Just as she put her mind at ease, Zhu came to her house to ask her for advice.
"Berlin is already fourteen years old. His relatives and old friends always mention his marriage. I am also looking for a suitable girl, but good girls are not easy to find. Moreover, a family like ours has to consider everything. We can't be too picky about one thing and too lazy about the other. It will take at least a year or two to settle down."
Zhu sighed deeply. Before the Hua family was revived, she was worried about the difficulty of her children's marriage. Now that the Hua family is better than before, she is worried that the daughter-in-law she married into the family with ulterior motives will disrupt the stability and harmony of the Hua family. She is really worried.
Hua Zhi listened to her mother's muttering meekly. If her mother hadn't reminded her, she would have forgotten that Berlin was already fourteen years old, which was the age to get engaged in Daqing. Sons of aristocratic families did not have much right to be willful in this regard, especially the eldest sons and grandsons, most of whom had their marriages arranged early. With the current power of the Hua family, Berlin was probably being targeted by many people.
But she is only fourteen years old. If she waits two or three years to get married, she will only be sixteen or seventeen.
"Zhi'er, do you have any ideas?"
Recovering her composure, Hua Zhi looked at her mother, whose face was rosy and carefree, and asked, "Did grandpa and father say anything about the marriage in Berlin?"
Zhu smiled, "My father-in-law didn't interfere in this matter. Your father just told me to choose carefully. If I really can't make up my mind, I will come to ask you. That's why I'm here."
Hua Zhi didn't know what to say. How could her father let a married woman take care of her parents' affairs so naturally? But this deep trust made her feel warm. After thinking for a while, she asked, "What about Berlin? Does he have any ideas?"
"What can he think? The marriage is decided by the parents and the matchmaker. How can he make the decision on his own?" Thinking of her daughter's unorthodox approach to marriage, she tapped her forehead and said, "You are an anomaly."
Hua Zhi did not argue, she agreed to everything the man said and made the man leave contentedly.
"Send someone to wait at the palace gate and invite Berlin in."
Yingchun agreed and went to make arrangements immediately.
Hua Bolin came to the palace quite often, but this was the first time he was called by his elder sister. Thinking something had happened, he rode his horse as fast as he could. It was a very cold day, and the icy wind blew on his face, but he still broke out in sweat. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he saw that his elder sister was fine.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Hua Zhi stood up and tried to approach, but Hua Bailin quickly waved her hand and stood in front of the stove to cool down, not daring to pass the cold to her elder sister.
At this time, the maid had already brought hot water and hot tea, so Hua Zhi followed his instructions and sat down again. She watched them busying around with a smile and said, "Mother is here today."
Hua Berlin, look here.
"For your marriage." Seeing her brother who was not surprised, Hua Zhi knew that he probably knew about it a long time ago. "Let your family arrange it?"
"I don't have anyone I like, so I've never had any thoughts about it. After all, my mother and elder sister won't let me marry someone who is unreasonable."
That's absolutely impossible. Hua Zhi is still confident of this. But, "That's the person you're going to spend your whole life with. Don't you have any requirements?"
After drinking a bowl of ginger soup in one go, Hua Bolin felt warm all over, then he walked to the seat below his elder sister. He raised his head and looked at his elder sister, whose face was vaguely filled with the comfort she once had. "It's enough to be as good as you."
Hua Zhi gave him a glare, then couldn't help laughing, "Should I say your requirements are too high or too low? It's not easy to find someone as good at business as me, but to find someone whose color is only one or two times better than mine... How can that be good?"
If I could have your ability, I would be better than many people, Hua Bolin thought to himself. He did not expose his elder sister's feigned confusion, but smiled and said, "After all, elder sister has chosen for me. I believe in your judgment."
Hua Zhi had no intention of ignoring the matter. Even if it would cause gossip, she would still take care of it. She only had this one brother, and they had always been very close. If she didn't find someone he liked, she would probably worry about him every day.
But it is not so easy to find a suitable one. There are only so many people in Beijing. After searching here and there, I still couldn't find the one I wanted by the end of the year.
"Princess, the Bai family's daughter has come to deliver the New Year's gift."
"Uncle Bai's daughter?"
"Yes." Hua Zhi was a little surprised. It was the end of the year, and there were many people sending New Year gifts to the palace. She accepted those that she could according to the closeness of their relationship, and for those that she could not accept, she added some and sent them back. However, this was the first time that an unmarried girl had sent a New Year gift.
"Invite her to come over. If the things are not out of the ordinary, accept them. Prepare a return gift of 10%."
"yes."
When seeing this girl again, Hua Zhi found her different at first sight. When she took off the disguise, she had her own look, with calm eyes, graceful and generous, and a hint of calmness in her expression. Hua Zhi, who was looking for a marriage for Berlin, subconsciously thought of the possibility of the two of them.
It was quite fitting. Berlin's future daughter-in-law would definitely be the head of the family. Bai Peiqiu looked capable and should have no problem managing the household. She also had a pretty face and a good demeanor...
Hua Zhi was really tempted.
"My daughter Pei Qiu pays respects to the princess."
"No need to be polite, sit down and talk."
"Yes." Bai Peiqiu sat down on the edge of the chair politely, and said, "Not long ago, there was a problem with the business down there, and my father left Beijing to deal with it. He took my daughter's brother with him, saying that he wanted to exercise him. But then my mother caught a cold and couldn't go out, so my daughter had to come here. Please forgive me, Princess."
"Nothing wrong, have you seen a doctor?"
"Yes, I've checked it out. The doctor said it's nothing serious. Just take a few doses of medicine and he'll be fine."
Hua Zhi held the teacup and flicked the tea foam, pretending to ask casually, "Uncle is not here, your mother is sick again, and now it is the New Year and there are many trivial matters. I am sorry for your hard work."
"They are all trivial matters. I dare not complain about the hard work because I have the help of the manager."
In other words, the Bai family is really managed by her now, and Hua Zhi is even happier. The current situation of the Bai family is more complicated than that of ordinary families. Although it is a divided family, the legitimate branch still needs to be respected, and the in-laws and old friends are one side. Uncle Bai has also formed another circle in recent years, and he also needs to visit these people. It is very capable to be able to get these things done smoothly with Madam Bai's guidance.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was a good candidate. As soon as Gu Yanxi came back, she couldn't wait to tell him all her thoughts. After listening, Gu Yanxi sighed and said, "The emperor sent someone to watch the Bai family, to be exact, to watch Bai Peiqiu."
Hua Zhi was stunned. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether the emperor had good intentions or...
"There's no need to think too badly. The emperor was taught by you, so even if he has developed the character of an emperor, his heart is still the same. Most likely he is dissatisfied with the fact that there are too many people imitating you, so he wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. But he didn't expect that the Bai family girl would be enlightened by you, so he didn't have the opportunity to do it."
Hua Zhi was silent for a moment, and put all her thoughts to rest. No matter what the emperor thought, it would be unwise to promise the person he was eyeing to Bai Lin. It would be better to erase such an idea from her mind as soon as possible.