The young eunuch did not dare to be wordy anymore, and hurriedly bowed and said: "I have asked many people, and they all said that this square silk handkerchief belongs to the beautiful lady Jiang Pingting."

Zhu Youqi snorted heavily and raised the corners of his lips slightly, "She really lied to me again!"

The little eunuch scratched his head in disbelief. Who dared to deceive the second prince? He was a little confused. Why was the second prince still happy after being deceived? Could it be that he was dazzled? He rubbed it. Look again, the second prince is indeed smiling happily!

"Let's go to Qianqing Palace!" Zhu Youqian threw the gilded bow to the waiting maid next to him and left in a hurry, as if something urgent had happened.

*********************This is the dividing line****************************** ***

In winter, the sunshine is thin and the wind is biting. Two red plum trees are planted in front of the Xiefang Hall. The branches are covered with small carmine flowers, and the air is filled with the refreshing fragrance of the flowers.

There are braziers placed in the four corners of the hall, and the best red radish charcoal is burning in the pots. It is smokeless and odorless, and the entire Xiefang Hall is as warm as spring.

Sitting on the four bright red gold thrones are the Queen Mother, the Emperor, Concubine Wan Guifei, and Zhu Youtang in order of rank.

The beautiful ladies were all dressed up carefully and stood in the middle of the hall with their voices and breaths held. A few bold ones secretly looked at Zhu Youtang and saw that he was wearing a nine-pointed crown and a black gold-woven dragon robe. He was handsome. Wu Chou, with a noble demeanor, is indeed a gentle and handsome young man as the rumors said. He couldn't help but feel like a deer, his cheeks were flushed, and they all put on the postures and expressions they thought were the most beautiful, just hoping that Zhu Youtang's eyes would be there. Stay on your own for a while.

Zhang Hua caught a glimpse of the nymphomaniac expressions on the faces of the beautiful ladies next to her, and couldn't help but secretly laugh. Everyone in the world was confused by Zhu Youtang's gentle and handsome appearance, but they didn't know that there was a heart colder than iron hidden under such a beautiful face. A heart harder than stone. Maybe even if you spend your whole life, you still can't warm up that heart as cold as ice and snow!

Zhang Hua curled her lips and looked relaxed. For her, this selection of concubine was just a formality. Zhu Youtang had already made it clear that he would not choose her as his concubine. She only had to wait obediently to lose the election and obey Concubine Wan Gui. According to the arrangement, she obediently went to Ciqing Palace to be a maid.

In this selection of concubines, each show girl took turns to show off their talents, and finally Zhu Youtang selected one as the crown princess.

The first beautiful lady to appear is Xu Qingru, the daughter of Taichang Temple's Prime Minister Xu Sidao. Xu Qingru and Du Qianyu are extremely famous in the capital. Xu Qingru's piano skills are unparalleled in the world, while Du Qianyu's dance captivates the city. They gave them the nickname "Shuangshu of Beijing".

Xu Qingru looked cold and beautiful, like a plum blossom standing in the wind. She bowed respectfully, walked over and sat in front of the piano case, gently plucked the strings with her slender white fingers, slowly twisting them. Picking, the fingering made more than a dozen changes in an instant. Zhu Youtang is also a person who is proficient in music. When he saw her showing this hand, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised and looked at her with approval.

The sound of the piano sounded, and everything was quiet. In the heavenly music of the piano, everyone seemed to see the surging river and the late fishermen singing in the hazy moonlight, which made people want to go boating back.

After the song ended, everyone was still immersed in the illusory Spring River Flower Moonlight Night. After a long time, the emperor touched his palm and praised: "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Xu Qingru was unfazed by the favor and humiliation, her expression remained cold, she kowtowed and retreated, then lined up.

The second person to come on stage was Wei Yuan. She was good at calligraphy. She copied a piece of the "Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra" with her pen. The handwriting was elegant and elegant, yet dignified, and she dedicated it respectfully to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was a person who worshiped Buddha, so she was naturally full of heart.

He was overjoyed and praised repeatedly: "Good words! Good words!"

The next few beautiful ladies either painted, played the piano, or wrote poems, but their performance was mediocre and nothing outstanding. When it was Jiang Pingting's turn, she was not good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. Fortunately, she had a good singing voice and sang a cappella song.

"Jiangnan" won a lot of applause.

The emperor looked at her with interest and asked with a smile: "Besides singing, what else can you do?"

Jiang Pingting had a coquettish look on her face, her big eyes flickering, she turned her head and thought for a moment, then said excitedly: "My daughter can also braise duck wings!!!"

The beautiful girls wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh. They all turned red and felt really uncomfortable holding it in. Zhu Youtang smiled and looked at Jiang Pingting with gentle eyes as if he were an innocent child.

