Just as Jiang Changning was looking at the ladies and guessing their identities, Xie Baoyin came over and said, "Sister Ning."
"Sister Yin." Jiang Changning smiled back at her, then moved his eyes downward and discovered that her belt had been tied again.
Judging from Xie Baoyin's personality, she must have prepared her wallet.
But even with his wallet filled, he was still examined.
In other words, she would be exempted from the physical examination, not because of her wallet.
Jiang Changning's eyebrows twitched slightly. Could this be the Queen Mother's intention
The crisp sound of "pop" brought Jiang Changning back to his senses.
Jiang Changning turned his head and saw that the tall girl had slapped the other girl.
"Are you blind?" the tall girl asked sternly.
The beaten girl lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry."
"Is saying sorry enough? If I hadn't been standing steadily, I would have been knocked down by you. You are such an idiot, laughing and playing around here, how can you be so disrespectful?" the tall girl asked unhappily.
The other girl next to her said something that made the tall girl even more unhappy. "Is this your house? You won't let people move around. I want to leave. What's wrong?"
The tall girl was aggressive and the three girls kept apologizing.
Others either didn't want to get involved, were afraid, or didn't know the truth and chose to stand by and watch.
"Song Yirou, that's enough. Do you have to be so unreasonable? You've beaten them, you've scolded them, and they've apologized. What else do you want?" Zhao Xifang stepped forward and asked loudly.
Her voice was delicate, and even when she was questioning someone, it was still soft and without a trace of power.
"Oh, Zhao Xifang, you're pretending to be a good person again." Song Yirou said contemptuously.
"Song Yirou, don't go too far." Zhao Xifang frowned.
"She bumped into me, did I go too far?" Song Yirou sneered, "Zhao Xifang, your ability to confuse right and wrong is getting stronger."
"She did hit you, but she has already apologized to you. It's just a small matter. Do you need to hold on to it? Can't you just let it go?"
"She hit me. I have the final say on whether this matter is acceptable or not. You don't have the final say."
Zhao Xifang was about to say something when she saw a nanny coming over there. She said, "You are unreasonable," and turned away.
"Who are you saying is unreasonable?" Song Yirou asked angrily.
"No noise." As soon as the nanny spoke, even someone as arrogant as Song Yirou shut up.
The back hall finally became quiet again, and at this time Lu Xiujie was brought in by the palace maid with tears in her eyes.
That timid look is so adorable.
Seeing this, Xie Baoyin asked with concern: "Juzi, what's wrong with you? Did the nanny hurt you during the physical examination?"
Lu Xiujue shook her head, "It didn't hurt me."
"Then why are you crying?" Xie Baoyin asked puzzledly.
Lu Xiujue bit the corner of her lip and said, "I... I miss home."
"We can't go back now." Xie Baoyin's expression darkened. She also missed home, but after passing the primary election, she still had to participate in the run-off.
If she was allowed to enter the palace, she would never have the chance to go home.
Xie Baoyin was in no mood to talk, she remained silent, and Jiang Changning and Lu Xiujie didn't speak either.
Then Zhuang Qingyan and Zhuang Taoyue came in. After a while, Zhuang Qingchan also came in. Zhuang Jushui was nowhere to be seen, so she probably did not pass the primary selection.
At early noon, all the primaries for today were over.
More than half of the three hundred beauties have been eliminated, and more than half of the more than two hundred tomorrow will also be eliminated.
The leading maid came over, asked the girls to line up, and took them out of the palace.
When they found the Zhuang family's carriage, they discovered that Zhuang Jushui was already sitting in it with red eyes, obviously having been crying.
The six people didn't know what to say, so they comforted her and got on the carriage in silence.
After a long while, Lu Xiujue suddenly said, "Seven people participated in the election, but she was the only one who didn't pass. It's inevitable that she would be sad."
Jiang Changning glanced at Lu Xiujie, not understanding what she meant by saying this.
No one felt that Zhuang Jushui should not be sad.
Jiang Changning really didn't have the energy to think deeply. She was tired and hungry.
But Aunt Peng had repeatedly warned her to be careful with her words and actions in the palace and never let her guard down, so she didn't dare to eat any snacks or even drink tea.
After getting off the carriage, she just wanted to get back to the yard quickly, fill her stomach and lie down.
However, one still had to follow the rules of etiquette and go to Old Madam Zhuang's yard to pay respects to her.
Mrs. Zhuang saw the five people coming back and asked happily, "How is it?"
"All passed." Zhuang Qingyan replied.
"Okay, okay." Old Mrs. Zhuang's face was full of joy.
Three years ago, Zhuang Qingru also participated in the selection, but failed the preliminary round and could only marry the second son who could not inherit the title.
Old Mrs. Zhuang kept asking them what happened during the talent show.
Several people forced themselves to answer her questions. Liao heard Jiang Changning speaking weakly and knew that she was very tired.
Liao interrupted Mrs. Zhuang and said, "Madam, the sisters have been in the palace for most of the day. Why don't you let them go back and rest first and talk about it in the evening?"
"There's nothing here..." Old Mrs. Zhuang was unhappy and started scolding her.
"Old lady, we will come to pay our respects to you in the evening." Jiang Changning said hurriedly.
Liao spoke for them, so how could she bear to see her being scolded
Xie Baoyin also said: "Old lady, if there is nothing else, we will take our leave first."
"Then you go back to your room and rest first." Only then did Mrs. Zhuang let them leave.
When we returned to the yard, the chicken porridge had already been cooked and served with refreshing sour radish.
Jiang Changning ate two bowls of soup at once, washed his face, combed his hair, and went to bed.
She slept very deeply, and when she woke up, it was almost the evening hour.
The sun has set and the heat on earth has eased a little.
Jiang Changning redressed her makeup and took her maid to Old Madam Zhuang's house for a late dinner.
The next day, the second batch of beauties also completed the preliminary selection.
After letting these beauties rest for a day, the re-selection began.
A total of 286 beauties took part in the re-selection and entered the palace in groups of ten.
When Jiang Changning entered the hall, he found a large bluestone slab in front of him, sprinkled with white jade powder.
"Go up to the board and turn around." said the eunuch.
The ten beauties did as they were told, turned around, and walked down the board.
A maid came to see, "Swaying gracefully, walking like a lotus, pass by."
A total of five people from Jiang Changning's group passed and were taken into a side hall.
There were embroidered baskets in the hall, and this stage tested the concubines' needlework skills.
It's not about selecting embroiderers, and there's no need for the ladies to have superb skills. What matters is whether the needlework is dense and neat.
The ladies could choose to make a purse or lock the edge of a handkerchief.
Jiang Changning was too lazy to think of a suitable pattern and simply chose the one with the handkerchief edge.
While Jiang Changning was conscientiously doing needlework, the Emperor and Prince Jin were playing chess in the Qinzheng Hall.
The Emperor holds the black pieces and the Prince of Jin holds the white pieces.
The chessboard is filled with chess pieces.
Judging from the situation, the two sides are evenly matched and the winner has not yet been determined.
I haven’t gotten married yet, so there’s no rush. Changing the cover is a personal preference, and I still prefer red.
I deeply suspect that if I were to travel back to ancient times, I would most likely turn myself into a jewelry stand.
(End of this chapter)