangyuan Zhao tell Yuqi that her Second Master Zhao. But after meeting him today, I think he's a very sensible man. He lives with great clarity. He knows he can't do things himself, and he can't afford to worry about them. He avoids causing trouble for the children whenever possible."

Lady Wang looked around at the group and asked, "So, this marriage is settled then?"

Master He said, "It's settled then."

He Zhi and He Yuqi both nodded.

Master He said to He Zhi, "Go to the capital first thing tomorrow morning. First, visit Eldest Young Master Zhao, sit at his house, and see what's around you. If you like it, go to the gate of the Earl of Suiping's Residence and deliver a letter. There's no male head of the household there, so come back after you deliver the letter."

"Yes." He Zhi nodded in agreement.

Although it's impolite to be an uninvited guest, without doing so, one wouldn't be able to see the true state of the Zhao Family's second branch. If Zhao Family second branch is cramped, messy, and the servants are unruly, then he'd have to reconsider this marriage proposal.

After the He Family left, Zhao Ruxi stopped caring about the matter. In any case, if Lady He didn't agree to the marriage, the matter was over; if she did agree, the rest was none of her business, and neither was Lady Zhu.

In ancient times, the process from engagement to marriage was complicated, requiring the matchmaker to make seven or eight trips back and forth, sometimes even more than ten. Since the women were about to leave the capital, they had no time to act as matchmakers. In the end, they had to hire an official matchmaker.

When Zhao Jingli gets married, neither Zhao Yuanxun nor she can leave their posts and will be unable to return; the old lady is too old to travel back if she doesn't want to. Only Lady Zhu will come back for a wedding feast and that will be the end of it.

Given Lady Zhu's feelings for Zhao Jingli, she will definitely give him some money as a betrothal gift. Zhao Ruxi will not concern herself with these matters.

"Mother, I'm going to see my master," Zhao Ruxi said to Lady Zhu as she stood up.

"It's time to go," said Lady Zhu. "I was thinking of hosting a banquet to thank your master, Lord Peng, Grand Princess Shangde, Madam Cui, and the others. Without them, even your intelligence is useless."

"Okay, I think so too," Zhao Ruxi said. "Let's have the male guests at the restaurant and the female guests at home. You won't have to worry about it. Even if we have them at home, we can just order the food from the restaurant."

Lady Zhu nodded in agreement. "That's good, that's fine."

Cooking at home involves a lot of work and is quite tedious, including planning the menu, buying ingredients, and arranging a chef. It's better to just order from a restaurant. Everyone knows they have a busy schedule, so booking a table is understandable.

"Then don't leave yet. Write the invitations down and take them to your master and fellow disciples in a bit. If you want to invite other people, such as Lord Peng from the Imperial Academy, ask your fellow disciple to take them over after the morning court session tomorrow. Although it may seem a bit disrespectful, they will understand since you are a girl."

"Yes, Mother, you've thought of everything." Zhao Ruxi flattered her, went back to her own courtyard to write a stack of invitations, and then went out with them.

Although today is a day off, Wu Huaisi never rests. Whenever there is something to do at the yamen, he always has to deal with it. Now is the most important time to send officials, and even if the list is released, he cannot rest.

Therefore, she arranged to meet her master, eldest senior brother, and second senior brother at the hour of Shen (3-5 PM).

She wanted to learn from her senior classmates' experience as local officials.

As for Wu Zong, his appointment letter has arrived, and he will have to take up his post soon. He will be very busy handing over the reins to his successor; moreover, he has no experience in overseas assignments, so Zhao Ruxi did not make an appointment with him today.