Lin Miao’s six senses were incredibly sharp. As he sidestepped and crossed the threshold, his peripheral vision met Baili Yuyao’s gaze for a moment.

He didn’t stop walking, and his other foot stepped out as well.

Baili Yuyao frowned slightly, recognizing Lin Miao, and naturally also noticing the very intimate Sun Youwei walking hand in hand with him.

She was well aware of Sun Youwei; otherwise, she wouldn’t have felt some resistance towards Lin Miao, unlike with Si Miaoxue, whom she didn’t mind at all.

Although the embroidery workshop was ruled by women, there were more women than men, and it was quite common for one man to marry two women. Even outside, it was normal for wealthy and powerful men to have multiple wives and concubines.

It wasn’t really a gender imbalance, but rather a mismatch in supply and demand. If a man wanted to marry, he needed to have the capital; without money or capability, how would a woman follow him?

By nature, women admire strength; they are the weaker side and relying on the strong is their instinctive choice for survival.

Thus, many men couldn’t marry or form a family, while on the other side, wealthy and powerful men surrounded themselves with numerous women, marrying as many as they wished.

Did the young sect leader of the Green Blade Sect, who is now participating in the spouse selection, really think that being unmarried meant he had no women?

As she understood, although Shen An hadn’t married a primary wife, his family had already arranged for several women for him, including personal maids.

Shen An even had sons and daughters, so if she married him, she wouldn’t need to have children herself as there would already be kids calling her ’mother’.

And as for Zhuang Cheng, it goes without saying, he had been messing around all these years, ruining countless women, abandoning many after initial chaos.

She despised such a person even more.

Finding a man who loves only you his whole life and doesn’t take concubines is certainly possible, but you must accept his mediocrity and lack of ability.

A man who is capable, competent, and only has you in his heart is too rare, particularly for someone of Baili Yuyao’s status, truly hard to find.

Perhaps never finding one in her entire life.

Moreover, her aspirations are high enough; she can accept all of a suitable man’s circumstances as long as he is willing to marry and cherish her, with the condition that she becomes the primary wife.

Shen An indeed appeared to be a gentle and refined gentleman, but intuition told her this man was too insincere, exuding a facade of hypocrisy all over.

Being with him felt very uncomfortable; sometimes, he seemed gentle towards you but consistently carried an underlying domineering attitude.

She really didn’t like this feeling.

He would make you feel that because he was so good, you should behave a certain way...

Zhuang Cheng was outright rotten; she knew that, and absolutely could never choose him as her husband.

Even talking to someone like that made her feel sick.

Only Lin Miao gave her a very good impression the first time they met; he was somewhat indifferent to her, but the feeling he gave was very genuine.

Especially his kind heart, willing to disguise himself as a woman to cure his mother, ultimately healing her and asking for no reward or conditions.

It was her own mother, Baili Bingyun, who proposed the "marriage" arrangement.

As she knew, Lin Miao initially refused, later agreeing only because her mother persuaded him, which made her feel a bit unhappy.

With conditions like hers, wasn’t she good enough to marry him, yet he declined?

Baili Yuyao had a trace of grievance in her heart.

"Yuyao is here." Yang Mengyou descended from the second floor, noticing Baili Yuyao and walked over, raising her hand in greeting.

"Ninth Aunt."

"Greetings, Mr. Yang." Shen An quickly stepped forward to pay respects.

"Mr. Shen is here too."

Shen An promptly introduced Shen Hao: "Mr. Yang, this is my second uncle, Shen Hao!"

"So it’s the renowned Life-taking Saber, Shen Hao; Yang Mengyou is honored!" Yang Mengyou’s expression turned solemn and nodded slightly.

"Greetings, Mr. Yang; I’ve long heard of your name, and I’m grateful to finally meet you today." Shen Hao said, cupping his fists.

"Yuyao, let’s not speak here; shall we find a place to sit down, have tea, and have a detailed chat?"

"No, I need to patrol the streets, Mr. Shen, feel free." Baili Yuyao gave not even the slightest courtesy. "Ninth Aunt, I’ll visit you later."

Yang Mengyou nodded slightly: "Alright."

It seemed Yuyao wasn’t that fond of Shen An either, otherwise, why would she leave uncle and nephew without regard?

"Yuyao, Uncle Shen is our elder; leaving in this manner isn’t appropriate, is it?" Shen An was somewhat displeased.

In his heart, he had already identified Baili Yuyao as his future wife; how could he allow her to be impolite in front of his uncle Shen Hao?

"Mr. Shen, we aren’t at that point yet, are we? How did your uncle become my elder?" Baili Yuyao was also angry.

"Miss Yuyao, I am here to discuss your marriage with Shen An with your mother on behalf of my elder brother. It won’t be long before you become a member of the Shen family. How could I not be considered your elder?" Shen Hao maintained a smile on his lips, but his words carried a subtle pressure.

In his view, the alliance between the embroidery workshop and the Green Blade Sect was a done deal. Considering what Zhuang Cheng was like, if Baili Bingyun had intended, she would have matched Baili Yuyao with him long ago. That third person named Lin Bei, who was as elusive as a dragon, was unseen, his background allegedly mysterious; the embroidery workshop couldn’t possibly choose someone like that.

Thus, Shen An was the only one left.

Who else could be the future son-in-law of the embroidery workshop but him?

What, giving Zhuang Cheng a year to change, is nothing but a delaying tactic. A year is almost enough time for the two families to prepare for a wedding.

Upon hearing this, Baili Yuyao burst out, "When did I agree to marry Shen An?"

