"Then there's the wet nurse's son, Zhao Lin. He's two years older than you and was allowed to study in our family school because my elder brother thought he had potential. Two years ago, he passed the imperial examination as a first-place winner. Last spring, he took the exam again, aiming for the top three places. The boy is practically a member of our household, with excellent talent and moral character. He's also quite handsome, although his family background is somewhat inferior. As for Zhao's mother, she's an extremely kind person. She has a younger sister who's around the same age as my niece, and she's not a spoiled girl either. He's at the right age to get married now, and my elder sister-in-law was thinking of arranging a match for him. If you're willing, I can talk to her about it and we can arrange a meeting between the two families. I think he's an exceptionally talented person, and it would be a shame if we missed this opportunity. Originally, I wanted to suggest marrying him to your sister, but considering her temperament, I think it's better not to ruin his life."

  Zhuang's family was somewhat moved by the suggestion, and she thought that Lin Yu's family could be considered as a backup option, but since Lin Yu wasn't her own child, she had another layer of concerns in her heart.

  Zhuang said: "I'll talk to Third Master first, then I'll give you an answer, Eldest Sister-in-law."

  Dong said: "Alright, you discuss with Third Brother first, and give me a result whether it's successful or not." Then he bid farewell.

  When Lin Ying came back from outside, Zhuang Shi told him what Dou Shi had said.

  Lin Yingdao said: "Since Eldest Sister says it's alright, then it must be alright."

  After thinking for a moment, he felt that he was not showing enough concern for his daughter, so he added: "Let's do this, I'll find an opportunity to try out Zhao Lin's people first."

  Zhuang's family naturally had no opinion.

  Then after a few days, Lin Ying went to see him and came back to tell Zhuang Shi: "It's all right, just let him be."

  Zhuang's family got Lin Ying's answer and told Dou's family, Dou's family returned to their hometown for a visit, found an opportunity to let Mrs. Zhao meet Lin Yu, and also agreed to this marriage.

  Zhuang then began to take charge of the affairs of the Three Books and Six Rites.

  But Lin Wei, who heard the news, cried almost to suffocation in front of Lin Wei.

  She was originally still unhappy that Lin Wei wanted to marry a poor scholar, but unexpectedly, her own marriage was not even as good as Lin Wei's.

  Lin Jin looked at her with a very pitiful gaze and said, "I originally thought I was miserable enough, but it turns out you're even more wretched. The son of a wet nurse, the son of a slave, how did San Shu come up with this? She herself gave birth to a daughter who became an empress, yet she married you off to the son of a servant. Your mother and third brother are also going along with her nonsense, I'm starting to suspect whether you're really Third Brother's biological daughter or not."

  Lin Xiao cried so much that she couldn't say a word, feeling as if her whole life was ruined.

  Lin Jin continued: "Actually, people like us, even if we're not from a good family, others would still want to marry into our family. I heard just the other day that the wife of Yongchang Bo wanted to arrange for her eldest son to marry you, but didn't expect Third Aunt to reject them. Thinking about your engagement with Cheng Gang, Stone Miss's father is only a sixth-rank commander, and Stone Miss herself looks ordinary. I think Cheng Gang has been feeling down these past few days, probably heartbroken over this marriage arrangement. And as for you, you're even more extraordinary, being a servant girl."

  Lin Xiao grabbed Lin Wei's hand as if grasping a lifeline, sobbing and saying: "Auntie, what should I do? Auntie, what should I do?"

  Lin sighed and said, "You're not unaware that I'm in a precarious situation myself, like a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river."

  Lin Xiao cried even more sorrowfully.

  Lin Ge looked at her crying, and when she had almost cried herself out and was nearly desperate, he spoke up again: "Actually, it's not that there's completely no way."

  Lin Xiao raised a glimmer of hope and looked up at her with expectation.

  Lin Yan leaned in close to her ear and whispered a few words.

  Lin Xiao listened and asked hesitantly: "This... can it really work?"

  "Whether it works or not depends on you, Third Brother is your biological father, there must be some father-daughter relationship, who knows if you go and beg him, he might change his mind out of sympathy for you. Anyway, this is the only method I can think of, whether to do it or not is up to you."

  Lin Xiao continued to sniffle while clenching her fists.

  She can't let her life be ruined by the Zhuang family like this.

  On the second day, when going to Zhengyuan to pay respects to Zhuangshi, Lin Xiang appeared somewhat absent-minded, her eyes constantly looking in the direction of the inner chamber.

  Zhuang saw her little movement at a glance, but pretended not to see it. She continued to listen to the little girl in her arms talking about what she did yesterday, the flowers in the garden looked very good, and one of the goldfish she raised died.

  Lin Xiao looked at Lin Yan's expression and smiled slightly, asking: "Second sister, what are you looking at?"

  Lin Xiao hastily shook her head and said, "No, I didn't see anything." As she spoke, she quickly withdrew her gaze and lowered her head to look at the tea bowl on the table in front of her.

  Lin Chenggang turned his head and glanced at her, but didn't say a word, remaining indifferent.

  Lin Xiao was somewhat curious about whether Lin Wei had the courage to take action, and she believed that Lin Wei must have given her some advice.

  She has some boring thoughts.

  Then when she counted to the second hundred, Lin Wei seemed to have finally brewed enough courage for herself, raised her head and opened her eyes wide, rushed out and knelt in front of Zhuang Shi, saying: "Mother, daughter has something to ask of you."

  Zhuang's family glanced at her and put Lin Xuan down, only then saying: "If there is something to say, stand up and say it."

  Lin Yun pouted and walked over to Lin Xiao's side, sitting down with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.

  Lin Daijiao crawled over, holding onto Zhuang Shi's leg and casting her eyes towards the inner room, using a voice loud enough for those inside to hear as she wept: "Mother, I don't want to marry into the Zhao family, please don't make me marry Zhao Lin. From now on, I'll be obedient and won't anger you again, whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it, just please don't marry me off to a servant's son."

  Zhuang's face turned black and was about to speak.

  At this time, the curtains in the house swayed, and Lin Ying walked out from inside, looking at Lin Ju with a face full of anger: "What do you mean by this? Do you think that letting you marry Zhao Lin is your mother intentionally making things difficult for you, not letting you have good days? Has your mother been wronging you all along?" The words were spoken louder and louder towards the end.

  Lin Xiao was scolded by Lin Ying and became somewhat afraid, shaking her head desperately while trembling: "I don't dare, I don't dare think like that. But I really don't want to marry Zhao Lin."

  Lin Yingdao said: "It was my idea to let you marry Zhao Lin, it has nothing to do with your mother. So, don't think that I also don't want you to have a good life."

  Lin Xiao was so scared that she couldn't say a word and just shook her head desperately, while on the other hand, she felt disappointed.