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"Did you choose him because he's good at martial arts or because he's good-looking?"

Not long after the Third Prince Qin Ren moved out of the palace, in late June, the civil and military envoys sent by the court to handle the affairs of the land registration in various states returned to the capital.

Emperor Xingwu was a decisive and resolute emperor. The imperial envoys he sent out also adopted decisive and resolute measures with the cooperation of the imperial army and the local garrison. In addition, Emperor Xingwu had already redrawn the fish scale books of each state after unifying the country. Therefore, this time the imperial envoys only took a short year to urge local officials and gentry to return the large amount of land that was in their names, and also to complete the drawing of the new fish scale book.

Naturally, the missions of the imperial envoys were not all smooth sailing. In some places, officials pretended to obey the orders but actually made things difficult for them. In some places, powerful people secretly hired assassins to assassinate the emperor. In some places, wealthy and powerful families deliberately instigated the people to cause trouble. But no matter what kind of report was submitted to the capital, Emperor Xingwu had only three decisive words: investigate, arrest, and replace.

If you encounter anyone causing trouble or attempting to assassinate someone, investigate.

If the imperial envoy can find out the mastermind behind the scenes, then he will arrest the group behind the scenes. If the imperial envoy does not have this ability, then he will be replaced.

For these reasons, the imperial envoys were replaced several times this year, and local officials in each state were also replaced, ranging from the provincial governor or lieutenant general to the county magistrate or city guard.

Emperor Xingwu was clear about rewards and punishments. While he dismissed officials and generals, he also promoted some of them. First, he promoted civil and military envoys. Some captains of the imperial army were appointed to local lieutenant generals and garrisons, and some civil envoys were appointed to county magistrates or prefects. Among them, Jia Fangping, a successful candidate who was recommended to Emperor Xingwu by the little princess and the left prime minister Yan Xizheng, was promoted several levels and became the prefect of Kuaiji County in Yangzhou, a fifth-rank official.

Why did Emperor Xingwu appreciate Jia Fangping so much?

Because it was Jia Fangping who discovered a batch of false accounts carefully forged by the former prefect of Kuaiji County, and also implicated more than a dozen corrupt officials.

In private, Emperor Xingwu generously praised his daughter: "This is all thanks to Lin'er. Without Lin'er, Jia Fangping might have returned to her hometown to teach long ago."

Qingyang praised him back, "That's only possible if Father dares to implement the new policy and use him."

The father and daughter praised each other, and then Emperor Xingwu issued an edict requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes together with the common people.

The civil servants and gentry in the capital and other places have been severely punished, and even the large amount of land they had been holding has been handed over. How dare they complain openly if they are asked to pay some land tax?

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The country was peaceful and the people were prosperous. In mid-September, Crown Princess Lu Wenrong gave birth to a son. Emperor Xingwu was very pleased and personally named his eldest grandson "Zheng".

Zheng means the sound of gold, so it also means steadfastness and strength, like a bone of iron.

As soon as Qingyang heard his nephew's name, he felt his father's helplessness towards his elder brother's kindness and weakness and his deep expectations for his nephew.

Although her elder brother was a little embarrassed, Qingyang liked the name very much. She also hoped that her little and soft nephew would grow up to be as wise and powerful as his father.

From then on, every evening after finishing her homework, Qingyang would run to Chongyuan Palace to see her nephew. After all, her elder sister lived outside the palace. When her nephew and niece were born a few years ago, Qingyang herself was still a child and had no idea how to amuse children. Now that she had grown up and lived in the East Palace with her elder brother and sister-in-law, the more time she spent with her nephew, the more special her feelings for this little nephew became.

The third brother who was closest to him had left the palace, but there was a little nephew in the palace who was more lovely and funnier than the third brother. Qingyang felt less lonely and was in a good mood. Time seemed to pass especially quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was New Year's Eve again.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, before combing her hair and changing her clothes, the little princess, who had just turned twelve, called Jie Yu to measure her height as she did in previous years.

