"Mr. Dong, urgent message from the capital!" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What’s it about?"

"The Crown Prince has voluntarily resigned from his regency, saying he’s caught a cold and is recuperating in the Eastern Palace, refusing to see any visitors."

Upon hearing this sudden news, Pei Jian’s forehead began to bead with sweat, unusual for this early winter season.

Right now, any small move by the Crown Prince foretells the court’s next steps. Clearly, at this juncture, the Crown Prince falling ill is definitely not a good sign.

"What about the Fifth Prince?"

"His Majesty has been delaying the Fifth Prince’s title, and as for the choice of the Fifth Princess, His Majesty has already rejected Qingtang from Grand General Qingye’s family. It’s likely the official princess will be chosen between Lien Yurou from the Lien family and Tang Yan from the Tang family!" Zhuo Qingfeng stated.

Tang Yan, the youngest daughter of the Deputy Chief Minister Tang Jing.

His Majesty has already intended for Chief Minister Lien Yanru to retire, and Tang Jing is basically set to be the next Chief Minister. If Tang Jing allies with the Fifth Prince now, it will be a significant boost for the Fifth Prince.

The Fifth Prince’s lack of influence among civil officials would be remedied.

If the choice is the girl from the Lien family, with Lien leaving the court, who will inherit his political legacy? It should be his eldest son, but the second generation of the Lien Family, despite many entering the officialdom, lack the talent to fill Lien’s position.

The only person in court who could take Lien’s place is Chen Wei, the Minister of Rites, who was Lien’s student, promoted entirely by him.

He’s not too old, at fifty-five, and although not yet in the cabinet, a second-grade official of the six departments is still comparable to the Deputy Chief Minister.

As for the military, which never takes sides, once a trend like this appears, the first to not overlook them would be His Majesty.

As for what happens behind the scenes, that’s hard to say.

The marriage between a prince and a general’s daughter is generally avoided. Unless an emperor has ascended to the throne, bringing a general’s daughter into the harem isn’t a big issue.

That’s why Qingtang couldn’t understand and fled from the marriage. If His Majesty truly appoints her a marriage, the bias is too obvious.

So, there’s no need to worry. Consort Xue is from the countryside and hasn’t figured out these layers, hence her wishful thinking.

If a prince controls the military, he has the ability to rebel against his father. An emperor would never give his son such a chance to overthrow him.

Though an emperor needs his sons, at times he is also wary of them.

Pei Jian couldn’t make sense of this situation.

The Crown Prince first voluntarily resigns from the regency, and within two days catches a cold, unable to get out of bed. To say there’s no trickery involved, no one would believe it.

It’s clear that the Crown Prince was forced by His Majesty to resign, then fell ill due to depression, with little hope left for the future.

And recently, the messages coming from the Eastern Palace have been less frequent than usual.

Being away from the central power hub means the information gathered isn’t accurate enough.

"Mr. Dong, there’s another piece of confirmed news. As soon as Martial Marquis Qingye arrived at Dongshan, before even settling in, he visited the consultation point of Mr. Lin at Xiuyue Square."

"And he went again today."

"Do you know why Martial Marquis went there?" Pei Jian asked.

"It should be for treatment; his chronic back injury is well-known in the court. It’s caused him much distress over these years. However, he shouldn’t have revealed his identity. Mr. Lin has never seen him," Zhuo Qingfeng said. "Mr. Dong, should we remind Mr. Lin?"

"No need. Reminding would do more harm than good."

"But Mr. Dong, you and Mr. Lin are allies. If, in ignorance, he clashes with Martial Marquis..."

"Our Mr. Lin is not a reckless person. If Martial Marquis is his patient, you know his conduct towards patients," Pei Jian said. "Right now, I’m more worried about the Crown Prince. Draft a letter of inquiry for me to be sent via eagle post back."

"Yes, Mr. Dong."

"By the way, has the Fifth Prince’s title been decided?"

"I haven’t heard yet. As soon as there’s news, Mr. Lin will notify us immediately," Zhuo Qingfeng said.

"Alright, go now."

...

Li Hen City.

The second round of choosing a son-in-law at the embroidery studio has ended. This round assesses the talents of the candidates, in simple terms, an examination.

Although an exam can’t fully showcase a person’s talent, it can reveal one’s inner thoughts.

This is about choosing a husband.

The embroidery studio is selecting not just talented individuals, but those whose character and ideals align with the studio. This attempt is also the beginning of the studio moving from closed to open.

The embroidery studio has more than just Baili Yuyao; there are many outstanding individuals. If we can find ideal husbands for them.

Baili Bingyun was also happy to see it succeed, and privately held an encouraging attitude.

The internal dynamics of Xiuyue Square needed to be stirred to come alive; an organization and its influence clearly would not thrive without fresh blood.

When the internal cycle becomes overly competitive and stagnant, the external cycle is a great solution, but it will inevitably intrude on the interests of some people internally.

Originally, in Xiuyue Square where males are few and females are many, male disciples had too many choices, leading them to develop the habit of acting like a lord. Some male disciples didn’t value this opportunity and acted recklessly, gradually disregarding the rules and even attempting to alter the power structure of Xiuyue Square.

With Baili Bingyun’s breakthrough, these men immediately acted cautiously. Anyone daring to challenge would only serve to establish Baili Bingyun’s authority.

