Golden Branch

"A couple of years ago, Lou Yu had a reputation for being a bit of a mischievous kid."

Madam Lou wanted to marry her granddaughter back to her parents' family, and Lou Yu was the best candidate she chose from among the many young men in the various branches of the Lou family.

Although his background was slightly flawed, he was "practical" - he did not have the stigma of being the eldest son of a concubine, but he still gained the favor of Lou Jin and his wife.

He inherited most of the Lou family's ancestral property, and there was no elder to control him.

If Madam Lou was just a simple daughter of the Lou family, she would naturally not think that it was a good thing for Lou Yu to have no elders.

After all, Lou Yu's adoptive grandfather and biological grandfather are both her biological brothers from the same mother.

Mrs. Lou had thought more than once that if her two brothers were still alive, her husband would be fine, and her children and grandchildren would not have fallen to the point they are today.

Unfortunately, no if.

The eldest brother, who was extremely talented, died young.

My heroic and brave second brother also died of illness a few years ago.

Although Madam Lou had other brothers, they were all born out of wedlock.

Madam Lou, who claimed to be a noble legitimate daughter, never took her half-brothers seriously when she was at her mother's home.

In her opinion, those were just bastards like slaves and were not worthy of being her brothers.

When Madam Lou got married, she married the eldest son and grandson of Zheng, a top family in the north.

In Dayu, there is indeed a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, but the gap is not as huge as that between heaven and earth.

In addition, it depends on the specific situation of each family.

If the wife's family is in decline, the husband would not dare to favor a concubine and kill his wife, but he would not allow his wife to arbitrarily suppress illegitimate sons and daughters.

If the wife's family is powerful, the husband naturally would not dare to point fingers at his wife's toughness.

Mrs. Lou was luckier. Even though her brother was not around, her nephew could still support the family.

The Lou family not only did not decline due to the change of dynasties, but instead became a founding father because they chose the right lord.

As the Lou family rose to prominence, Mrs. Lou became more respected in the Zheng family.

In addition, the Zheng family declined——

When the Grand Chancellor of the previous dynasty was in power, the head of the Zheng family chose the wrong side, and several of his sons were dismissed from office.

Later, natural disasters and wars hit the Zheng family, and they suffered a series of disasters and were severely damaged.

The Zheng family has long lost its former glory and is only slightly better off than a poor family.

However, the Zheng family is a clan after all, and they also have in-laws such as the Lou family.

As a result, when the new dynasty was first established, thanks to Lou Jin's recommendation, Madam Lou's second son Zheng Henian became a sixth-rank official in Beijing.

His rank was low and he had no real power, but he was a noble and elegant student in the Imperial Academy.

As long as you gain some experience and have help from relatives and old friends, you can get promoted.

Zheng family, there is hope for revival!

At least that's what Mrs. Lou thought and expected.

My son’s career is set, and the next thing is my grandson’s studies and my granddaughter’s marriage.

The grandson is fine. He is the most intelligent son of the Zheng family and has the family heritage. The teachers who taught him all said he was excellent.

Once he reaches the capital and enters the Imperial College, he will surely become a minister or a prime minister, thus recreating the glory of his great-grandfather.

Next, it’s the granddaughter’s marriage.

Especially Achi, Mrs. Lou herself had no daughter, only two sons.

Her two sons gave her many grandchildren. Grandsons were fine, but most of the granddaughters were born out of wedlock.

Mrs. Lou doesn't care at all.

It was not until the birth of Achi that Mrs. Lou finally realized her dream: she finally had a little girl who inherited her noble blood.

As soon as the little granddaughter turned one month old, Mrs. Lou took her to her side and raised her personally.

His nickname "Abao" and his full name "Zheng Chi" were both chosen by Mrs. Lou herself, meaning "late treasure".

From this we can see that Mrs. Lou loved this little granddaughter very much. Even her second son's wife, whom she had never liked very much, was reluctantly stopped targeting her because she gave birth to her precious granddaughter.

Madam Lou favored Zheng Chi and considered her many things.

Speaking of which, Zheng Chi is not very old, he is ten years old this year.

However, in the Dayu Dynasty, girls could get married at the age of fifteen. Young girls from powerful families basically started dating at the age of eleven or twelve, got engaged at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and got married at the age of fifteen or sixteen.

Ten years old, not too young, but not too old either.

Mrs. Lou had a plan in place. She wanted to let the two children try to get along with each other first. If they got along well, they could then arrange for an engagement.

If Ah Chi looks down on Lou Yu, or if there are any setbacks, then we can just let it go.

After all, Achi is still young, so even if the marriage fails and the news leaks out, he can still make excuses such as being young and being siblings.

When it comes to her granddaughter's marriage, Mrs. Lou will not directly bring in the identity of the Lou family, but will consider it from the perspective of "in-laws": there are no elders, which means that after the granddaughter gets married, she will not have to serve her mother-in-law.

