No matter how much she agonized over it, after several hours, Third Miss Zhou still made her decision.

As for the outcome, she wasn’t really surprised.

However, looking at her third sister, who now seemed resolute before her, An Ning spoke with a rare seriousness:

“Third Sister, you must think this through clearly. No matter how talented a provincial graduate might be, he is ultimately just a provincial graduate. Who knows if he will pass the next imperial examination, or when he will finally pass.”

If, by some misfortune, he never passes in his lifetime, at best he’ll end up as a petty, low-ranking official with no real prospects.

Even if he luckily passes, by the time he truly has a promising future, Third Sister won’t be young anymore.

Furthermore, due to the reigning emperor’s attitude in recent years, that clique of upright, purist civil officials has made their dislike for military-aristocratic families almost blatantly obvious.

Besides, a poor man suddenly gaining wealth—forget about whether it’s worth it or if his true colors will eventually show—just the drop in quality of life and dealing with a whole gaggle of his relatives is genuinely and profoundly annoying.

Yet, the Third Miss Zhou before her clearly possessed a stubborn streak of her own. Once she made a decision, she wouldn’t easily change it for trivial reasons.

Staring fixedly at her younger sister, Third Miss Zhou bit her lip hard:

“Madam said earlier that although Provincial Graduate Chen failed the exam this year, his ranking was already very close to passing, clearly just one step short. The chance of him passing in the next examination, the year after next, is extremely high.

Moreover, the other party is only twenty years old this year. Even if he doesn’t pass the next exam, we can still afford to wait.”

Within the pavilion, a slightly cool autumn breeze brushed past from time to time. In this moment, Zhou Zhi’s voice also became exceptionally soft:

“Fifth Sister, you know, we sisters may not claim mastery of the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, or be experts in household management and affairs, but we were still meticulously raised and educated since childhood.

No matter what others think, for me, marrying a good-for-nothing playboy who knows nothing but relying on his family…

But Fifth Sister, I am simply unwilling.”

“No matter how many faults that Chen fellow has, just the fact that he is ambitious and well-read already puts him ahead of the others.”

As for those among the military aristocracy who are somewhat ambitious and capable, like my brother-in-law, Zhou Zhi understood clearly that such matches wouldn’t be available to her anyway.

As for other options, being the wife of an illegitimate son is no easy position. Thinking of this, Third Miss Zhou’s gaze instantly became firm:

“At least in the Chen family, I can manage the household finances, I can be the one in charge, and for a good while, I won’t have to live under someone else’s thumb.”

As for the future, if he truly does become successful and prosperous, by then her children would already be grown, having long secured their footing. Even if he acquires one or two favorite concubines or beloved sons, they wouldn’t easily be able to stir up any real trouble.

Knowing that the other had indeed made this decision after careful consideration, and that everyone has their own ambitions, An Ning didn’t try to persuade her further.

“As long as Third Sister knows what she’s doing…”

Looking at her younger sister, whose eyes remained as clear and guileless as ever,

Zhou Zhi’s gaze unconsciously took on a touch of complexity. Actually, what she hadn’t said earlier was this: although Madam had given her the choice, from Madam’s words, Zhou Zhi had still keenly sensed that Madam seemed to favor this provincial graduate candidate more.

Actually, it wasn’t hard to guess.

Currently, Eldest Sister has already married into the military aristocracy. Sister-in-law was betrothed even earlier and entered the household last year. She is also the daughter of a noble family. One could say that the aristocratic circle currently holds little further value for their family.

Conversely, within the civil official ranks, if a marriage alliance could truly produce a rising star, it would undoubtedly add another valuable connection and path for the family.

After all, with the Emperor’s current attitude, civil officials generally no longer form marriage alliances with military-aristocratic families, and their daily interactions are often fraught with friction.

However, even though this was the case, Zhou Zhi didn’t harbor any resentment. The family had invested real money and resources in raising and educating them all these years; they couldn’t expect to give nothing in return!