The opening of Xiuyue Square’s marriage market for women was a substantial shock to them, placing them in competition with excellent candidates from outside, whom they might not necessarily outperform.

The second round of assessments ended.

Before the results were announced, Xiuyue Square made it public that anyone who came to participate in the husband selection assembly could join the Outer Court of Xiuyue Square as long as they had resources.

Outer Court disciples only needed to take on the corresponding work and responsibilities to earn certain rewards, guidance in martial arts, and access to Xiuyue Square’s Martial Building. They might even be adopted as a named disciple by Master Yuntian!

The head of the Outer Court would be the future husband of a Xiuyue maiden.

Once joining the Outer Court, one would be considered part of Xiuyue Square and could marry a female disciple of Xiuyue Square, which would be a marriage, not an alliance by affiliation.

At the same time, the assessment methods for joining the Outer Court and the corresponding benefits were posted.

For a time, the reputation of Xiuyue Square soared again!

"Mother, he didn’t come, and you still want me to marry him?" Baili Yuyao complained a little, pouting to her mother.

"Yuyao, do you know his real identity? If he came, you would never have a chance," Baili Bingyun knew Lin Miao’s true identity.

Since the two parties intended to collaborate deeply, naturally they needed to understand each other. Otherwise, even out of gratitude, Baili Bingyun wouldn’t be emotionally driven to hand over her daughter and Xiuyue Square.

These are two different issues.

She also considered the future of Xiuyue Square. There were many problems with Xiuyue Square; although still in its second generation, it had already reached a development bottleneck.

Continuing forward would lead to stagnation, with internal decay further corroding it. Eventually, Xiuyue Square would disappear like many forces in Li Hen City.

Baili Bingyun poured a lifetime of emotion into Xiuyue Square and promised her master to pass the Xiuyue Square legacy down.

She naturally needed to think long-term.

"What identity? Isn’t he just a physician?"

"Girl, he is a physician, but he is also a court-appointed Sixth Grade Chengde Gentleman. In the future, he can enter the Imperial Pharmacy and at least become a figure like a national physician," Baili Bingyun said.

"He can become a national physician?" Baili Yuyao looked incredulous.

"Why, don’t you believe it? Don’t you trust your mother’s judgment? The opportunities mother had were all thanks to his help. Otherwise, the fate of Xiuyue Square today would be entirely different. Mother advanced to the Heaven Origin, which gave her the strength to reform Xiuyue Square and suppress Mrs. Zhuang and her ilk. Otherwise, if mother couldn’t host the autumn festival, even if you were established as the next Xiuyue maiden, they would pressure you to marry Zhuang Cheng," Baili Bingyun shot her daughter a glance, sighing slightly.

"Zhuang Cheng, I don’t want to marry him. All these years, he has harmed many girls in Xiuyue Square, basically like a lecherous ghost!" Baili Yuyao said with great disgust.

"I also don’t agree, but within Xiuyue Square, how many are suitable to match with you, or who would dare marry you?" Baili Bingyun said. "Zhuang Yujiao approached me several times, intending to have you marry Zhuang Cheng, and I never agreed. If not for turning disaster into fortune this time and overshadowing her, they wouldn’t have agreed to this external husband selection."

"Hasn’t Zhuang Cheng also participated this time? Among the ten, there must be a spot for him."

"That’s inevitable. Otherwise, she would certainly be dissatisfied. He must be given a chance. If he loses, then there’s nothing to say."

"But since he didn’t come, what about the third martial arts competition?"

"These years, Zhuang Yujiao’s cultivation level advanced rapidly, which doesn’t match her talent. I haven’t heard of her consuming any Spirit Pills or miraculous medicines. I suspect she’s colluded with outsiders, deliberately hiding her level. Since she controls the Xiuyue Building, almost everyone there is hers. Although I don’t like the Xiuyue Building’s business, it indeed brings substantial income to Xiuyue Square every year. Hence, her status in Xiuyue Square rises, with many people revolving around her. My focus is on managing Xiuyue Square’s business, which, although not bad, is still weaker than the Xiuyue Building..."

Baili Yuyao froze. She hadn’t known about all this. She hadn’t expected her mother to endure so much pressure behind the scenes.

All of these efforts were for her future, paving the way for her. Otherwise, why would she go to such lengths, even damaging her internal energy, almost losing her mind in a rush to make breakthroughs?

"Mother, do you suspect she’s colluding with two other powers in Li Hen City?" Baili Yuyao asked.

"I don’t know. I’ve observed for a long time and found no such clue, perhaps because it’s too well-hidden. It always feels that her cultivation level suddenly rose to an unbelievable extent," Baili Bingyun said, "If it weren’t like this, it wouldn’t have put so much pressure on me."

"Mother, when is the martial arts competition scheduled?"

"Early next month, ten candidates competing for three spots. I will announce one of the top three as your suitable match," Baili Bingyun said.

"Why not the first place?"

"It can’t be the first place; this way, we have a greater choice. Understand?" Baili Bingyun said, "The last round tests not only martial arts cultivation but also potential. If we choose the first place, they will inevitably go all out to win, and by then, I’m afraid something might go wrong, as Xiuyue Square has to maintain credibility."

"But, mother, you said you arranged for me to marry that person?" Baili Yuyao asked confusedly.

"Among the top three, one is certainly someone he arranged. Rest assured, there won’t be any issues," Baili Bingyun smiled slightly.

"Who is the person he arranged?" Baili Yuyao asked curiously.