Mrs. Lou is a woman herself, and she rose from being a granddaughter-in-law to a lady.

She knew very well that for a woman, when getting married, the most important thing is not the husband, but the mother-in-law, or even the great-grandmother-in-law.

It is not uncommon for aristocratic families to have lasted for hundreds of years and have large populations and four generations living under the same roof.

When a teenage bride gets married, she is very likely to face two or even three mothers-in-law.

If the mother-in-law is not kind and the elders do not love the bride, the life of the bride will be difficult.

The key point is that due to the pressure of filial piety, as long as no one is killed, the daughter's parents cannot support her.

Even Madam Lou herself had to deal with a lot of trouble for her two biological sons' wives and more than a dozen illegitimate sons' wives.

After decades of intrigue in the backyard, Mrs. Lou knew too well the methods used by her mother-in-law to "train" her daughter-in-law.

She didn't want the baby she had raised to be bullied by others.

In this regard, Lou Yu has a great advantage.

As long as Achi marries Lou Yu, she will be the mistress of the house.

There is no need to set rules in front of the mother-in-law, nor to deal with a bunch of concubines, diwas, aunts and younger sisters-in-law.

As long as Madam Lou put aside her identity as a daughter of the Lou family and simply looked at him from the perspective of her family, she would feel that Lou Yu was far superior in terms of family relations.

It can completely cover up his identity as a bastard born to a maid or concubine!

Thinking of this, the last bit of criticism that Mrs. Lou had towards Lou Yu disappeared.

She held Zheng Chi's hand and said gently, "Even if Dalang had a bad reputation in the past, it's not entirely his fault!"

"During those years, your uncle was away leading troops and had no time to look after Dalang, so he had no choice but to entrust him to Cui."

When mentioning Madam Cui, her cheap second sister-in-law, Madam Lou's eyes flashed with disdain.

Humph, a mere second wife is no match for her previous sister-in-law.

But she pretends to be gentle and kind all day long.

She is younger than me, but she always acts like the elder sister-in-law.

How could she be worthy of it!

Madam Lou not only advocates legitimate children, but also places special emphasis on the original wife.

Cui was the second wife and the vicious stepmother of her good nephew, and Madam Lou looked down on her.

Now, Madam Lou wants to recruit Lou Yu as her grandson-in-law. Naturally, she has no good words for Cui, who once praised Lou Yu to death.

"Achi, let me tell you, there are many such insidious methods in this inner house."

"If she is a legitimate mother who loves her grandson, she will never punish him even if he makes a big mistake, and she will not let any rumors spread."

"But if it's a step-grandmother, or if she doesn't love her grandson, even if the grandson is only three times wrong, they can make it ten times wrong and publicize it for everyone to know!"

"...Mrs. Cui is Dalang's step-grandmother. When Dalang was first sent to live with Mrs. Cui, he was only four or five years old. How could a boy of that age not be naughty?"

"In just two years, Dalang's reputation for mischief has spread to us, even though we're thousands of miles away. Do you think that's normal?"

Mrs. Lou not only wants to introduce Lou Yu to her granddaughter, but also takes the opportunity to teach her various tricks in the harem.

Just flattery!

It's cliché, but useful.

However, Cui chose the wrong person. Lou Jin was not a fool who didn't love his son, and Lou Yu was not a poor little person who could be manipulated by others.

"And these are all things of the past. Now, Dalang has been adopted and has become the heir of the eldest son's family. Cui is just a great-aunt from the next family. Even if she wants to make trouble again, she can't do anything to Dalang."

If the name is not right, the words will not flow.

Cui was a person who was used to pretending, so she would naturally not break the rules or ruin her reputation.

"In the past two years in Hedong, Dalang has been studying with several great scholars. I heard that he even set up the Dongshan Academy. Even the Princess of Qi is paying close attention to him!"

Mentioning Dongshan Academy, Madam Lou seemed to have thought of something and said to Zheng Chi: "Ah Chi, if you go to Hedong, you can stay here under the pretext of studying!"

Mrs. Lou was just passing by, but she wanted to give her granddaughter some time to spend with Lou Yu.

Along the way, Mrs. Lou came up with several excuses.

1. My granddaughter is feeling unwell and cannot continue on her journey. She needs to stay in Hedong to recuperate temporarily.

Second, study.

Although the Deyin Hall of Dongshan Academy was newly established, Mrs. Lou did not trust it very much.

However, this women's branch is valued by Princess Qi, and the female students in the branch may also become a qualification in the future.

The most important point is that studying has more positive meaning than being "sick".

Being sick or something like that would easily make people suspect that Zheng Chi was in poor health.

For an unmarried girl, being "sickly" is not a good reputation.

It’s better to study.

Mrs. Lou did not ask her granddaughter to learn proper knowledge in Deyin Hall, she just hoped that she could get along well with Lou Yu.

