The Farm Girl's Charismatic Fortune-Chapter 319 - 315 He must be crazy to do such a boring thing!

Chapter 319: Chapter 315 He must be crazy to do such a boring thing!

Ruo Shan peered at the procession approaching down the main street, then turned around unintentionally and locked eyes with Zhaohua. He nodded politely and turned back to the street, not daring to gawk lest he insult the beauty.

Even in the embrace of her little uncle, Xuanbao—with her eyes fully attuned to the street, watching her father and second uncle gallantly riding horses—did not neglect everything around her. She had long noticed every move of Princess Zhaohua.

The moment she saw Princess Zhaohua here, she knew she was going to be her future fifth aunt!

Moreover, Xuanbao could see that the connection between the two had already begun. As to how it would solidify, she believed fate would have its way. Xuanbao was very curious about what might happen next between them. Even though it seemed like a good match, she wouldn’t intervene, but she was indeed curious!

Xuanbao reached out to Ruo Shan: "Fifth Uncle, carry me!"

Ruo Shan immediately picked up his little niece and smilingly asked, "Does Xuanbao want to ride a horse?"

Xuanbao pointed towards the Empress Dowager’s position: "I want to go to Grandmother."

Ruo Shan then carried Xuanbao over and came to the Empress Dowager’s side.

Seeing Xuanbao reaching out, the Empress Dowager asked, "Does Xuanbao want Granny to hold her?"

Princess Zhaohua was standing beside the Empress Dowager, and as Ruo Shan came up to her, she didn’t dare move a muscle, even holding her breath!

So tall!

I only come up to his shoulders, right?

Xuanbao shook her head, "No need; Granny will get tired. I’ll just stand next to Brother Xuanyuan."

The Empress Dowager said, "You’re not as tall as your brother; you won’t be able to see when standing. Come, let Granny hold you!"

At that moment, Xuanyuan Que pointed to a stool at his feet: "Let her stand on this."

Seeing her grandson had prepared the stool in advance, the Empress Dowager laughed, "Our Xiaojiu is so thoughtful!"

Granny Lei nodded, "Xuanbao is like a snug little cotton-padded jacket, and our young Master Xiaojiu is like a snug little suit of armor! I’ve never seen children more stress-free than them!"

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager thought: That’s not quite true. Xiaojiu is only considerate with Xuanbao, and rather indifferent to others; if he is armor, he’s armor only for Xuanbao.

Xuanyuan Que: "..."

What considerate?

He was just avoiding trouble!

He knew long before that this flower would come to him, so he had prepared the stool in advance to avoid having to hold her to watch the events.

Ruo Shan placed Xuanbao on the stool, and Xuanbao stood beside Xuanyuan Que.

Xuanbao also told Ruo Shan, "Fifth Uncle, you stand behind me and watch me. I’m afraid of falling."

Ruo Shan had no reason to say no; Xuanbao had to lean on the windowsill to see, so he naturally needed to keep a close watch.

Soon, Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang rode by on horseback, and Xuanbao excitedly threw flowers down to them: "Father, Second Uncle! Catch!"

On their way, the two men had many toss handkerchiefs and flowers at them, but they caught none until they heard Xuanbao’s voice. Looking up and seeing a familiar face, they caught the flowers she tossed.

The Empress Dowager, upon leaving the palace to watch the Top Scholar’s parade, had also intended for Princess Zhaohua to get a look at her future husband, focusing particularly on the Third-place Scholar.

She had heard from the Emperor that this Third-place Scholar was not only talented but also handsome.

Doing her research, she learned he came from a noble family, was self-disciplined, and his family rules were strict: a man could only take a concubine if he had no sons by the age of thirty.

He was from one of the noble families with the least scandals.

Therefore, the Empress Dowager asked Zhaohua, "Zhaohua, what do you think of the Third-place Scholar’s appearance?"

Because Ruo Shan was standing not far behind her, Princess Zhaohua was completely distracted and didn’t pay attention to the Third-place Scholar. Startled by the question, she had only caught a glimpse of the back of his head and could only respond, "He’s not bad."

The Emperor’s chosen Third-place Scholar must be attractive, right? After all, historically, the Third-place Scholar was picked from the top three for being the youngest and the handsomest.

