The fourth day of February is an auspicious day for all things.
The triennial draft has officially begun.
The candidate show girl has passed the qualification review and identity check of the Ministry of Rites.
The content of the review is mainly based on family background, the most important of which are: the title, official position, reputation and family status and prestige of the father and grandfather, while excluding women who are in the filial piety period or have other special circumstances.
On the day when the draft began, the candidate girls were sent to Xuanwu Gate by their families. The medical officers of the Tai Hospital first asked the show girls to eliminate those who might have diseases.
After passing the test of the imperial physician, the maids and nuns helped the show girls change their clothes and put on the uniform and hairstyle of the show girls. Of course, this is actually a disguised body search and examination...
The show girls who have passed the first pass enter the harem from Anshun Gate and go to Yuxiu Palace to participate in the re-election.
The re-election is presided over by the queen, and those who are too ugly, too fat or too thin, too tall or too short, or have other serious problems are eliminated.
The show girls who passed the re-selection will live in Yuxiu Palace for a month to learn the etiquette system in the palace.
The female officials and nuns in the palace will take the opportunity to examine their temper, temperament, and whether they have bad habits such as talking in sleep, grinding teeth, and snoring.
The three elections are co-chaired by the emperor and empress.
If the emperor is not interested in participating, he can also hand it over to the empress.
In the second and third elections, high-ranking concubines in the harem are often invited to watch the ceremony.
This year's draft, Empress Wei even invited Yong Ruo to watch the re-election.
Yong Ruo sighed, and also wanted to see his rivals in love, so he dressed up and took a few court ladies to watch the ceremony.
Walking into Yuxiu Palace, you will see about a hundred girls in their teens standing in a row in the courtyard, looking very neat and graceful.
In the main hall of Yuxiu Palace, the Empress sat on the top seat, leaving a seat on her left for Yong Ruo.
After Yong Ruo stepped forward to greet him, he sat down on that chair.
Several high-ranking concubines in the palace also came to watch the ceremony.
They looked at the calm Yong Ruo for a moment, and exchanged glances with each other, with a hint of admiration on their faces. When they were young, in the same situation, they couldn't be so calm and composed.
Empress Wei said to Yong Ruo: "If you have anything to say later, just say it directly, don't hide it."
Yong Ruo smiled slightly, and bowed slightly to Empress Wei: "Thank you for your love, Madam. If I have something to say, I will definitely say it."
The candidates should wear a uniform hair style and uniform clothing, and they will enter the hall one by one in groups of five to pay respects.
When paying their respects, they have to report their father's official position, their age and name, so that the queen can hear their voices and understand their conversations.
If the queen is interested in a certain beautiful girl and asks a question, the person being questioned must answer concisely and clearly.
Empress Wei was very tolerant and considerate of the show girls she chose.
For those who stutter because they are too nervous, or those who speak in a low voice and cannot answer clearly, she is not displeased or displeased.
Among the fourth group of show girls, the middle one was very beautiful.
When it was her turn, she took two steps forward according to the rules, and saluted the queen: "My daughter, Zhou Mingrou, the daughter of Zhou Shuncai, Minister of Industry, is fifteen years old, and I will pay my respects to the empress." Her voice was very clear, and her words were very clear.
"Raise your head and let me take a look." Empress Wei said to Zhou Mingrou.
Zhou Mingrou raised her head and lowered her eyes according to etiquette, so that Empress Wei could see her face.
Yong Ruode admitted: by the standards of this era, Zhou Mingrou is indeed a beauty.
An oval face, a cherry mouth; straight and round nose, fair and delicate skin. Although her eyes are downcast and her eye shape cannot be seen accurately, it can be seen that her eyes are very big.
"It looks like Zhou Zheng, with a dignified manner." Empress Wei praised, and then her eyes fell on Yong Ruo, "What does Mei Qing think?"
Yong Ruo thought: What does it matter to me? She tried her best to restrain the discomfort in her heart, and said to Empress Wei: "Your Majesty is right."
Empress Wei looked at her with a half-smile: "That's all? Nothing else?"
The few concubines who watched the excitement next to him also looked at Yong Ruo with a little smile on their faces.
"No more." Yong Ruo said briefly.
In such an occasion, in such a situation, she didn't want to speak well of Zhou Mingrou at all, and there was no need to "suppress" Zhou Mingrou at all, it was better to keep silent.
Seeing her like this, Empress Wei no longer made things difficult for her, and ordered: "Stay here."
Zhou Mingrou bowed and retreated, without any mistakes in every move.
After watching another two groups of show girls, Yong Ruo saw an acquaintance: Feng Liao's cousin Liu Yuzhuang.
By the way, cousin Liu was born at the end of last year. Although Liu Yuzhuang's father has passed away, her family status is still there, her age is also suitable, and she is also eligible to participate in the draft.
After Liu Yuzhuang saluted, Empress Wei asked Yongruo again: "Does Mei Qing know this Liu Yuzhuang?"
Yong Ruo nodded slightly: "I do know her. I met Miss Liu many times when I was in Prince Ying's Mansion."
"How are you getting along?"
"Miss Liu has to be filial, and I have to serve the prince as a concubine. I don't have any deep friendship."
Empress Wei saw that she would ask and answer a sentence, and never say a word, so she sighed slightly, and didn't say anything more, just left Liu Yuzhuang.