They are cousins, the closest relatives.

Add to that the friendship they shared while studying together and being childhood sweethearts... marriage is a natural progression!

Mrs. Lou's calculations were very good, but she had overlooked only one point -

Lou Yu is not an ordinary ten-year-old boy. He is the wolf cub who is most unwilling to be controlled.

Perhaps, Mrs. Lou did not fail to think of Lou Yu as the person involved, but she still habitually treated Lou Yu as a child.

Marriage is a major matter and should be decided by the elders.

If Zheng Chi is satisfied and Lou Yu doesn't look so terrible, Madam Lou will directly write a letter to Lou Jin and make an engagement.

If Lou Jin is always away fighting and is not able to handle these matters, Madam Lou can also go to Dugu.

Dugu was not a second wife, but the original wife of noble birth. Madam Lou was willing to look upon her niece-in-law with a higher regard because of this status!

Dugu should also be able to decide Dalang’s marriage!

“…Achi always listens to grandma!”

Zheng Chi Sheng was slender and pretty. Although she was only ten years old, she had the shyness of a little girl.

She also understood that her grandmother wanted to marry her to her cousin from the Lou family.

No matter how much, she won't understand.

But, she has a great mother who loves her the most. Her great mother is the most powerful and will arrange everything for her. She just needs to be obedient.

"My Achi is the best——" He deserves the best.

Lou Yu, it’s okay!

Mrs. Lou put her arm around her granddaughter's shoulders, smiling lovingly, but her eyes flickered with determination.

……

The convoy followed the path and arrived in front of the Lou family fort.

First, there was a moat about two meters wide, surrounding a small city.

The city walls are high and strong, and there are soldiers in armor patrolling on the walls.

The city gates were thrown wide open and the drawbridge lowered.

Lou Yu was wearing a lilac-colored round-necked robe and standing at the foot of the city gate with his hands hanging down.

Although you may dislike the other person as an uninvited guest, since you have to pretend and be a humble gentleman, you must understand the rules and observe etiquette.

When a distinguished guest comes to visit, the host should go out to greet him from afar.

Lou Yu felt that he was already very polite. However, Mrs. Lou, who was sitting in the carriage and looking at Lou Yu from afar through the window, frowned slightly: It was just a casual robe, not formal enough!

However, considering that Lou Yu is so young and has to be in charge of his own affairs, it is inevitable that he will act inconsiderately.

Well, the good outweighs the bad. Once his marriage with Achi is settled, I, as his elder, can teach him well.

Suppressing the unhappiness in her heart, the carriage stopped, Madam Lou lifted the door curtain, held the hand of the servant, and got out of the carriage.

"Lou Yu greets his great aunt!"

Lou Yu bowed forward and saluted politely.

His manners were excellent, and his movements impeccable.

Even the picky Madam Lou couldn't help but nod secretly: What a well-behaved, elegant and handsome young man.

If someone who didn't know the details saw him, just looking at his appearance and demeanor, they would definitely not think that he was a bastard born to a maid or concubine, let alone believe that he was once a notorious naughty child.

Such character and appearance are even more worthy of Achi!

Mrs. Lou had a bit of the mentality of a mother-in-law, and the more she looked at Lou Yu, the more satisfied she became.

Lou Yu didn't show it on his face, but the little man in his heart was frowning: What's that look in this old woman's eyes?

Look around?

Valuation?

Are you treating Ye Ye as a commodity?

Humph, Ye Ye is the head of the eldest branch of the Lou family, not a Kunlun slave or Silla maid in the human market. How could he allow himself to be picked on like this?

Lou Yu had already determined that the Zheng family were uninvited guests, and now he took note of it.

The uninvited guest was successfully promoted to a bad guest.

However, Lou Yu's disguise was really good. Although he secretly despised her in his heart, his fair and delicate face still showed the humility and submissiveness of a junior.

"Don't be so polite, Dalang! We're all family, no need to be so polite!"

Mrs. Lou said there was no need to be so polite, but she still let Lou Yu do the whole thing.

Then, he gently raised his hand and gave it some support.

She looked at Lou Yu carefully, the smile on her face growing wider: "Resemble! Dalang looks a lot like Ajin."

In ancient times, if a son resembled his father, it was considered a compliment.

The villain in Lou Yu's heart was disgusted: Oh, you old woman, your eyes are blurry due to your age.

Do I look like Lou Jin?

I cherish it.

Madam Lou couldn't hear what Lou Yu was thinking. She exchanged a few words with Lou Yu, thinking she was praising him, and then called over several children from the Zheng family.

Focus on introducing Zheng Chi: "Da Lang, this is A Chi, your cousin!"

cousin?

Lou Yu glanced at Zheng Chi, who was as thin as a bean sprout, and suddenly thought: If we strictly follow the rules of the aristocratic family, the fat girl and I can be considered cousins!