B A F

1: Choosing a Wife

TL: Names will have chinese characters separate unless I'm sure about the last name

Dongling, a vast territory and a prosperous nation.

The Ziyun continent has five countries, Dongling one among them, located on the east side, a beautiful country renowned for its silk, particularly from the "Qi Luo Shop".

"Qi Luo Shop" is the leader of the silk world, its branches extended to every county of Dongling. "Qi Luo Shop" was run by a man surnamed Zi, first name Zuoqian. Naturally, he was the richest man of all of Dongling. He lived in the Zi clan's courtyard in Dongling's capital, Minjing, on its east main street.

It was a rather wide courtyard, taking up nearly half of the east main street. From a distance, it exhibited majestic grandeur, showing off the wealth of its owner.

The Zi clan's courtyard was made with money and anything that could be made from money was in the Zi clans' courtyard. Although with all its beauty, the courtyard was lacking a bit of taste, a lone, small courtyard gave off its own dignified aura.

The small courtyard was one among the rear court. Past a rear garden and a small thicket of bamboo was the entrance of the said courtyard. On the door were two large words, "Lunar Sanctuary*". Although the words were not etched very deeply and the handwriting delicate, there was an unspeakable charm. With one look, you could tell it was written by a woman.

(*TL:眠月幽居 Literal: Sleep moon remote/secluded residence. I'm 100% open for suggestions)

Inside the small courtyard, on a hammock underneath a wutong tree was a young lady clothed in white, white cloth covering her face, her eyes closed. Her left hand lay at her waist while her right arm hung down limply. The book that she had been reading had fallen onto the ground covered in wutong leaves. Other wutong leaves had landed on her head. Evidently, the young girl was fast asleep.

On a afternoon in late autumn with the sun shining warmly, a small nap or resting one's eyes for a moment was extremely fitting.

From the distance, the sound of rapid footsteps approached. The young lady clothed in white's eyebrows knit. Before they arrived, she quietly scolded, "Xia Yue, I've said it before so many times. Why can't you fix your impatient personality?"

Xia Yue, hearing the words, slowed down for a moment, but then starting breaking into a run again, running until she arrived at the lady in white's side. "My lady, there's trouble!"

The lady in white was who Xia Yue referred to as my lady, also the Zi clang's seventh daughter, Zi Yinye. She opened her eyes, slowly sat up, then calmly bent down to pick up the book. She patted it slightly, and then finally said quietly, "What is it now? Is second mother and third mother* fighting again? Or is first brother causing trouble again?"

*TL: more like mistresses but it's hard to explain. Sometimes will be referred to as madam.

"Neither of those!"

"Then did second brother..."

"Not that either!"

Zi Yinye's voice carried ridicule as she said, "Or is father marrying a fourth mother?"

"Aiya! No, no!"

Zi Yinye said impatiently, "Then what is it? If it's not relevant to me, then don't say anything!"

"My lady, the emperor is drafting the list of potential concubines."

"So what? He prepared a list last year, it's nothing unusual. How is it related to me?" Zi Yinye flipped through the pages of the book from before, not even caring to look up.