Fang Chuning was enjoying herself so much at the manor that she almost forgot to return. When Mrs. Fang sent a letter, Xie Jue was also present. This matter was actually quite easy to handle, and Xie Jue also felt that they had stayed at the manor for a long time; as the year-end approached, it was indeed time to go home. This year, he couldn’t let Mingzhu face the social interactions alone in the capital, so the two set off back to the capital.

There are plenty of wild goods in the mountains, and Xie Jue and Fang Chuning prepared many dried goods for their respective residences. At the city gate, they parted ways and went home. Before visiting the Fang Family, Xie Jue needed to formally send a presentation card and wait for a reply from the Fang Family before going to pay his respects; proper etiquette could not be neglected. Even if Fang Chuning was carefree and uninhibited, he cared about this matter a lot. If his parents agreed to let Xie Jue come over, it meant they were at least turning a blind eye and wouldn’t strongly oppose anymore.

What Second Mrs. Li requested was indeed something Fang Chuning could accomplish, but it might require her daughter to marry a military general and live with the army in Zhongzhou, separating from her mother for years without seeing each other. The daughters of aristocratic families in the capital mostly married into other families in the capital, and rarely married outside, unless the maternal family was particularly wealthy, marrying the daughter back to her maternal family.

Second Mrs. Li was mentally prepared when she asked Fang Chuning to take charge and make the connections. Fang Chuning was the cousin of her daughter, not particularly close, but definitely wouldn’t harm her noble daughter. Second Mrs. Li was a very rational person. Though married into the Li Family for years, due to the complicated relations between the two families, she trusted her family siblings more than her husband and mother-in-law. After both her mother-in-law and husband agreed to sacrifice their daughter, Second Mrs. Li held resentment in her heart and couldn’t possibly fulfill their wishes.

A few years ago, Fang Chuning would have suggested his cousin marry Zhou Buyan, who was his long-time deputy general and now a fourth-rank general, following him in battles across the country, with good character, a cheerful disposition, and a decent family background with a peaceful household. However, Zhou Buyan had long agreed on a marriage, so Fang Chuning selected several reliable military generals, slightly lower in rank but with promising futures, from Ningzhou and Zhongzhou.

Second Mrs. Li carefully considered and sought Fang Chuning’s advice, and chose a young general with the surname Chen for her daughter, who was currently in the Ningzhou army and part of Xie Xun’s direct line, under Cui Lansong’s command. After Second Mrs. Li agreed, Fang Chuning wrote the letter, and the marriage was quickly settled. Though the young general was stationed in Ningzhou, his family was in Liuzhou. Since it was the year’s end, all generals from various places were rotating their leave, and it was precisely the time for proposing marriage, so the affair was promptly finalized.

Xie Xun was very willing to facilitate this matter, and to avoid making it seem too special and arousing others’ gossip, he specially issued a decree to hold a matchmaking banquet for young generals across the country, inviting unmarried generals to the capital, with Fengyu examining the matches. If there were eligible women among civil and military officials of marrying age who were interested in finding husbands, they could come to have a look.

This event was held very lively and grand; the new court was different from the Yuwen Dynasty. Being born from military ranks, Xie Xun was part of the Ningzhou leadership directly and had long abandoned the previous dynasty’s tendency to favor civil positions over military ones. Military generals in the Beining Dynasty clearly held higher power and status, and many aristocratic family ladies were willing to marry into military families. There were more than ten pairs matched at one glance, solving the marriage problems for a group of generals, and Xie Xun issued over ten edicts of marriage all at once, all granting dignity, including the daughter of the second branch of the Li Family.

Receiving an imperial decree of marriage was an incomparable honor, and the main house of the Li Family had no option, knowing it was Second Mrs. Li’s idea without any alternative. Thus, the matter was decided.

At first, Xie Jue thought Xie Xun was being ridiculous, but once things were settled, the opinions changed; the young ladies from the Zhang Family and the Cai Family both married generals chosen during this matchmaking, though their positions were not high, yet they were very satisfied with the marriage. It broke the custom of aristocratic daughters predominantly marrying civil officials. Moreover, since the new policy, the status and position of military families considerably increased, with even aristocratic children serving as examples, naturally influencing society to follow suit, which had a profound impact on the stability of the court, breaking the prejudice and shackles of civil officials against military officers.

Xie Xun didn’t dare take credit; this was Fengyu’s idea. At first, Fengyu didn’t want Xie Xun to suddenly issue a decree and be criticized, so the matchmaking banquet was initially set up for Miss Li, but unexpectedly it was so successful that a few more ladies later requested Fengyu to host another round. The Empress gave great respect, who wouldn’t want such an honor?

Xie Jue thought, truly Zhixu must have saved the world in his past life to have such a capable spouse in this one. Ever since he met Fengyu, aside from the unexpected leg injury he suffered initially, Fengyu brought only good fortune to Zhixu. Without Fengyu, it would have been impossible for the brothers to seize the world; they would have collapsed early due to issues with grain and logistics.

"Second Brother, Ayu asked when you plan to send the presentation card to the Fang Family? If you really find it embarrassing, you could summon them into the palace, we’ll support you."

Xie Jue: "... Absolutely not!"

Xie Xun, influenced by Fengyu, also accepted this matter, and with a different mindset came different feelings, simply watching the show, "The Marshal has such a temper; what if he makes things difficult for you? At least he’ll restrain himself if he comes to the palace. Mrs. Fang and Ayu have a good relationship and can mediate, and since we’ll be family eventually, sooner or later we’ll sit down together for a meal."

"Are you in such a hurry to watch the show?"

"Second Brother, see through it but don’t say it." Xie Xun was shameless as ever.

Xie Jue ignored him and inevitably asked, "What did you say when you summoned the Marshal to the palace that day? Let me ask differently, what did you promise?"

"I didn’t promise anything, just chatted with him, Second Brother, trust me!" Xie Xun seemed very earnest, "I’m not that kind of emperor who oppresses others with power."

Xie Jue: "..."