"Are you so sure I'd be interested? Come on, tell me. If I'm not even remotely interested later, just be prepared to have your ears pulled!" Yang Ruohua said with a mischievous smile.

Da'an Wen'er smiled, gave a light cough, and deliberately changed his tone, saying: "This is the first thing. In two days, the national army's Luo Fengtang will return to Beijing to report to the Emperor."

“What? Your brother-in-law will be back in Beijing in a few days?” Yang Ruqing’s surprise caused her voice to rise several decibels.

>

"Da An laughed and corrected, "Sister, when I use 'two days' here, it's not referring to a few days, but the precise meaning of two days."

To strengthen Yang Ruoqing's recognition, Dalian also deliberately raised two fingers.

Yang Ruohui looked at Da An's two slender fingers with delight, finding the scissor hand gesture increasingly adorable!

"Oh, it's great he's coming back. I'm almost not going to recognize him if he doesn't." she said playfully.

Duan'an also smiled, but as he did, a trace of sympathy flickered in his eyes.

Sister's seemingly lighthearted joke, but the bitterness hidden behind it, only she and those closest to her can truly understand.

“Sister, when you came from the South Gate Street in the capital city before, did you see that the whole street was decorated with lanterns and colorful banners?” Dayan asked again.

Yang Ruqing recalled carefully for a moment and nodded.

"Yes, the streets are really clean. The tree trunks along both sides of the street and even in front of the shops all have red silk banners hanging."

"Little Duo and Xiaojie were also guessing if it was a rich family celebrating a wedding, so the whole street was decorated like this, how festive!" she said.

Dā'ān smiled.

“Two days later, my brother-in-law will station his troops 100 miles outside the capital and then lead a contingent of guards into the city to pay their respects and report back.”

"At that time, we will set out from Nanmen Street and head to the capital. This time, your brother-in-law has quelled the rebellion in the southwest, sweeping away the local bandits and delivering a heavy blow and warning to those neighboring countries who are plotting."

"The neighboring country once again submitted to our rule and sent envoys, hostages, letters of surrender, along with gold, silver, jewels, precious artifacts, treasures, and beautiful women. They all came to the capital together with my brother-in-law to pay their respects to the Emperor."

"The Emperor Qi was overjoyed and bestowed rewards upon his brother-in-law. Nanmen Street was decorated with lanterns to welcome his triumphant return."

Now, every citizen in the capital city knows the fame of my brother-in-law. Whether it's at banquets hosted by high officials and nobles, poetry gatherings held by scholars and literati, or in markets and shops large and small throughout the city, there are two topics everyone is discussing. One is the glorious triumph of my brother-in-law returning home after his successful campaign. As for the other…

Yang Ruqing was listening with her ears perked up, just like a cat.

Suddenly, Dayan stopped talking. This made her anxious, she started scratching her ears and face.

“Your brother-in-law is quite the hotshot now, after the assessment. So what's the other thing that has everyone buzzing?” she quickly followed up.

However, Da'an leisurely lifted the tea bowl beside him and took a light sip.

"Well, let's wet our throats first and then continue talking!" Yang Ruqing said with a smile.

Then, Da An smiled, moistened his throat, put down his teacup, sat up straight, and continued speaking.

"This is another matter altogether, and it has nothing to do with us. But since it's someone else's happy occasion, it's nice to hear about it over tea and dinner." he said.

"At the beginning of the year, Emperor Qi issued an imperial decree to choose a bride for his prince. The Ministry of Internal Affairs drafted the selection criteria and limited the scope to the capital city, so as not to disturb the prefectures and counties below."

"The original intention was to release it at the end of January, and by mid-February, a thousand eligible maidens had registered for the beauty pageant."

After several rounds of screening, there are now fifty beautiful maidens left in the palace to receive training.

"Of these fifty beauty contestants, thirty will be eliminated, leaving twenty finalists."

At that time, the emperor and empress will select the candidates for the crown prince's wife. After deliberation with the three elders of the cabinet, a decree will be issued to grant the marriage.

The selection of the two concubines for the crown princes will be made by the crown princes themselves.

Upon hearing Da An's words, Yang Ruohong's eyes widened in surprise.

"Goodness gracious, this selection of a crown princess is too much, isn't it?" she said.

"Out of a thousand people, only three are chosen. This is just considering the capital city. If we expand the selection to all prefectures and counties, the acceptance rate would be even harder than passing the imperial examinations!" she said.

Of course, after layers of screening, the Crown Princess and two concubines who remained must have been impeccable in terms of appearance, scholarship, demeanor, and conduct shown to outsiders.

And their families must have been well-respected, either aristocratic families, prominent officials, or honorable clans with a clear lineage...

“Wow, so many beauties, Qi Xingyun is really lucky this time!” Yang Ruqing said with a smile.

My mind can't help but imagine the scene: The crown prince, around twenty-six or seven years old and still single, who is rumored to not even have a maidservant for warmth in the palace, suddenly surrounded by beauties on both sides. What would that look like?

It's the hardest thing to bear, the favor of a beautiful woman. In the past, I didn't consort with women, but now I have to wallow in the midst of rouge and powder. Someone who has always eaten plain food suddenly finds himself amidst so much richness – will he be able to digest it?

Where there are women, there is war. And these women are fighting machines. Even if they appear innocent and sweet on the outside, their hearts are full of schemes.

They are vying for favor, competing in the open and in secret. Can Qixingyun withstand this?

Thinking about this, Yang Ruqing found it very interesting, hahaha...

If Qi Xingyun knew about all these embarrassing things that happened in her imagination about their married life, she wouldn't know what to think.

The East Palace, in the prince's study.

"Achoo!"

A loud sneeze echoed through the study, causing his hand holding the brush to shake. Ink from the tip splattered onto the portrait of a beauty he was painting, landing right on her nose.

Qi Xingyun looked at the ruined portrait of a beautiful woman in front of him, raising an eyebrow.

"An Gonggong, what do you think of this beauty?" he asked the middle-aged eunuch who was standing by his side attending to him.

When An Gonggong heard this, he bowed and followed Qi Xingyun's pointing gaze to the beauty painting spread out on the writing desk.

Upon seeing this, Uncle An's mouth twitched involuntarily. He wanted to laugh but dared not.

A beautiful woman, who was perfectly fine, suddenly turned into a matchmaker with a black mole on her nose.

"Your Highness, this, this..." An Gonggong didn't know how to begin.

This scroll, along with the other scrolls on the writing desk that I haven't had a chance to open yet, were sent over from the Ministry of Internal Affairs previously.

The twenty beauties in the scroll were chosen by the Emperor for his son, the Crown Prince. The future Crown Princess and two concubines are all among these twenty portraits. However, the final selections have not yet been made.

"This girl, looking at her face, seems more suited to be a matchmaker. The Imperial Household surely sent her portrait to the wrong place?"

On the edge of his writing desk, Qi Xingyun languidly leaned against the grandmaster's chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the chair, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

Genius one second: m.

Let me know if you'd like me to translate any other text!

(Editor in charge:young adult fantasy novels)