After Liu Yuzhuang heard Yong Ruo's voice, she was a little nervous, fearing that she would be a hindrance and prevent her from entering the palace. Hearing that the queen had left him behind, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to retreat.
After Liu Yu made up, Empress Wei never asked Yong Ruo anything.
After the re-election was over and the list of people staying in the palace for observation was determined, she stood up and said to Yong Ruo, "Mei Qing, come and help me!"
Yong Ruo promised, stepped forward to support Empress Wei's arm, and walked out of Yuxiu Palace together.
Empress Wei was not in a hurry to return to Kunde Palace, but dismissed the concubines who were watching the fun, and walked to the Imperial Garden with Yong Ruo.
When they arrived at the Imperial Garden, they chose a pavilion with a fairly beautiful scenery and sat down. Empress Wei waved the waiters around her to retreat far away, and then said to Yong Ruo: "Mei Qing is always smart, you know I called you to come to Yuqing today. Gong, what is it for?"
"This question, I have never thought about it."
"Have you never thought about it, or do you not want to think about it, dare not think about it?" Empress Wei glanced at Yong Ruo, with a smile on her lips.
Yong Ruo was silent: "It's all there!"
Empress Wei pointedly said: "People have immediate worries without long-term concerns. Doesn't Mei Qing understand what this draft means to you?"
Yong Ruo thought: Of course I understand. In this draft, the emperor will definitely designate Feng Liao a wife and add concubines. The good days of my concubine have entered the countdown.
She took a deep breath, and said very slowly: "If you're not in your position, you don't seek political power. I'm just a good concubine of the Eastern Palace, so it's inconvenient to talk too much about this matter, lest I offend any nobleman, and it will be difficult to get along with in the future .”
There was an uncontrollable sourness in her heart, and it was difficult to maintain a calm tone.
Empress Wei turned her head to look at her again, hesitated to speak.
After a while, she sighed slightly, stretched out her hand and squeezed Yong Ruo's hand: "Your worries are also reasonable. But there are some things that you must think ahead, otherwise you will suffer in the future.
"There were so many people just now, so it's fine if you don't say a word. At this moment, there is no one else here. If you don't treat me as an outsider, you might as well tell me the truth. Among the beautiful girls today, do you have a favorite?" , or do you not like it?"
Yong Ruo looked at Queen Wei in surprise, thinking: What does the Queen mean by asking her this? Do you still want to use her love to determine the future of those beautiful girls
Why did Empress Wei give her face like this? A few thoughts quickly flashed through her mind, and then she thought incredulously: Could it be that the emperor still wants to break the sect's opinion and make her the crown princess
This idea flashed by and brought her an extremely unexpected surprise.
But in an instant, the rationality in her bones quickly raised her head, and swept away this little surprise.
So what if she became a princess
The emperor gave her such extraordinary "grace" and "decency", so he must have extraordinary demands on her.
If she wants to meet the emperor's requirements, she will have to struggle hard in the shackles of "virtuous wife" and "virtuous empress" for the rest of her life, suffering all kinds of grievances and hard work. Why bother
And if she fails to meet those requirements, her end will be even worse than not being a princess. For example: Lenggong, or Puhui Temple.
She doesn't want to receive this "grace" from the emperor—if there is such a grace.
It's just that Empress Wei has already talked about this, and she will be a little ignorant if she pretends to be stupid.
After thinking about it, Yong Ruo said: "Since the empress is so considerate, I will speak out.
"Miss Liu Yuzhuang is the prince's cousin, but the prince doesn't like Miss Liu. When he was in Prince Ying's mansion, the prince was very indifferent to Miss Liu. Your Majesty, please consider this when deciding where Miss Liu will go.
"As for the others, the concubine has only met once, so I don't dare to make unreasonable comments."
Empress Wei couldn't say anything more. Although she could see the emperor's intention to make the Yong family the Crown Princess, perhaps as long as the Yong family and Liao Er actively fought for it, it would be entirely possible to achieve this, but she couldn't make it too clear.
Some things still depend on good luck!
After the primary election, all the show girls learn etiquette in Yuxiu Palace.
Yongruo never set foot in Yuxiu Palace again, nor did he arrange for anyone to go to Yuxiu Palace to inquire about anything, and of course he would not jump up and down to deal with anyone, suppress anyone, or promote anyone.
Huarou remained silent.
Yujing was deeply worried, and wanted to bring up the matter of Xiunu several times, and asked her master what the rules were.
But Yongruo didn't take her fault at all, just practiced painting every day as if nothing had happened, and touched the donkey that had been transferred to the East Palace every few days, as if there was no such thing as a draft.
One day, Yujing couldn't bear it anymore, so she said to Yongruo who was immersed in painting: "Master, it's wrong to lie to one's ears and steal one's bell."
Yong Ruo smiled, and only replied to her: "It's even more sad to get burned."
Yujing was so choked that she couldn't speak, and just went out resentfully.
As soon as she left, a young eunuch came to report, and a maid from Yuxiu Palace asked to see her.
The pen in Yong Ruo's hand paused slightly, and asked, "What's the matter with her?"
"The maid said: Miss Liu, the crown prince's cousin, asked her to send a message. Miss Liu wanted to see Di Liang, and said that she had something very important to tell Di Liang and the prince."
Yong Ruo thought for a while, continued to paint, and told Hua Rou: "Call her here!"