After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 731 Proposing marriage at home

The Fifth Prince has never given up his position as Crown Prince, and it is believed that if his strength allows, he would even like to sit on the throne directly.

However, their initial capital was too weak, and their external support was really unhelpful, with no resources available for immediate use.

Hiding in seclusion is the most useful thing he has ever been able to do.

However, with the Second Prince being appointed Crown Prince, he no longer wanted to proceed slowly, so he would not give up the Ouyang family, such a great help.

Regardless of what the Ouyang family thinks, if all else fails, he can always resort to a desperate measure.

Noble families value their reputation above all else. What if Ouyang Yan herself were to eagerly marry him?

The die is cast, and we're not afraid the Ouyang family won't compromise!

As one of the few remaining strategists in the Fifth Prince's household, Song Jinyang naturally knew the Fifth Prince's plans.

Although he despised it, he was still hoping that his sister could become a concubine after the Fifth Prince's wedding, so from his own self-interest, he naturally wouldn't stop it.

Not only did they not stop it, they also actively helped prepare all the necessary items for the marriage proposal.

The New Year celebrations have passed, but the Fifth Prince's betrothal gifts have not yet been delivered to the Ouyang family, while the Jiang family has already started their wedding celebrations.

As if by unspoken agreement, the Jiang and Tan families were both trying to speed up preparations for Jiang Weier and Tan Hao's wedding.

Jiang Xiaoqi also temporarily put aside her work and tried to find time to pay attention to the progress of her sixth sister's marriage.

Spring is just around the corner, and my sixth sister's wedding is scheduled for before spring, which will be in the next few days.

In addition, he also needs to pay attention to the resumption of work at Tongzhou Wharf, as many of the craftsmen from the south have already set off.

Many places in the north still have snow, and the distance is also close, so many northern craftsmen are still hibernating.

They had a very prosperous New Year, and their home was filled with meat every day.

After working hard for most of the year, my body has had a good rest this winter and is now full of energy, just waiting to show my skills at the dock after the weather clears up.

While the Jiang family was busy preparing for the wedding, there was also some activity from the Fifth Prince's side.

Song Jinyang meticulously prepared the betrothal gifts, and the Fifth Prince led a grand procession directly to the Ouyang family to propose marriage.

Ouyang Zheng, the head of the Ouyang family, looked extremely grim. He had never wanted to marry his daughter to the Fifth Prince, but the Fifth Prince's grand gesture had put him in a difficult position.

Refusing was not an option, and agreeing was even worse. Fortunately, Madam Ouyang reacted quickly, managing to handle the situation with her husband while instructing the steward to send a message to the Empress Dowager in the palace.

The only person who can handle this matter now is the Empress Dowager. She is not only a member of the Ouyang family, but also the grandmother of the Fifth Prince.

The Fifth Prince knew that the Ouyang family was stalling for time, but he wasn't in a hurry. Would the Empress Dowager really leave the palace for such a trivial matter?

It was freezing cold, and the Fifth Prince didn't think the Empress Dowager would leave the palace for Ouyang Yan, a grandniece he had only met a few times.

"Patriarch Ouyang, your tea is as fragrant as ever. I rarely have such good tea in my household. You truly deserve to be called a great family with a hundred-year history!"

After saying that, he picked up his teacup and drank his tea, seemingly unaware of the attitude of Mr. and Mrs. Ouyang.

Song Jinyang stood behind the Fifth Prince, like a statue.

He was both jealous and envious of the Ouyang family, who could stand on equal footing with royalty like the Fifth Prince. If he and his sister had such a family background, they wouldn't have had to endure years of subservience and humiliation...

But it's just wishful thinking. If you're not born with certain things, you'll most likely never have them in this lifetime.

unless……

Unless you latch onto a truly powerful patron, you won't be able to soar to great heights, change your social standing, and finally achieve great success!

Song Jinyang stared at the back of the person's head in front of him and thought to himself, "Did I make the right bet this time?"

"Your Highness, Fifth Prince, you flatter me. This tea was merely a casual gift from His Majesty; how could it compare to the tea served in Your Highness's residence?"

How could the Fifth Prince's residence not have tea bestowed by the Emperor?

This was simply to make the Ouyang family understand that even if they were a century-old clan, so what? They only maintained their dignity because they received imperial favor.

The royal family is the most noble and powerful family. What about all those centuries-old aristocratic families? Aren't they all under the rule of the royal family?!

Ouyang Zheng was no fool; even Madam Ouyang, a woman, could understand the deeper meaning in the Fifth Prince's words.

She only hoped that the steward would be quick and efficient, and that he could quickly invite the Empress Dowager to deal with the troublesome Fifth Prince.

Whether the steward was fast or not is unknown, but Ouyang's swift horse certainly was.

Instead of driving the carriage, the steward chose to sit on horseback and be jostled around until he was dizzy.

After all, this was an extremely urgent moment, and there was really no time to worry about anything else.

With the token given to him by Master Ouyang, Steward Ouyang entered the palace gates smoothly. However, since the Empress Dowager resided in the inner palace, Steward Ouyang could only wait on the outer perimeter.

The woman who came out was a trusted nanny of the Empress Dowager, who was also acquainted with Steward Ouyang.

Without further ado, the two told the Empress Dowager about the Fifth Prince's marriage proposal to the Ouyang family, asking her to think of a solution.

"The Fifth Prince actually came to our door like this? Didn't Lord Ouyang state before that women from the Ouyang family would not enter the royal palace? What's going on here?"

Moreover, this was an imperial edict from the Empress Dowager twenty years ago. Was the Fifth Prince, as her grandson, going to openly defy his own grandmother?

"Oh dear, Granny, this isn't the time for such formalities! You'd better hurry and inform the Empress Dowager immediately. The master and mistress are already stalling, but they can't keep delaying indefinitely; after all, the other party is a prince!"

"Alright, alright, I understand. You wait here, I'll go and inform the Empress Dowager immediately."