I'm a humble concubine. My acting skills are off the charts. You can check my performance.

Because of his bravery in rescuing Zhao Fangjin, Zhao Fangyu completely left Zhao Fangwei behind.

But it’s not easy to say this out loud as it might damage his reputation, so he just told others that the many rewards given by the eldest lady were all because of the good business in the shop.

Zhao Fangwei and Zhao Fangyun haven’t decided what to do with their shop yet.

Zhao Fangyun wanted to sell incense like Zhao Fangyu, but Zhao Fangwei wanted to sell embroidery, or at least open a tea shop.

The shops allocated to them were only a few steps away from Zhao Fangyu's Fourteen States. If they all opened perfume shops, they would definitely not be able to compete with the Fourteen States for business.

But with Zhao Fangyun's brain, he could only see that the business in the Fourteen States was booming and the spice business was profitable. How could he have imagined the value and uniqueness of Zhao Fangyu's fragrant dew?

But behind Zhao Fangyun there is a concubine named Song who loves her so much that she doesn't know right from wrong, and she always uses filial piety to pressure her...

Thinking of the one-year period agreed upon with the First Lady, Zhao Fangwei felt a severe headache.

Finally, he had to take advantage of the Madam's momentum and said, "The Madam values Xiao Si now. The Fourteen States are just places where the Madam lets Xiao Si work for the Big Sister for free. All the money earned is given to the Big Sister. If we go to steal the business, isn't that clearly opposing the Big Sister?"

Aunt Song thought about it and agreed.

Zhao Fangyun was still not convinced, but he was no longer obsessed with the spice business in the Fourteen States.

A month later, a tea shop appeared next to Fourteen States.

They sell all kinds of cooked drinks and snacks, as well as small items such as round fans and scrolls.

The business is not as prosperous as that in the Fourteen States, but the noble ladies from the Fourteen States will often stop in the tea shop for a while to have a bowl of abalone or other snacks.

The eldest prince had been waiting outside the Fourteen States for a long time, but he never met Zhao Fangjin again. Even the little girl who had ruined his plans had never appeared again.

The eldest lady silently accelerated the pace, and the day of engagement between the Zhao and Song families was getting closer.

The eldest prince was also having troubles in the court. A junior censor from the Li family in the Censorate complained to him every other day. Today he complained about his untidy clothes, yesterday he complained about his rude words and deeds, and sometimes he complained about his extravagance...

Even vaguely, you may encounter some resistance when working.

I was already very upset that my sweetheart was going to marry into the Song family, and now these dirty little things came to disturb me!

The eldest prince asked Pei Yan to secretly put a sack on the censor and beat him up. As a result, the next day, the entire Censorate began to oppose him, saying that the eldest prince was extremely powerful, but that everyone in their Censorate was tough and that if he had the guts, he could beat everyone in the Censorate to death. Otherwise, the Censorate would definitely keep an eye on the eldest prince's every word and action and make him set a good example for the other princes.

The eldest prince:......

The eldest prince gradually became numb to being reported every other day. Finally, one day before the engagement of the Zhao and Song families, he intercepted Zhao Minshan on his way to the government office while he was leaving the court.

The eldest prince, dressed in gorgeous clothes, invited Zhao Minshan to a secluded place and said without hesitation: "I once had the honor of meeting your daughter at the Duke of Li's mansion, and I fell in love with her ever since. I wonder if Lord Zhao is willing to marry his daughter to the royal family."

Zhao Minshan lowered his eyes for a moment, looking troubled. Zhao Minshan, who was over 40 years old, was no longer an old-fashioned man that the eldest prince could see through. He said his dilemma in a few words: "A gentleman values his promise. My daughter has been promised to the eldest son of the Minister of Personnel. Although we haven't been engaged yet, the engagement letter has been exchanged, so it's not easy to change it."

The imperial palace was not a very good place, and Zhao Minshan was reluctant to let his eldest daughter enter the palace.

