Madam Gu had not yet fully regained her composure when Gu Chengyu spoke again, announcing his second matter.
"Mom, there's one more thing."
"I plan to officially go public with my relationship with Qianqian."
He paused, looking at his mother with a resolute gaze. "I will get engaged to her first, and when she's of age, I will marry her."
Although Madam Gu had long had a premonition that her son was serious about that Su Qianqian, hearing the words "marry her" with her own ears still made her feel dizzy.
Her voice was agitated, "Chengyu! Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"Yes, I admit, Mom, that Su Qianqian seems like a simple and pretty girl to me, without any ill intentions, but she is, after all, a commoner girl!"
"Does she understand true aristocratic etiquette? Does she know how to navigate the toasts and socializing of the top social circles? Does she have the vision and stature to represent the Gu family?"
Madam Gu grew more anxious as she spoke, "When you take her out, if she makes a mistake or becomes a laughingstock, it will be the Gu family's face that's lost!"
"It's not just outsiders who will laugh. What will the elders and seniors in the clan think?"
"They were all raised under the rules of aristocratic families over thirty years ago. They value propriety and lineage the most. Will they doubt that marrying a little starlet can produce an excellent heir?"
"Although they hold little real power now, they are all elders who watched you grow up. You can't completely disregard their opinions, can you?"
Seeing her son's unmoved, cold, and hard profile, she grew even more panicked and couldn't help but bring up the most bloody precedent.
"Chengyu, think about the Shen family again! Think about Shen Que's father back then! He stubbornly married a commoner woman, and what was the result? It caused turmoil in the household, and the Shen family's future hung in the balance."
"If it weren't for that child Shen Que himself being ruthless and outstanding enough, pulling the Shen family back from the brink by sheer force, the Shen family would have long fallen out of the ranks of the Four Great Families! Do you want to follow in his footsteps?"
Madam Gu's voice was full of worry and lingering fear. She stared intently at her son, hoping to see hesitation on his face.
However, Gu Chengyu merely listened quietly. Only after his mother finished speaking did he slowly lift his eyes, his gaze proud.
"Mom, are you done? Then it's my turn to speak."
"First, Qianqian is wonderful, far more so than you imagine."
"Etiquette can be taught, vision can be broadened. These are not problems."
"Even now, her manners, etiquette, speech, and demeanor already surpass most people's."
"Secondly..." his tone turned slightly cold.
"The Gu family is not the Shen family, and I am certainly not Shen Que's indecisive father who listened to slander."
"I have more than enough ability to control everything and will absolutely not let the Gu family fall into such a situation."
"I will listen to the opinions of the clan elders, but the final decision rests with me."
He stood up, walked over to his mother, and looked down at her, his eyes serious and resolute. "Finally, and most importantly."
"In the past, I didn't care whom I married."
"But now, whom I, Gu Chengyu, marry will only be because I want to marry her, because I love her."
"Qianqian is the one I have truly given my heart to, the only one I want to marry."
"Even if she doesn't like children and is unwilling to have them, I will not be like Dad and Grandfather."
Madam Gu, seeing the determination and deep affection in her son's eyes, knew that anything more she said would be futile.
This son of hers had finally grown his wings strong. The path he wanted to take, no one could stop him anymore.