"Yuyao, don’t make a fuss. Second Uncle is right. Besides me, who else is worthy of you?" Shen An said, "Quickly apologize to Second Uncle."

Yang Mengyou frowned slightly. She had a good impression of Shen An, but why did it seem like he had become a different person now?

Could it be because Shen Hao came? As far as she knew, Baili Bingyun hadn’t decided on Yuyao’s spouse, and Shen An was just the one with the highest hope among the three.

Of course, now it seems like he might be the only one, knowing how much her elder sister loathes Zhuang Cheng.

She could never accept Zhuang Cheng as her son’s-in-law, but Zhuang Rong’s side was aggressively pressing, and the embroidery workshop was already showing signs of splitting.

The third candidate, Lin Bei, disappeared after receiving his reward, and no one knows where he is?

So, at the moment, Shen An is the only option.

She also believed that Baili Bingyun would ultimately choose Shen An, thus allowing Baili Yuyao to associate with Shen An to develop feelings for him, in order to make a straightforward announcement when the time comes.

As for Zhuang Rong’s side, she was afraid their plans had fallen through. Did they really think giving a year would grant Zhuang Cheng another chance?

It was probably just a stalling tactic.

Zhuang Rong had considerable influence within the embroidery workshop, and if there were a split, the workshop would suffer greatly, and Baili Bingyun would need time to sort out relationships.

"Yuyao, weren’t you going on patrol? Hurry up and go. Mr. Shen from the Green Blade Sect, your Ninth Aunt will entertain on your behalf." Yang Mengyou spoke up, dismissing Baili Yuyao.

"Mm, thank you, Ninth Aunt." Baili Yuyao also knew that it wasn’t appropriate to start a conflict with the Green Blade Sect now, so she turned and left immediately.

"Mr. Shen, Yuyao is a bit stubborn. Please don’t mind her. She was spoiled since childhood by my sister Bingyun. Would you and your uncle like to come upstairs to the tea room for a break and some tea?"

"Thank you, Mr. Yang. My uncle and I would like to continue walking around and looking, so we won’t impose." Shen An’s expression was subtle, but he remained very humble and politely declined Yang Mengyou’s invitation.

"Alright, I’ll take my leave. If you need anything, feel free to ask."

...

"Second Uncle, it seems like this embroidery workshop has no intention of marrying into our Green Blade Sect. What should we do next?" After Yang Mengyou left, Shen An dropped his courteous guise, revealing a trace of coldness as he spoke to Shen Hao.

"If the one marrying Baili Yuyao isn’t you, nor that Zhuang Cheng, then it must be Lin Bei," Shen Hao nodded.

He also noticed that Baili Yuyao didn’t show any enthusiasm towards his nephew. If she were genuinely interested, this wouldn’t be her attitude.

Could it be that because they were in the embroidery workshop, she had to maintain appearances for certain people?

"Second Uncle, do you think we’re rushing things?"

"Your father needs that Celestial Essence Fruit. If we can’t get the workshop’s help, it will be difficult to obtain it," Shen Hao said.

"Hasn’t Father broken through yet?"

"Although he’s just one step away, that last step has hindered many experts. The Celestial Essence Fruit is now your father’s hope for a quick breakthrough!" Shen Hao said, "The Fifth Prince urgently needs a Heavenly Lord-level expert right now. If your father breaks through at this time, the future status of our Green Blade Sect will be incomparable!"

"But now we’ve offended Baili Yuyao..."

"No worries, the day after tomorrow is Nie Tian’s Celestial Essence Banquet. Tomorrow we should find a time to visit the embroidery workshop and meet Baili Bingyun to see what’s on her mind," Shen Hao said.

"Yes, Second Uncle," Shen An replied.

...

At Songcui Tower, Lin Miao and Sun Youwei were also tired from walking and happened to reach the downstairs area, drawn in by the enticing aroma wafting from inside.

The two of them decided to have a meal before heading back.

With Lianxin, they were three in total. They went up to the second floor and chose a window seat, as all private rooms had been booked.

They ordered five or six specialty dishes and warmed up a pot of wine.

Before the dishes even arrived, they saw Shen An and Shen Hao coming up from the stairway.

Senior Sister and Lianxin were outstanding beauties; wherever they went, they garnered numerous admiring glances. Earlier, at the embroidery workshop, Shen An was blocked by Baili Yuyao and hadn’t clearly seen Sun Youwei and Lianxin. Now, encountering them again at Songcui Tower...

Such extraordinary beauty made Shen An’s heart skip a beat. Even when he first saw Baili Yuyao, he hadn’t felt this way.

A breathtaking profile, bathed in the noonday sunlight, exuded a warm aura. She was so beautiful!

Shen An couldn’t help but be momentarily entranced.

"What’s wrong, Shen An?" Shen Hao, walking behind, nearly bumped into Shen An and couldn’t help but ask. When he looked up and saw Sun Youwei, his pupils also narrowed slightly.

How could such a beautiful woman exist in the world, akin to an elf in a painting?

"Second Uncle, do you see that woman?"

"Mm." Shen Hao nodded. How could anyone be as dazzling as Sun Youwei?

"Such an unmatched beauty, how could she belong to a mere ordinary man? Second Uncle, I must have her!" Shen An slightly clenched his fist, an intent look in his eyes.

"Xiaoan, remember what you’re here for in Li Hen City," Shen Hao reminded.

"Don’t worry, Uncle. I know," Shen An said, sidestepping towards the back room, "Let’s have our meal first."