Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 140 Everything is under the young master's control

Shen Shuyi returned to Fusang Courtyard, and in her joy, she couldn't help but take a stroll around the courtyard.

Seeing her mistress so happy, A-Jian asked curiously, "Miss, has something good happened?"

"Of course, isn't it obvious?" Shen Shuyi was overjoyed.

"What good news is it? Can I possibly know?" A-Jian's curiosity was piqued.

Before going to the East Garden, the young lady sighed deeply, and when she returned, she seemed like a completely different person. Could it be that the young master could help her get rid of Prince Jin's entanglement?
Yes, that must be it.

"I found someone to pretend to be my relative, which can appease the Prince of Jin. How could I not be happy?" Shen Shuyi couldn't keep anything to herself and couldn't wait to share this good news with A-Jian.

A-Jian's eyes lit up: "Can you really get rid of the Prince of Jin, young lady? Who is that person? No, young lady, are you talking about a hypothetical marriage?"

Can an engagement be faked?
These days, a woman's reputation is more important than anything else. Even if it's a fake engagement, if word gets out, it will be very difficult for the girl to get married in the future.

“Yes, let’s assume we’re related. Someone like my cousin, the Crown Prince, can’t really be engaged to me, can he?” Shen Shuyi grinned from ear to ear.

"Young Master?!" A-Jian's words suddenly became a little incoherent.

“Yes, with my cousin the Crown Prince around, even Prince Jin has to step aside. My cousin the Crown Prince has a powerful aura, and even though Prince Jin is a prince, he can’t do anything to me.” Shen Shuyi walked a few steps with her hands behind her back, unable to hide her pride. “Oh, I think I’m pretty amazing. I found an ally so quickly.”

A-Jian couldn't laugh anymore: "Isn't the girl being too optimistic?"

Why does she feel that this whole thing is unreliable?

It's one thing for the young lady to act foolishly, but how could the young master act foolishly with her?
This is incredible.

There's no such thing as a presumptive marriage. Given the young master's status, if this gets to the ears of the Marquis of Pingyang and his wife, things will get very serious.

"Never mind that, let's get past Prince Jin first."

What Shen Shuyi didn't say was that, assuming the engagement was also a marriage proposal, and the system had agreed, if the engagement were to succeed, she would be overcoming two major hurdles at once. How could she not be happy?
A-Jian wanted to say something, but seeing how happy the girl was, she couldn't bear to dampen her spirits.

Although the young lady is a bit eccentric, the young master is a steady and reliable person. With the young master around, nothing serious should happen.

In the end, A-Jian easily convinced herself to accept the idea that the girl wanted to be betrothed to Prince Pei.

Shen Shuyi then focused on organizing her engagement banquet. Although she didn't understand the entire engagement process in ancient times, she followed the simple procedures of modern times. She also invited Li Yi over to make sure he saw that he had Prince Pei backing him up and that he shouldn't try to take advantage of her again.

The problem is, would Li Yi believe she could seduce Prince Pei? And this matter hasn't even spread throughout the Marquis's residence…

After the initial excitement, Shen Shuyi finally realized the problem.

If this matter is handled poorly, it could cause turmoil throughout the entire Marquis's mansion. But she couldn't care less about that now; the temptation to overcome both hurdles at once was too great.

Once we get through these two tribulations, we can move on to the next ones. We have to take things one step at a time.
Don't worry too much about things that haven't happened yet; things will work themselves out.

After comforting herself in this way, Miss Shen devoted all her energy to preparing for the wedding banquet.

Fearing that Li Yi might suddenly go mad and petition the Emperor, she chose the nearest auspicious day to settle her own relationship before making any further plans.

Having chosen a date, she went to the East Garden the next day to tell Qingzhu the engagement date she had selected, and asked him to convey it to Prince Pei.

When Pei Dongzhou returned home from his shift, he heard Qingzhu say to him, "Miss is too hasty. The engagement date is set for the day after tomorrow. This is a very important matter. Young Master, you should reconsider. This matter could easily become known to the whole world. If Miss has ambitions, she might even try to use this to frame you, Young Master."

Most importantly, now that the news of the young master's fake engagement has spread, what will happen to his marriage?
Pei Dongzhou said, "Bring the almanac over." Qingzhu: ...

He talked for a while, but the young master didn't listen to a word he said.

Left with no other choice, he brought out the almanac. After carefully examining it, the young master frowned slightly and said, "This date is just average."

Qingzhu: ...

Since it's a hypothetical relationship, do we really have to pick the best auspicious day?

"Young Master, would you like to reconsider? How about we arrange a betrothal between the Third Young Master and Miss Cousin? The Third Young Master doesn't care about his reputation anyway, and besides, he and Prince Jin are best friends. If the Third Young Master and Miss Cousin were to get engaged..."

Qingzhu was still rambling on when the young master said, "Qingzhu, go and prepare the betrothal gifts and dowry needed for the engagement."

Qingzhu's face fell as she suddenly realized that the young master would not be swayed by her opinions at all; he was determined to get engaged to his cousin.

Even if things escalate, the young master will still help his cousin.

I wonder what kind of spell the young lady cast on the young master that made him lose his mind like this.

He was unwilling to give up and wanted Qingyun to persuade the young master again, but Qingyun said, "Do you think the young master looks like he's about to arrange a marriage?"

Qingzhu's brow twitched slightly: "What do you mean? How can the young master's marriage be decided by him? The Marquis and his wife would never agree to let the young master marry his cousin."

“I only know that there is nothing the young master cannot do once he sets his mind to it. In other words, there is no person the young master cannot get.” Qingyun patted Qingzhu’s shoulder. “Since the young master has given the order, we just need to do as he says. The young master is a man of his own mind, and everything is under his control.”

It took Qingzhu a while to recover from her shock and realize that Qingyun's words made sense.

These past few days, the young master has treated his cousin so differently; he should have realized long ago that the young master has taken a liking to her.

It just so happens that Miss Biao is in trouble, and the young master is merely taking advantage of the situation.

As evening fell, Pei Dongzhou arrived at Fusang Temple.

As soon as Shen Shuyi saw him, she happily went to greet him. Now, she found Pei Shizi pleasing to the eye in every way.

"Will Cousin Crown Prince be having dinner at Fusang Courtyard?"

“Alright.” Pei Dongzhou said, handing her a gift list. “This is the betrothal gift and dowry. Cousin, please see if there’s anything you need to add.”

Shen Shuyi was stunned: "Aren't we supposed to be related?"

Why are there still things like betrothal gifts and dowries?

“We need to convince the Prince of Jin that these things are unavoidable,” Pei Dongzhou said, having his own explanation.

Shen Shuyi thought his explanation made sense, but why did she have to look at it? Couldn't he just pick a few things at random? Why did he have to make it look so real?

Under Pei Shizi's watchful gaze, she still carefully scanned the etiquette manual, and what she saw truly startled her.

Such a long list of gifts, if true, would mean the dowry would be dozens of loads, which is exaggerated to the point of being frightening.

(End of this chapter)