Chapter 297

n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Chapter 297: Chapter 297, the grand selection

Glutinous rice said, “Aunt, master said that you deserve this. You and she are blood-related sisters. You Don’t care about these things.” Qiao Ruoyun was extremely touched. “I heard that she had suffered heavy losses during her trip to Yun Province and that she needed to spend money in the palace. She gave these to me...” Glutinous rice said, “Master was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to take care of you in Chang ‘an, so you can keep them. Master will only be at ease if you and I live a good life.” Qiao Ruoyun placed the dowry slip on her heart. She was clearly the one who had wronged Lady Qiao. Lady Qiao did not mind that she had stolen her life and had even given herself so much dowry. No wonder glutinous rice and fennel were willing to offend the crown prince for the sake of their master. Lady Qiao truly valued friendship and loyalty. On the dock, looking at the bustling crowd, she said, “The daughter of the Qiao family is really blessed. After Qiao Ruoyun and the Qin family split up, I thought that she wouldn’t be able to get married. I didn’t expect that a marriage would be even more important than a marriage. She has actually become the princess consort of King Wu.” “Even the Qiao family’s first daughter, who was born in the dragon boat festival, is only a little over one year old. There are already quite a number of people who want to arrange a child marriage.” “Didn’t you say that the Qiao family is feared by His Majesty?” “If they really are feared, how could his majesty allow Qiao Ruoyun to become King Wu’s consort! Besides, I’ve heard that the Crown Prince and the Empress both dote on the crown prince’s Consort.” “Doting is just a saying. This time, the palace’s female talent selection said that she would enter the palace to be a palace maid.”. However, there are also many direct daughters of high-ranking officials and nobles entering the palace. I don’t believe that the Crown Prince, who is still young and full of vigor, would be able to endure seeing so many young and beautiful women when the Crown Princess is pregnant.” “Didn’t they say that His Highness the crown prince has a weakness for women? Why are there still people who aren’t afraid of Death?” “Although the Qiao family used to be like the Sun in the sky, now that there are so many flowers and so much oil, they all have a crown princess. Who wouldn’t want to become a family that thrives on their daughter’s favor. “Moreover, the rumors have long been cleared up. The one who hinders women is King Huai, not the crown prince.” There were two important matters in the palace. One was that the three-year period of palace maids were about to leave the palace, and the other was the talent selection. Twenty years ago, Great Tang had chosen palace maids or inner wives. Anyone who entered the palace would be the emperor’s concubine. Regardless of whether they were visited or not, they would be the emperor’s woman. Once they entered the palace and became palace maids, they could not leave the palace again. After Empress Zhou entered the palace, she changed the rules. After the palace maids entered the palace, they were no longer concubines. They could plan their own marriage without the Emperor’s grace. If they became palace maids, once they reached the age of twenty-five, they could apply to leave the palace and reunite with their families. Every year, they would select young girls from the local people from four to five to eleven years old to enter the palace. They would change the age to ten to fifteen years old. If they had exquisite craftsmanship, they could relax to eighteen years old, which was a general election every three years. The previous years’talent selection was extremely difficult. The officials all racked their brains and tried to persuade and coerce them to barely gather the number of people. This year’s talent selection for entering the palace was very simple and easy. After asking around, they found out that the young ladies of the officials’families had all participated in the selection. There were three types of talent selection in the past. One was to select palace maids. The other was to recruit women from all over the world to select concubines. The other was to hold various kinds of flower viewing banquets to select concubines from among the women of high-ranking officials and noble families. The second type had not been seen in almost twenty years. This time, even the palace maids and attendants kept talking about choosing palace maids, but as usual, many of the first-born daughters of the official families were willing to come. The day of Qiao Jin’s birth was approaching, and she could not sleep