Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 507 Chen Rui's Coming-of-Age Ceremony

“We’re all family.” Yunyi smiled. “Let Yunya come over and play sometime. She’s about the same age as Erya, so they should get along well.”

Fang Zheng and Guan Lirong have two children. Their eldest son, Fang Yunxiang, is fourteen years old and is currently studying at Dexin Academy. He is of average talent but is very hardworking and serious. He has already passed the preliminary examination for the imperial examination.

In fact, Fang Zheng and his wife also wanted their son to go to Longming Academy, where the teaching staff was the best in the country. However, it was a royal academy, and Fang Tang, as a mere official in the Ministry of Works, did not have the authority to do so without Fang Tang's involvement.

I went to the academy today and wasn't home.

The youngest daughter, Fang Yunya, is eleven years old this year. She is quite quiet and honest. After calling her "Big Sister" as soon as they met, she sat quietly next to her mother.

In fact, girls of this age are already going out with their mothers to prepare for marriage in the future. However, Guan Lirong's family is just an ordinary family of minor officials. Her father is only a seventh-rank registrar in the Court of Imperial Stud, which is not as high as her son-in-law's official position.

In such a situation, without someone to guide you, you simply cannot integrate into a high-end banquet.

They weren't even qualified to attend palace banquets.

Back when Qi Miao'er was still alive, she had helped them out, but Fang Yunya was too young then and not yet ready to move around much. Later, Sun Qingli couldn't even see this sister-in-law clearly and stopped interacting with her.

Now that Yunyi has extended an olive branch to her daughter, how could Guan Lirong not be happy? She quickly glanced at her daughter and said, "Quickly thank your older sister."

"Thank you, elder sister." Fang Yunya stood up and curtsied.

"However, Second Aunt, you'd better think this through. Befriending me means completely offending my father, and you..."

"We weren't exactly worthy of the Earl's attention to begin with."

"That's good." Yunyi nodded, then looked at Fang Zheng, "Second Uncle, I have something I'd like to ask you."

Upon hearing this, Guan Lirong quickly stood up and said, "Let's have dinner here today."

Yunyi nodded, without refusing.

Guan Lirong then took her daughter to the kitchen.

There weren't many servants in the house; he did most things himself.

Yunyi then inquired about shipbuilding with Fangzheng.

The Ministry of Works also had divisions of labor. For example, there were departments specifically responsible for weapons manufacturing, carriage and horse manufacturing, and road and bridge construction...

Shipbuilding is also a separate department.

Fang Zheng happens to be working in the shipbuilding department.

Fang Zheng found it strange that Yunyi asked about the shipbuilding industry of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but he did not hide it from her. There was nothing to hide about it. Shipbuilding and vehicle manufacturing were not secrets; only weapons and armor were.

In fact, Zheng He had already sailed to the Western Ocean by this time. Later, after the branching to the Yamato Dynasty, although the Yuan family did not send anyone to sea again, their shipbuilding skills continued to improve.

There are different accounts of the actual size of Zheng He's ships during his voyages to the Western Ocean. Historical records indicate that the largest ship, Tianyuan, was 138 meters long and 56 meters wide, but some experts have raised doubts about this.

In short, she's not an expert, and she hasn't specifically studied this, but what she's more concerned about now is the current ship.

“However, the imperial court’s shipbuilding is still a bit lacking. The best technology is mastered by the Ji family in Taizhou Prefecture. They have jointly built several large ships with the Mo family. These ships are larger and sturdier than the imperial court’s ships and are suitable for sea navigation. Currently, the ships in the capital are all sailing on the canal.” A glint of light flashed in Fang Zheng’s eyes. “I just don’t know if there will be a chance to go out to sea and take a look.”

"The Ji family." Yunyi nodded. "Thank you, Second Uncle."

At this moment, Guan Lirong and her entourage brought up the food.

After having lunch here, Yunyi returned to the Earl's residence.

The next day was Chen Rui's coming-of-age ceremony, and Yunyi got up early in the morning to rush to Jiqingfang.

Although the Chen family was not of high status, Chen Rui was the Third Prince's consort bestowed by the emperor, so all the families that received the invitations came.

The honored guest was Princess Qiaochu.

Actually, Yu Lan originally extended the invitation on a whim, but she didn't expect the other party to agree.

Princess Wushuang even took the initiative to come and serve as an official.

Yunyi was forced to become a supporter.

The Third Prince specially sent a jade hairpin, which he said he carved himself, as a way of showing his respect for Chen Rui.

The ceremony went smoothly and ended quickly, after which everyone went to the front yard to take their seats.

In the Xing'an Marquis's mansion, Han Lian'er was so angry that she was throwing things around in the room. Why? Because when she came of age last year, although the Third Prince had sent her a hairpin, it was not carved by him personally, but rather bought by Qingsong.

Why is it that Chen Rui gets to receive a hairpin personally carved by the Third Prince?

No, she doesn't have it, and Chen Rui can't have it either.

Unfortunately, Chen Rui didn't invite her, so she's at a loss now.

"Miss, just because we can't do it now doesn't mean we can't do it later." Qingliu forced herself to step forward and persuade her. After all, if they continued to smash things, and the madam came to see what was going on, it would be those of them who served her closely who would suffer. "Once we're in the prince's residence, won't we be able to do whatever we want?"

Upon hearing this, Han Lian'er finally put down her teacup: "That makes sense, but I can't wait until my wedding day."

When the wedding arrives, the groom will wear a bright red wedding dress, while she can only wear a fuchsia or pink dress. The groom will go through the main entrance to pay respects to heaven and earth, while she can only be escorted into the room through the side door to wait.

She used to think that she didn't care about anything as long as she could marry the Third Prince, but the closer the wedding got, the more unbalanced she felt. She also wanted to have the wedding ceremony with heaven and earth.

"You all better think of a solution quickly, or what use are you?" Han Lian'er roared.

Green Willow and Green Willow shuddered in fright, then exchanged a glance. Although they had no choice, they dared not remain silent.

"Why don't we hire an assassin to kill her?"

"Hire an assassin?" Han Lian'er's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea, but where should we hire an assassin?"

Green Willow swallowed hard: "I've heard... there are assassin groups in the martial arts world, and you can hire them to kill people for money."

“I know,” Han Lian’er said, her eyes wide. “What I mean is, which group’s assassins should we hire?”

"Of course... of course Qionglou is the most powerful."

"I've heard there's also a Lingxu Pavilion," Qingliu added timidly.

"Qingtuan, go and find out how much silver it costs," Han Lian'er called out.

"Yes," Qing Tuan replied from the shadows, then left.

After her coming-of-age ceremony, Chen Rui was forbidden from going out freely, as she was to be married in two months and needed to stay home to embroider her dowry.

Chen Rui expressed her dissatisfaction, but Yu Lan did not give her the chance to express it and personally watched her embroider.

The Third Prince's Mansion.

"Why are you here?" Zhou Jingxuan looked at Cangming, who had come uninvited, with a hint of helplessness.