But she felt that no matter how handsome, he couldn’t compare to the man behind her!

From the back, he wasn’t as elegant as the man behind her, nor was he as tall.

Princess Zhaohua was the daughter of Prince Qingping. Old Prince Qingping was the sworn brother of the former Emperor, had made great contributions during the conquest, and was thus made a prince. The current Prince Qingping had mediocre abilities and was considered to be ineffectual. During the former Emperor’s reign, he was put in charge of the royal family’s affairs, away from state politics, unlikely to make any major mistakes—an idle position but with a noble status.

Countess Zhaohua was Prince Qingping’s only daughter, known for her kind nature, and greatly favored by the Empress Dowager, who would summon her to the palace for a greeting when she was in the capital.

Because Princess Qingping had discussed several marriage prospects with her, none of which she liked—either she disliked the complexity of the man’s household, or she found the man not handsome enough, she even despised the existence of concubines in their homes!

Nowadays, among the sons of noble families, which one had not arranged for maidservants to serve them after they reached the age of adulthood? It was an unspoken practice to have consorting maidservants.

These maidservants would be sent away before getting married, and Princess Qingping did not understand what her daughter was fussing about.

The households of commoners indeed had no consorting maids, let alone maidservants at all, but she also could not bear to see her daughter marry into such a family and suffer a hard life!

So, Princess Qingping decided not to interfere anymore and asked the Empress Dowager for help.

The Empress Dowager had not initially noticed her distracted heart, but now she saw it clearly.

She even noticed that before answering, she instinctively glanced at Ruo Shan!

The Empress Dowager looked at Zhaohua, her face blushing, and a thought struck her.

The several brothers from the Ruo Family were all excellent matches!

Why had she not thought of Ruo Shan before?

But this matter still needed to involve asking Ruo Shan and Granny Lei’s opinions.

As well as Princess Qingping—she did not know whether the other party would take an interest in the Ruo Family.

She could not recklessly matchmake.

As the top scholars had already wandered off into the distance, the Empress Dowager suggested, "It’s getting late, why don’t we dine now?"

She was eager to finish the meal and go inquire about Princess Qingping’s opinion.

Granny Lei nodded, "Yes, I’ve been out since morning and am quite hungry."

The shopkeeper went to order the dishes served.

The private room was spacious, with a large round table. When arranging the private room, the shopkeeper had asked if they wanted to switch to two tables, separating men and women for seating.

The Empress Dowager said since everyone was familiar, there was no need to separate.

Although men and women did not sit at separate tables, they were clearly divided, sitting on opposite sides of the large round table.

Ruo Shan happened to sit directly across from Princess Zhaohua, on the same diameter, facing each other from a distance, yet able to see each other by simply lifting their heads.

Princess Zhaohua could not remember what dishes she had eaten at this meal, nor did she know the taste of any of them.

Xuanbao, munching on a lamb skewer that Xuanyuan Que had picked for her, silently asked Xuanyuan Que, who was peeling shrimp for her, "Brother Xuanyuan, did you notice that Countess Zhaohua is my aunt by marriage?"

Xuanyuan Que placed a large shrimp in her bowl and responded with a faint "Hmm."

Xuanbao asked further, "Was it on the day my uncle went to the palace for the contest that they met? Do you know what happened then, Brother Xuanyuan?"

Xuanyuan: "I don’t know."

Xuanbao: "Then rewind time and look! I really want to know!"

Countess Zhaohua had been blushing the entire day; something must have happened between them.

But retracing time required a lot of Spiritual Power, something Xuanbao could not do, fortunately, the Divine Monarch could.

Xuanyuan Que glanced at her indifferently. Was this flower too nosy? She actually wanted him to rewind time to see how they met?

He’d be mad to do such a pointless thing!

Xuanyuan Que decided to ignore her.

Seeing the Divine Monarch only cared about peeling shrimp for her, and not eating much himself, Xuanbao picked up a shrimp from her bowl and fed it to him, "Brother Xuanyuan, you should eat too."

The shrimp already touching his lips, not for the first time, Xuanyuan Que opened his mouth and ate it, then casually rewound time a bit.

He did it because he feared that a certain flower would pester him incessantly!

Never had he encountered such an annoying flower!