When Xie Yu entered with a tape measure, she saw the little princess with long hair. She must have gotten her hair done. Her hair flowed down her back like a waterfall, reaching her waist. It was still dark outside the window, but a dozen or so lamps were lit in the inner room. Under the soft light, the little princess's cheeks were rosy and she smiled as she spoke to Qinfang beside her.

Without looking specifically, Jie Yu knew that the princess's head was almost the same height as Qinfang's, but Qinfang was already twenty-six years old, and her figure was as graceful as that of a girl of that age, while the princess was still young, and more like a light and graceful willow.

Seeing him coming, Qingyang walked to the empty space in the middle and stood straight.

Jie Yu stopped behind the little princess and unfolded the tape measure. Qinfang squatted down and pressed one end of the tape measure. Jie Yu straightened the upper part, pressed the scale with his fingertips, and then asked the little princess to take a look.

He is now 6 feet 8 inches tall. Qingyang is very satisfied and will soon catch up with his mother.

After washing, changing clothes and combing hair, it was already dawn. Qingyang first went to Chongyuan Palace to wish his brother and sister-in-law a happy new year.

Qin Hong and Lu Wenrong were already prepared to set off for Qianyuan Palace, waiting for their sister.

Lü Wenrong gave the little princess a red envelope. Qingyang collected it and handed it to Jie Yu. He then took out a small red silk blessing bag from his waist and waved it in front of his nephew in his swaddling clothes: "Do you know what this is? This is the New Year's money from your aunt. Give it to your aunt with a smile."

Apart from his parents and the servants around him, the person that little Zheng sees the most in the palace is his aunt. Even if he doesn't have a lucky bag, he will still smile at his aunt.

Qingyang likes to touch the little guy's face.

Lü Wenrong watched from the side and said to the Crown Prince, "I haven't noticed it myself yet, but seeing my sister like this makes me feel like time has flown by so quickly. I still remember when my sister was one month old. In the blink of an eye, she's become like a grown-up girl."

Qin Hong smiled and said, "Coincidentally, I am eleven years older than my sister, and my sister is also eleven years older than Zheng Ge'er."

Qingyang looked up at his elder brother, then at his nephew, and asked, "Has elder brother ever teased me like this?"

Qin Hong: "I would like to, but every time I go there, your second and third brothers always rush to stay by your side, and as the eldest brother, I can't squeeze in with them."

Qingyang laughed at first, but as he laughed, he thought of Zheng Ge'er crying loudly or his ugly face when changing his diaper, and suddenly he couldn't laugh anymore.

After having the wet nurse wrap Zheng'er in a cloak, the prince and his family of three went to Qianyuan Palace with his sister.

As Prince Yong's family, Prince Yongkang's family, the second prince, and the third prince entered the palace one after another, Qianyuan Hall became particularly lively again.

Qin Liang got married last year. His wife is the daughter of Zhu Jinsi, a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. Her name is Zhu Lianqing. She is beautiful and elegant, and is now three months pregnant.

The Yongkang couple only had two children, Ming'er and Xi'er. The brother and sister were seven and four years old respectively. They dared to speak and laugh when they came to the palace.

With Zheng Ge'er joining Qin Hong's side, the royal family seemed to have many sons and grandsons.

With his descendants thriving, Emperor Xingwu laughed more often than in previous years.

Princess Deng of Prince Yong teased Qin Bing, "The Second Prince will be twenty this year. When will the Emperor marry him?"

Meng Yao, who continued to live in the palace with the imperial concubine because her father and brother were in Liangzhou, blushed suddenly and leaned shyly towards the imperial concubine.

Qin Bing glanced at his fiancée and finally stopped being annoyed by the elders' jokes. He just looked at his father with some expectation.

Emperor Xingwu said: "Let's arrange the wedding in the twelfth month, when Marquis Weiyuan returns to the capital to report on his work."

Mentioning her father whom she had not seen for a long time, Meng Yao missed him very much. Qin Bing was not very happy that he had to wait for a whole year, but since he was waiting for his father-in-law, he had no choice but to wait.

Deng's gaze fell on Qin Ren's face again. Although the third prince had no talent in either civil or military affairs, he was the best looking among the three princes. A seventeen-year-old boy, tall and handsome, he was more popular than the two concubines that Yongkang secretly kept in the princess's mansion.

