Chapter 623 When You Have a Daughter, You Can Pass It On

**Chapter 623: You Can Pass It Down to Your Daughter**

Ever since the betrothal decree was issued, Yu Yongliu had been sending gifts to Qing An’s window every day.

The Princess of Ying was well aware of this but mostly turned a blind eye to it.

Sometimes it was a pair of adorable lucky charms, sometimes a box of sweets from a popular pastry shop in the west of the city, and other times a letter he had written...

Qing An was filled with joy almost every day.

Seeing this, the Princess of Ying became more and more pleased with Yu Yongliu as her future son-in-law.

"After you marry into his household, you’ll have two sisters-in-law—your elder sister-in-law is the eldest daughter of a marquis's family, raised under the disciplined upbringing of the Song family in Suyang, so managing a household will be no problem for her. The second sister-in-law is a shrewd businesswoman, so accounting will be a breeze for her... I don’t expect you to become an expert at running a household, but I do hope you understand the basics. Even though these estates, shops, and lands are managed by your subordinates, they’re still your own property, and you need to be able to read and oversee them properly, or sneaky servants might take advantage of you."

The Princess of Ying bopped her daughter lightly on the forehead and smiled, "And besides, if you manage them well, you can pass them down to your daughter one day—as a dowry for my granddaughter."

Qing An turned bright red and murmured shyly, "Mother~"

As mother and daughter were chatting, someone came to announce that cousin Sheng Kairan had arrived.

Since Sheng Kairan had been told from a young age that he had no romantic fate and was destined for lifelong celibacy, the Princess of Ying had always felt especially fond of and protective toward her nephew.

But when Sheng Kairan walked in, the Princess of Ying was startled to her feet, pointing at his face. "What happened to you?"

Sheng Kairan’s delicate, almost feminine forehead was now swollen and bruised.

He instinctively touched it and gave a wry chuckle. "On my way here, I passed by a teahouse—unfortunately, I happened to witness something..."

From what he explained, the Princess of Ying learned that while passing by the teahouse, Sheng Kairan had run into Second Miss Wei of the Jiping Commandery Prince’s household, who was caught in a heated argument with Yu Chongen, the second son of the Duke of Xinguo. Yu Chongen had another young lady with him, which led Second Miss Wei to mistakenly believe he was out with her, sparking a quarrel.

In the heat of the moment, Second Miss Wei, furious, accused Yu Chongen of being a two-timing jerk. The other girl defended him, saying they had just met by chance.

But Second Miss Wei wouldn’t hear it, convinced the other girl was deliberately provoking her, and snapped angrily.

To her shock, Yu Chongen stood up for the other girl and scolded Second Miss Wei for being too domineering.

Enraged, Second Miss Wei shouted, “You cheating snake!” and shoved Yu Chongen.

The other girl, equally angry, pushed back.

Amid the chaos, Second Miss Wei was shoved and went tumbling down the steps in front of the teahouse.

Those steps were steep, and a fall could easily result in broken bones.

Sheng Kairan, who had been watching the commotion, instinctively rushed forward to catch her—and ended up falling with her, hitting his forehead on the steps.

With a sigh, Sheng Kairan concluded, "...At least I only got a swollen forehead. When I saw that Second Miss Wei wasn’t seriously hurt, I left quickly."

Noticing his aunt’s concern, he tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "Don’t fuss, Auntie. It’s my fault for being nosy. If I’d just walked past without getting involved, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt."

The Princess of Ying chided gently, "Silly boy..."

She sighed, unable to find the words.

Her heart ached for Sheng Kairan—such a fine young man, handsome and kind-hearted, yet doomed to a life without love.

The Sheng family, a prominent clan from Hexi, had originally dismissed the prophecy and even tried to arrange marriages for him.

Ever since Sheng Kairan turned fourteen, any family that betrothed their daughter to him would inevitably encounter misfortune within three months.

The girls either came down with mysterious illnesses, ran off with another man, or in one tragic case, dropped dead just days after getting engaged—it was truly horrifying.

Sheng Kairan himself didn’t believe it at first, but after witnessing the sudden illness and death of one of his fiancées, he put his foot down and refused any more arranged marriages.

To get his family off his back about marriage, he even threatened to shave his head and become a monk.

A highborn young man from a wealthy family, he had been wandering abroad all these years, enduring untold hardships—just the thought of it made the Princess of Ying’s heart ache for her nephew.

Now, seeing the bump on his forehead and hearing him joke about how he shouldn’t have gone to watch the commotion, the Princess of Ying felt even more distressed. She immediately summoned the court physician: "Stay at the palace for the next few days and don’t go wandering around. I’ll have someone apply warm compresses—you don’t want any scars ruining that pretty face of yours."

Sheng Kairan naturally knew his aunt cared deeply for him. After a moment’s thought, he said, "Fine, I’ve got nothing going on these days anyway. I’ll listen to you, Aunt… Isn’t Cousin Qing An’s wedding date set already? Is there anything else you need help with? Since I’m here, I might as well lend a hand."

The Princess of Ying scolded playfully, "Just focus on healing that face of yours first."

Sheng Kairan smiled and said nothing.

That afternoon, Xingxing dropped by the Prince of Ying’s residence to hang out. After spending some time blending fragrances with Qing An, they heard that the Jiping Commandery Prince’s household, having learned of the young master’s presence, had specially sent gifts as thanks.

It was only then that Xingxing learned from Qing An about the incident that morning.

Qing An grumbled to Xingxing about Yu Chongen: "...After what happened to Sister Shuangyan, if his family didn’t want to wait anymore, they should have kept things low-key. Instead, they made a big show of meeting other girls and going out with them. It's really..."

Qing An only vented a couple of sentences before news arrived that the Second Miss and Third Young Master of the Jiping Commandery Prince’s household had come to visit.

Qing An and Xingxing exchanged glances—they had just mentioned them, and here they were.

Qing An also felt deeply for Wei Shuangyan and quickly had them ushered in.

Wei Shuangyan marched in ahead, with Wei Zihang scrambling after her.

Normally, Wei Shuangyan should have paid respects to Qing An, but given her seniority in age and her current mood, she skipped the formalities.

Qing An, understanding her state of mind, didn’t comment and instead had seats and tea prepared for them.

Wei Zihang was pleasantly surprised to see Xingxing there. "Xingxing, it’s been a while! You seem taller."

Xingxing was delighted to hear someone say she’d grown. She even stood up and stretched her arms, twirling around. "Right? I think so too! Ju Geer keeps saying I haven’t grown, but in a little while, I might just catch up to him!"