Small Selection

"Your Majesty is right"

"The tenth prince is gradually recovering, the court and harem are all in peace, and the empress's reputation is even better than before."

It was about personally praying for the little prince.

The Queen smiled and shook her head: "I just did what I should do, so I have to be praised wherever I go."

"That's not what I'm saying. Your mother honors the world and is a role model for women in the world. Only when you do well can we have a prosperous dynasty."

The queen laughed and patted Fangrui on the shoulder.

"These are all false. All women in the harem have to rely on the emperor."

Fangrui laughed and said a few more words, and the master and servant changed the topic.

When talking about the draft, the queen suddenly fell into deep thought.

"Ordinarily, this year is the time for the general election, but the emperor is getting old, and it will inevitably not look good if he selects a large number of people. Why not let a group of palace people go out, and then select a small group to come in, and see if there are any good ones for the emperor's children.

"Di"

If you don't want to marry either of the main concubines, why don't you marry the side concubines?

Otherwise, both of them would be exhausted and unwilling to start a family and carry on the family line. From the outside, it would be her, the queen mother, who failed to organize things well.

"Your Majesty is thoughtful, but the Emperor will agree"?

The Queen smiled and nodded: "The Emperor never relies on drafts to favor women. He will agree."

It's embarrassing to say this and equally bitter, but there's nothing I can do about it.

The Queen and her mother want to swallow up the world with anger, and such things as jealousy will never happen to her.

——

The primary election has a wide meaning, and the women participating in the election have different statuses.

Most of the candidates for the election of ordinary palace maids were poor women, who were sold as slaves or even from lowly and criminal backgrounds.

This kind of people usually come in to do hard labor and menial work.

Applicants for the election of serious palace maids are usually women from good families. They are required to have a clean family background and good looks. They must come in to serve the master and serve tea and water.

Those who run for female officials are usually young ladies from official families, either direct descendants or concubines. They are required to be literate in writing and have both political integrity and talent.

This kind of person comes to serve as a companion to the princesses, or works as a steward in the Shang Palace Bureau. In the future, she will become the royal wife, or be married by the queen, which is a matter of honoring the ancestors.

The queen let a group of older maids out of the palace, and then selected a group of new ones to enter the palace. By the way, she also selected some ladies from well-off families to be beauties for the princes.

As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused an uproar.

People inside and outside the palace were discussing this for a while, and families with daughters of school age had quietly made preparations.

"What did your master say?"

The queen asked Li Liangdi.

Liliangdi took the beauty and beat her hands without stopping, again and again.

"Back to your Majesty, our master is happy in his heart, but he doesn't dare to show it because of the princess's face."

The queen burst out laughing.

"You dare to say it"

"What about you? Are you happy?"

Li Liangdi bit her lip for a while before shaking her head: "I'm not happy. I haven't been to my place for a long time. I had to wait for three days before entering the palace to pay my respects to the empress."

The Queen understood: "Your Majesty is very upset. He has a lot of things to do in the study and the court. It is possible for him to ignore you. Take good care of yourself. When he is free, he will naturally come to see you."

Although she was obviously considerate of people's hearts, Liliangdi just felt cold, her whole body was cold, as if it was stabbed from the very bones.

"What about you? Don't tell me you've fallen out of favor too."

The queen looked at Lin Ximeng.

Lin Ximeng immediately remembered her identity and the Queen's words about "not raising idle people."

She hurriedly knelt down and said, "Our master is very happy and even said that he wants a beauty from the north."

Queen: "..."

"They say beauties from the south are famous, why do you want to talk about beauties from the north?"

Lin Ximeng raised her head stupidly: "Don't you know, Madam? It has been widely spread among the people in the market that there was a disaster in the north at the end of the old year. In the spring of this year, there were many scavengers. Many of them fled with their families and even ate grass roots and tree barks along the way.

Empty"

The Queen's heart skipped a beat: "Is this true? Why haven't you heard anything about it?"

Lin Ximeng nodded: "It's absolutely true, that's what the people said, and some people have already started buying people."

"I heard that five taels of silver can buy a boy of seven or eight years old, and ten taels of silver can buy an adult man. Women are even cheaper, and little girls only sell for three taels. It's really miserable."

The queen's expression changed greatly.

In other words, the hungry people in the north have fled to the capital to escape famine, and the emperor has not received the news yet.

These officials in the capital are all blind. They only want to seek wealth and stability. No one reported such a big thing.

The poor emperor is probably still in the dark and is being fooled around by those villains.

The queen got up and went to the window to write a letter to her father. Then she thought it was unreliable, so she just tore it up and didn't write it again.

"It's impossible for my father not to know about this."

Wang Shoufu has been in charge of government and public affairs for decades, and he knew about it but didn't expose it, so he naturally had a way to deal with it.

She breathed a sigh of relief, sat on the chair again, and asked Lin Ximeng amiably again.

"What else do you know?"

Lin Ximeng tilted her head and thought for a long time before shaking her head: "No, His Highness only said this."

The queen stared at her quietly for a long time before shouting again.

"If you encounter something like this in the future, just take the initiative and don't wait for me to ask you."

In the eyes of the queen, Lin Ximeng is still a child.

There are many ways to make her obedient, including coercion, inducement, and threats from her family, and she doesn't have to worry about betrayal or anything like that.

Lin Ximeng also behaved in the same way.

Before leaving that day, the queen rewarded her with an jade bracelet and told her to report any news in a timely manner.

Lin Ximeng respectfully responded.

——

The Sixth Prince's Mansion.

Zhao Liangdi has been in a bad mood recently.

Having just escaped from the shadow of marrying a royal concubine, she is now faced with the test of a minor election.

She couldn't bear the arrival of a royal concubine, but the arrival of Liangdi, who was of the same noble status, would be enough for her to drink from.

"Hey, I will no longer have the final say in this backyard from now on."

She touched her belly.

"When will I be pregnant? My master hasn't come for a long time. When he comes, he just finishes his work and leaves. When will it be over?"

"Master, if it doesn't work, please take the initiative..." Aunt Zhao leaned close to Zhao Liangdi's ear.

"I can't do this, am I going to become a brothel prostitute?"

Aunt Zhao blushed: "Actually, it's not a big deal. It is said that this is how Lin seduced the master."

"real?"

"Absolutely true!"

Zhao Liangdi bit her lip and thought for a long time before blushing: "But I don't know how."

"It doesn't matter, I'll keep it with you."

——

The next day, Nanny Zhao carried a small cloth bag and sneaked into Jinlan Garden like a thief, dodging interrogation in the backyard.

In front of Zhao Liangdi, he slowly unfolded the vivid picture album.

"This slave spent a full ten taels of silver to buy it back. Master, take a good look at it. If you don't understand, just... try to figure it out more."

Zhao Liangdi blushed after just one glance.

"Mommy is too dishonest to bring these things to fool people. Why don't you get rid of them quickly?"

After all, she was considered a lady from an official family. The upbringing Zhao Liangdi had been exposed to since she was a child was very conservative, which made her disdainful of this.

"My master"

Aunt Zhao was very sincere and sincere.

"Those little maids who were sweeping the floor said that the lights in Zhuxiao Courtyard were still on at midnight, and the master asked for water to bathe in. When he came out of Zhuxiao Courtyard, his steps were weak. You should also follow suit."
Chapter completed!