Quickly wear a child, the villain is more favored, who wants the male protagonist?

She has a bright and beautiful face. Even when she is sleeping without makeup, she is so beautiful that it makes people lose their minds.

A few wet strands of hair on the side of her cheeks stuck to the curve of her face. She seemed tired and slept uneasily. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, making people feel distressed and pity for her.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but gently brush her frowning brows with his hand, then brushed away the hair on her cheek. A few strands of her hair were buried in the quilt. Zhou Yan paused and pulled down the corner of the quilt to help her pull it out.

But when the corner was pulled, her pajamas were slightly pulled aside, revealing her beautiful neck and half of her round shoulders. Zhou Yan immediately held his breath and couldn't help but want to pull the quilt down.

The next second, Xia Xizhi seemed to feel uncomfortable and groaned, then turned over and faced away from Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan quickly withdrew his hand like a thief.

Just as he was about to turn over guiltily, he suddenly noticed the red marks on Xia Xi's shoulders. When he realized what it was, his face suddenly turned gloomy...

With experience, he naturally knew where the traces came from.

Zhou Yan's thoughts were completely gone, his brows furrowed into knots. This kind of thing would only come out when the feelings were deep. How could Yan Sili...

Feeling that the person behind him had stopped moving, Xia Xizhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Sili, who was perched on the beam, also withdrew his hand, which was ready to strike...

.......

The flower viewing banquet was soon to arrive.

Zhang Xiuchun's arrangement of a flower viewing banquet turned out to be a joke.

The program and arrangements for the flower viewing banquet are almost the same every year and there has never been a mistake. However, when Zhang Xiuchun saw the list sent by the Ministry of Rites, he was dumbfounded.

A flower-viewing banquet would cost so much money, so the harem would be short of money in the future.

So she rejected the Ministry of Rites' proposal and asked them to come up with a cut-down version, requiring them to use only 30% of the previous amount of silver. The Ministry of Rites was so angry that they almost quit.

There's no real way to reduce things. If we reduce it to this extent, we might as well not do it at all.

In the end, it was the Queen Mother who persuaded her not to make a fuss, to just do what she had to do, and not to let Zhou Yan think she was petty, and only then did she compromise.

Guyu was combing Xia Xizhi's hair while describing the scene of her quarrel with the Ministry of Rites, laughing so hard that she fell backwards.

"Your Majesty, do you think she got kicked in the head by a donkey before entering the palace? She's giving orders without understanding anything. This is the imperial palace. The flower viewing banquet is the most important annual palace banquet of our Great Zhou Kingdom, and she actually wants to cut expenses by 70%. I don't know what she was thinking. Hahahahaha, the Minister of Rites' face was as black as the bottom of a pot at that time. Your Majesty, you didn't see it. I'm dying of laughter..."

"If the Queen Mother hadn't sent someone to stop her, she would have probably gone to His Majesty!"

Xia Xizhi was infected by her smile and couldn't help but smile too.

"She's probably getting anxious. With the harem's expenses, the money she manages might not be enough before the selection. And she'll have more troubles after the selection."

Guyu hummed,

"She deserves it! Who allowed her to take away your right to assist in managing the harem? Your Majesty, you are truly amazing! I didn't understand why you did this before, but it turns out it's because the harem is short of money! Your Majesty, you are truly wise!"

Guyu's eyes were full of admiration.

......

The flower viewing banquet would not start until the afternoon, and ministers would enter the palace with their families one after another. Before the banquet, they would all enjoy the flowers and chat in the flower garden, regardless of gender.

The flower-viewing banquets held over the years were actually also large-scale blind date events. Men and women who were attracted to each other could give each other gifts, and the emperor would also choose a wife or concubine for the princes of appropriate age.

Several couples would be formed at the banquet every year. At the end of the banquet, those who were attracted to each other would ask the emperor and empress to grant them a marriage. The emperor and empress were also willing to help them and would grant the marriage as long as there were no unexpected events.

.......

After Xia Xizhi finished dressing up, she took Guyu out of the Pepper Room alone.

There is an observation deck along the corridor, from which you can see the whole view of the garden.

Just after passing the water pavilion, there seemed to be someone arguing on the other side of the corridor. The familiar voice made Xia Xizhi stop and make a hushing gesture to Guyu.

"Sister, although the steward of the Imperial Household Department is a little older, he is powerful and rich. You will enjoy a good life if you marry him. What else can you be dissatisfied with?" Xu Liang said unhappily.

"Really? Marrying him means you will enjoy a good life? Then why don't you let your sister Xu Minmin marry him?" Xu Liangyu sneered.

Xu Liang was choked and became angry.

"How can you compare with Minmin? She's well-educated and proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy and painting. What about you? You have no femininity at all. You just wield swords and guns all day long. You're lucky to have someone want you.

"You have to obey your parents' orders and the matchmaker's words even if you don't want to! Today, your father will ask His Majesty to grant you a marriage, and it's useless for you to make a fuss."

At this point, Xu Liang thought about her temper and was really afraid that she would make a scene, so he started to speak kindly.

"I know you blame me for stealing your credit, but I don't want to. Throughout history, there have been no female generals. If the late emperor had known that General Mobei was a woman, he might have simply been curious and allowed you into the palace as a concubine.

After all, it is because of me that I got the position of general. Without me, you, a woman, would get nothing.

I'm your younger brother, so it doesn't matter if you give me the position of general. I'll always be your support in the future. If you're wronged in your in-laws' house, I'll have your back. Why do you have to be so aggressive and care about a general's position? You'll get married eventually, so you can't stay a general forever, right?

"The most important thing for a woman is to find a good husband. Building a successful career is up to us men."

Xu Liangyu smiled and folded his arms.

"Achieve great things? If you could achieve great things, what would you have done? Be my backer? Are you sure? Now you're forcing me to marry a perverted old man who beat his three wives to death, aren't you?"

Xu Liang's face suddenly turned pale, and he stopped pretending and threatened with a gloomy face,

"I wanted to give you face, but since you don't want it, don't blame me for being rude. Sister, don't forget that your mother's illness still requires Lingzhi to stay alive. Without the Xu family's money, she won't live for more than three days."

"At the banquet later, you just need to follow your father's instructions. If you dare to say anything nonsense, your mother will die!"