Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 131: Legend of Zhen Huan 3

As her daughter was about to enter the palace, Guaerjia did not want to ruin her family's good intentions, so she casually mentioned that Queen Chunyuan had an engagement before she married the current emperor, and the person engaged was her cousin from her natal family.

"You have heard these things, don't think too much about them. Guaerjia clan has never done anything to Prince Yong in these years. Now that Prince Yong has become the emperor, it is even more impossible for Guaerjia clan to do anything."

"It's just that the so-called Queen Chunyuan is really annoying. However, when the cause of Queen Chunyuan's death is revealed, I'm sure our Queen Consort will tell the emperor the true face of Queen Chunyuan in person."

Just thinking about it made Guaerjia feel very relieved, but there were some things she still wouldn't tell Yi Xin, for fear that Yi Xin would be too eager for quick success in the palace and ruin her own future.

It was still somewhat hot in the capital in August, especially on the day of the palace selection. The emperor did not keep the concubines in the palace to learn the rules in this election, which was a good thing for many families, but for An Lingrong who came from afar, it was time to go all out, because if she failed, she would not only have to worry about the return fare, but the first thing she would face was the tragic situation that her father would give her to his superior in his fifties or sixties as a concubine.

Hundreds of concubines were crowded in the Chuxiu Palace. The slightest noise from each of them would make the scene very noisy because of the large number of people. Fortunately, a noble lady like Yi Xin, who was born in the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, was able to get a seat indoors, and even a thoughtful little palace maid brought her a cup of hot tea.

Yi Xin did not refuse the little palace maid's kindness. She took out an exquisite little purse from her sleeve, which contained a gold ingot worth twenty taels of silver, which was quite presentable.

The young palace maid took the purse and smiled even more sincerely. She lowered her voice and told about a small incident that happened outside: "Outside, a Han army flag girl named An accidentally bumped into the daughter of the Baoyi Zuoling Xia family while holding a cup of hot tea, and got Miss Xia's clothes wet. Miss Xia naturally refused to give up easily, and she belittled Miss An in her words. Then Miss Zhen from the Dali Temple Shaoqing family came to mediate, and Miss An was saved from trouble."

After thinking for a while, the young palace maid added, "From my limited knowledge, the Miss Zhen is dressed very simply and elegantly. She is very eye-catching among the group of beautiful ladies. Especially Miss Zhen is very beautiful. If nothing unexpected happens, she should have a promising future."

As soon as Yi Xin heard the little palace maid say that there was a beautiful girl named Zhen, she knew it must be the heroine Zhen Huan. The original owner only wanted to give birth to the murdered child and give hope to the Fucha family. She had no other wishes. She would not add unnecessary troubles to herself.

As for investigating the affairs between Empress Yuan and Empress Dowager, it was just an attempt to find something to hold against Empress Dowager and even Empress Dowager.

Yi Xin took out an identical small purse and stuffed it into the little palace maid's pocket. "Thank you for telling me this. If I am lucky enough to be with you in the future, you can come and serve me. This will complete our fate today."

Those who can come to Chuxiu Palace to work today are not ordinary palace maids. Now they come here specially to show their goodwill, and Yi Xin just said it casually. If this little palace maid really has the ability to come to her, she will naturally consider the other party.

The little palace maid was overjoyed when she heard Yi Xin's words. She immediately suppressed her joy and bowed again, "I am Dong Xizhu, a bondmaid of the Bordered White Banner. I wish the young lady all her wishes come true!"

This made Yi Xin look at her in awe.

The Dong family is also a well-known family in the Baoyi Banner. In the early years of the late emperor, there was a queen who was a concubine, but that queen did not leave any offspring. Later, because there was no war for many years, the children of the family had fewer opportunities to succeed. In addition, the favored concubines such as Uya, Zhangjia, and Zhaojia led to the continuous rise of the family, squeezing the living space of the Dong family in the Imperial Household Department. It is estimated that the actions of the young lady Xizhu today are just a test of the Dong family.

Soon, an aunt came to tell her that the emperor had finished his court session and was coming to select candidates. As a noble lady from the Bordered Yellow Banner, Yi Xin was almost the first batch of beauties to meet him.

After several people from the Plain Yellow Banner passed by, it was the turn of the Bordered Yellow Banner. Yi Xin was the first one in line. After the eunuch called out her name, Yi Xin slowly walked to the center of the hall and bowed, addressing them, "Your servant Yi Xin of the Fucha clan greets the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. May the Emperor and the Empress Dowager be blessed with good health."

The Empress Dowager kept calling out, but the Emperor only thought that the water cloud pattern on Yi Xin's clothes and the Baoxiang flower pattern on the collar and cuffs were somewhat interesting.

The Queen Mother praised him a little and then asked, "What books have you read?"

Yi Xin replied: "I read the Four Books and Five Classics at home, just to learn to read, not to be a blind man."

The empress dowager was a little unhappy when she heard that Yi Xin had read the Four Books and Five Classics. After all, the empress dowager herself was of a bondservant family and had been destined to participate in a minor selection to serve in the palace since she was a child, so she was apparently illiterate.

But Yi Xin was born into a prominent family after all, and the Queen Mother knew that her family would definitely teach her to read. She just didn't want to choose someone who was both noble and smart to cause trouble for the Queen.

The emperor, however, had some thoughts about Yi Xin. He could see that Yi Xin was just being modest. After all, this Baoxiang pattern was mostly used during the Tang Dynasty, and almost no one used it in the previous dynasties. So, if Yi Xin was using it now, it must mean that she had some real skills.

The emperor said, "Most of the ladies in the palace like Buddhist scriptures. It's rare to see one who knows the Four Books and Five Classics. So, leave the name card."

Yi Xin quickly pretended to be surprised and thanked the emperor for his grace. The emperor felt a little better after seeing this, but the empress dowager had already decided to suppress Yi Xin.

The beauties had to leave the palace together, so those who had seen the emperor first had to wait. However, those who had left their names would still be assigned a spacious room, and because they had been confirmed to be the ladies of the palace, they could even get some nice tea and snacks as a tribute.

Yi Xin sat alone for a long time before another person finally came. The two greeted each other and introduced themselves. The visitor was from the Borjigit family who was from the Mongolian military flag. Like Yi Xin, he was able to leave a nameplate for political purposes.

As it got closer to noon, no one else came into the room. Yi Xin and Borjigit realized that only the two of them were selected from the Manchu and Mongolian flags, and the rest were probably in the Han flag and the bannermen.

Sure enough, when the election was almost over, Xizhu came to report to Yixin, "Only you, the young lady, left a name card in the Manchu army flag, and only Borjigit left a name card in the Mongolian army flag. Three people were left in the Han army flag, namely, Shen from the family of Jizhou Xieling, Zhen from the family of Dali Temple Shaoqing, and An from the family of Songyang County Magistrate. In addition, Xia from the family of Baoyi Zuoling was selected."

"However, there is a concubine in the palace who is from the Manchu military flag and is currently living in Suiyu Pavilion."

Only six or seven people stayed out of more than a hundred people. Yi Xin was secretly shocked. Borkigit didn't react much, but was curious that there was a little palace maid who took the time to tell Yi Xin these things.

Yi Xin explained: "It was this Miss Xizhu who entertained me earlier."

Borjigit nodded casually. After all, she was just a symbol chosen by the palace to appease the Mongolian army. She didn't need to do anything. Sooner or later, she would become the mistress of the palace.