The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

Anmi continued walking forward, but at a fork in the road, she chose another path outside the An residence...

As night deepened, the lights in Rongjin City were gradually extinguished, leaving only the bright moon shining down on the earth.

In the garden pavilion of the villa where the King of Bohai lived, the little girl fell asleep wearily in the woman's arms. The woman smiled as she looked at the girl's innocent face, her eyes full of tenderness. She gently continued to coax the girl to sleep, each pat showing utmost care.

Outside the pavilion, Uncle Ji looked at the two women, one big and one small, and his brows furrowed even more. He had to admit that the second young lady of the An family was really good to Liu'er, and Liu'er's dependence on An Mi was beyond his imagination. Just now, even though Liu'er wanted to sleep, she didn't want to go back to her room to sleep. She just nestled in An Mi's arms and refused to get down.

He watched Liu'er grow up. Over the years, only in the arms of the King of Bohai did Liu'er feel so at ease. And now, is there another person who makes her feel at ease?

Looking at the time, Uncle Ji stepped forward gently and said in a low voice, "Second Miss, it's getting late. The Prince might not be back yet. Why don't I arrange a room for you to stay? If there's anything, we can talk about it when the Prince returns tomorrow."

Although Uncle Ji did not want the King of Bohai and the Second Miss to get too close, he respected An Mi's feelings.

Just now, the second young lady brought a jar of wine to the villa, saying she had something to discuss with the prince. Afterwards, she played with Liu'er. Now it's getting late, and if we wait any longer, we might catch a cold.

An Mi smiled and said softly, "No rush, I'll wait a bit longer. Uncle Ji, you should go and rest!"

“Then Miss Liu’er…” Uncle Ji frowned. Liu’er had been sleeping for a while, always on An Mi’s body. Although she was only three or four years old, even other maids would get tired of holding her for a long time, let alone An Mi, who was a young lady from a wealthy family.

An Mi was also worried that Liu'er would catch a cold if she slept like this, so she said, "How about this, I'll take Liu'er back to her room first."

As An Mi was about to get up, holding Liu'er, Uncle Ji immediately stepped forward and said, "Let this old servant do it!"

"No, don't wake Liu'er. She'll have trouble falling back asleep. It's only a short distance, I still have the strength." An Mi smiled gently, carrying Liu'er out of the pavilion. As An Mi got up, Liu'er murmured something and snuggled into An Mi's arms. As if knowing it was still that warm embrace, she continued to sleep peacefully.

Uncle Ji watched An Mi carrying Liu'er's back and couldn't help but shake his head. If An Mi were to become the Princess Consort of Bohai, she would certainly be a considerate person. However, the royal family is the royal family after all. If the prince really has feelings for this second young lady, it will probably take some trouble.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard familiar footsteps coming from not far away. Uncle Ji was slightly startled and looked at the person walking towards him. Uncle Ji immediately went to meet him. As soon as he got closer, a pungent smell of alcohol hit him. Uncle Ji couldn't help but frown. "Oh dear, my prince, what's wrong with you?"

The prince has a good capacity for alcohol, but he usually only drinks a little. But today... judging from his appearance, he must have drunk quite a bit!

Bai Yi glanced at Uncle Ji. Although he had drunk quite a bit, his mind was indeed very clear. "Where's Liu'er? Is she asleep?"

Every day, no matter when he returned, he would never forget to greet Liu'er.

"She's asleep. Miss Anmi just escorted Miss Liu'er back to her room," Uncle Ji replied.

Bai Yi's body stiffened suddenly. "An Mi? Did I hear wrong? An Mi returned to the An residence a long time ago. Why would she send Liu'er back to her room?"

Uncle Ji frowned, vaguely feeling that the reason why the prince drank so much wine today was perhaps because of Miss An Mi.

This guess made him frown, but he still spoke up, "Your Highness heard me right. Miss Anmi has been here for quite some time. Since Your Highness is not here, Miss Anmi has been playing with Miss Liu'er. It seems that Miss Anmi is waiting for Your Highness for something."

"Really? An Mi came here?" Bai Yi still couldn't hide his surprise. An Mi was so eager to escape from him, so how could she have run to his residence in the blink of an eye?

"It's true, Miss Anmi brought a jar of wine, and she was just sitting in the pavilion..." Uncle Ji said truthfully.

However, before he could finish speaking, Bai Yi strode towards the pavilion. Uncle Ji stood there dumbfounded, watching as the King of Bohai entered the pavilion, excitedly picked up the wine jar on the stone table, his face beaming with an unusually bright smile.

At this moment, he was even more certain of his earlier guess: the reason why the prince was drinking outside so late must be because of Miss Anmi, and his current pleasure was also because of Miss Anmi!

Your Highness, Your Highness, you've probably fallen completely in love with Miss Anmi!

Thinking of something, Uncle Ji sighed again, his unease growing even stronger. What should we do about the prince's condition?

In the pavilion, Bai Yi's mood seemed to have been instantly lifted from the bottom of the valley to the clouds, and the feeling was indescribably wonderful.

“Anmi… Anmi…” Bai Yi murmured the name. Uncle Ji wouldn’t lie; Anmi really had come here. This was something he never expected. What did her coming here mean?

Bai Yi couldn't help but sit down at the stone table, pick up the wine cup next to him, pour himself a cup, tilt his head back and drink it down in one gulp. He was extremely happy. All the frustration and depression from before vanished without a trace in an instant. He even looked forward to An Mi quickly settling Liu'er down and returning here.

He also realized that this tranquility had affected his emotions to such a severe extent!

An Mi settled Liu'er down, making sure she was sleeping soundly even after leaving her embrace, before leaving the room. When she returned to the garden, she noticed that the wine jar and cups on the stone table in the pavilion were gone. Just as she was wondering about this, she saw a person sitting under the locust tree next to the pavilion, with his back to her. But even with his back to her, she could tell who it was. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. Bai Yi had returned!

For some reason, her heartbeat became a little erratic, but thinking of the purpose of her visit tonight, Anmi did not hesitate any longer and strode over.

Bai Yi heard footsteps but didn't turn around. The smile on his lips betrayed his anticipation for An Mi. His deep, resonant voice carried a hint of pleasure, "It's so late. You've brought fine wine. Are you going to drink and admire the moon with me?"

An Mi frowned slightly and walked over to Bai Yi, sitting down beside him. "Yes, let's drink and admire the moon!"

As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass from the ground, took the wine jar from Bai Yi's hand, filled it for himself, held it in his hand, and looked at Bai Yi, "I think that besides being business partners, we are also friends. What does Your Highness think?"

Bai Yi was slightly taken aback. Friends? Closer than business partners, but for Bai Yi, it was still not enough. He wanted a relationship that went beyond friendship. Clearly, his earlier guess was too optimistic!