As long as it wasn’t a life-threatening place like the palace, demanding she sacrifice her life, this level of marriage alliance was merely mutually beneficial. She didn’t feel any particular sense of injustice or bitterness.

In fact, if not for Father recently catching the eye of those above, given the family’s earlier situation, they probably wouldn’t even have the current options!

So what was there to complain about!

Hadn’t she seen that even Father had to toil and worry for the future of the Count’s household?

Thinking of her father, whose figure had grown increasingly gaunt and weary lately, inexplicably, Third Miss Zhou’s originally gloomy mood suddenly improved quite a bit.

An Ning, who vaguely guessed her train of thought: Such filial piety!!

Unfortunately, before she could say anything, Third Miss Zhou beside her remembered something else and hurriedly grabbed her arm to speak:

“Ah, Fifth Sister! Once we turn the page into the new year, you’ll be fifteen! You really can’t wait any longer. Think of Father. I’ve heard that recently, the Grand Princess has summoned Father considerably less often.”

I heard she’s recently taken a new favorite!

While inwardly sighing at her father’s lack of competitiveness, Third Miss Zhou couldn’t help but feel worried about her little sister’s situation.

An Ning: “……”

“Don’t worry, little sister here truly won’t be in any trouble!” No matter how much of a slacker she was, in an era like this, she genuinely wasn’t lacking in necessary plans, okay?

Sadly, no matter how many times An Ning explained, what greeted her was still her third sister’s exasperated, “you hopeless child” look.

“Ah, you silly girl, what do you know about any of this!”

An Ning: “……”

Meanwhile, in a small courtyard, the newlywed couple was also discussing the two sisters:

Looking at the exceptionally vibrant and, at a single glance, extraordinarily pleasing black chrysanthemums before him, Han Xu couldn’t help but feel his eyes light up:

“Is this the one Fifth Younger Sister sent over earlier?”

“Yes, husband, is something the matter?”

Noticing her lady’s cautious tone, Han Xu quickly reined in his expression and smiled. “Nothing, I just feel this flower is truly exceptionally exquisite…”

“As my lady knows, black chrysanthemums are the rarest variety, traditionally beloved by scholars and literati, yet they are extremely difficult to cultivate. Specimens of superior quality are even more scarce. Last year in Jiangnan, one with a quality still inferior to this was auctioned for a thousand taels of silver.

I simply didn’t expect there to be such talent within your family.”

She knew they were valuable, but hadn’t imagined they were *this* valuable. For a moment, even Eldest Young Lady Zhou felt the gift was almost too hot to handle. But it was her younger sister’s kind gesture; sending it back was out of the question.

Mentally calculating what kind of return gift could possibly make up for her sister’s loss, Eldest Young Lady Zhou soon smiled again:

“Husband flatters her. It’s merely a child’s pastime. I imagine Fifth Sister was just casually playing around with it earlier. I didn’t expect her to actually succeed in cultivating it…”

“But then again, this isn’t so strange. Among us sisters, since we were little, it’s always been Little Five who had the most natural talent and cleverness.”

As for the pile of rare seeds her younger sister had accidentally ruined while cultivating them earlier, Eldest Young Lady Zhou naturally didn’t mention a word of that now.

“To achieve such results with just casual cultivation truly shows Fifth Younger Sister possesses an extraordinary, innate talent in this art.” Carefully cradling the pot of black chrysanthemums, Han Xu soon spoke up, though his gaze still hadn’t left the plant.

The more he looked, the more he felt this specimen was truly worthy of being called a famous variety.

Eldest Young Lady Zhou was no fool. Seeing her husband’s reaction was so unusually intense, she couldn’t help but feel puzzled now, the initial shyness of a new bride gradually fading:

“Husband, what is this about…?”

Knowing his wife was intelligent, Han Xu decided not to hide it any longer. “To be honest with you, my lady, it’s not that I’m overly excited. It’s just that such a treasure is truly something one encounters by chance, not by seeking. I wonder if I might have the honor of inviting a friend to our residence to view it…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep