"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." The two thanked the Emperor and sat down.
Feng Zixiao then turned his attention to the seventh prince, Feng Zihe. As soon as Feng Zihe saw the emperor looking over, he quickly stood up and waved his hand, saying, "Your Majesty, my brother is still young. He wants to play for a couple more years. Please don't bestow a concubine upon him."
After Prince Jing finished speaking, he secretly glanced at Hai Ling, but Hai Ling didn't notice him. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. In fact, he was hiding a little secret, but no one knew about it.
Before the Emperor could speak, the Empress Dowager spoke first in the main hall.
“Prince Jing, you are not young anymore. There is not a single woman in the Prince Jing’s mansion. When the Emperor was your age, he already had several concubines. How can this be?”
Prince Jing, Feng Zihe, couldn't help but purse his lips. The Emperor is the Emperor; he simply doesn't want to marry.
"If you don't want to establish a principal wife, then choose two concubines to enter the mansion first."
Feng Zixiao didn't make things difficult for Feng Zihe. After all, he only had this one close younger brother, so he naturally didn't want to make things too difficult for him.
Although Feng Zixiao relented, Prince Jing still persisted and spoke up.
"Can I not have it either?"
"no."
Feng Zixiao's expression turned ugly. He didn't want to choose a principal wife, and he had already complied with his wishes, but the man was still going too far. It was really too much.
Seeing that the matter was already settled, Feng Zihe could only point to two women, who then became concubines in the Prince Jing's mansion.
After the princes bestowed the marriages, the next step was to arrange marriages for several ministers in the court. These men were highly trusted by Feng Zixiao, so he respected their marriages greatly. His dark, deep eyes looked at the chief minister, the Left Prime Minister Xi Lingfeng.
"Your Excellency, is there a beauty you fancy?"
In the main hall, all the women who had not yet been betrothed stared intently at the Left Prime Minister with eyes like hungry wolves, their eyes conveying only one message: Left Prime Minister, please choose me, please choose me.
Not only those women, but even Hai Ling looked at the Prime Minister with curiosity, wondering what kind of women he liked.
Others might not know, but she did. Beneath the Prime Minister's ordinary face lay a stunningly beautiful woman. If he truly fell for someone, that woman would have struck gold.
As Hai Ling pondered this, she stared intently at Xi Lingfeng, just like the other contestants.
Seeing her excited expression, seemingly curious about who he would choose as the Left Prime Minister's wife, Xi Lingfeng couldn't help but twitch his lips. What kind of oddball had he chosen? He slowly stood up, looked at the emperor on the high head, and spoke slowly and deliberately.
"Thank you for your high regard, Your Majesty. I do not like women."
One sentence completely shut down the emperor's next long speech, and everyone in the hall stared in disbelief at the Left Prime Minister, as if he were a shooting star from the heavens.
The Left Prime Minister doesn't like women, does he prefer men? Is the Left Prime Minister gay?
The hearts of all the beauties in the hall shattered into pieces. Hai Ling was stunned and couldn't react. Then she was also heartbroken. "Left Prime Minister, so you don't like women? No wonder you didn't react at all when I touched you earlier. You just thought of me as a buddy."
Her sadness was different from others. The Prime Minister had been so good to her, and naturally she wanted him to be happy. But she never expected that he would like men.
No wonder the rumors in the martial arts world say that the Demon Lord west Leng Yue has always disliked getting close to people; it turns out he doesn't like women.
Hai Ling looked at Xi Lingfeng with a face full of sorrow and eyes full of sympathy.
Xi Lingfeng naturally didn't miss the hint of sympathy in Hai Ling's eyes, and was speechless.
He said this to directly thwart the emperor's words, thus avoiding any trouble. He always acted as he pleased and didn't care about such mundane matters.
Feng Zixiao, standing at the top of the table, narrowed his eyes and looked at Xi Lingfeng, trying to discern the truthfulness in his words.
To be honest, if it were him, he would never say such a thing. What man would dare to admit in front of everyone that he doesn't like women and is gay? This only shows how unpredictable and difficult to control Xi Lingfeng is. He clearly guessed that he wanted to arrange a marriage for him in order to control him. He didn't expect Xi Lingfeng to say such a thing first.
Since the man has admitted that he doesn't like women, as the emperor, he can't very well force a woman into the Prime Minister's residence.
Feng Zixiao's handsome features darkened, his eyes turned icy, and he slowly spoke: "Since the Left Prime Minister does not like women, then please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Xi Lingfeng sat down with an air of nobility and elegance, seemingly oblivious to the pitying gazes directed at her, completely at ease.
His calm and serene expression made him even more radiant, and many people looked at him with admiration, thinking with heartbreak, "Why is the Left Prime Minister gay?"
Feng Zixiao turned her gaze away from Xi Lingfeng and looked at the imperial inspector Wei Lin and the others.
"Wei Lin, have you found a beauty you like?"
Wei Lin stood up, glanced around, and indeed found a young lady he liked, so he informed the emperor.
When Feng Zixiao saw that the beautiful woman Wei Lin had chosen was the daughter of a civil official, he swiftly arranged her marriage. He then arranged marriages for several other officials as well.
As night deepened, the arranged marriage was over, and the flower-viewing banquet naturally came to an end.
Feng Zixiao and the Empress Dowager were the first to leave. Before leaving, the Empress Dowager ordered the palace eunuchs to arrange for the selected beauties to rest in the palace and send them out of the palace early the next morning to enter the palace on a chosen day.
After the Emperor and Empress Dowager left, Hailing and all the concubines in the palace also went downstairs.
Tonight's flower-viewing banquet was a mix of joy and sorrow. Those who had been betrothed were naturally overjoyed, while those who hadn't were all heartbroken, their faces filled with gloom. But regardless of whether they had been betrothed or not, they all left Chengqian Palace.
Hailing led Yanzhi and the others back to Zhengyi Palace.
Qingxin Palace, the palace where the Empress Dowager lived.
At this moment, the eunuchs and palace maids in the main hall had all been dismissed by the Empress Dowager, and the hall was quiet and silent.
Feng Zixiao's face was gloomy as he looked at his mother and spoke in a deep voice.
"Mother, why did you allow Ye Xiuying and Jiang Feixue to enter the palace? It's one thing for Ye Xiuying to enter the palace, after all, she is the daughter of the Grand Tutor. But Jiang Feixue is the daughter of the Jiang family. We are sworn enemies with the Jiang family."
The Empress Dowager was not in a hurry when faced with Feng Zixiao's questioning. She looked at her son calmly and peacefully.