The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

Imagine a prince's mansion where Sima Yan holds the position of principal wife, while the concubine is a princess. In this mansion, who has the higher status between the two women?

Those with keen eyes could see that Emperor Mingde was deliberately trying to upset Sima Yan!

Even so, many officials present were excited and eager to try. Whatever the emperor's purpose was, the title of "princess" and the status of the eldest prince's concubine were enough to be a great temptation for them.

Sima Yan's face was already deathly pale. The bright red wedding dress she wore seemed even more ironic. She was filled with a thousand unwillingnesses and ten thousand resentments, but at this moment, facing so many people's gazes, she had to regain her composure and show the "virtuous and magnanimous" demeanor of the Crown Prince's consort. A gentle smile bloomed on her face, "Father, I will definitely get along well with my sister!"

Sima Yan understood that if she did not back down, Emperor Mingde had plenty of other plans to make against her. Right now, she might be a concubine or a princess, but who knew what might come next?

Sima Yan then realized that serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; the fate of all of them was in the hands of this monarch!

Then… something flashed through Sima Yan’s mind, too fast to grasp.

"Haha, good, excellent! This is the third joy of the day!" Emperor Mingde laughed heartily, but the atmosphere did not lighten much because of his laughter. Everyone knew that the matter of the Prince of Bohai and An Mi requesting an imperial decree to marry was not yet settled!

The King of Bohai is not one to back down, so how will the Emperor handle this matter?

Empress Feng, who had been watching all this from the sidelines, saw Emperor Mingde's intentions even more clearly through the matter of Sima Yan. The emperor would not agree to this marriage, so... Empress Feng narrowed her eyes, glanced at Bai Yi and An Mi, and the smile on her lips became even more gloating.

"Your Majesty, regarding the matter of the Prince of Bohai requesting an imperial decree to grant a marriage..." Empress Feng tentatively began, her aim being to draw everyone's attention back to the fact that this matter was far from over.

Qinglan frowned, but Emperor Mingde's laughter suddenly froze. After a moment of contemplation, he said in a deep voice, "The matter of bestowing a marriage? What matter of bestowing a marriage? Didn't I just promise to betroth Qinglan to a concubine?"

After Emperor Mingde finished speaking, everyone present understood that Emperor Mingde was pretending to be stupid. He would treat the matter of the Prince of Bohai requesting a marriage as if it had never happened. His low tone was also a warning to certain people that no one should mention this matter again!

Empress Feng's expression froze for a moment, a clear sense of resentment creeping into her heart. She looked at Bai Yi, only to see that he had somehow taken An Mi's hand. Empress Feng paused slightly, then a smile returned to her lips...

What Empress Feng saw, Emperor Mingde naturally saw as well, as did Qinglan. Immediately, Qinglan's eyes sharpened. He had gained a concubine for no reason. If he couldn't cover this up, what would be the point of his loss?

He absolutely cannot let An Mi become Bai Yi's wife!

Qinglan realized that Bai Yi seemed to be making a move, and was about to speak to stop him from doing anything, when another voice suddenly rang out...

"Today is the auspicious day for Qinglan and Fengyu, the two newlywed couples. Everyone, please go to your respective residences to continue the wedding banquet!" Emperor Mingde ordered loudly, not giving Bai Yi any chance to make a move. After saying this, he waved his sleeve and hurriedly prepared to leave.

The urgency and determination in his steps suggested a fear of Bai Yi. He had always known that when his son went crazy, no one could control him. He looked as if he was afraid that if he slowed down, Bai Yi would seize the opportunity, and the final result would enrage him.

No matter how fast he walked, Bai Yi didn't give him a chance to escape. Watching Emperor Mingde's figure quickly leave, a smile appeared on Bai Yi's lips. He tightened his grip on An Mi's hand and, under everyone's gaze, knelt on the ground with An Mi, saying loudly, "Thank you, Father Emperor, for your tacit approval and granting your son's request!"

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone present gasped. Tacit approval? Acquiescence?

Those present could all see clearly when the Emperor had tacitly approved it. Anyone could see that Emperor Mingde's attitude was not one of approval, but rather of disapproval of the marriage!

But what is the Prince of Bohai doing? He just angered the Emperor, and perhaps the Emperor gave him a chance and didn't pursue the matter further. Now, the Prince of Bohai has brought it up again. Isn't he just forcing the Emperor to get angry and pushing himself into the Emperor's wrath?

Everyone couldn't help but feel worried for the King of Bohai, as they couldn't fathom his thoughts. However, they could see one thing: everyone said that the King of Bohai was deeply in love with Anmi, a girl from Rongjin City. No one knew just how deep his feelings were, but today they could see it. The King of Bohai was willing to anger the Emperor and insisted on marrying Anmi as his concubine. They wondered if the outcome would be what he wanted.

Everyone felt the aura emanating from Emperor Mingde, and felt that the matter was hanging in the balance.

Emperor Mingde stopped in his tracks, his suppressed anger rising even higher. His previous attitude of acting as if nothing had happened was so obvious that even someone as shrewd as Bai Yi couldn't have missed it. But this Bai Yi was clearly trying to anger him!

To grant their wish? To acquiesce?

As expected of his son, he knows how to play tricks, but he can only do so in front of him... Emperor Mingde narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Bai Yi. The father and son's eyes met, and even those around them could feel the powerful confrontation, making them afraid to look directly at each other.

A cold glint flashed in Empress Feng's eyes, and she felt even more gloating. It seemed that it would be strange if this fire didn't break out! Heh, let it burn, it's good that it's burning, isn't it?

Empress Feng wished that Bai Yi would be stripped of his throne and power by Emperor Mingde because of this incident, so that the Prince of Bohai would no longer be a threat to them.

As Empress Feng pondered, the atmosphere became so strangely tense that it was hard to breathe. Even An Mi couldn't help but hold Bai Yi's hand, pondering how to calm things down and get Emperor Mingde to accept it. She knew that Bai Yi would not give up until he achieved his goal, and she... An Mi frowned, and then a smile bloomed on her lips. This smile caught Qing Lan's eye, causing him to freeze. He saw determination in that smile.

Qinglan's heart skipped a beat. What had she decided in her heart?

Qinglan's gaze followed Anmi's face downwards, finally landing on her and Baiyi's clasped hands. His eyes sharpened, and when he saw Anmi's smile again, he completely understood what was going on.

"Father, just the other day, Mi'er was saying that I should put more effort into replenishing the national treasury. Today, on the auspicious occasion of my eldest brother marrying his principal wife and bestowing upon him a concubine, I thought I would donate ten million gold coins to the national treasury to show my congratulations." After a moment of confrontation, Bai Yi spoke loudly with a smile.