Qī Yòu also had expectations for the new bride, due to Qī Zhèn's reminder, and also because Huā Jiā's third young lady was clearly favored but remained unknown under her older sister's limelight.

  The atmosphere of the martial arts world and the imperial court is different. In Taiyuan, women can become famous for their virtue, beauty, talent, or cleverness, but in the martial arts world, women are even bolder. They dare to wear revealing clothing, drink strong liquor, ride fierce horses, compete with men, kill their husbands if they have an affair, or directly divorce them.

  The imperial court has always been wary of the martial arts world and keeps records of all the famous figures in it, and the Huas are no exception. The eldest son of the Hua family is renowned for his exceptional talent, with a swordsmanship that is said to be on par with his father's. As for Hua Ruyue, she is well-known for her ruthlessness, her stunning beauty, and her unique way of choosing a husband. However, there is no record of the third daughter, Hua Ruchu.

  When he knew he was going to be married into the Hua family, the prince re-examined the Hua family. He remembered clearly that Mr. and Mrs. Hua, Hua Ruyi, Hua Rumeng, and Hua Rumeng's husband Yan Ke had all used a lot of words to interpret, but the third daughter of the Hua family, Hua Ruichu, only had a few short sentences.

  "Hua Ru Chu, the third young lady of the Hua family, was doted on by her family and had a timid personality. She rarely left the house and especially loved luxurious living. The Hua family's several expansions and renovations were all because of her."

  Now that I think about it, the Hua family's preparation of a ten-mile red wedding for Hua Ruochu was probably not just because they doted on her, there must be something else that they didn't know.

  If that's really the case, then this Miss Hua San is quite interesting. She can deceive the imperial court and even the people around the crown prince, which is no longer just impressive.

  "Yu'er, you take this."

  Looking at the box stuffed into his hands, Qi You didn't need to look to know what was inside. Without thinking, he wanted to return it, but the old man spoke up, "Keep it, there's not much."

  Qī Yòu silently handed it back to his elderly grandmother, and now no one knows the situation of the Qī estate better than him. The family is large, but the business is small. In recent years, the Qī family has repeatedly cut expenses, but the situation hasn't improved much, barely holding on.

  He is by the prince's side and is the most capable person of the prince. Not to mention that he doesn't have time to take care of the affairs in the mansion, even if he does, he can't change the situation in the mansion, his expertise lies elsewhere.

  "The crown prince did not treat me unfairly."

  The old lady stroked the wooden box with some age, her face showing a bit of fatigue, not just because of today's mental labor, but also because she had spent too much heart to support the Qi Manor over the years. Those juniors below didn't know how to do things right, only knew how to ask her for help, and couldn't even lend a hand to the family, let alone the constant bickering every day.

  Sometimes she really wanted to hand over the Qi family to them, an empty shell of the Qi family, and see how much more harm they could cause.

  "It's good to have such a generous dowry, and it also gives our family some face. But we can't just go empty-handed when asking for the bride's dowry. Today's display is too grand, and marrying into our family will be a big deal. On the wedding day, those careless ones might cause trouble, all because of this face-saving gesture. This silver money can't let her outdo us. When the time comes, you give these to her, don't let the new daughter-in-law have any misconceptions about our family as soon as she enters the door. Others may have the possibility of divorce, but for you two, even if you fight to the death, you'll still have to spend your lives together. Grandma wants you to live comfortably."

  Qī Yòu felt his heart was like soaking in warm water, all his limbs and bones emitting warmth, just because of these two old men, because of their expectations, he had to follow the crown prince since childhood, due to the crown prince's needs, he had to learn how to control his temper from a young age, make people unable to see what he was thinking from his expression, forcing himself to learn to be expressionless, forcing himself to learn to answer others' questions with the shortest words possible, not letting anyone see any flaws.

  When I was a kid, I got tired and cried and made trouble, then my grandfather would hit me. At that time, I also hated him, hated the fact that I had to come back here, hated it so much that I wanted to jump into the Grand Canal and die. As I grew up slowly, I understood the difficulties of my grandparents and gradually came to understand, but still couldn't get close to them, until these two years when things got a little better.

  But at this moment, all the estrangements seemed to have been broken with a snap. If he had previously regarded the Qi family as a burden, now he felt that the Qi Manor was a responsibility he must take on. His grandparents were really old and should rest well.

  He swallowed the lump in his throat and revealed a barely visible smile, "I have some silver coins on hand, enough to use."

  "The Qi Manor has many people to take care of, and if you include the side branches, the amount of money won't be small. Yu'er, these are all your grandmother's private savings, originally meant for you, now it's just being given to you a bit earlier, so keep them."

  Qī Yǒ shook his head firmly, stood up and prepared to leave, "I'll go take a look at the new house, Shuāng Zhǐ, ā Wén, you two serve well."

  "Yes, young master."

  "Grandfather, grandmother, rest well, everything will be taken care of by me."

  Watching his grandson's tall figure leave his line of sight, the old man's voice trembled as he asked his companion for confirmation, "Did he mean that I shouldn't worry about the Qi family anymore?"

  The old lady wiped the corner of her eyes, and her hands holding the box were trembling. "Yes, our Yu'er has grown up and learned to consider us. I thought my old wife wouldn't live to see this day."

  Qī Yòu is the kind of person who, once he makes up his mind, will definitely do it. The two elderly people who raised him naturally knew this, and from a young age, they forcibly imposed on him a shackle called the Qī family name. They weren't unrepentant, but as a noble family, one rises or falls together. Without the Qī family, there would be no Qī Yòu; if the Qī family were to disappear, it would be difficult for Qī Yòu to make a name for himself, like trying to climb to heaven. The two elderly people have always been waiting, waiting for the day when Qī Yòu would come around, and now, they've finally waited for that day to arrive.

  The old man stood up with his cane and said, "I'll go pay my respects to our ancestors' memorial tablets. I won't be joining you for lunch."

  The old lady stood up and followed him, "I'll go with you, we have to pay our respects properly."

  Having given his grandparents a promise, Qi You thought he would feel a heavy pressure, but all the way here, he actually only felt relaxed. After careful consideration, it was natural that from birth to now, when was he not carrying the honor and shame of the Qi family? It's just that before, it was forced, unavoidable, he had no choice, and now it has become voluntary.

  His surname is Qi, he's a member of the Qi family. In fact, since birth, he had no choice. Why must he stubbornly make things difficult for himself?

  "Yu'er, you've finally come back! How was it? Have you seen the bride?"

  Recognizing his mother's voice, Qiyou turned around, but unlike when he was facing his grandparents, he became formal and distant, "Mother."

  Qī Wǔ's family got used to her son's coldness, but in her heart, she couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness. After all, this was her own flesh and blood!

  "I heard that in Yangzhou, it's quite common for couples to meet before getting married. Have you met?"

  Qī Yòu slightly shook his head, "The Huas are following our Taiyuan's rules."

  "Qi Wu was even more pleased with the new daughter-in-law, and his words carried a hint of meaning. 'It seems that the Huas are quite sensible, giving the Qis face and making this new daughter-in-law look good too. That's the right way to think. Yu'er, hurry back inside and take a look, just the bed in the new room is enough to open your eyes wide. I've had Xiaotao keep an eye on that courtyard of yours, you be careful too, don't let anyone muddy the waters. If things don't add up in the future, the Qis will lose face.'"

  "Yes, thank you."

  PS: A new week has begun, bring on the recommendation votes! If there are many recommendation votes, I'll still post an update. Hehe, if there aren't many recommendation votes... I should still post an update anyway.