As winter approached, Li Ting, along with his family and betrothal gifts, went to Crescent Province to propose marriage.
The betrothal gifts were the same as those for the previous three daughters-in-law.
No one was treated differently because of their higher social standing; everyone was treated equally.
Xia Deqing saw the betrothal gift list and understood the Li family's intentions, but he wasn't unhappy.
If this were the former Great Yue Kingdom, Xia Qinyin's marriage would not have involved such a lavish dowry.
He's already very satisfied with how things are now.
Moreover, marrying his daughter there would not only solidify his position in Crescent Province, but also allow Xia Qinyin to learn and be exposed to more things.
Xia Deqing knew that Xiao Sheng might be about to open China's doors and do business with people overseas.
It was already a great blessing that he could serve such a young and promising emperor.
Besides, the betrothal gifts already gave the Xia family enough face.
In particular, the most valuable betrothal gift, a luminous pearl, was presented by Xiao Sheng to show the royal family's respect and affection for the Xinyue Province and the Xia family.
After returning from the Li family, Xiao Sheng celebrated his seventeenth birthday.
There was still no grand celebration. Xiao Sheng set up two tables of food in the palace and invited the Li family, Fan Zuan, Wei Xuanji, Prime Minister Wannian, and several meritorious officials to a meal.
This time, Xiao Sheng did not accept any gifts; he simply had dinner with everyone.
Enjoy this rare moment of harmony.
However, Li Xingran still prepared a small gift for Xiao Sheng.
Before the birthday banquet began, Li Xingran quietly placed the gift on the table in Xiao Sheng's bedroom.
That night, Xiao Sheng returned to his room slightly tipsy. When he sat down at the table, he received a gift and screamed with joy.
The little horse thought something had happened and quickly ran inside.
But what I saw was Xiao Sheng grinning foolishly at the box in his hand.
It turns out that Li Xingran gave Xiao Sheng a pen.
It was the fountain pen that Xiao Sheng had always wanted.
When the little horse saw the iron rod-like object in the emperor's hand, which he had seen the young lady of the Li family use before, he knew that this was not his business and withdrew.
Xiao Sheng held the pen; it was the only gift he received for his birthday this year, and it was from the most important person in his life.
When Xiao Sheng went to sleep at night, he held a fountain pen in his hand.
A smile played on her lips as she drifted off into a sweet dream.
After the New Year, Xia Qinyin happily married Li Ruiqi, bringing with her a giant panda.
After everything was finished, Li Xingran turned ten.
With Li Ruiheng and Li Ruijin both becoming soon-to-be fathers, the Li family's courtyard seems a bit crowded.
Fan Zuan discussed with Li Ting and Xu Ningyou that he needed to deal with school matters and wanted to move to the school to live.
Li Ting and Xu Ningyou repeatedly tried to stop them.
Li Ting: "Third brother, when children grow up and start their own families, they always have to leave their parents to make a living. But you are different. You are not married yet. How can you leave your elder brother to live? I don't agree."
Xu Ningyou: "I agree with what you said, elder brother. Zhang'er, Heng'er, Jin'er and Qi'er are all capable of handling things on their own, it's time for them to establish their own residences."
Fan Zuan couldn't persuade Li Ting and his wife otherwise, so he had to give up.
Li Ting, on the other hand, quickly bought five houses around the Li family's residence and distributed them among his five sons.
They then had the five houses connected together.
When the doors are closed, each family lives their own little life; but when the doors are open, it's still one big family.
When Fan Zu'an wasn't busy at school, he would still go back to the Li family home for meals and stay for a few days.
He's in his thirties and still unmarried, which always worries Xu Ningyou.
However, Fan Zu'an repeatedly declined, saying that their time together had not yet come.
Li Xingran contacted Huo Shan and said she planned to go overseas with him.
Li Ting and Xu Ningyou also had the same idea.
Li Ruizhang and Zhang Qingshu stayed at home to manage household affairs.
Li Ruiheng and Li Ruijin both had to take care of their pregnant wives, so only Li Ruiqi, Xia Qinyin, and Li Ruiyue were allowed to pass.
Fan Zuan also wanted to go and see.
Li Xingran suggested giving the medical school's prospective doctors a long holiday at the end of June.
That way, there won't be any worry about not having anyone to teach.
Wang Yangchun and the twenty teaching assistants could take them to practice medicine all over the country.
Fan Zu'an created a detailed internship plan and distributed it to every medical school student, instructing them to follow the instructions and submit it in the fall.
Transportation in Nanchen Kingdom is now very convenient, and there are no obstacles on the main roads to some remote places.
Upon learning that Li Xingran was going to sea, Xiao Sheng also wanted to go out and see the world.
Luo Bingqian felt that he couldn't give up this opportunity either.
Finally, they found Prime Minister Wannian and entrusted him with an important task.
In recent years, Wan Nian has actually been a leisurely prime minister, with Xiao Sheng handling many matters personally.
As it turned out, the new emperor did a great job, surpassing any other monarch on the Cangxuan Continent.
The power of the Southern Chen Kingdom is stronger than ever before, and some smaller countries have submitted to it in the past few years.
Without losing a single soldier, they truly achieved "victory over the imperial court".
Given the current situation, even if the emperor were to travel for a year, nothing would change.
Wan Nian assured Xiao Sheng that he would travel with peace of mind, and that he would definitely protect the capital and the Southern Chen Kingdom.
Li Ting instructed Li Ruizhang, Li Ruiheng, and Li Ruijin to spend their free time traveling around the Cangxuan Continent to check for any unusual activity.
Wei Xuanji and Luo Nanchuan traveled together this time.
Xiao Sheng also selected a group of students from the Imperial Academy who dared to go abroad to explore new things, and explained to them that the country's development and progress required them to learn more advanced knowledge.
Luo Nanchuan also selected twenty people from Tingquan Villa.
This team quietly left the capital and went to Jiangnan to join Huoshan.
Huo Shan brought his entire fleet of personnel with him on this trip overseas.
After everyone had gathered, they went to Lu Zhengyang's place, where Lu Zhengyang would also be accompanying them.
He also took a hundred carefully selected naval personnel with him to broaden their horizons.
After everything was arranged, the ship weighed anchor and left the port.
During their time on the ship, Li Xingran, Fan Zuan, and Huo Shan were responsible for teaching everyone on board to speak the language of the overseas region.
Li Xingran named him Foreign Languages.
By the time everyone had learned to ask simple questions, the ship had been at sea for two months.
Xiao Sheng studied the most diligently and made the fastest progress.
Some people are born with a talent for languages, and perhaps Xiao Sheng is a linguistic prodigy.
Taking advantage of Xiao Sheng's absence, Li Xingran started complaining again.
[I'm back to the days of teaching those students who grasped concepts instantly.]
[I never expected Xiao Sheng to have such a high aptitude for languages. It seems I can't use other languages to tease him anymore.]
Unexpectedly, Xiao Sheng was listening outside the window, secretly amused: Li Xingran is praising me again!
The sea voyage went relatively smoothly.
Huo Shan's fleet has sailed back and forth across this ocean countless times. Although they have encountered some dangers, they have always managed to escape unscathed.
With so many skilled cultivators supporting them, they didn't encounter any major storms along the way.
The group arrived safely at their first overseas destination.
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