Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

Lu Chen thought to himself, if he could use Spirit Rice to enhance the strength of the soldiers in the army, setting aside everything else, just the increase in physical strength alone could bolster the military's combat effectiveness.

In the army of the North Country, many were ordinary people, especially the soldiers in the artillery camp, whose physical strength was far inferior to that of Martial Artists. Yet, these ordinary soldiers were tasked with transporting cannons and carrying ammunition.

If these ordinary soldiers could all become Martial Artists, not to mention how high their Realm might be, as long as they could reach the level of a Fifth Grade Martial Artist, the speed at which they marched with heavy weapons would be significantly increased.

Speed is crucial in warfare, and sometimes, battles are won by racing against time.

Lu Chen's gaze was fixed on the Spirit Rice before him, thinking that he needed to find someone trustworthy to be in charge of the cultivation of the Spirit Rice.

Once he had enough Spirit Rice, the overall strength of the soldiers of the North Country could be greatly enhanced.

As Lu Chen was lost in thought, Mu Zixuan spoke, "Prince, it looks like the Spirit Rice is ready for harvest. How about I find someone to harvest it?"

Although Lu Chen had always been the one looking after the Spirit Rice, there was so much of it, it could not possibly be expected for Lu Chen to personally go to the fields and harvest it himself.

Lu Chen replied, "Hmm, yes, please trouble my consort to find some trustworthy people to gather these grains and keep them as seeds for planting at a later time."

Having said that, he continued, "I'll go have breakfast first. Arrange for a few carpenters to come to the Prince's Mansion and have them wait for me in the outer court. I have some work for them later."

Mu Zixuan responded, "Understood, my lord."

Then Mu Zixuan instructed a maid beside her, "Go and bring the Prince's breakfast."

Lu Chen then went into the Wind Cloud Palace for breakfast.

By the time Lu Chen finished breakfast and came out, Mu Zixuan had already arranged for some carpenters to wait for him in the outer yard, and she was curious about what Lu Chen needed the carpenters for.

Since it was something happening within the Prince's Mansion, she should be able to see it, so Mu Zixuan also followed Lu Chen to the outer courtyard, intending to see what he had planned.

Lu Chen arrived at the outer courtyard, saw the carpenters, and had the branches of the Dragon Phoenix Tree moved there; then he instructed the carpenters to make wooden figures inside the mansion.

Hearing that Lu Chen wanted to make wooden figures, the carpenters were baffled and unsure of their purpose, but since they were craftsmen from Great Yu City, they followed Lu Chen's orders without question, and set to work on the tree branches without much thought.

Seeing the carpenters busily at work, Mu Zixuan approached Lu Chen and asked directly, "Prince, why did you instruct them to make wooden figures?"

Lu Chen smiled mysteriously and said, "My consort, no need to worry. You'll understand once they are ready."

Seeing Lu Chen say this, Mu Zixuan didn't press the issue further. It seemed Lu Chen suddenly remembered something and then added, "That's right, there's something I nearly forgot. I spoke with Junwan yesterday and said you two should get to know each other."

He then instructed Mu Zixuan's maid, "Xiao Rou, have Lady Wu come to Wind Cloud Court."

"Yes, my lord."

After the maid went to fetch Wu Junwan, Lu Chen wrapped an arm around Mu Zixuan's slender waist and headed towards the inner court, saying as they walked, "My consort, let's go to Wind Cloud Court to wait for her."

Mu Zixuan softly acknowledged with a "Mm," and followed Lu Chen back to the Wind Cloud Court.

Mu Zixuan felt pressured by the thought of meeting Wu Junwan, for the latter was the Princess of Great Wu and held a more exalted status.

The Mu Family had a high standing in Great Xia, but compared to the Grandeur of the Great Martial Royal Family that Wu Junwan hailed from, they meant little.

Despite the pressure, Mu Zixuan quickly adjusted her state of mind. After all, she was Lu Chen's consort and could not afford to embarrass him.

Soon, under the maid's guidance, Wu Junwan arrived at the core area of the North Prince Mansion.

As Wu Junwan entered Wind Cloud Court, Lu Chen and Mu Zixuan were sitting in a pavilion, seemingly discussing something.

Wu Junwan proceeded towards the pavilion, and upon her arrival, Lu Chen greeted her with a smile and said, "My consort, let me introduce you. This is the helper I found for you – the Princess from Great Wu."

At this, Mu Zixuan immediately got up, stepped out of the pavilion to welcome Wu Junwan, and said, "Sister Wu, I have long heard about you from the Prince. Unfortunately, since you've been staying in the eastern courtyard, I haven't had the chance to meet you."

"Rumour has it that Sister Wu is stunningly beautiful, and seeing you today proves those rumours true."

Seeing Mu Zixuan, a consort, being so warm to her, Wu Junwan grew wary, suspecting that Mu Zixuan feared she might threaten her position and was pretending to curry favor before plotting to harm her later.

Someone who had grown up in a royal family like herself was all too familiar with the dynamics of a Harem.

However, she wouldn't rebuff someone who offers a smile. Since Mu Zixuan was ostensibly being friendly, Wu Junwan chose not to say anything unpleasant at that moment.

With a smile, Wu Junwan replied, "Thank you for the compliment, my lady."

Glancing at Lu Chen, she continued, "The Prince is indeed fortunate to have taken a consort as clever and capable as you."