Qin Ren was not used to his aunt's overly enthusiastic gaze, so he pretended to touch his nose.

Deng had suffered a setback for discussing the third prince's marriage, so she stopped teasing him. As for the little princess next to her who was regarded as the apple of Emperor Xingwu's eye, Deng did not dare to say anything about her.

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After paying New Year's greetings and having lunch, Prince Yong and others were about to leave.

Qingyang had agreed with his father, the emperor, and his mother in advance that he would stay at his third brother's house for a few days and return to the palace on the fifth day of the New Year.

Emperor Xingwu and Concubine Li were both very worried about their third son, and they gave him a half-threatening warning, asking him to take good care of his younger sister. Qin Ren even wanted to keep his younger sister in the palace to prevent her from getting hurt by accident. His father then gave him a beating.

Of course, Qin Ren only dared to mutter in his heart. If he said it out loud, his sister would be very angry!

After bidding farewell to the emperor's two concubines, the brother and sister followed their second brother, eldest sister, and uncle Wang's family out of the palace.

Prince Yong teased the little princess: "Lin'er, why don't you go live in your uncle's mansion? Your third brother is alone. What's the point of living alone?"

Deng's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law followed suit and invited everyone.

Qingyang: "Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang will definitely be busy with social events these days, so I just want to go out of the palace and have some fun. It would be more convenient to go to Third Brother's place."

Qin Bing joined in the fun: "Then why don't you come to my place? I don't have many social engagements."

Qingyang: "Third brother listens to me, is second brother willing to listen to me in everything too?"

Qin Bing fell silent for a moment.

Yongkang glanced at Fu Kui and smiled faintly, "Sister also wanted to invite you to stay for a while, but unfortunately Ming'er and the others are too noisy. It's better not to let them spoil your fun."

Fu Kui's expression changed slightly.

The children were all relatively well behaved; it was clearly the eldest princess who was causing the commotion. Yongkang had been arguing with him for two or three years because he had taken in two rather pretty maids. Later, he stopped touching the maids in the mansion and went out to find two to keep him company. Thanks to his cautious approach, he thought he had managed to keep it a secret, but Yongkang had unexpectedly hired two beautiful teachers for her, all under the guise of teaching...

Fu Kui was almost mad. All the sons of nobles that he was friendly with were surrounded by concubines. He had been loyal to Yongkang for so many years, and he just wanted to pick two of them to serve him when she was menstruating. Why didn't Yongkang agree?

Qingyang finally noticed something strange between her elder sister and the prince consort.

After leaving the palace and getting on the carriage, Qingyang whispered to his third brother, "You live outside the palace, have you heard what happened in my eldest sister's house?"

Qin Ren looked bewildered: "No, what happened to my elder sister?"

Qingyang glared at his third brother with disdain.

Qin Ren: "...Then I'll have someone keep an eye on it and tell you as soon as I have any news."

Qingyang: "Forget it, I'll ask Fuan."

The third brother only knows how to eat, drink and sleep. Fortunately, Fu'an and Fugui are smart enough to help the third brother pay attention to the movements around him.

Because they were going their separate ways, Prince Yong's families left one after another. Qin Ren then parted the curtain and looked at his sister's guards on horseback. He said with mixed feelings, "I have thirty-six personal soldiers in my palace, and my father actually wants you to bring the imperial guards with you. How worried is he about me?"

Qingyang: "Like master, like soldiers. I'm afraid your personal soldiers are as lazy as you are."

Qin Ren: "That's impossible. Zhang Su is in charge of it for me. Hey, who is that?"

Meeting his third brother's suspicious gaze, Qingyang leaned over to take a look outside and casually said, "My guard is called Cheng Zhixu."

Qin Ren looked at the other person fiercely for a few more times, then lowered the curtain and questioned his sister: "Did you choose him because of his martial arts skills or because of his good looks?"

Qingyang: "...all good, can't I?"

There is no one among the three thousand guards who is not good at martial arts, so of course she will choose the one who suits her best.

【Author’s words】

Here they come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tonight!

Happy holidays, sisters. I am just [pitiful][pitiful][pitiful] to show my respect!