The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

An Mi intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the Bohai Prince's Mansion, reminding these young ladies that she was now living there. Who was the Bohai Prince? He was no less powerful than Feng Yu, which reassured them somewhat. The earlier incident was probably a misunderstanding. Why would An Mi covet the position of General's wife? The position of Bohai Princess was far more appealing, wasn't it?

Smiles appeared on the faces of all the young ladies, but Empress Feng had to grit her teeth in secret. However, she could do nothing about An Mi and could only allow An Mi to leave, silently enduring this humiliation.

"Go ahead, I'll have Hanyu fetch it another day." Empress Feng was extremely aggrieved and didn't want to see An Mi for even a moment. As the Empress, she had suffered a lot of humiliation at An Mi's hands. For her, even if she wanted to take someone's life openly, it wouldn't be difficult. But she had to consider Bai Yi and An Mi's value.

Anmi gracefully curtsied and said, "Anmi takes her leave."

After saying that, she took the item from Han Yu's hand and left without looking back, under everyone's gaze. As she turned around, she even felt the intensely hot gaze fixed on her, and a smile gradually spread across her lips.

She could even sense Empress Feng's burning hatred.

Without Anmi's presence, the young ladies of the various families presented their most dignified selves before the Empress. Only Sima Yan felt uneasy without Anmi's presence. Thinking of the way Anmi had looked at her earlier, Sima Yan maintained her usual gentle smile, but it appeared noticeably stiff. Her hand holding the teacup trembled for some reason, and with a bang, the teacup fell to the ground and shattered.

"Ah..." Sima Yan hurriedly got up, the tea soaking her clothes. Because of this sudden incident, the usually dignified and elegant Sima Yan turned pale, and the young ladies present also started to make a fuss, as if watching a good show.

"What happened? How could you be so careless?" Empress Feng asked loudly, her voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

Sima Yan, disregarding her wet clothes, hurriedly knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness, "This humble woman is clumsy and has knocked over the teacup. Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me..."

At this moment, even a woman as shrewd as Sima Yan could not remain calm in the face of change. Empress Feng glanced at Sima Yan indifferently, but a thought popped into her mind: if An Mi were in such a predicament, she would probably act as if nothing had happened.

Thinking of this, Empress Feng felt angry. "I believe that since she is a lady of a prominent family, being proper is the most basic quality. If she can't even hold a teacup properly, isn't she a bit too delicate? It's secondary that she might break some of the things in my palace. If some people see this, they might think that all the ladies of prominent families in the capital are so clumsy."

What Empress Feng didn't say was that none of them could compare to An Mi's shrewdness.

Sima Yan seemed to have not expected Empress Feng to be so angry, and her heart became even more uneasy. Just as she was about to say something, Aunt Hanyu spoke first, "Your Majesty, Miss Sima, could it be that you did it on purpose? Miss Sima's face is pale. This servant thinks, could it be that you are not feeling well?"

Sima Yan is the daughter of the Yonghou family and the future Crown Prince's consort. Although the Empress and the Crown Prince are rivals in secret, Sima Yan might be an asset to them at some point. Offending her now would not be good for the future. Your Majesty cannot afford to lose sight of the bigger picture.

Empress Feng was slightly taken aback. With the tacit understanding between the two of them over the years, Empress Feng naturally understood Han Yu's implied meaning and Han Yu's concerns. She lowered her brows, and her anger from before subsided considerably. She glanced at Sima Yan's pale and flustered face and said, "Get up. Since you are not feeling well, you should go back to your residence to rest as soon as possible."

As soon as Empress Feng relented, Sima Yan breathed a sigh of relief. She took a deep breath to calm her panic, slowly stood up, and regained her usual elegance and poise. "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. I take my leave."

"Hmm." Empress Feng picked up the teacup on the table, took a small sip, and her tone became even gentler. "Hanyu, go to the Imperial Hospital and summon a physician to examine Yan'er."

They all knew in their hearts that Sima Yan was not unwell, but Empress Feng's words were a great show of respect for Sima Yan.

Sima Yan naturally understood this and secretly remembered Empress Feng's kindness. Without lingering, Sima Yan left the Empress's palace.

An Mi left the palace, thinking about how she had been picked up by Sima Yan early that morning. Now, however, there was no carriage for her to return. An Mi glanced at the guards at the gate and realized that she would probably have no choice but to walk back.

An Mi tugged at the corners of her mouth, a hint of helplessness lingering beneath. She had just stepped out of the palace gate when she heard a voice…

“Mi’er…”

An Mi looked over at the sound and saw a carriage parked to her right outside the palace gate. Beside the carriage, a man in blue stood with his hands behind his back, staring intently at An Mi. His smile was as warm as a spring breeze. Even the coachman could hardly believe that the man in front of him was the same cold and aloof prince he knew.

When An Mi saw Qing Lan, she was taken aback for a moment, then a smile appeared on her face as a response to her friend. Qing Lan had already started walking towards her.

"Anmi greets Your Highness the First Prince..." Anmi curtsied, but noticed that Qinglan, who had stopped in front of her, frowned slightly. She knew that Qinglan must be displeased because of her "etiquette". Anmi tugged at the corner of her mouth and immediately changed the subject, "Qinglan has business in the palace. We'll talk again next time we meet."

After saying that, he walked past Qinglan, but as soon as he took a step, a large hand grabbed his wrist.

"I do have something to attend to, but it's not to the palace," Qinglan's gentle voice rang out as she stood before Anmi once more. "Now that we've met, why wait until next time?"

He did have something to do, something important, but the moment he saw An Mi, he subconsciously put those things out of his mind. As he spoke, Qing Lan had already pulled An Mi towards the carriage.

An Mi frowned, trying to break free from the large hand, but to no avail. Fortunately, when they reached the carriage, Qing Lan released her, freeing An Mi. However, all of this had already been seen by a pair of eyes.

Sima Yan was heading home after leaving the Empress's palace when she unexpectedly witnessed this scene. Qing Lan's gentle demeanor towards An Mi stung her eyes. Even though she had met Qing Lan a few times before, he was always cold and indifferent. There was always something between them, and even when she wanted to get closer, she could always feel something repelling her.

She, Sima Yan, is his future Crown Princess. The person who should be looked at with such tender and protective eyes by him is none other than Sima Yan.