Demoted from wife to concubine? Reborn, the mistress of a noble family plots another high-status mar

Chapter 574

"Mother, please don't ask. I don't want to get married for now." Zeng Xiao was a little annoyed. The reason he was kept in the capital for the time being was to get married and have children.

If I had known, he wouldn't have stayed and should have gone back to the Northwest City.

"No... Xiao'er, you must settle your life's most important matter now!" Madam Zeng said anxiously.

“If you don’t like Pei Xuan, we can choose another girl. Tell your mother who you like. Your mother can come and propose marriage to you.”

Zeng Xiao frowned, realizing that his mother wouldn't let the matter rest once he got married.

"I think the girls from the Xiao family are better!" He just made up an excuse.

“The Pei family are civil officials, while we are military generals. If we have different ideas, we are likely to quarrel. It would be more suitable for our family to have a girl from a military family.”

Madam Zeng said, "A girl from the Xiao family? You like the second young lady of the Xiao family, Xiao Lian'er?"

“It’s not that it’s impossible, but both the Xiao family and our Zeng family are military officials, holding military power. If we were to form a marriage alliance, the Emperor would definitely not agree.”

Zeng Xiao said, "Then a marriage alliance with the Pei family would work?"

"The Empress Dowager can grant a marriage alliance with the Pei family."

"Xiao'er, this marriage can be said to be favored by the Empress Dowager."

"And then there's the girl from the Liu family; you'll have to take her as a concubine."

Zeng Xiao was immediately taken aback. "Mother, even my father doesn't take concubines. You want me to take one?"

Their family once had many descendants, but the men's minds were all devoted to the military, and even those who took concubines were few and far between.

Zeng Xiao's father did not take a concubine and remained loving with his wife. They had four children: two sons and two daughters.

Influenced by his father from a young age, he disliked taking concubines; to be precise, he disliked having too many women in his harem, as it was too noisy.

"There's nothing we can do. Your sister is all alone and helpless in the palace now."

"You have no idea that the Yun family's daughter always bullies your sister."

Zeng Xiao knew that Zeng Rou had been punished with thirty strokes of the cane for offending the Empress. Because he understood that his sister was at fault first, he did not go to the palace to plead for her.

He planned to leave her alone for a few days before going to the palace to persuade her.

Little did she know that her mother and grandfather were worried about her injury and arranged for a female physician to enter the palace to take care of her.

Zeng Xiao was very troubled. "Mother, if you want me to take a concubine, then I won't."

"Also, tell Rou'er not to be an enemy of the Empress anymore."

He felt very uncomfortable when he heard that Zeng Rou had hit Yun Xiyue.

He didn't know why, but suddenly he felt that his younger sister was bad in every way.

He left quickly after saying a few words.

Madam Zeng was secretly furious and could only seek help from General Zeng.

......

"Your Majesty...have I been behaving alright lately?"

Zhou Zhilan ran out of her scar-free ointment and went to the Jiaofang Palace.

Yun Xiyue frowned, disliking her fawning expression. As the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Zhou, she had studied since childhood and should be well-mannered and knowledgeable.

But Zhou Zhilan is only spoiled, vicious, and selfish.

Even hypocrisy, flattery, and the tendency to elevate the powerful while belittling the weak.

"Ah."

However, Yun Xiyue understood that such a person could never become a close friend.

It was all just mutual exploitation; he had someone fetch the plaster for her.

There are also three boxes of bird's nest.

When Zhou Zhilan saw the bird's nest, her eyes lit up. "Thank you for the gift, Your Majesty."

He grabbed his things and was about to leave.

"and many more."

"Does Your Majesty have any further instructions?"

Yun Xiyue said, "Your sister-in-law and brother are arguing because of you. Aren't you going to step in and mediate?"

"I......"

Zhou Zhilan had forgotten about the incident and didn't think she had done anything wrong, believing that Wan Jiaojiao was just being dramatic.

What's wrong with her brother thinking of her?

Wan Jiaojiao wouldn't allow her brother to get hurt because of her, and she was stingy and unwilling to spend money to buy her ointment.

Zhou Zhilan couldn't wait for her elder brother to divorce this stingy woman and marry her off to a rich and generous sister-in-law.

"I'm not home, so I can't persuade them."

"Besides, my sister-in-law is stubborn, and my brother's injuries haven't healed yet, so it's impossible for him to go to the Wan family to pick her up."