Marrying the Crown Prince

Under Du's management, the profits of Gao's shops increased visibly. She was not greedy. After deducting shop expenses and manager's dividends, the remaining silver was divided into two parts each year, one part was given to Zhou Zhou and the other part was given to Zhou Cheng'an.

When the two children received the silver for the first time, they were dumbfounded. They looked at each other and, without prior arrangement, took the silver to Madam Du's courtyard to return it to her.

After hearing the purpose of the visit, Madam Du was speechless. "If I give you money, you should just accept it. Why are you so eager to send it over?"

"You can't accept something for nothing. You've been managing this shop all along, so naturally you should keep the money you've earned." Zhou Cheng'an shook his head, repeating the same old argument.

Seeing that the two of them were still stubborn, Madam Du said directly and bluntly, "What would I do with this little bit of money? It's not even enough for my Du family's expenses for half a month."

"You can keep it without worry, I have plenty of money!" Seeing that they were still looking on in a daze, Madam Du added another sentence.

Indeed, the Du family lacked everything except money.

The Zhou siblings had no choice but to accept it.

Once there was a beginning, there was a future. Every December thereafter, Zhou Zhou and Zhou Cheng'an would receive the profits from the Gao family's shop sent by the Du family.

With savings of eight hundred to a thousand, Zhou Zhou was already quite wealthy.

Besides catching up with old friends, she also came to discuss matters related to the shop. "I've been saving the silver my mother sends me every year, and now it adds up to four thousand taels."

"I want to use these four thousand taels to open a new shop and manage it. I also want to learn from you how to do business. What do you think?" Zhou Zhou said in one breath.

It's a good thing that the child wants to learn as they get older, and Mrs. Du couldn't think of any reason to object, but she still asked again and again, "Have you thought this through?"

Zhou Zhou nodded solemnly, "As you know, after the New Year, the palace no longer needs companions. Anyway, I'm just idling at home, so I might as well find something to do."

“Alright, I’ll help you find a location first. After the New Year, we can go and take a look at the shops together.” Madam Du was a straightforward person. Seeing that Zhou Zhou’s decision was not impulsive, she immediately agreed. At the same time, she didn’t forget Zhou Yue’s place, “You’re getting older, so you can learn from her when the time comes.”

Zhou Yue blinked, her reaction slow.

Madam Du patted her shoulder and said earnestly, "Good child, in this world, people's hearts are cold, only money is real."

These words sounded pessimistic, prompting Zhou Zhou to glance at Madam Du a few more times out of curiosity, secretly wondering: Could it be that his father favored his concubine over his wife? But that doesn't make sense; he hadn't heard of any particularly favored concubine in the household.

Zhou Laowu was not a lustful person. Apart from Zhou Yue's birth mother, Xu, no new concubines had been added to the courtyard so far.

Xu was indeed favored and had been arrogant a few times, but Du had to pin her down and rub her hard several times before she finally behaved.

That's right, it's friction in the physical sense.

Among the dowry that the Du family gave to Du Shi were more than a dozen burly, rough-looking maids.

Of course, Zhou Laowu was furious when Xu was beaten, but he was also subdued by those rough-looking old women.

When the old lady heard about this, she paused in turning her prayer beads. "Did anything else happen?"

Of course, what the old lady meant was that Zhou Laowu wasn't injured, right?

"The Fifth Madam's group of old women were very careful in their actions."

After hearing the answer, the old lady hesitated for a while, but ultimately decided it was best not to interfere.

After this incident happened a few times, Madam Xu no longer dared to go to Madam Du's courtyard. Of course, Zhou Laowu also didn't want to go to Madam Du's courtyard, and even had the idea of ​​divorcing his wife. Then he was beaten up by the old Marquis.

While Zhou Laowu was being beaten, Du Shi was not idle either. She quickly grabbed the old Marquis's leg and pleaded for Zhou Laowu, "Father-in-law, if such a big stick comes down, my husband will lose half his life."

The old Marquis could lay a hand on his own good-for-nothing son, but he couldn't say anything harsh to his daughter-in-law, so he could only let Zhou Laowu go.

Seeing that Du had stood up for him against his father, Zhou Laowu was deeply moved. He happily took Du's hand and led her back to the courtyard, thus ending the farce.

After hearing about this, Zhou Zhou re-evaluated Du Shi: Everyone said she was reckless, but in reality she was incredibly bold and meticulous. She was truly a woman who, when she spoke, amazed everyone.

Indeed, if she were truly a naive person, she would probably have been exploited and ruined by other unscrupulous businessmen long ago, and there would be no name for her as Miss Du.

Indeed, even after marrying, the merchants still addressed Madam Du as Miss Du, which speaks volumes about her shrewdness.

After reminiscing, seeing that it was almost time, Zhou Zhou and Zhou Yue got up to take their leave.

Seeing that they were leaving so soon, Madam Du was a little reluctant to let them go. "Are you really not going to have lunch here before you leave?"

Faced with her repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, Zhou Zhou patiently explained, "I promised Grandmother yesterday that I would have dinner with her today."

"Alright then." Madam Du looked regretful and told her maid to see the two of them off.

Seeing the two young ladies leave, Du's personal maid couldn't help but say, "Madam is truly kind to the two young ladies, and fortunately, the two young ladies are grateful to Madam."

Yes, they were beautiful, which made Madam Du fall in love with them at first sight.

But the reason why Mrs. Du became close to them was entirely because the children were all grateful people—they knew who was good to them.

“Everyone says it’s hard to be a stepmother, but I think it’s pretty good. I don’t have to give birth to her myself to have such a smart, sensible, and filial child. No matter how you look at it, it’s a win-win situation,” Madam Du said with a smile.

After meeting with Madam Du, Zhou Zhou went to visit the old lady and the old marquis's room.

There's not much to say about the old lady; she just inquired about the situation of Consort Mei, Li Zichen, and Li Zixi.

Although Consort Mei is no longer favored as before, she is pregnant with a son and a daughter. No one in the palace with a brain dares to provoke her, lest they bring trouble upon themselves.

When Zhou Zhou arrived at the old Marquis's place, he was surprised to find that the old Marquis was not playing chess, but painting. Just as Zhou Zhou arrived, the old Marquis put down his brush.

The old Marquis happily beckoned to Zhou Zhou, "Come, take a look at my new calligraphy."

Zhou Zhou looked over and saw that the painting did not depict the plum garden in snow as he had imagined, but rather a scene of peach blossoms in full bloom in spring.

Zhou Zhou, recalling the rumors she'd heard in the palace, understood immediately. "Grandfather, do you intend to invite your granddaughter to the peach blossom banquet in early spring?"

The old marquis stroked his beard, a smile playing on his lips. "So, the Peach Blossom Banquet is true?"

Rumor has it that next spring, the palace will hold a peach blossom banquet to select wives for the unmarried Crown Prince and Fifth Prince, as well as husbands for the Sixth and Seventh Princesses.

Of course, other unmarried members of the royal family could also get a share of this peach blossom banquet—if they took a fancy to a girl, the two families could ask the emperor for a marriage decree after reaching an agreement.