After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"Of course it's a guess." Rong Yingluo did indeed guess.

"You guessed right. My mother-in-law is the Empress's cousin. They both come from the Zhao family of the Imperial Tutor's Mansion. My mother-in-law is the eldest daughter of the main branch, and the Empress is the second daughter of the main branch," Ke Miaoran explained.

"I see." Rong Yingluo suddenly understood. No wonder she wasn't afraid of offending Consort Cao. Then she could rest assured that she could befriend Sister Ke.

She disliked both the Crown Prince and Consort Cao today.

Since the Crown Prince and Gu Ce were irreconcilable enemies, she, as Gu Ce's wife, naturally had to stand shoulder to shoulder with her husband.

Ke Miaoran led Rong Yingluo on a leisurely stroll through the palace.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Her Majesty the Empress has had many riddles prepared and hung in the Imperial Garden, where young masters and ladies from all families can freely guess the riddles.

If you guess more than ten correctly, you can exchange them for gifts with the chief eunuch in the Queen's palace.

Ke Miaoran was chosen by the Qi family to be their daughter-in-law, so she must have been a well-read and educated girl.

Rong Yingluo is not as good as her in this respect, but she can still guess some of the simpler ones.

The two discussed and guessed together, having a great time.

At this moment, Gu Qingya and a group of young ladies also walked over.

Previously, Rong Yingluo had stolen the show in the Empress's palace, which made her secretly resentful.

Now I see her trying to guess riddles without any regard for her abilities. Has she even been to school? How dare she come here and embarrass herself?

"Rong Liuli, go play something else and stop embarrassing yourself here," Gu Qingya said harshly.

"Little sister, have you forgotten what I told you so quickly?" Rong Yingluo was very curious about how Gu Qingya's brain worked.

They are a family in public, is it necessary to ruin the Gu family's reputation?

"You're just a lowly merchant's daughter, you've never even been to a girls' school, can you even guess? I'm doing this for your own good, so you don't bring shame to the palace." Gu Qingya said matter-of-factly.

"Miss Gu, is this your family's newlywed wife?" A girl of about sixteen or seventeen asked with disdain beside Gu Qingya.

"Yes, I don't know what Mother was thinking, bringing such a thing into the manor. I wouldn't even look at her." Gu Qingya reluctantly admitted.

Ke Miaoran explained to Rong Yingluo that this woman was Princess Xiangyi of the Xuanwang Mansion.

Princess Xiangyi looked Rong Yingluo up and down. She didn't find anything particularly special about her, but she was quite pretty.

If it weren't for the fact that Prince Gu was known for bringing misfortune to his wives, she would have married him long ago; she wouldn't have gotten such a good deal with this merchant's daughter.

She still hasn't found her Mr. Right.

"You, come here, kneel down and kowtow to me as a greeting." Princess Xiangyi had an arrogant and condescending attitude.

"Princess, you mustn't." Ke Miaoran didn't expect that Princess Xiangyi would make things difficult for Rong Yingluo without any reason.

Rong Yingluo raised her hand to stop Ke Miaoran, stepped forward, and curtsied to Princess Xiangyi: "This humble woman greets Princess Xiangyi."

As a subject's wife, it is only right for her to pay respects to the princess, but to kneel and kowtow is something she did not even do when she met the empress. How could a princess have such a privilege?

"How dare you! This princess demands that you kneel and pay your respects." Princess Xiangyi's face hardened; she was angry.

Birds of a feather flock together. Gu Qingya's friend is just like her.

"Princess, when I just paid my respects to Her Majesty the Empress, Her Highness the Consort, and all the concubines in the palace, I did not kneel down. I wonder if there is any legal provision regarding Your Highness's request?" Rong Yingluo was neither humble nor arrogant, and her behavior was measured.

The young men and women around were astonished to hear this. How could a merchant's daughter dare to challenge Princess Xiangyi of the Xuanwang Mansion? Wasn't she afraid of her revenge?