well at night. She got up frequently, and her feet were so swollen that it was difficult for her to get off the ground. She said to Lu Chen, “Have I become extremely ugly? I didn’t look like this when I gave birth to Xi’er. It seems that I’m really old...” “You’ve just passed your 21st birthday, what are you getting old for?”Lu Chen gently rubbed her feet and said, “Who says you’re Old? Even if they’re younger than you, they’re not as young and beautiful as you.” “You only know how to coax me,”said Qiao Jinniang. “I heard that many of the daughters of the officials and families in Chang ‘an have come to this talent show. Do you really want them to be palace maids?” “Although palace maids can also be promoted to female officials, they can directly enter the palace to become female officials. They don’t have to start from Palace Maids.” Lu Chen said, “At worst, they can fail the selection and leave the palace. There are 5,000 women in Datang, and only 500 will be left.” Qiao Jinniang was relieved. The next day, she gathered the managers of the jewelry pavilion. She asked the jewelry pavilion and Rouge shop to develop new jewelry and rouge. If 500 girls stayed, it meant that more than 4,000 girls would leave. When they left, they had to take some Chang ‘an specialties with them. The jewelry and clothes in Chang ‘an were popular in Datang, so it was naturally the best time to sell them. Lu Chen helplessly saw Qiao Jinniang discussing this with her subordinates with her big belly. He could only smile and say, “Be careful that the little princess in your belly will also be in the eye of money in the future.” “That’s great,”Qiao Jinniang said. “Silver is a good thing. The more silver my daughter has, the better.” The manager of the jewelry pavilion said, “Did the imperial physician see that the owner is the little princess? I think your belly looks like a male fetus.” Qiao jinniang said, “I haven’t let the imperial physician see it, but the imperial physician has never denied that it is the young princess.” Mothers who wanted a daughter said that it was the young lady. As expected, she gave birth to a daughter. Qiao Jinniang also thought that she would be so lucky. At the end of June, the beautiful girls entered Chang ‘an. The first checkpoint was to check their age and place of origin. If their ancestors had committed a crime, they were not allowed to enter the palace. Then there was the figure. The figure had already eliminated many people. Being a palace maid did not require one to know how to write, but it required one to know how to read. Those who did not know how to Read had eliminated most of the people. Qiao ruoyi took the opportunity to hand out a flyer for West Mountain Academy at the entrance of the palace. Naturally, the more students the better. Afraid that she would be scolded by her family for not being able to choose a palace maid, the desperate girls entered West Mountain Academy. In the end, after all kinds of competitions, five hundred people were left behind. Empress Zhou called Qiao Jinniang to go with her to lecture these beautiful women. Qiao Jinniang sat in a sedan chair and arrived at the Palace of the beautiful women. Five hundred people stood in neat rows. The Shang Palace was lecturing, and after the Shang Palace lectured, it was Qiao Jinniang who lectured. Qiao Jinniang followed the manuscript that Empress Zhou had given him in advance and memorized it before lecturing. Many young ladies curiously sized up Empress Qiao’s appearance, and in their hearts, they all hoped that one day they could enter the eastern palace and become the consort of this high and mighty reprimanding. After Empress Qiao finished memorizing the contents, she continued, “I still have a few words to remind you. Before you enter the palace, the vast majority of you are the pampered and pampered ladies of the family. Just now, Shanggong said that he wanted you to understand the rules and become servants to serve the nobles. I feel that although you enter the palace as Palace Maids, you are not slaves for life. The most important word in the palace is ‘rules’, but to a woman, the most important word is ‘self-improvement’. “Mother is kind and specially grants palace maids the right to leave the palace to have children when they reach the age of 10. I hope that you can achieve something in the palace and become self-reliant in the future, and not blindly think of climbing up to the Dragon and Phoenix.” Shang Gong looked at Empress Zhou’s expression and saw that Empress Zhou did not have any plans to not worry or berate Lady Qiao. Among the beautiful women, the daughter of a Shannan Jiedushi came out and said, “Crown prince, Imperial concubine, your subject is stupid. I wonder what climbing up to the dragon and Phoenix Means?”