Chapter 3

During these five years, my brother's talent has grown, but my reputation has not changed much, because I feel that knowledge belongs to me and there is no need for me to stand out too much. After all, I can make a living by working hard outside and solve many problems that more refined people cannot.

For example, the emperor's aunt wanted to arrange a marriage between my brother and the princess.

Anran was already 15 years old. For five years, neither of us had mentioned anything else about our past life. My brother was a smart man. Seeing that I didn't bring it up, he understood that things might not be going well.

But we still helped each other and tried to make a lot of good things, such as soap and other skin care cosmetics, which brought a lot of income to the house.

Speaking of which, the mansion originally had many businesses. Yujunlou was a shop that mainly sold rouge and watercolors, while Linglongzhai was a shop that mainly sold jewelry.

Although I don’t know how to put on makeup, my feminine nature from my previous life still makes me like all kinds of skin care cosmetics and all kinds of clothing accessories.

Because of this, my father gave me the nickname "Little Sour Girl", saying that he had never seen a girl who paid so much attention to dressing up.

Of course, my brother was the exact opposite, a boy who didn't care about appearances. Even his personality was different, so it felt like we were born the wrong gender.

My brother just smiled after hearing this, and I just secretly admired my father for his keen eye.

The skincare products, rouges, and watercolors here are relatively simple, so my brother made a lot of modern-day products.

In my spare time, I also accompanied my brother in making it, and occasionally we would think of some ways to improve it together.

My brother even divided the products into series to distinguish the different flavors and colors. I really admire him.

"Brother, you are amazing! I only know the name, but you also know how to do it?" I was really surprised. Isn't this the golden finger of a time traveler?

"Brother, did you bring any system, space or something?" I was very curious.

"That's good to know." My brother laughed so hard that he fell backwards. "I just have a lot of free time, and I have to kill time, so I read a lot of miscellaneous books."

"That's amazing too. I just glanced at it but couldn't remember it." I really have no words to express my admiration for it.

In less than half a year, the mansion gradually began to use improved soap, facial cream, rouge and lipstick.

My father was very surprised and became more and more suspicious that my brother was a fairy reincarnated into his body. Of course, we should only talk about it among ourselves and not let anyone else know.

After his own experiments proved successful, my father had many exquisite boxes made and given them to the palace and to the powerful and influential people with whom he had a particularly close relationship. This immediately caused a sensation among the upper echelons.

The Queen summoned my father to question him, and the powerful officials vied with each other to invite him as their guest.

My father was very proud and after discussing with my brother, he organized his own team to start production.

My brother and I visited the factory, and later discussed it with my father. If we want to make high-end products, we must ensure that every step is high-end.

Therefore, strict control was required from the very beginning of the selection process. The subsequent work was done by people sent by my father, and I heard it caused a sensation.

Except for the processes that require physical labor, which are performed by women, the other processes are performed by young men who are neat, clean, and have no bad smell. And they are paid very well.

This provided a great help to some families that were not well-off, and the status of men also rose slightly.

At first, there were many people watching, but later it became difficult to get in. Of course, men and women were separated.

We also set aside two farms to grow various flowers. However, the important processes are still done by our own people.

Within two years, the number of Yujunlou chain stores increased.

Linglongzhai was also like that. Although it was not as sensational as Yujunlou, it was also full of variety and had become a fashion trendsetter in the capital.

In addition, he also gave his mother a lot of ideas, such as the improvement of agricultural tools. Of course, he did not dare to say too much, because this made the emperor dissatisfied with his own study partner and miss his brother.

No matter what happened in the previous life, I remember that my brother liked mature women. But in this life, there are many mature women, but the status of men is still not as good as in the previous life.

Besides, the imperial family, the emperor's aunt has dozens of concubines, which is still a small number. And I think the crown prince's sister is still a little older, she is already 20 years old, and she still serves the emperor.

I cannot accept that my brother shares a woman with someone else, even if it is just to serve the king. He certainly cannot accept it. After all, we all come from a world of monogamy. Although there are many strong women, it is still a society where men are strong.

It’s a matter of whether my brother can accept getting married in this life, let alone marrying into the palace.

Throughout history, there have been few happy people in the palace, let alone someone as kind and gentle as my brother. If it were in a TV series, I would be worried that someone like my brother would not survive five episodes.

Even if she becomes the empress and has the emperor's protection, she may not live to old age. There are empresses who can succeed her. Besides, who can guarantee that the emperor will remain loyal to her? No one can control her.

The day was on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Actually, I don’t like celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival very much. I am very sensitive to any day before and after September in the Gregorian calendar, even more sensitive than my brother. My brother makes fun of me for having a phobia of stress.

There was some sadness on my brother's face when he made fun of me, but it was okay in the end. After all, for him, the incident may have happened more than ten years ago, and I don't know how he got through the first few years.

