The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

Madam Guan looked amusingly at her youngest daughter bustling around diligently, with a look of fawning eagerness and hesitance to speak.

”You silly girl, if you have something on your mind, just ask directly. Why beat around the bush like this?”

Guan Shuyan chuckled awkwardly, walked over to sit beside Madam Guan, hugged her arm, and said with a smile, ”Mother, why did Prime Minister Song come to our house?”

Madam Guan smiled and asked back, ”Then you guess, why did he come?”

Guan Shuyan said coyly, ”If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you.”

Madam Guan pinched her little nose and said, ”Prime Minister Song works in the same court as your father. If he comes to our house, it’s either to discuss state affairs with your father or for personal matters.”

”That’s like not saying anything at all,” Guan Shuyan expressed her dissatisfaction with this answer.

”Then what do you think it is?”

”This...” Guan Shuyan muttered, ”How would I know.”

Though she claimed not to know, she had some guesses in her heart. When an honored guest visits, especially a male guest, her parents never let her serve tea personally. But this time, they did. Could it be that they wanted the guest to see her?

Why would they want a young lady like her to be seen? She thought about her unresolved marriage prospects and boldly speculated further: could her parents be interested in the Song Family?

A figure flashed through Guan Shuyan’s mind, and she quickly dismissed it, shaking her head.

Madam Guan patted her head gently and teased, ”No matter the guest’s purpose for visiting, they are your elder. Treat them with respect. After all, you call Prime Minister Song’s eldest son ’Senior Brother,’ don’t you?”

Guan Shuyan nodded with a smile.

When Duke Dingguo walked in, he saw the mother and daughter whispering to each other and couldn’t help but smile.

Guan Shuyan stood up, saluted her father, read the situation, and quietly withdrew.

Once she left, Madam Guan smiled and served tea to him, supporting herself with one hand on the small table, and asked with concern, ”So, did Prime Minister Song come to our house for our Shuyan?”

Duke Dingguo scoffed, ”Madam, you’re really simplifying things. How can you conclude that a Prime Minister would visit for a marriage arrangement?”

Is that not the case?

”Nothing happens without reason. If not for a marriage arrangement, then for state affairs?” Madam Guan frowned. If that’s the case, then they perhaps need to wait, and there is no hope yet?

Duke Dingguo saw her disappointment and said, ”What, do you think so highly of the Song family’s boy? You’re so disappointed, as if you’ve lost some treasure. Shuyan is still young, what’s the rush? Even if we wait until she’s of age, it’s not too late to discuss marriage. Why is a mother in such a hurry to push her daughter away?”

Madam Guan spat at him, saying, ”Of course, I’d love to keep her at home and find a husband who would marry in, but is that possible? A daughter grows up, and keeping her too long breeds resentment. I’m just thinking we should seize a good match while one is available.”

Duke Dingguo was unconvinced.

Madam Guan continued, ”Don’t think it’s urgent. Look at those Princes, using any means to win over capable ministers. They’re not above using those underhanded methods to draw a Governor into their ranks. Do you think our Duke Mansion has no chance of being drawn in?”

Duke Dingguo Mansion represents military power, after all.

”Take the incident at the Longevity Festival, for example. If it weren’t for the Song Family’s Grand Madam, who knows who would have gone into that hall but our Shuyan.” Madam Guan’s voice turned icy, ”I thought, if it were Shuyan, they’d probably be so delighted they would set off fireworks in celebration.”

Duke Dingguo’s face turned dark.