Lin Huan snorted, saying: "A king's illegitimate second son wants to marry the eldest daughter of the Cui family's main house? I think she has a hole in her brain. Why doesn't she say let him marry a princess instead... But looking at her temperament, if she wasn't born into the imperial family, maybe she would even dare to think about marrying a princess..."

  Lin Xiao knew that this aunt just wanted to find someone to vent to, so she smiled and didn't say a word. When the aunt got excited, Lin Xiao would occasionally nod her head and say "uh-huh" to show that she strongly agreed with what the aunt was saying.

  Lin Huan raised an eyebrow and smiled, saying: "However, this time the king said that Xiao Ping is also in his twenties, and cannot be allowed to continue being manipulated by Wu Shi. He plans to arrange a marriage for Xiao Ping. Guess, Your Majesty, which family does the king have in mind."

  Lin Yan smiled and said: "Auntie, just say it quickly, don't be mysterious."

  Lin Xuan said: "The daughter of Hanlin Shijiang Liu."

  Lin Xiao uttered an "oh" and smiled: "I'm afraid Wu Ce Fei will not be satisfied with this marriage."

  Since the time of Dezong of Tang, there was a convention that only imperial scholars could enter the Hanlin Academy, and only those in the Hanlin Academy could enter the Imperial Cabinet. For each imperial examination, generally, those who passed as first-class or second-class scholars would first enter the Hanlin Academy, and after three to five years, they would seek to be appointed to one of the six ministries or be sent out to a circuit as a governor. Those who had been in the Hanlin Academy would have their careers advance somewhat faster than others.

  Lin Zuo's husband Zhao Lin is one of the new jinshi who just passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy this year.

  The Hanlin Academy had a good reputation, but it was actually a clear water yamen. The Hanlin had little real power and were more like the emperor's advisory ministers, mainly doing some literary and historical compilation, editing and reviewing work, as well as providing counter-strategies to the emperor's queries. Some Hanlin who gained the emperor's trust would even be summoned to give lectures to the emperor himself.

  But Director Liu has been struggling in the Hanlin Academy for almost twenty years, and so far he still hasn't made a name for himself. He is only a sixth-grade lecturer, which shows that he is not good at dealing with people and will not have a bright future. Letting his son marry a daughter from such a family would certainly be unsatisfactory in the eyes of Wu Ce Fei.

  Lin Huan sneered, "Isn't that so? Now she's causing trouble with the Prince of Qinghe, and the Prince is fed up with her, so he's confined her and asked me to take care of this marriage for her son. Humph, now they're thinking of me, but I won't help them out. I've also instructed Zhang Shi not to get involved." Zhang Shi was Lin Huan's eldest son's wife, the current Princess Consort of Qinghe.

  However, Zhang's daughter-in-law was too thin-skinned, although she feared offending her mother-in-law, but the prince's words were even more daring not to listen, and still helped her out.

  Lin Huan sighed again and said, "Speaking of marriage, Ah Cheng's marriage is also making me very worried. Recently, Ah Cheng has been quarreling and wanting to marry Qi San Niang from the Qi family. At first, I thought it was because they had an affair, but after asking around, I found out that it was Ah Cheng who had a one-sided love for her. Moreover, when the Qi family found out, they immediately arranged a marriage for Qi San Niang."

  The Qi family is now the outer family of the emperor, and this attitude is clear to anyone who sees it. They plan to take the road of Ming Zhe's self-preservation and are not prepared to get involved with the Lin or Wu families. Not to mention the Lin and Wu families, even those with daughters in the palace, the Qi family does not want to get too close to them.

  When Lin Xie was young, her relationship with San Niang of the Qi family was still good. However, after the Emperor ascended to the throne, the Lin and Qi families became outer relatives together, and the two gradually drifted apart. The Lin and Qi families, one being the imperial clan and the other being the emperor's maternal family, couldn't get too close.

  Lin Daiyu showed some interest in Qiang's marriage and asked: "Oh, which family has Qiang been engaged to?"

  Lin Xuan replied: "It is definitely the young master of the Zhu family, Fu Xingbo."

  Lin Di nodded, although Fu Xingbo's power was not prominent in the imperial court, but now Fu Xingbo was good at managing household chores, and the mansion was very rich, and he was also a moderate faction, which met the Qi family's standard for selecting a son-in-law.

  Compared to Qi San Niang, Lin Huan is more concerned about his own son and says: "I plan to arrange a marriage for Ah Cheng too, so that he won't always have his mind on external things and cause trouble."

  Because of Qi San Niang's engagement, the youngest son was convinced that she had intervened and to this day still resented her, refusing to speak to her. No matter how she analyzed the imperial court relationships and interests with him, he wouldn't listen. As for her own son who had been spoiled since childhood, she couldn't bear to blame him, so she could only come up with this engagement plan for him.

  Lin Xiao actually understood that Xiao Cheng was like a young man in his second youth, acting as if love was the most important thing in the world and that family interests should all give way to him.

  Lin Yan asked: "Which family's daughter did Auntie set her eyes on?"

  "His cousin, the daughter of Ming Ning County's princess."

  Ming Ning County Master is the younger sister of Qinghe King, her daughter An Niang Lin Xuan has seen several times, is a quite saucy girl. She likes to hold a whip and chase Xiao Cheng, Xiao Cheng is afraid of her so he hides from her, they two have been chasing each other since childhood, it can be said that they are childhood sweethearts.

  Lin Huan sighed: "I think An Niang's child is genuinely fond of Ah Cheng, and her temperament can also control Ah Cheng. Being cousins and getting married is also a good thing."

  Speaking of marrying into the family, Lin Huan couldn't help but look at Lin Xiao. If her younger sister hadn't passed away so early, she had originally planned to wait until the two were old enough to ask for Lin Xiao's hand in marriage for their youngest son. Lin Xiao was gentle and could control Ah Cheng, making her a great choice for a daughter-in-law. Unfortunately... Lin Huan felt a deep sense of regret.

  Lin Xiao smiled and said: "When Ah Cheng gets married, I'll have someone send him a gift."

  Lin Xuan said: "If that's the case, then it would be better for you to give me a few things when I go to propose, so that the girl's family can also save face."

  Lin Yan said: "What's difficult about this? At that time, I'll just pick a few for Aunt."

  After Lin Xuan left, Lin Xi had not yet put down the tea in her hand when Mu Zhi hurried over with a heavy expression and said to Lin Xi: "Your Ladyship, something has happened on Second Miss's side. Zhao Jia's maternal uncle is preparing to take a concubine, and it's an honorable one."

  Lin Furrowed her brow tightly, initially thinking that Zhao Lin was too reckless. After some more thought, she considered Lin Ju's temperament and suspected there must be something hidden behind this.

  Lin Xiao put down her tea bowl and asked seriously: "What's going on?"

  Mu Zhi looked like she didn't know what to say, hesitated for a long time before speaking: "After the second young lady and Zhao married, the second young lady was reluctant to let Zhao enter her room, instead promoting the maid by her side to serve Zhao. Zhao was so angry that he said 'If you want to promote one, promote several concubines, what's the point of promoting a few maids?' Then two days ago, he really found a girl from a good family outside and wanted to take her as a concubine. As a result, the second young lady actually thought this was good and happily prepared gifts for Zhao to take a concubine..."

  Lin Xiao's mouth was agape in shock for half a day, then she remembered Lin Xuan's comment about Wu Ce Fei and said: "Is her brain damaged or something?!"