)

  "Want to go take a look? No answer came back, Qi You asked again."

  Hua Ru nodded her head slightly, "This name is a bit strange."

  "This is Empress Dowager Cixi's shop, favored by the Second Prince, and all the names of the shops were chosen by her."

  Hua Ru's head turned around, and her voice was filled with undisguised surprise, "Tao Ce Fei's shop?"

  "Alright."

  Hua Ruochu closely followed Qi You up the stairs, casually sizing up the place with her eyes, and what she saw was even more shocking than reading about it in a report.

  There were many people coming and going, some women wore veils like hers, while others covered their faces with thin gauze. As soon as Hua Ruochu paid attention, she noticed that the women who covered their faces with thin gauze all had married women's hair buns, while those who wore veils sounded very young and had the softness unique to girls.

  Hua Ru suddenly had the urge to throw off her veil, and in terms of age, she was barely still eligible to be called a maiden, but what about all these years as a wife? Was it all for nothing? Back to being an unmarried woman again?

  "Wow, Qi Dà? It's really rare to meet you in a place like this. You've just gotten married and yet you're out with someone else, aren't you afraid your wife will be lonely at home?"

  The gauze hat is extremely thin, and the hat is also not close to the face. From the outside, it can't be seen clearly from the inside, but from the inside, the outside can still be seen relatively clearly.

  Hua Ru Chun easily saw the malicious intentions on the faces of outsiders, now the opposing factions in the imperial court are the Crown Prince Party and the Second Prince Party. The Crown Prince is legitimate and has been steadily accumulating power over the years, indeed having some real abilities. The Second Prince, on the other hand, has a powerful maternal family and is also the eldest son of the current Empress, each with their own supporters, and both sides are evenly matched.

  No need to think much, this person must be from the Second Prince's faction. He is so pleased with himself, compared to Qi You, the difference is not just a little bit. If all of the Second Prince's faction are like this, self-righteous and arrogant, then she really has nothing to worry about, she can just live her life as a quiet and stable inner palace woman.

  Qī Yòu gave the provocative person a calm and indifferent glance, as if looking at a complete stranger, then quickly shifted his gaze away and walked in with the hand he was holding.

  The man's face twisted in anger, he suddenly turned around and shouted at Qi Da, "You really think you're someone now? Don't you even think about the situation of the Qi family? I heard that yesterday they had to sell another shop to maintain their living. What do you have to be proud of, Qi You? Just because you managed to climb onto the prince's bed doesn't mean you can turn your life around. I'm waiting for the day when the Qi family can't even afford to cook a meal, and then we'll see if you can still keep up this arrogant attitude."

  Hua Ru shook her head, the old master of the Qi family was indeed getting old and didn't understand how to cut expenses. How many shops did the Qi family have that could be sold? They were all sold out! No wonder Xia Yan said that the dishes in the big kitchen had been fewer than before these days, and there were fewer options too.

  But this point is useful for striking others in the Qi mansion, but as for Qi You... thinking back to the day they got married, Qi You had also given him a considerable amount of household expenses.

  He should have a separate source of silver, the monthly allowance given by the prince is one thing, Qi You privately accumulated a lot that the prince did not know about, such as power and business.

  Qiu You didn't even turn his head back to look at him, and directly pulled him to the counter front, "Take a look if there's anything you like."

  Hua Ruchu ignored the shouting person behind her and examined the modernized counter, unfortunately there was no glass, otherwise it would have been even more impressive. It's strange that she didn't figure out the method of making glass, which is a money-making tool.

  The exquisite gold jewelry was placed in the box, dazzling, and the pattern was still okay. Hua Ru Chu just swept through it with a lack of interest, she had always thought that gold was too common, using it to increase value was fine, but wearing it on her body was still not worth it.

  There were also quite a few in her jewelry box, all of which were made by the most famous masters in Yangzhou and were brought to her as betrothal gifts by her mother. She would wear them when visiting relatives at the Qi manor.

  No choice, the Southern Dynasty took golden headdresses as beauty, the more dazzling and eye-catching, the more people liked and envied.

  She prefers warm jade, and often uses various jade decorations in private. Under her influence, the second sister also doesn't like gold decorations.

  "Is there anything you like? Not a single word. She just looked, but didn't linger in front of any of them, so Qiyou couldn't help but ask."

  Hua Ru shook her head, "They're all beautiful, but too... dazzling."

  It was a close call, almost blurting out those two words, which would have been equivalent to offending all the women in this house. Moreover, speaking too much might attract Tao Jia's attention, and that wouldn't do.

  Qī Yòu also remembered that she usually wore jade accessories in private, and after careful consideration, the jade accessories were indeed more beautiful than the gold ones and more suitable for her.

  There aren't many places that sell jade accessories, but if you really want to find one, it's not difficult either. Qi You Zheng was thinking of taking someone away, and the man who had been leaning against the counter without leaving just smiled, "It's too dazzling, are you worried that Qi Da can't afford to lose people? I said Qi Da, where did you find such a kind-hearted person, who thinks so much for you, it really makes me envy."

  Hua Ru didn't think it was a good thing that he always took the lead, and this man's words were neither here nor there to her, completely without any intention of taking offense.

