Lin Dai stayed with Old Lady Zhuang in the backyard for a while, and after Zi Su came over to tell her that the guests from Li's side had already left, Lin Dai got up and went to Li's place.

  Li was sitting on the couch, staring at several letters on the table with a worried look.

  She saw her come in, beckoned her to sit down, and then handed her several name cards, asking: "I want to arrange a marriage for your third aunt, which family do you think is suitable?"

  Lin Xiao asked: "Why didn't grandma let Third Aunt choose for herself?"

  "Let her choose," said Mr. Li with a snort, "the result will be only one, I can only keep her at home as an old maid."

  Lin Xiao looked at the few invitations in her hand, there were Hanmen's jinshi, low-ranking martial artists, and illegitimate or collateral branches of aristocratic families. According to Lin Xiao's high standards, they didn't quite meet her expectations.

  "Considering her temperament," said Li, "I think it would be suitable to find a military officer for her. Someone strong and robust with a fierce personality could tame her."

  Lin Xiang smiled and said, "Most military officers are straightforward, they won't have so many twists and turns in their minds. With San Gu's clever thoughts, it's hard to outsmart her. When the time comes, the most likely scenario is not that the military officer will overpower Lin Xiang, but rather he'll be taken advantage of by Lin Xiang and even help her count the money."

  Lin Dai continued, "If I had to choose, it would be better to find a scholar for Third Aunt. Scholars look honest, but they have the most tricks up their sleeves. Let him and Third Aunt fight it out, who knows, maybe they'll end up together after all."

  Li thought for a moment, put down the name tag of the sixth-grade official in his hand, took the imperial scholar's letter from Lin Die's hand and looked at it. He thought to himself and said in his heart, since that's the case, let someone go and ask about this person tomorrow.

  This person can be extravagant and spend money recklessly, being poor is okay, but having a bad character is unacceptable.

  Although she didn't like Lin Ge very much, she hadn't thought of marrying her off to a miserable life either. She found a good family for her to marry into and gave her a generous dowry, which was also a way of making amends with Old Master Guo.

  At this time, Lin Zuo stood outside the door and heard their conversation. She stood still for a while, lowered her head to think for a moment, then immediately turned around and walked out of Foning Hall.

  As she walked halfway, she met Zi Su carrying a food box on her way in. Zi Su was somewhat surprised and said: "Second Miss, didn't you say you were going to pay your respects to the old madam? Why did you come out so quickly?"

  Lin Xiao shook her head at her and then hastily walked away without stopping.

  Zi Su looked at her hurried steps and muttered, "What's the hurry, is there a ghost chasing you from behind?" In his heart, he thought that being born out of wedlock was indeed different, always having a petty air about it. He shook his head helplessly, then continued to carry the food box into the house.

  Lin Xiao came out of Fu Ning Tang and went directly to Lin Ge's courtyard.

  Lin Ju was still copying the family rules, with a servant girl standing beside her. When she saw Lin Xiang enter, she called out in a sorrowful tone: "Xiang Niang, you've finally come to see me. My hand is about to break from all this writing. Mother is really cruel this time, she just can't bear to see me live a good life. If Father were here, how could he let people bully me like this?"

  The old woman listened with a frown on her face, but she didn't say anything.

  Let her come and just watch Miss Jin, but didn't say let her discipline Miss Jin, she only needs to report what she heard and saw to Fu Mu.

  Lin Xiao glanced at the woman beside her, seemingly wanting to speak but hesitating.

  Lin Ge looked at her with a sly expression and said to the old woman, "You go out first, I want to rest for a while and have a few quiet words with Ruan Niang."

  The old woman stood still.

  Lin Ge said: "You just stand outside the door and watch, are you afraid I'll run away or are you afraid that Ruo Niang will help me copy? Don't worry, Ruo Niang's handwriting is different from mine."

  The old lady thought for a moment, after all, she was still the young lady of the mansion, and had to give some face. She said: "Miss Jin and Second Miss, please speak quickly, otherwise, the hundred family rules may not be finished before the New Year." After finishing, she bent her knees and stood at the door.

  Lin Ge slammed the door shut with a loud bang and only then turned around to ask Lin Yu, "Yu Niang, do you have something to say to me?"

  Lin Xiao leaned in close to her ear and whispered a few words, after which Lin Wei's face turned red with rage, she slammed her hand on the table and cursed: "I knew that old hag wouldn't let me off, she actually wants to use my marriage to take revenge on me."

  Li was after all Lin Yu's own grandmother, and when Lin Yu heard the words "old virtuous woman", she felt a bit uncomfortable in her heart. Just as she was about to say something, Lin Lian came over and grabbed Lin Yu's hand, saying: "Yu Niang, you must help me, I am determined not to marry that poor young man."

  Lin Xiao comforted her, saying: "Third Aunt, don't worry, things may not be as bad as we think. From what I understand from Grandmother's words, that person is actually a scholar-official, who knows, maybe in the future..."

  "Being a scholar is nothing, a poor scholar with no background, even if he becomes successful in the future, by the time he achieves greatness, I'll already be an old woman. Do you really want me to wait like Wang Baoqian for 18 years? But don't forget, even after waiting for 18 years, Xue Pinggui still brought back a princess from Western Liang. Besides, not many people can pass the imperial exam at a young age, and that old hag will definitely find an old and ugly man for me, maybe someone older than my brothers. Bao'er, I only ask you, if it were you, would you be willing to marry him?"

  Lin Xiao lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before saying: "But how can I help you? Grandma won't listen to me."

  Lin Ge was pacing back and forth in the house, Lin Xuan was indeed not worthy of any status in the Lin family, she was really regretful that she hadn't tried to please Li Shi earlier.

  She used to think that with the old master around, Li would not dare to do anything to her, and she didn't need to curry favor with Li. But unexpectedly, the old master died before she got married. Later, she also thought about currying favor with Li, but Li was quite unimpressed by her, treating her politely on the surface but giving her none of the benefits she deserved. She was getting impatient in her heart, thinking that with her beauty and abilities, even without Li's help, she could still get a good marriage.

  It's too late for regrets now, and it seems like trying to curry favor with the Li family is also futile.

  Lin Xiao looked at her coming and going in a hurry, feeling anxious for her, but also couldn't think of a good solution. After holding back for half a day, she finally managed to squeeze out one sentence: "Why don't you go ask Xia Lao Niang?"

  Lin Ge's eyes lit up and he said, "I didn't think of that. Auntie always has a way. And the Winter Solstice is approaching too, I usually visit Auntie at Qingliang Temple around this time every year, might as well take this opportunity to go."

  Lin Xiao saw that she had a way out and felt relieved herself.

  At this time, Lin Ge suddenly turned her eyes and glanced at her with a deep meaning reminder: "Lin Niang, I think you should be careful too. Look at my example, those stepmothers will not let the children of concubines get good treatment. My mother is like that to me, I think San Jie might also learn from her example and marry you off to a low-ranking family. You'd better hurry up and try to please San Jie, but it's unknown if it's still possible now..." She sighed and had an appearance of worrying about Lin Niang.

  Lin Xiao's heart skipped a beat and her body immediately felt cold, as she stammered: "No, it won't happen, Father is here." But the words that came out of her mouth were something even she didn't believe.