I secretly asked my father about this. It was said that my brother didn't like to talk much when he was a child. Later, thanks to the Crown Princess, the Third Princess, and Zheng Xiuxiu, the younger brother from the Anguo Marquis's family, who often brought some rare toys to accompany my brother, my brother gradually became cheerful.

The Crown Princess and the Third Princess were not able to leave the palace, so Brother Xiu was the one who came most often, and occasionally he would bring some other brothers with him, chattering away. The separation between men and women here wasn't very strict, but I can't remember many of them.

To be honest, I don’t know how my brother endured it. After all, I think he might not be very interested in the clothes, dressing and decorations they were discussing.

Maybe I'll take it as feedback.

My brother always uses a simple hair crown to secure his hair, just like the handsome young man he used to be.

Except for important banquets, I almost never saw my brother with his hair tied up. My father was always worried that my brother looked like a woman and didn't like to dress up, which was a waste of his stunning face.

Having said that, my brother is a gentle person. He always listens to their discussions carefully and smiles warmly from time to time.

My brother rarely contradicts them, and even when he occasionally offers suggestions, they still praise him immensely; he's a bellwether, after all. I think he's playing with doll decorations, drawing on his past life's experience. But as long as he's happy, I won't say anything.

Two days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Emperor's aunt, the Empress, the Crown Princess, the Third Princess, and the youngest prince invited our family of five to dinner. Yes, my father was pregnant again, much to the envy of the Emperor's aunt.

I was quite puzzled at the time. Although we met quite often, this was the first time we had met so formally. Later, I thought, he might want to arrange a marriage at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, but since he was a close minister, it would be better to discuss it first to avoid a failed marriage and create resentment.

At the banquet, the four adults were talking and laughing, and the five of us kids were making faces. Of course, it was mainly the three of us who were watching, while the princess and her brother just looked at us and laughed.

Suddenly, the Emperor's aunt turned the conversation to us. "Look at them, they look so much like us when we were young. Zilu, my daughter is so dignified and virtuous, and your daughter Ranran is also elegant and graceful, both beautiful and intelligent. You two know each other very well, so why not marry them off?"

With that word, everyone fell silent. I looked at the princess, who was also surprised, and the third princess seemed to be about to jump up. My mother was about to stand up and reply, but of course I didn't think she would agree directly.

After all, my brother's marriage was never discussed at home. It wasn't that it wasn't mentioned, but he was indifferent, as if he was determined not to marry. Our family was very democratic, and Mom and Dad respected our choices.

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my waist. I couldn't hold it back, so I screamed, which scared everyone.

Of course, except for my good brother, after all, he was the one who did it. I quickly glanced at my brother and decided to go ahead. After all, raising a sister for a thousand days and using her for a moment is what I should do.

I immediately knelt on the ground and shouted, "Aunt Emperor, I don't agree."

The emperor stopped my mother from striking me. Perhaps he found my appearance somewhat amusing, and glancing at my brother, who lowered his brows and eyes, he couldn't help but jokingly ask, "Why is that?"

I pretended to be polite and glanced at my mother secretly so that everyone could see. "Aunt, my sister and my brother are siblings. How can they get married?"

The emperor laughed and said, "You two are siblings for several generations, and you treat us as real siblings. And this child thinks we are real siblings because we have a good relationship, hahahaha."

I scratched my head and stiffened my neck. "That won't work either. My brother can only marry my brother in the future. Sister Princess Tai is definitely not an option."

As soon as I said this, I felt the expressions of the four adults change. The Emperor and the Empress were slightly displeased, and Mother angrily scolded me for talking nonsense. My brother was also a little anxious, probably because he didn't expect that I would still be disgusted with him.

I pretended not to understand his expression and continued, "Our family has not had many descendants. What if in the future..." I didn't finish my words, I just hummed.

The Queen seemed to have thought of something, and quietly tugged at the Emperor's sleeve, saying gently, "Look at you, child. Your aunt is just asking, and your sister, the Crown Princess, and your brother haven't responded yet, yet you're already anxious. It's obvious that you really love your brother."

This probably meant that the previous proposal was over. My mother bowed to the emperor, and the emperor waved back.

The matter of the arranged marriage was left unresolved. After all, the royal family still attached great importance to the inheritance of offspring, especially the legitimate daughter.

Unexpectedly, the Third Princess, this fool, stood up in surprise and said, "What about me? I can just marry one, and having children is not a big deal." After saying this, she looked at her brother with a look of "look at me, look at me". The adults were choked, and the Queen's face turned pale.

This was too much to bear. I stood up and rushed towards the Third Princess, waving my little fists.

Although I was small and was restrained, we both fell to the ground. Several tables in front were kicked over and things were scattered all over the floor. The little prince screamed and the whole banquet was in chaos.

The princess and her brother hurried to separate us, my father came over to pull me away, and my mother hurried to apologize to the emperor. The emperor's aunt laughed again, "An Lan's temper can't be changed. They hit their sisters, let's continue drinking." In the end, the banquet did not continue, and we left the palace and went home.