The emperor took a piece from the chess box and said, "Yong Zhou, your princess has passed away two years ago. It is time for you to remarry. There are many good girls in this selection. You can pick one."
Other members of the royal family can be directly arranged to marry, but the Prince of Jin cannot.
The Emperor was still wary of the Prince of Jin, who no longer commanded the Huben Army and the Black Armor Army, and did not dare to make direct decisions about him.
"I will obey your majesty's command." King Jin said respectfully.
"Yong Zhou, you know very well that this is not the imperial order. If you don't want to, forget it." The emperor immediately backed down.
"I am not unwilling. I will choose carefully." King Jin never mentioned that he had already chosen someone.
"The imperial concubine's sister is also running for election this time. I heard that she is an old acquaintance of yours, Yong Zhou." The emperor said with a smile.
The King of Jin looked solemn, "Your Majesty, I have always strictly followed etiquette and never had close contact with girls in the boudoir."
He had no impression of Concubine Song's sister, and he didn't want to have anything to do with her.
The emperor understood the words and understood that Prince Jin had no interest in the daughter of the Song family, so the chess piece he had been holding between his fingers finally fell onto the chessboard.
The King of Jin transferred the chess piece in his left hand to his right hand.
His marriage had been plotted against once, and he would not let anyone plot against him again.
This time, he's going to marry the person he wants to marry.
In the game of chess between the Emperor and the Prince of Jin, the Emperor won by one point.
The re-selection of the beauty contest was also over. Among the two hundred beauties, sixty were kept.
Jiang Changning, Zhao Xifang, Song Yirou, the three Zhuang sisters, Xie Baoyin and Lu Xiujie were all among them.
The beauties who passed the re-selection could not leave the palace, so the nanny took them to Jingyi Palace.
The managing nanny of Jingyi Palace was already waiting for them in front of the hall, and behind her were twenty palace maids.
"My surname is Fei. Ladies, you can call me Aunt Fei. Your daily affairs will be taken care of by these fifteen palace maids..."
Hearing that there were only fifteen palace maids available, all the maids, except for a few from poor families, began to complain.
A lady from a noble family would take eight steps for every one she took, and she would have at least four maids to serve her.
Now, four people are required to order one palace maid around. Of course, they are not happy about this and all look unhappy.
However, their families should have hired maids and aunts from the palace to teach them etiquette and rules. They should have known these things a long time ago. Is there any need to complain
Aunt Fei obviously had no intention of indulging the ladies. She coughed lightly, raised her voice, and said, "The palace has its own rules. No matter how you are at home, you must abide by the palace rules when you are in the palace."
After the ladies quieted down, she continued, "It's getting late. Ladies, go to your rooms and take a rest. You can have lunch in the main hall later."
The concubines were separated into two side halls, east and west, with a total of more than twenty rooms. In this way, four people lived in one room and two people lived in one room.
Rooms are allocated according to family background, the ranks of fathers and brothers, and the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.
Jiang Changning was assigned the sixth room in the West Hall, which was a four-person room.
Zhuang Qingyan, Zhuang Juyue, Xie Baoyin and Lu Xiujie were all in the East Hall, assigned to different rooms.
Zhuang Qingchan was assigned to the eighth room in the West Hall, which was also a four-person room.
There is a three-panel screen embroidered with flowers at the entrance. After walking around the screen, you can see four beds, which are very narrow.
Jiang Changning estimated that it was less than three feet, about eighty centimeters.
The bed is so narrow that you can easily roll off if you turn over.
The other three concubines also came in, and their faces looked unhappy when they saw the bed.
"There are four beds, one for each person. Which one do you want to sleep on?" Jiang Changning took the initiative to speak, breaking the silence.
It's impossible for the four of them to just stand there stupidly, staring at these four beds.
The three of them chose beds and left the bed on the upper right side for Jiang Changning.
The girl who chose the upper bed on the left said, "We are going to live together for a month so we can get to know each other. My name is Chen Yi, my father is the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and I am sixteen years old."
Three pairs of eyes looked over at the same time, and Jiang Changning smiled and said, "My name is Jiang Changning, I'm from Hangzhou, my father has passed away due to illness, and I'm sixteen years old."
"You are a commoner girl!" Wang Lingzhi blurted out with contempt in her eyes.
Jiang Changning smiled but said nothing, in his heart he had already considered Wang Lingzhi as someone who should not be associated with.
"You are Miss Jiang. I've heard of you." Chen Yi said.
Hearing her say this, Jiang Changning immediately remembered the third young master of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites who came to the Zhuang family to propose marriage.
The girl on the lower right said, "Miss Jiang is from an aristocratic family. The Jiang family of Hangzhou is a descendant of Emperor Yan and has produced many famous generals."
"It's better not to mention the glory of our ancestors." Jiang Changning said modestly.
Jiang Changning knew that the surname Jiang originated from Emperor Yan. As for those famous generals, Jiang Changning had no knowledge of them, so he could not continue this topic.
Seeing the three people looking at them, the girl on the lower right smiled and said, "My name is Fang Youting, my father is an official in the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Department, and I am also sixteen years old this year."
The Tongpan was a local official of the sixth rank, and the Jijie was a local official of the sixth rank.
The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites was a third-rank official in the capital. According to his rank, Chen Yi should be assigned to the East Palace.
But the fact that she lived with them proved one thing: Chen Yi was a concubine's daughter.
Chen Yi smiled and said, "What a coincidence, the three of us are all sixteen years old. I was born in March of the Gengshen year."
"Then I'm older than you. I was born in the first month of the lunar calendar." Fang Youting said with a smile.
"I'm from the twelfth month." Jiang Changning is the youngest of the three.
"By the way, Miss Jiang, why didn't I see you along the way?" Fang Youting asked.
Most of the beautiful girls from local areas were escorted to Beijing by the government, and a small number of them would go to Beijing earlier because they had relatives or friends in Beijing.
Jiang Changning smiled and said, "I live in Beijing."
"You have relatives in Beijing. Who are you? What official position do you hold in the court?" Wang Lingzhi asked.
Jiang Changning pretended not to hear anything, but said to Fang Youting with longing: "The West Lake in June should be covered with endless green lotus leaves reaching to the sky!"
"The scenery of West Lake is beautiful all year round, with Orioles Singing in the Willow Waves, Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, Lotuses in the Winding Courtyard, and Snow on the Broken Bridge." Fang Youting said with a smile.
"Hey, I'm asking you a question, are you deaf?" Wang Lingzhi said harshly in displeasure.
"Do I have to answer you if you ask?" Jiang Changning looked at her coldly, "I'm not a prisoner, and you're not a master in court."
"It's polite to ask and answer questions." Wang Lingzhi said with his neck stiff.
Jiang Changning sneered: "Before asking others to be polite, you have to be polite first."
"How am I rude? I asked you a question and you ignored me." Wang Lingzhi argued.
Jiang Changning stared at her and said word by word: "Your question is impolite."
When we meet for the first time, we start to get to the bottom of things.
Wang Lingzhi pursed her lips and said nothing. At this time, there was a knock on the door.
Fang Youting hurried over to open the door. It was the palace maid who was serving them. "Hello young lady, I am Qiu Wen."
"But is it time to go to the main hall for lunch?" Fang Youting asked.
"Yes, girl." Qiu Wen smiled.
Four girls came out of the room, and the girls in other rooms were also invited out by the palace maids. Everyone lined up and went to the main hall.
Note: Chen Yi and Fang Youting are very important female supporting roles.
(End of this chapter)