The plan of Luo Changqing and his daughter did not succeed. When Luo Yaqing came out of Xu Shichu's yard, she stamped her feet angrily and said, "Doesn't she take you, Daddy, seriously at all? You just asked her for a flower, not her life, but she refused!"
At this time, she did not mention the value of the flower, but continued to say indignantly:
"If you hadn't married her, she would have been sold to some dandy scum by the Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion and had to work like a slave, eating coarse food. How could she still be a pampered lady in our Prime Minister's Mansion?! Not only does she not know how to be grateful, but she even ruthlessly rejected our reasonable request. She is such an ungrateful ungrateful person!"
Luo Changqing was not as indignant as his daughter. He was just a little unhappy that Xu Shichu had turned his face away. However, he knew that his purpose of marrying Xu Shichu was not upright. He was just Xu Shichu's husband in name only - he made a young woman a widow, and he felt guilty towards Xu Shichu.
Even if he did improve Xu Shichu's living environment and gave her shelter, it was just a transaction with her. After all, she also fulfilled her duties as the wife of the prime minister, so strictly speaking, he did not have any favors for Xu Shichu, and it was understandable that Xu Shichu rejected his request.
However, these complicated "deals" with Xu Shichu in private were not suitable to be explained to his daughter, so Luo Changqing could only say vaguely:
"These are flowers she cultivated herself. It's her freedom to do whatever she wants with them, and we can't force her. Forget it, Qing'er, let's just go to her flower shop and participate in the auction. Although the price is a bit expensive, it's not something the mansion can't afford."
In order to make his daughter's life easier under the princess's care, Luo Changqing had to spend a lot of money to buy the photo of the five-colored red pill.
"But—Dad, that's too expensive!" Luo Yaqing was still unwilling to pay so much money.
"We don't have any other options now." Luo Changqing said helplessly, "Unless Qing'er, you can go back and honestly tell Princess Shunyi that you can't get the flowers she wants."
When Luo Yaqing heard what her father said, she was speechless. If she dared to refuse Princess Shunyi's request, she would not have persuaded her father to come to Xu Shichu.
So, when the day of the auction of the Five-Colored Red Pill came, Luo Changqing finally paid a large sum of money to help his daughter buy the flower.
When Luo Yaqing returned to her parents' home and saw the dazzling five-colored red dan, she almost cried with joy:
"Thank you, Daddy! You really love me. You don't know that when I failed to bring flowers back to the palace last time, Mother was so disgusted with me. Fortunately, I finally bought them back..."
When Luo Changqing heard her words, he frowned and said earnestly:
"Qing'er, although you are a daughter-in-law, you cannot blindly obey your mother-in-law. You are my daughter, of noble status and both talent and beauty. You do not need to please her in every way. Even for the sake of her son's future, she dare not be too harsh on you.
So you have to stand up for yourself. You can refuse some excessive requests. I asked you to marry Zhou Wencun, not to let you suffer the grievances of his mother. "
Luo Changqing looked like he was supporting his daughter, but Luo Yaqing had no words to complain about. She felt that her father was still a man after all, and he didn't know how many ways a woman in the inner house had to make things difficult for another woman. What's more, the one who wanted to make things difficult for her was her mother-in-law. Her status naturally put her in a repressive position. Under the pressure of filial piety, even if she was the emperor's daughter, she dared not resist openly.
During this period when she was unable to obtain Camellia, Princess Shunyi did not need to make a big fuss to embarrass her. She only needed to be "unwell" and need her daughter-in-law to serve her personally, which was enough to torture her physically and mentally: trying bitter medicine for her mother-in-law, getting up in the middle of the night to drink water, and asking her to massage her waist and legs when she felt unwell...
After a day of hard work, Luo Yaqing was so tired that she could even fall asleep while standing. Even if she complained to Zhou Wencun in a subtle way, Zhou Wencun would only think that she was making a fuss and had no filial piety. Maybe she didn't want to serve her mother-in-law...
Therefore, even Luo Changqing, as the prime minister, could not stop this kind of "small matter of taking care of the elders". Could he stop the younger generation from fulfilling their filial piety
Luo Yaqing could only smile bitterly and said, "Dad, I know, but this is just the first time. If she makes requests that I can't do again, I will pretend not to understand and will never agree to it again."
She has learned a lesson from her mistakes.
Luo Changqing was satisfied when he heard his daughter say this.
"By the way, Daddy, is my brother really going to marry his colleague's sister? I heard that his colleague's family is just a country gentry landlord, and he has just started his career as an official, and is just a minor official. How can his sister of that status be worthy of my talented brother?"
After Luo Yaqing got the camellia, she finally had the mood to care about her brother's marriage.
Talking about his son's marriage, Luo Changqing's expression softened and he said, "Although the girl's status is lower, her brother is a young and promising talent. He passed the imperial examination and won the first place. He has a promising future. The young are really formidable."
"He's just a top scholar. Is he really as good as you said, dad? I feel that my brother is still wronged." Luo Yaqing said disapprovingly. She had a good relationship with Luo Rui and felt that even a princess was not worthy of her brother, but now she could only settle for the sister of a top scholar.
"This is what your brother wanted. He and I are both optimistic about Qin Zhixing's future. Marrying his sister is an initial investment. If Qin Zhixing lives up to my expectations in the future, your brother will have someone to support him. If he fails, your brother will not just marry a wife of low status. This will not hinder your brother's future."
Luo Changqing explained all the intricacies of this to his daughter one by one. A man always has his sights set on the court and the world, so love between men and women is not that important.
Which ambitious man would be willing to refuse the opportunity to tie a future powerful official to his boat just by paying the price of a marriage
Therefore, Luo Changqing and his son both agreed with this marriage. Of course, the future status and position of the male protagonist Qin Zhixing also proved that their vision was correct.
Luo Rui's marriage was set in stone, and it would be of no avail even if Luo Ya tried to speak up for her brother.
Marrying a daughter-in-law is more complicated than marrying a daughter. After all, one is marrying into the family, and the other is marrying out. Therefore, Xu Shichu is much busier than Luo Yaqing's marriage. She has to take care of the dishes and purchases for the banquet, the guests to be invited, and the arrangements for the servants on the day...
These tasks were tedious and trivial, but could not be shirked, which made Xu Shichu want to quit. It was not so easy to be a tool.