The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

An Mi listened to the Empress's words without any reaction. "Look at the embroidery pattern? Perhaps there's something fishy about it?"

An Mi knew that in this palace, she could only deal with whatever came her way. An Mi curtsied, and Han Yu echoed her, smiling as she walked to An Mi's side. "Her Majesty the Empress has praised An Mi's skills to this old servant more than once. Today, this old servant is fortunate to be by her side. If I can learn even a little bit, I will be very happy. An Mi, please come with me."

An Mi nodded gracefully, "Thank you for leading the way, Aunt Hanyu."

Under everyone's gaze, An Mi followed behind Han Yu and slowly disappeared from everyone's sight. The young ladies couldn't help but feel envious when they saw An Mi being treated so well by the Empress. They thought to themselves, if they knew this skill and could please the Empress, wouldn't their marriages be settled?

Sima Yan smiled warmly, but her hand clutching the embroidered handkerchief tightened. She was about to become the Crown Prince's consort, with an incomparably noble status. In this setting, she should be the one being admired and surrounded by admirers. However… glancing at the young ladies, her smile grew even gentler, but no one knew that the knuckles of her hand clutching the embroidered handkerchief had begun to turn white.

"Although An Mi comes from a small place, this girl has an exceptionally good life!" Empress Feng suddenly said this without warning, leaving everyone puzzled. Empress Feng noticed this, her gaze fixed on the direction where An Mi had disappeared, her smile growing increasingly eerie. After a moment of silence, Empress Feng addressed the crowd, "By the way, someone just asked who the talented young man I mentioned is..."

As Empress Feng spoke, the eyes of the young ladies in her vicinity lit up, unable to hide their eagerness and excitement. Little did they know, they had already fallen into Empress Feng's trap.

“Yes, anyone who can earn such praise from the Empress must be one in a million,” Sima Yan said, and the other young ladies present nodded in agreement.

Empress Feng followed up on Sima Yan's words with a smile, saying, "Isn't that my nephew? He can be considered a talented young man!"

Everyone was stunned. The Empress's nephew? Isn't that General Feng Yu?

They all knew that General Feng Yu's fiancée, Yu Ling'er, had just been beheaded. They never expected that after such a short time, Empress Feng would be arranging to find another wife for General Feng.

That's right. Who is General Feng? He is the most outstanding son of the Feng family in this generation. The Emperor and the Empress value him highly, so the Empress naturally has to pay special attention to his marriage.

"Yes, yes, of course it counts. General Feng is handsome and of noble status. If he is not a talented man, then no one else deserves the title of 'talented man'."

"Yes, General Feng is wise and brave, and deserves a true beauty..."

Thinking of General Feng's heroic appearance in his armor, all the young ladies present were filled with spring-like joy, wishing they could be chosen by Empress Feng. However, they all knew that there was only one General Feng, and only one person could replace Yu Ling'er and become General Feng's future wife.

The young ladies smiled warmly on the surface, but the subtle glances they occasionally exchanged betrayed their true feelings. Empress Feng noticed this and was quite pleased. "All of you here are beauties. I wonder which one of you my nephew will fall for. Alas, I wonder which of you will be my nephew's wife!"

Empress Feng sighed, took a small sip of tea, and thought to herself that An Mi must have arrived at her palace by now! Thinking of An Mi's scheming, a smirk played on Empress Feng's lips. "An Mi, oh An Mi," she thought, "you managed to trick me earlier, but is she really that clever? I'll see how you handle this later..."

Just as Empress Feng had expected, An Mi arrived at the Empress's palace. Aunt Han Yu presented several embroidery patterns to An Mi, carefully explaining Empress Feng's various preferences and requirements. An Mi listened attentively; the requests weren't difficult, and there was no sign of any harassment. An Mi was wondering why Empress Feng had gone to such lengths to have her accompany Aunt Han Yu to get the embroidery patterns, even for something so simple. Just then, Han Yu spoke up, "Miss An Mi, our palace also has its own small garden. The flowers are in full bloom right now. Why don't you sit there for a while and wait for this old servant? This old servant will go to the Imperial Wardrobe to fetch some fabric and thread."

Fabrics and threads? In her magnificent palace, all kinds of fabrics and threads were available, no less than those in the imperial palace. Based on the Empress Feng's requirements relayed by Aunt Hanyu, she already knew which fabrics and threads to use, but Aunt Hanyu...

“Alright,” Anmi replied softly, without saying anything more.

Han Yu led her to the garden behind the palace and then left in a hurry. An Mi looked at the deserted garden and the direction in which Han Yu's figure disappeared into the distance, and her face darkened.

Empress Feng summoned her to her palace to retrieve the embroidery pattern; it couldn't be that simple!

Anmi silently grumbled to herself as she admired the garden full of blooming flowers, but she sensed that she was in a trap, though she didn't know what kind of trap it was...

An Mi paused, her hand still touching the flowers. She heard footsteps behind her, her brow furrowed slightly, and she tugged at the corner of her mouth. Aunt Han Yu had only been gone a short while; she couldn't possibly be back so soon!

These footsteps were steady and heavy, unlike the light, graceful footsteps of a woman, or the cautious footsteps of a palace eunuch. Who could it be? Who could walk freely in the Empress's palace? It was a man!

Several possible figures flashed through Anmi's mind, but in the end, the face that remained in her mind made Anmi frown.

“Miss Anmi is in a good mood, but it would be a waste to enjoy the flowers alone on such a beautiful day.”

The man's voice came from behind, confirming An Mi's guess: Feng Yu, it really was him!

Why was he here? And to make matters worse, she ran into him. An Mi was extremely displeased.

An Mi turned around. Feng Yu was dressed in a sleek and imposing outfit, still exuding arrogance even in the palace. An Mi gave a slight smile. "An Mi greets General Feng. Her Majesty the Empress is in the Imperial Garden..."

"Who told you I came here to see my aunt, the Empress?" Before An Mi could finish speaking, Feng Yu interrupted her, looking at her with a half-smile. "I've been wanting to see you on other days, but I didn't expect to run into you here. What a coincidence."

What a coincidence? Why did An Mi feel that this "coincidence" was so hypocritical? Especially the smile on Feng Yu's face at this moment, which made An Mi feel even more ironic. "Yes, it really is quite a coincidence. An Mi will not disturb General Feng's business."

As Anmi spoke, she curtsied and then turned to walk in the other direction. But after taking only two steps, the man behind her caught up with her.