Chapter 1141: Palace Banquet (3)

Seeing the children lower their heads, Little Madam Xia took a deep breath and said with a straight face, “What are you waiting for? The palace banquet is halfway through. Why aren’t you going back to take your seat?”

Tiger Head mustered his courage and said, “We want to sit with Big Brother and the others.”

As Little Bear didn’t want to sit with his parents, he sat beside Little Treasure without following the rules as soon as the banquet started. With three seats in a row being occupied by children, one look and one could tell that it must be very fun sitting over there. The key was that it wasn’t as restrictive.

As soon as Tiger Head said this, the children looked at them eagerly.

Mu Yangling looked down at them from above and smiled. “Do you think I’ll agree?”

The children were instantly as listless as frosted eggplants.

When Mu Yangling and Little Madam Xia brought the children back, the banquet was in full swing, and the envoys of the various countries had just come in on behalf of their countries to present the gift list. The envoy of England took the opportunity to propose the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

With a smile, Qi Xiuyuan welcomed all the countries to come and interact with Great Qi. Great Qi was a hospitable country and welcomed friends from afar.

The envoys of the western countries looked at each other, before once again bringing up the matter of exempting duties on their country’s goods at the customs. Of course, the English envoy also hoped that Great Qi could allocate a region for their ships to rest and reorganize.

Qi Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes. If not for Haoran’s reminder, he might have been willing to allocate them one or two villages to show the might and generosity of Great Qi.

However, previously, Great Qi had only briefly mentioned a little about getting them to return the favor, but the other party rejected them using all sorts of excuses.

Qi Xiuyuan wasn’t a fool. Although he still hadn’t figured out what tricks they were up to, he knew that there must be negative consequences to this. Otherwise, why would the other party decline with all sorts of excuses when asked to return the favor?

Qi Xiuyuan picked up his wine cup and drank, leaving the ministers to deal with this.

As expected, the Minister of Revenue immediately welcomed English merchants to Great Qi for trade. Great Qi was also very willing to facilitate the merchant ships of various countries.

After which, the Minister of Revenue changed the topic and said that there were many Great Qi merchant ships going out to sea for business now. They, too, were facing difficulties with docking and replenishing supplies. Hence, he hoped that England could also assist Great Qi. Of course, the details could be discussed subsequently.

The English envoy was silent, and so were the envoys of the other countries in the west. It seemed that Great Qi was still unwilling to agree. They had already changed envoys twice for this matter, and the expenses of each diplomatic mission were quite high. Even if they brought goods with them on the trip, they couldn’t afford such a high expense indefinitely.

Mu Yangling pursed her lips and smiled. As long as she was around, they could forget about taking advantage of Great Qi in this aspect.

Antonio put down his wine cup and whispered to Andre, “The officials of Great Qi don’t seem to be very friendly to us.”

Andre also realized that the officials of Great Qi valued the envoys of the other Eastern countries more.

This was especially so for the country called West Xia. Although the Great Qi officials’ tone was often laced with sarcasm and unfriendliness towards West Xia’s envoys, the fact that West Xia’s envoys could sit at the frontmost of the envoy group showed how much Great Qi valued West Xia.

Andre thought for a moment and said, “Geographically speaking, these countries are relatively close to Great Qi, some even sharing borders. So it’s understandable that Great Qi values them.”

Even their country would prioritize their neighboring countries over Great Qi considering Great Qi was too far away to pose a threat to their territory.

With this thought in mind, Andre understood Great Qi’s concerns. He said, “There’s a saying among the Han people that the sky is high and the emperor is far away1. Considering Great Qi’s territory is so vast, if we can find just one official who’s willing to accept our gifts, our goal will be achieved.”

“It’s even better if it’s legitimate…” Antonio whispered almost inaudibly.

Andre looked in Qi Haoran’s direction and said, “If we can convince King Rong or Queen Consort Rong…”

Antonio had heard Andre mention this couple more than once. He followed Andre’s gaze and asked, “Are they the ones?”

