149: Win-win model

The more Xu Yanran thought about it, the more pleased she became, and a faint smile involuntarily appeared on her face. When Xu Ruoying saw this expression, she couldn't help but exclaim in her heart, 'Did the sun rise from the west today?'

Because in her impression, Xu Yanran was someone who rarely smiled. She had rarely seen Xu Yanran smile since she could remember, and she never expected to see it today. Could it be because of Long Yuan?! Could it be that Auntie, at such an old age, was still feeling a stir of romance because of Long Yuan? Did she want to 'old cow graze on tender grass'?

She couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She hadn't even met Long Yuan yet, and he had already made her Martial Commander aunt smile like this. If she really met him in the future, wouldn't he be spoiled to the heavens?

What about herself? Her current favored status was envied to death by countless peers in the Clan. If Long Yuan were to usurp her position, wouldn't introducing Long Yuan to her aunt be like lifting a rock only to drop it on her own foot?

These slightly absurd and strange thoughts flashed through Xu Ruoying's mind at lightning speed, but the question still needed to be answered. She immediately said, "Auntie, Long Yuan is not in the Imperial Capital. He is in a small, third-tier base called Fengyang on the southeastern coast of our Great Ming, currently studying in the Elementary Elite Class at Fengyang No. 1 High School."

"Fengyang? How could he be in that small place? What exactly does his father intend by putting him there?" Xu Yanran asked, puzzled.

"I'm also very curious..."

Xu Ruoying's answer was, of course, unsatisfactory to Xu Yanran, so she ordered her to quickly find out more. The most important thing, of course, was to quickly ascertain who Long Yuan's father was. After all, if she were to truly take him as a disciple in the future, then who his father was would be very important.

Because the Xu Family was the Great Ming's foremost super aristocratic family. For an aristocratic family to endure for a thousand years and still stand strong, it naturally had its founding principles. This principle allowed it to thrive through countless generations without decline, and it certainly had its mysterious aspects!

So, what was this founding principle of the Xu Family?

In fact, it wasn't that mysterious once explained; it was just that very few aristocratic families could imitate and adhere to it: the Xu Family's marriage alliance strategy!

Especially marriage alliances with the Imperial Family were of paramount importance!

The Xu Family had a large population but favored females, because females could play an important role in marriage alliances. If a woman's marriage partner happened to be the next emperor, wouldn't that be the equivalent of an empress?

And for the women of the Xu Family, this was not really a luxury, because when the Imperial Family's princes sought partners, they would first look among the eligible women of the major aristocratic families. Given the Xu Family's status, prestige, and strength, they were naturally the primary target for marriage alliances. One must know that in the struggle for the throne, if one's maternal family possessed strong power and prestige, that assistance would be immense, and the chances of success would greatly increase!

This was a win-win cooperation model!

Therefore, as long as the Xu Family produced relatively outstanding women, they would all wait to form marriage alliances with the Imperial Family. From a young age, they would also be taught how to adapt to court life and how to manage various situations appropriately. This education would cover all aspects of court life, from grand imperial ceremonies and harem affairs to a single gesture, a single word, an outfit, an expression, and so on. Its detail and strictness were no less than undergoing an education process at a higher institution!

Even Xu Yanran herself received such an education when she was young, but later, because her talent was too high and her strength too great, she simply looked down on the princes introduced to her...

Some might ask, no matter how strong Xu Yanran was, the Imperial Family was still the Imperial Family. How dare she look down on them and refuse to marry?

This involves another key point of the Xu Family's status and its founding principles: if a woman of the Xu Family was to marry, the character of the prospective partner had to be thoroughly investigated!

Character included many aspects, such as personality, preferences, background, ability, talent, as well as whether there were issues like forming factions for personal gain, colluding with court officials, trampling on brothers, oppressing the common people, corruption, gambling, and excessive indulgence, etc...

These details would all be secretly investigated by the Xu Family and continuously tracked for many years. Because the Xu Family had many opportunities to be close to the Imperial Family, as long as they observed carefully, they could easily investigate the behavior of those imperial descendants. These behaviors would all be secretly recorded to serve as a reference for future husband selection.

As the most outstanding descendant of the Xu Family, Xu Yanran was naturally prepared to marry into the Imperial Family from a young age. However, she later awakened an S-grade talent and became an Advanced Mind Power Master and a top Martial Commander, thereby becoming one of the pillars of the Great Ming. This gave her the right to control her own destiny, which was enough for her to say no to the Imperial Family's overtures!

Moreover, because the several princes introduced to her successively failed to satisfy her, and after investigation, the Xu Family also felt that those princes had numerous misdeeds and were completely unsuitable to be sons-in-law of the Xu Family, the Clan Elders also expressed their support for her decision!

The Imperial Family was helpless with such a decision from the Xu Family. As the Great Ming's foremost aristocratic family, they indeed possessed such a right to speak.

One must know that many successive Emperor Mings were actually grandsons of the Xu Family. When the relationship between the two families reached such an intertwined state, what more could be said?

From another perspective, it could also be understood that the Great Ming Imperial Family and the Xu Family ruled the Great Ming together, just one in the primary position and one in the secondary.

As an extra note, the princes introduced to Xu Yanran included Prince Fu, but it was impossible for Xu Yanran to take a liking to this useless and lecherous prince...

Now, the sudden appearance of Long Yuan immediately caught Xu Yanran's attention. After learning more about him during her conversation with Xu Ruoying, she quickly realized Long Yuan's potential value. With Long Yuan's astonishing talent and rich Xuanhuang Bloodline, he might not only become a Zhu Jian-style Sword Bearer in the future, but it was even possible for him to become the Emperor of Great Ming. Such a person, of course, could only belong to the Xu Family and absolutely could not be snatched away by other aristocratic families!

Moreover, because the matter happened too suddenly, too much of the investigation into Long Yuan was missing, so it had to be made up for immediately. This was a truly major event related to the future destiny of the Xu Family!

She immediately notified more than a dozen Xu Family Clan Elders to come over and informed them of the matter.

This group of Clan Elders arrived at lightning speed, all knowing that a major event was about to occur, but they never expected it to be such a matter. They immediately realized that they might have made a big mistake and had to remedy it immediately, because for the Xu Family, the selection of an imperial son-in-law was the most important matter of Clan affairs, a top priority. Especially the potential elite figures of the Imperial Family were related to the Xu Family's survival, and absolutely could not be treated lightly. So, they discussed the plan day and night. The detail of this plan left Xu Ruoying, who was listening in, dumbfounded, feeling that everything she had done before was simply child's play and not worth mentioning at all!

By dawn of the second day, the entire plan had basically been drafted, and the Xu Family's massive marriage alliance machine began a new round of operation...

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