Some of the young masters who were well-versed in the laws of Southern Xia pondered this for a moment.

"Our dynasty's laws only stipulate that one must kneel when meeting the emperor or father, and that commoners must kneel when meeting officials in court. In other situations, there is indeed no need to perform the great ceremony of kneeling and bowing."

"In that case, Princess Xiangyi's request is indeed unreasonable," someone said.

"She's just a merchant's daughter, reeking of money, and she's offending me. I just can't stand her. What's wrong with a lowly ant kneeling and bowing to me?" Princess Xiangyi became even more arrogant with anger.

"Princess Xiangyi, please calm down. You are a princess of the royal family, a role model for women all over the world. I imagine you have read more books than I have walked roads, so you must be very knowledgeable."

"I have a few questions that I have been unable to answer. Today, I am fortunate to meet the Princess. Please help me resolve these doubts." Rong Yingluo was not angry at Princess Xiangyi's unreasonable behavior. Instead, she smiled and changed the subject.

"What's the problem?" Princess Xiangyi was indeed led by the nose.

"Your outfit is so beautiful; it's a rare piece of shimmering brocade. It makes you look like a celestial being, so beautiful and captivating."

I can say that the princess is the most beautiful girl of my age that I have ever seen in my life.

As far as I know, the Floating Light Cloud Brocade should be produced in Yuhang Prefecture, which is more than a thousand miles away from the capital. Rong Yingluo paused at this point.

"You have good taste." Princess Xiangyi's expression improved considerably after Rong Yingluo praised her.

"It's only a little over a thousand miles, how did the princess manage to buy it back?" Rong Yingluo began to ask questions.

"Why would I need to go to Yuhang Prefecture to buy it? Jinxiufang in the capital sells them. As long as I want to buy them, they have to reserve them for me," Princess Xiangyi said truthfully without hesitation.

"What if Jinxiufang can't get the goods?" Rong Yingluo asked again.

"If they can't get it, other merchants will naturally get it. There's no worry about selling the Floating Cloud Brocade from Yuhang Prefecture." Princess Xiangyi glared at Rong Yingluo as if she were an idiot.

"The princess is right. No matter which shop sells this product, the merchant needs to purchase it from Yuhang Prefecture and transport it back to the capital before the princess can have this material to make clothes."

If there were no merchants in the entire Southern Xia Kingdom trading goods between the north, south, east, and west, would all of us young masters and ladies here be able to wear fine clothes?

Everyone looks down on businessmen, saying they are lowly, but none of us can live without the convenience they provide.

They don't steal or rob; they simply engage in this industry to facilitate the flow of goods in the Southern Xia Kingdom, making life more convenient for ordinary people and high-ranking officials alike.

Wherein lies their lowliness?

My Rong family is indeed a merchant family, but every year we pay millions of taels of silver in taxes to the imperial court. The emperor uses this money to pay officials' salaries, to fund water conservancy projects, and to pay soldiers' wages. Merchants serve the court in their own way.

As for you, Princess, none of the food, clothing, or other necessities you have are earned by yourself. You were born into a good family, and your father, or rather, the common people, are supporting you.

"What reason do you have to look down on me?" Rong Yingluo's voice became increasingly forceful as she spoke.

Today, she wants to take this opportunity to speak up for businessmen and stop them from calling her lowly.

She never felt inferior because her father was a businessman; on the contrary, she thought he was great because he made money with his own brains and donated to the country, contributing more to Nanxia than many officials.

Silence, deathly silence.

All the young masters and ladies were stunned by Rong Yingluo's words.

Upon reflection, it is indeed as she said.

If there were no merchants in the world, how would ordinary people live?

Without shops, even with money, you can't buy what you need.

Besides, who doesn't own shops? Thinking about it this way, even the emperor is a merchant.

The Emperor's Imperial Household Department was essentially his private treasury, controlling an unknown number of shops.

"Clap clap clap..." A lone clap came from not far away.