“Yes.” Andre said with a smile, “They’re an interesting couple.”

At this moment, the very interesting Qi Haoran and his wife were exchanging seats so that Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin could sit together and drink. Meanwhile, Mu Yangling and Little Madam Xia sat together and watched the noble ladies in the venue.

As Little Treasure was about to approach a marriageable age, he would be officially engaged soon and prepare to get married a year or two after that. At that time, Little Treasure would be 18 years old, which was in line with the rules set by the Emperor.

Therefore, this time, everyone brought along their daughters or granddaughters of suitable age to the palace in hopes of catching the eye of the Emperor and the Empress.

Therefore, there were many 13 or 14-year-old cute young ladies at the palace banquet tonight.

Mu Yangling watched with enthusiasm. Little Madam Xia had a wide network and whispered to her about the talents and characters of those young ladies. Of course, she only had a personal opinion about those young ladies with whom she was familiar; as for the others, it was based on hearsay about their reputations.

As the two of them spoke, they did not know that their sons were also being eyed by the ministers.

The Crown Prince would only have one main consort, while his secondary consorts were all chosen from officials below the third-grade. Moreover, it was not easy to be the Crown Prince’s father-in-law. In comparison, Little Bear and Little An were much more popular.

Little Bear was the young prince of King Rong’s estate, and Little An was the young prince of Prince An’s estate, both of which had hereditary titles. As such, there was more assurance in marrying them than being the Crown Prince’s princess consort.

This was because when a prince left the palace, he would be a king. However, the second generation would only be a prince, and the third generation would be further reduced to a duke. After three generations, who would know that the family were once royals?

As for King Rong’s estate and Prince An’s estate, unless their grandfathers and grandsons suddenly go crazy and rebel, their titles would always be Kings and Princes. This meant that they would flourish for a long time to come.

Therefore, other than 13 or 14-year-old girls, there were also many girls between ages nine and 13 in the Hall of Union.

Oblivious to the inside story, Mu Yangling even whispered to Madam Xia, “These ministers are too crazy to even bring a nine-year-old child over. She’ll only be 13 years old in four years and hasn’t even reached marriageable age.”

“They might be targeting the other princes.”

“Wensu? Well, that could work since he’s also nine years old. But what about the 11-year-old girls?”

“Perhaps it’s due to the saying that a wife three years older than the husband ensures a richer life?” Little Madam Xia guessed hesitantly.

Fan Zijin couldn’t help but roll his eyes in his heart. He turned his head and lowered his voice. “They’re setting their sights on our sons. Not all of them are targeting the royal family.”

Fan Zijin glanced at the young ladies and said, “Since you’re free, do take a look. If there’s a good catch, let me know so that I can keep an eye out for Little An in advance.”

Shocked, Little Madam Xia stuttered, “Uh, I, I have to keep a lookout for my future daughter-in-law now?”

Fan Zijin said angrily, “Do you think you’re still a 28-year-old girl? Your son is already ten years old and will be officially engaged in two to three years. Shouldn’t you begin to pay attention now?”

Mu Yangling also gaped in shock.

Fan Zijin glanced at her and finally decided to discuss Little Bear’s marriage with Haoran. “Since Little Bear is already 13 years old, it’s time for him to start discussing marriage now. By the time it’s settled, it’ll take at least two to three years. Won’t he be turning 18 in another two years?”

At this point, Fan Zijin pursed his lips. “Don’t always indulge Ah Ling. Do get her to visit the other families instead of staying at home all the time. Otherwise, she won’t be able to personally inspect the girl’s character.”

Qi Haoran gaped in shock. “I’m going to be a father-in-law? Doesn’t that mean I’m going to be a grandfather soon?”

When Fan Zijin saw Rong Xuan and Yan Du looking over, he wished he could kick Qi Haoran into the middle. ‘Can’t you lower your voice?’

‘This is a private conversation, you know? Know what a private conversation is?’

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