  Ke Qiu didn't pretend not to hear this time, staring at the man with a piercing gaze that made him subconsciously avoid eye contact. "As a member of a noble family, you humiliate others' wives like this? Is this the upbringing of the Ren Manor? Tomorrow in court, I'll ask your respected father about it face-to-face."

  Ren Ji's second son, Ren Zhitao, changed his face upon hearing this. If Qi You really asked his father such a question in front of everyone, it would undoubtedly be a slap in the face to his father. His father would lose face and he wouldn't be able to get away with it either. But if he were to speak well of him, that would also be absolutely impossible.

  He glanced at the people around him, and Ren Zhitao showed a surprised expression. "Which of these women in the house who are married is wearing a veil? Although there is no explicit rule that those who wear veils are unmarried, isn't this implied? Sister-in-law is wearing a veil, so I naturally misunderstood. To be honest, I thought you had just gotten married and neglected your wife, but instead brought his family out to show sympathy for sister-in-law, otherwise why would I say those words? If what I said was excessive, please forgive me."

  Hua Ru nodded slightly, although still young, couldn't hide her emotions and was a bit impulsive, but after all, she was from a noble family, this facial expression technique was deeply rooted in her bones. Looking at Qi You again, his face was still expressionless, in this aspect, Qi You had the upper hand.

  Qing Yu took a small step back, using him to block most of her body, and softly said, "Husband, my jewelry box is almost full, you don't have to buy me any more. The birthday gift for Little Sister doesn't necessarily have to be bought here either. The ones here aren't better than the ones in my jewelry box. I'll pick out something suitable for her and send it over. You're fond of her, so she won't quibble about this."

  A few words revealed the meaning, making those who had been paying attention from the beginning understand that this normally cold and taciturn person had actually bought jewelry before, not because he couldn't afford it, but because he looked down on it.

  At this time, even Ren Zhitao thought of the shocking ten-li red sedan chair on the day of the wedding, and also, with such a thick dowry, would you care about these little trinkets in front of you? Moreover, as Yangzhou people are known for their love of beauty, wouldn't they pay attention to a beautiful word? It's not hard to understand that looking down on this place is not acceptable.

  Qī Yòu's younger sister has also reached the age of marriage, it seems that Qī Yòu is quite concerned about his own family. If his younger sister gets married and is bullied, Qī Yòu probably won't ignore it either.

  Ke Ruozhen and Qi You had a close relationship, so it was only natural that he would help his brother-in-law out of respect. Although the Qi family's influence was waning, no one dared to underestimate Qi You.

  Having followed the crown prince since childhood, the crown prince's unusually deep trust and closeness to him made it almost a certainty that when the crown prince ascended to the throne, the Qi manor would be restored to its former glory. Adding to this was the merit of supporting the new emperor, and returning to their heyday was just around the corner.

  As they thought about it, many people's minds became active, but Ren Zhitao's thoughts were different from others. Compared to them, he was more interested in the three Huas.

  When Qi Youcai received the edict, not many people were waiting to see a joke. In the martial arts world, those who are not beautiful and passionate will not be locked in the boudoir like the aristocratic families, so those who are beautiful in the martial arts world are all very famous.

  Just like the eldest daughter of the Wulin Alliance is the famous first beauty in Jianghu, if the imperial edict was about marrying her, this opportunity would probably not fall on Qi You's head. But unexpectedly, the imperial edict said it was about the third daughter of the Hua family, a completely unknown person.

  As a result, the rumor that Hua San was a mother night demon spread almost effortlessly, but from the day of their marriage, it also effortlessly shut everyone's mouths.

  The mere sight of that ten-li red sedan chair was enough to make many people turn green with envy, not to mention Hua San's handsome appearance which was in no way inferior to those of noble families.

  Opposing views, the county government naturally did not receive an invitation. As for Hua San's appearance, Ren Zhitao had only heard about it but never saw him before. Now, hearing again the soft and gentle accent unique to Yangzhou people, he wanted to lift that gauze hat and take a closer look.

  Fortunately, I still have my wits about me and didn't do anything that would bring shame to our family.

  Qī Yòu didn't look back, his eyes surging with emotions that no one could understand. For someone he rarely interacted with, he was secretly concerned about her future and had considered it for her. Today's conversation undoubtedly helped Qī Zhēn a great deal and earned him face. She... must have thought of Qī Zhēn reaching the age of marriage.

  The Qi family's daughter is not easy to marry off these days, neither high nor low will do. With Qi Zhen's soft and gentle nature, she's likely to be bullied no matter which family she marries into. He can't openly say what he'll do if Qi Zhen gets bullied, but today Ruchun opened up the conversation, and if someone really treats Qi Zhen kindly because of this, he won't mind lending a helping hand.

  He won't forget the affection in Qizhen's eyes when she called him brother from childhood to adulthood. She only calls him brother, and for others older than her, she uses their names with "brother".

  After holding the hand of the person beside him, Qi You looked at Ren Zhitao for a moment before leaving his side.

  He had never used his power to get things done before, but this time he didn't mind making an exception.

  His honor, how can he allow others to insult him?

  P: This chapter was written with great difficulty, pushing the plot forward. Ugh, writing about domestic life every day is suffocating. (If you like this work, welcome to subscribe and reward me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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