Where prosperity ends, flowers never end

Royal Palace

Baili Yongxuan's visit to the palace was nothing more than routine questioning.

All government offices in Jizhou need to re-select officials. There are 38 prefectures in Changguo, and only one corner of Jizhou is equivalent to half of Changguo. Baili Yong has to be wary of Tan Qianhuan, and naturally he is very concerned about whether the new officials he selects are loyal.

"Mr. Cheng, you have worked hard these days. You have handled your official duties well. Have you thought about marriage?"

"I am not talented, I am busy with official duties, and I have just established my career and I dare not think about marriage."

Baili Yong smiled faintly. He didn't dare to think that there was a suitable one but he couldn't think of it. Naturally, he could understand it easily.

"Is there any daughter that you love?"

With such a suitable opportunity, he should have asked Baili Yong for marriage, but for some reason he did not ask.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I am afraid I will fail you."

Baili Yong raised his eyebrows. Hearing the helplessness in his words, he couldn't empathize with him when it came to love anyway, so he didn't want to delve into it any further.

"That's fine too. Let's build a career for Dachang first. Then we will have no shortage of beautiful women."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding."

Baili Yong smiled faintly again.

"Well, it's getting late. Mr. Cheng is on vacation today, so I can't keep you here. Go back home first."

Cheng Mo stood up and bowed.

"Wei Chen retire."

After he left the palace, Baili Yong suddenly remembered that he and Ran Yuelian had talked about Ran Qianxi's marriage that day.

"I suddenly remembered that Cheng Mo was originally a guest official in the Ran Mansion. Now she is the Minister of the Dali Temple, which is quite respectable. What do you think of her and Ran Yuelian's daughter?"

Manager Sun took a step forward, speechless.

"I have heard of this little girl from the Ran family, but the Queen Mother seems to want her to enter the palace..."

Baili Yong glanced at him and had no intention of taking Ran Qianxi into the harem.

"Enter the palace and become a concubine?"

"No, the Queen Mother has high hopes for Miss Ran. I have heard many times that she intends to let her marry you as her queen."

Baili Yong laughed a few times with disdain, thinking that his mother was really the one who kept all the wealth within her family.

"Although Ran Yuelian is also a second-rank official, the Xie family controls the grain fields, horse farms, and iron mines throughout the country, which are indispensable for establishing a career and marching to war. Although Xie Jun has been married to me for a few years and is not my principal wife, she has given birth to a boy. No matter how you look at it, she is more suitable to be the queen than the playboy who suddenly showed up."

"Yes, yes, Miss Ran is beautiful and has a good personality, so she is particularly favored by the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother thinks this is a good thing for the relationship to become closer."

"It's good to have a close relationship, but governing a country is not as easy as my mother thinks. If she really wants to, just take her into the palace and make her a concubine."

Manager Sun pondered for a moment and suddenly remembered the scene that happened in front of the Dali Temple today. Ran Qianxi and Xu Yuanchao seemed to be very close.

"I discovered something interesting today..."

"Oh? Tell me about it and make me happy."

After saying this, Manager Sun poured Baili Yong a cup of tea.

"Today, I was ordered to go to the Dali Temple to deliver an imperial decree. I saw that Marquis Yu'an and Miss Ran were behaving in a somewhat intimate manner. Although I don't know what happened, Miss Ran seemed to like following Marquis Yu'an, and Marquis Yu'an also seemed to like Miss Ran following him."

"Hahaha!"

After hearing what Manager Sun said, Baili Yong was really amused. After all, Xu Yuanchao had never been interested in women.

"Really? Xu Yuanchao is only thirty years old and has achieved success. His wife died early but he is not interested in women. Are the two girls of the Ran family so special that they can attract him so much?"

"It is absolutely true. I saw Miss Ran shyly holding Marquis Yu'an, and Marquis Yu'an did not show any disgust."

"Hahahahaha, I thought Xu Yuanchao was a homosexual."

Baili Yong was silent for a moment but felt that something was wrong. If he issued an edict to grant the two of them a marriage, Ran Qianxi would undoubtedly be Ran Yuelian's second wife, and Ran Yuelian would naturally not agree. At that time, things would certainly be difficult to handle.

"But if this girl from the Ran family marries him, she will be his second wife. It is not uncommon to issue imperial decrees to grant marriages, but I have never tried to do so before."

Manager Sun's eyes turned and he had an idea.

"You can issue an edict to allow the Ran and Xu families to marry each other. It will be up to them who will marry whom. Besides, Xu Mingxuan is only fourteen years old this year. It doesn't take much to know who will marry whom."

Baili Yong thought for a moment and felt that the matter needed to be handled with caution.

"That's fine, but if you're wrong, that's understandable. You can try them first."

"Then why don't you arrange an autumn hunt, Your Majesty? Then you can take a good look at the original."

Baili Yong turned his head and looked at him, and immediately felt that this plan was feasible.

"That's fine. It's boring in the palace all day long. Holding an autumn hunt can also bring the ministers closer. Give the order."

Manager Sun bowed.

"The slave obeys the order."

Three days later—

The autumn hunt has been scheduled. All the dignitaries present today are important, but most of them are military officers.

Ran Qiongxi, Wei Jiguo, Wei Jidie, Xu Yuanchao, Tan Qianhuan, Ran Qianxi and Xie Ying were all present.

Before Ran Qianxi saw Baili Yong's face, she ran to the woods to pick fruits and did not return until the hunt began.

Baili Yong looked around from the dragon throne.

"Why haven't I seen the second daughter of the Ran family?"

"Miss Ran is lively and naughty. Maybe she went to play in the woods."

"This second young lady is also very courageous."

Manager Sun smiled a few times in response.

"Yes, yes, it's very different from the usual girls' homes."

Half an hour after the hunt began, Wei Jiguo and Ran Qiongxi started competing, and other military officers were also eager to try. The autumn hunt was so exciting that no one cared where Ran Qianxi had gone.

Wei Jidie looks like a gentle woman, but in fact she has a wild mind. When she saw Baili Yong, she was attracted by his sharp and handsome appearance.

It was a clear and pleasant autumn day, but unexpectedly it started to rain heavily.

"Oh, why is it raining so heavily!"

The four palace maids hurriedly set up umbrella sheds one after another.

A good autumn hunt turned into a rain-viewing event.

Ran Qiongxi and Wei Jiguo returned with a full load. Some of the other military officers were still enjoying hunting, but Ran Qianxi was the only one missing.

"Where's Xi'er?"

Ran Qiongxi was extremely strange, and no one in the room had seen her before.

Watching the heavy rain, Ran Qianxi still hadn't come back, fearing she was trapped somewhere, two figures picked up paper umbrellas and left one after another.