Hearing the mutual business flattery between the two, Lu Chen lifted the teacup from the table, took a light sip, and then said, "Stop flattering each other and come sit down. Let me talk to you about how we're going to manage the Prince's Mansion's properties from now on."

Mu Zixuan immediately took Wu Junwan by the hand and said, "Sister Wu, let's go over."

Wu Junwan responded, "Mhm, alright."

After the two women sat down in the pavilion, Lu Chen continued, "The Prince's Mansion's properties are growing, and it's highly likely that the two of you alone won't be able to manage them in the future, so we will need to recruit more talent to the Prince's Mansion."

As he said this, Lu Chen told the two women about his plan to set up examinations to recruit talent. Hearing Lu Chen's ideas, both women thought the method was feasible.

Now, the management personnel of the Prince's Mansion's properties were all arranged by Mu Zixuan alone, and promotions were decided solely by her. While this ensured that all those in charge were from the Prince's Mansion, the breadth of properties was so vast that Mu Zixuan had to spend a great deal of time every day on personnel changes.

If there were a dedicated human resources department responsible for examining and selecting talent, Mu Zixuan would only need to sign off on their decisions.

At this point, Lu Chen looked at Wu Junwan and said, "Wanyan, although I'm letting you start getting involved with the Prince's Mansion's properties now, you haven't married over yet. So, there might be some inconvenience for a while. For the time being, you'll assist the Princess in managing the Prince's Mansion properties.

After you marry over in the future, I'll hand over some of the properties directly to your management."

Hearing Lu Chen calling her 'Wanyan,' Wu Junwan couldn't help but give him a sidelong glance.

She was clearly older than this young man, yet he dared to address her in such a manner.

Although she felt some slight emotion, Wu Junwan didn't dwell too much on it, "Alright, I understand."

At that moment, Lu Chen reached out his hand and wrapped his arms around the slender waists of both Mu Zixuan and Wu Junwan, smiling as he said, "In the future, the burden of managing the Prince's Mansion's properties will fall on you two ladies.

I believe that under your management, the Prince's Mansion's properties can continue to grow and strengthen, earning more silver for our Prince's Mansion."

Being embraced by Lu Chen in front of the Princess made Wu Junwan feel strange inside; this man was deliberately doing this, seeking to close the distance between herself and the Princess.

Having once held a high position with significant power, how could she not see through Lu Chen's little schemes? However, she didn't say much.

After all, she had already made up her mind to be with this young man for a lifetime. As long as Mu Zixuan didn't actively cause trouble for her, she wouldn't go looking for problems with Mu Zixuan either.

Just then, something occurred to Lu Chen, and he continued, "If in the future you two ladies have differing ideas, you can tell me directly."

Since he had tasked them both with managing the Prince's Mansion's properties, they were bound to have different ideas in the future. To prevent any conflict between them, Lu Chen decided to step in and make decisions whenever their ideas diverged.

Mu Zixuan said, "Your concubine understands."

With that, Mu Zixuan's gaze fell on Wu Junwan as she continued, "Sister Wu, since you are already the Prince's woman, you should also come to the Wind Cloud Court for dinner in the evenings from now on."

"This is the tradition at the Prince's Mansion; every evening, the family gathers together for dinner."

Wu Junwan naturally had already heard about this practice of the Prince's Mansion.

"Alright, I will come tonight."

Wu Junwan looked at Lu Chen and asked, "Prince, right now the number of your wives and concubines is still quite small, and the Wind Cloud Court can accommodate everyone. But if one day you have dozens more wives and concubines, and hundreds more children, and those children have even more children, will you still summon all your wives and concubines to dine together at that time?"

Hearing Wu Junwan's words, Lu Chen smiled and said, "That is indeed a problem."

Initially, there were not many women, so gathering together for dinner was unproblematic, and it also helped to build relationships. However, as the number of wives and concubines increased, along with their children, the dinner times had become noisy, and the whole Wind Cloud Palace sounded like a marketplace.

Lu Chen remarked, "How about this? After Nanyan and Yaoyao's children are born, we won't hold dinners anymore. We will just organize feasts on major holidays."

When she heard this, Mu Zixuan was taken aback. To her, gathering as a family in the Wind Cloud Palace for a lively dinner was quite pleasant, and most women in the Prince's Mansion were used to it.

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She did not expect Wu Junwan's comment to lead Lu Chen to cancel the dinners. Though it wasn't immediate, Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao's children would be born in just a few months.

Mu Zixuan felt somewhat regretful internally, but then she thought about how two more people would be added to the Prince's Mansion when those children were born. By then, the Wind Cloud Palace would be even more crowded, indeed posing a problem.

Every additional child meant two more wet nurses to care for them, and two children meant four wet nurses. Even if the wet nurses did not join the table for meals, they would still enter the Wind Cloud Palace, taking up space.

Lu Chen then said to Mu Zixuan, "My love, next you should give Wanyan a good rundown of the Prince's Mansion's properties."

"Yes, your concubine understands."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Afterward, Mu Zixuan took out some of the property documents from the Prince's Mansion and explained the situation in detail to Wu Junwan.

Upon hearing Mu Zixuan's explanation, Wu Junwan was incredibly shocked. She had not expected the Prince's Mansion to own even more properties than the Great Martial Royal Family.

This Princess consort was no simple woman; managing so many properties on her own without any major issues proved that Mu Zixuan had some real abilities as a Princess consort.

This also heightened Wu Junwan's wariness towards Mu Zixuan.