In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

Seeing that Gu Zhao kept staring at Aunt Jiang, even after she had left, Madam Gu couldn't help but ask:

"What's wrong? Is something the problem?"

Gu Zhao withdrew his gaze:

"It's nothing, I haven't seen this concubine before."

Hearing his words, Madam Gu was utterly speechless.

"You, how could you not have seen her? Aunt Jiang has been in our household for seven or eight years. She comes to my courtyard to help with household chores at least three out of five days. Even though you don't come back often, there's no way you haven't seen her before. You just haven't paid attention to her before, have you?"

Gu Zhao thought to himself, "Indeed, I hadn't paid attention to it. If Zhu Qingyu hadn't specifically mentioned it today, how could I have cared about someone who has nothing to do with me?"

He had indeed taken things too seriously before. He thought that concubines and mistresses not only had to serve the male master, but also the female master.

If he were to marry a woman from a prestigious family, she would never be able to stay with him day and night, every moment, as he imagined.

Does he intend to place Zhu Qingyu in the position of Concubine Jiang, making her serve another woman, and have her serve meals, listen to her instructions, and establish rules for her every day?

She couldn't live like that, and he couldn't imagine her living like that either.

However, he could not possibly elevate her to the arrogant and domineering position of Consort Gao. Favoring a concubine over one's wife is a path to disaster, and even the late emperor, who was the Son of Heaven, could not escape such a fate.

Therefore, this approach is indeed not feasible.

Then there's only one way to go: marry her.

As long as he is her rightful husband, she will treat him with the same unreserved devotion and sincerity as she did with Zhang Jingyan.

She said, "Shouming, if we were a good match, how could I not be tempted?"

It's just a matter of being a good match in terms of social status; she can be one of those people!

Suddenly feeling enlightened, Gu Zhao smiled and changed the subject, asking:

"I didn't notice. Mother just said she had something important to discuss. What is it?"

There wasn't much to mention about Aunt Jiang, and when the conversation turned to serious matters, Madam Gu simply moved on from the topic.

Seeing Gu Zhao smile, Madam Gu waved the invitation in her hand, pulled him to sit down, and smiled happily as well:

"This is wonderful news! Come here, come here, sit down and let me tell you. Your marriage has been delayed for too long. Before, when you weren't in the capital, your grandmother and I couldn't just arrange a marriage on our own. We needed you to see it firsthand. Now that you're back, let's hurry up and get your marriage settled."

The smile that had just appeared on his face froze on his face. Yes, he had told his grandmother before he left that the marriage would be decided entirely by the elders.

He had just forgotten to calculate that while he could choose not to marry a woman from a prestigious family, his elders could arrange for him to do so.

Gu Zhao glanced at the invitation in her mother's hand, but didn't take it. Concealing her smile, she calmly asked:

"Oh, I see. So, which family has Mother taken a liking to?"

Seeing that he showed absolutely no enthusiasm for her marriage proposal, Madam Gu angrily shoved the invitation into his hand and instructed him:

"You should at least put some effort into your own marriage and take a good look! The wife of the Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs invited us to go to Huangjue Temple to offer incense on the eighth day of next month. You should come with me to meet the bride, so that we don't end up blaming us after we've married her and she says she doesn't like us. If you think she's good after you've met her, we can choose an auspicious day before the new year and have the betrothal ceremony. Then, in the spring, we'll hold the wedding for you."

"Nacai" means to propose marriage. Once the proposal is made, the marriage between the two families is officially settled.

If a marriage proposal has already been made and then broken off, the woman will face a lot of criticism. Without a special reason, she won't change her mind again. If she does, the two families will become enemies.

Gu Zhao never expected things to happen so quickly; suddenly, they had already reached the betrothal stage.

Despite the turmoil within her heart, Gu Zhao remained calm on the surface. She opened the invitation and found it to be from the residence of Lord Zhuang, the Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs, inviting the Gu family to come and offer incense together on the eighth day of next month.

After seeing that he had read it, Madam Gu then told him in detail about the Zhuang family's daughter:

"Let me tell you, Miss Zhuang, your grandmother and I have been observing her for over half a year now, and she's truly a wonderful girl! She's beautiful, kind-hearted, and talented. Although she's only sixteen this year, she's incredibly mature..."

Gu Zhao listened silently until he heard the age of sixteen, at which point he began to find fault:

"Sixteen years old? That's too young. The age difference is too big; it's not appropriate."

Sixteen is such a wonderful age, how could he possibly complain that the girl is too young?!

Madam Gu had been observing this young lady from the Zhuang family for over half a year and had basically decided in her heart that she would be her daughter-in-law. Therefore, she was very displeased to hear Gu Zhao say such things.

"Sixteen? How is that young? You're at the prime of your life, the perfect time to get married. I think you're clearly too old. Look all over the capital, who else is almost twenty-three and still unmarried?"

When his mother teased him about his age, Gu Zhao neither objected nor got angry. He simply raised his eyelids and glanced at Madam Gu.

Madam Gu, who had been speaking with great conviction, lost her confidence after being looked at like that.

She always felt indebted to this son. He was only eight years old when he was sent to the palace to be a companion to a scholar and to prepare for his future. He could only come home once every ten days or half a month.

If it were just to be a companion in studies, that would be one thing, but the environment in the palace was so treacherous, and at the best age, she was ultimately forced to become a nun.

To be disrespectful, Madam Gu thought to herself, it's a good thing the late emperor died young. If he had really lived to be a hundred, Gu Zhao would have been trapped in a life of solitary meditation and Buddhist devotion for the rest of her life.

Fortunately, my son has a good temperament, and even in this situation, he has never complained about his family.

Because they felt they owed him too much, now that it was time to arrange a marriage for Gu Zhao, both Madam Gu and Old Madam Gu felt that family background was not a big deal. The most important thing was to choose a good girl who was a good match in terms of talent, appearance, and character, and who could love and cherish him. They wanted the family to live together in harmony and make up for the debt they had owed him.

After being looked at like that by Gu Zhao, Madam Gu's aura weakened, and she almost coaxed him:

"The Zhuang family's daughter is truly a wonderful girl. You'll like her once you see her. Although her father's official rank is rather low, barely enough to make ends meet, and their family isn't particularly wealthy, we don't need to worry about that when choosing a daughter-in-law, don't you think?"

The Commissioner of the Court of State Affairs, a powerful position of the third rank, was still considered too low in the eyes of a meritorious family like the Duke of Dingguo's mansion. However, for the sake of the Zhuang family's daughter, they could barely accept it.

Gu Zhao closed the post and said:

"Alright, let's take a look."

But in his heart he was thinking that he was barely able to hold a third-rank official position, and he was afraid that his elders would definitely not approve of the eighth-rank imperial physician position.

Yes, the eighth rank is still too low.

Qingyu's father and brothers will have to wait until next year to arrive in the capital, so the eighth-rank imperial physician position he had originally planned to secure for them is no longer sufficient.

Before that, he had to cancel the marriage with the Zhuang family and find a different position for Qingyu's father and brothers.

One more suitable position for him, one that would make her more worthy of his attention.