The eldest prince sneered upon hearing this, and his aura gradually became colder and colder: "Why, Lord Zhao, do you think that the royal family is not worthy of your daughter?"

Zhao Minshan immediately knelt down on the ground, almost performing a solemn ceremony of worship: "Your Highness, this really terrifies me!"

"My little girl is so pretty that she cannot be married to either family."

Before the eldest prince could say something else, some officials around him were already glancing at him dimly because of Zhao Minshan's kneeling.

Seeing those bastards from the Censorate rushing over with jade scepters in hand, the eldest prince quickly picked up Zhao Minshan and turned away!

Zhao Minshan faced everyone's strange looks, stood up calmly, brushed off the dust on his body, and slowly walked to the Ministry of Revenue holding the jade scepter.

·

The engagement between the Zhao and Song families went smoothly and Zhao Fangyu and Zhao Fangjin both breathed a sigh of relief.

The eldest lady also told them a good news.

"Your grandfather said that since you don't want to, even the prince will never force me to marry him. He has greeted his old friends and fellow students, so you can just prepare for your marriage."

Thinking of the words in her father's letter, the eldest lady couldn't help but shed tears: "My dear Jin'er, thank goodness your grandfather loves you."

Fortunately, Zhao Fangjin had such a noble family background. Otherwise, who, born in a poor family, would give up his future and rebel against the royal family for the sake of a daughter?

The eldest lady rubbed Zhao Fangjin, and looking at Zhao Fangyu who was in a daze beside her, she rubbed her too.

"Don't worry. Since you are registered under my name, the Li family will also be your in-laws from now on."

When the eldest lady thought of Zhao Fangyu's behavior over the years, she couldn't help but have some illusions.

Maybe Zhao Fangyu was supposed to be her child, but accidentally ended up in Aunt Qian's belly. With the way they are now, what's the difference between them and having a biological child?

The marriages of the eldest son and daughter were not smooth, but Zhao Fangyu had made real efforts and helped in the right ways. Otherwise, the eldest lady would not have realized that Yue Lanxuan was so ambitious and wanted to destroy the relationship between Zhao Zhihuai and the Mei family.

The more she thought about it, the more she drifted away. The eldest lady pulled herself back to her senses, hugged Zhao Fangyu in her arms and took a good look at him. The more she looked, the more she felt that Zhao Fangyu seemed somewhat like her.

Thinking of what Zhao Minshan had said to her, the eldest lady couldn't bear to send a child as thoughtful and grateful as Zhao Fangyu to the palace to be tortured by the royal family.

The eldest lady took off the pair of precious mutton-fat and gold-inlaid tri-color bracelets from her wrists, put one on each of her two little daughters' wrists, and instructed them:

"This is the dowry your grandmother gave me. I will unpack it and divide it among you today. In the future, you should help each other and keep your distance."

Zhao Fangjin had already treated Zhao Fangyu as his own sister in their daily interactions. Seeing the eldest lady acting in this way, he was even more delighted.

"You don't have to think too much about it from now on. You are registered under my name, so you are my child."

Fearing that Zhao Fangyu would worry about Aunt Qian, the first lady added, "She will not suffer any loss in terms of food, clothing and other expenses at Caiyue Courtyard, so you can rest assured."

The eldest lady came from a prominent family and had many skills, but she didn't need to worry so much about the Zhao family's backyard, nor did she need to use any tricks to get rid of the mother and keep the son.

On the contrary, the better she treats Aunt Qian, the more grateful Fang Yu will be to her.

The eldest lady was holding two children, one on each side, with Zhao Fangmo, who was sleeping soundly after playing tiredly, next to her. She was so considerate that she didn't know what to do for a moment.

How could such a good child enter the palace and ruin his life because of Zhao Minshan’s selfishness?

There were no girls in her courtyard to be concubines, so Zhao Minshan would give whichever daughter he liked to her. Anyway, Zhao Fangjin and Zhao Fangyu were both hers, so her children could not be controlled by Zhao Minshan.