Hearing this, the emperor clapped his hands and laughed. After a while, he said: "The second prince is missing a lively and lovely woman like you. Are you willing to go over and serve the second prince?"

Jiang Pingting was still young and didn't understand what it meant to serve the second prince. She just remembered her mother's words that after entering the palace, she must be obedient and no longer be willful, so she happily knelt down and kowtowed: "My daughter is willing!"

The emperor looked at Liang Fang who was standing at the foot of the steps and said, "Send Jiang Pingting to the Yuqing Palace of the Second Prince." Liang Fang bowed and agreed, leading Jiang Pingting back down.

It was Du Qianyu's turn next. She was wearing a water-pink dress with a cinched waist, wide sleeves, and an elegant and light skirt. She was obviously well prepared. She wore a fairy bun with only a few silk flowers in it, like a flower.

Flowers of water hibiscus, beautiful and charming, walked slowly out of the queue. After bowing, they danced gracefully and waved their sleeves in the air. The two long water sleeves were like waves, like floating clouds, like flying rainbows, like light smoke.

It is ever-changing. The soft willow-like waist branches suddenly lean back, sometimes bend forward, and sometimes fly into the air. Each movement seems to exceed the limit of the human body. It floats like floating clouds and is as graceful as a giant. It is indeed worthy of "dancing over the city."

"Four words.

After the dance, the Queen Mother seemed to be caught up in the memories of the past, with a sweet smile on her lips: "When the late emperor was alive, he loved to watch the Ai family dance with their sleeves raised and their waists lowered. Now that the Ai family is old, they can no longer dance. What I saw today

When you perform the bending dance, Ai Jia seems to have seen himself when he was young." Then he said to the left and right, "Appreciate the jade as you wish!"

Du Qianyu was surprised and happy, and knelt down and said, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for the reward!" He kowtowed, stood up, and walked back to the queue.

After the other two showgirls performed, it was Zhang Hua's turn. She decided to make a quick decision. No matter how she performed, she was still a maid, so she played a very short lotus-picking song. The melody was cheerful and refreshing, and

Compared with Xu Qingru's celestial piano sound, it is like playing it by a child who has just learned to play the piano.

Concubine Wan Gui, who had been leaning lazily on the throne, suddenly touched her palms and praised: "It's really been three days of walking around the beam, and the lingering sound is lingering. Well played! Well played!"

The Queen Mother frowned slightly, and there was a flash of disgust in her eyes. She was about to open her mouth to reprimand, but when she saw the Emperor looking at Concubine Wan Gui dotingly, she couldn't help but shut her mouth angrily.

Zhang Hua was ashamed. Your Majesty, your Majesty, you opened your eyes and talked nonsense in front of the Queen Mother and the Prince. Do you think they are all dead? With a red face, he said with a guilty conscience: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your appreciation." He kowtowed and returned to the queue.

.

Finally, it was Yang Caidi's turn to perform. She wore a beautiful Hu costume with exquisite makeup. She walked out of the procession with light steps, bowed gracefully, took the string drum prepared by the palace maid, and danced the Hu Xuan dance.

Hu Xuannu, Hu Xuannu. Her heart responds to the strings, and her hands respond to the drums. When the strings and drums sound, her sleeves are raised, and the snow flutters. She turns left and right without getting tired, and there is no end to it. Zhang Hua watched for a while.

, there was a bit of admiration on his face. To be honest, although Yang Caidi's dancing posture is not as stunning as Du Qianyu's, it is still eye-catching. His figure is like snowflakes, spinning like the wind, which shows that he has deep skills and has been trained hard for many years.

become.

As soon as the dance ended, the Queen Mother had an angry look on her face and said displeasedly: "Why would a girl learn the dance of those barbarian girls? Is it possible that she wants to confuse the prince in the future?"

When Yang Caidi heard this, her face was full of fear, her body was shaking like chaff, she knelt on the ground tremblingly, and kept shouting: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

The Queen Mother waved her hand in disgust: "Okay, get back!"

Yang Caidi never dreamed that Hu Xuanwu, which she had practiced hard for a month, would be so disgusted by the Queen Mother. She kowtowed aggrievedly, her eyes were red, but she did not dare to cry in front of the Queen Mother. She shrank her neck, lowered her head and returned to the dance again.

In queue.

Zhang Hua looked at Yang Caidi's back and shook her head in a funny way. She wanted to climb the dragon and follow the phoenix, but she didn't even make the most basic preparations.

Look at Du Qianyu, who danced the Empress Dowager’s favorite dance with raised sleeves and folded waist. Not only did she make the Empress Dowager smile, she also received a reward.

The late emperor had a favorite concubine who was very good at dancing the Hu Xuan Dance. It is said that after the late emperor adopted the favored concubine, he gradually became indifferent to the Queen Mother and even did not set foot in the Queen Mother's palace for several months. Later, the favored concubine gave birth to a prince.

, and she constantly pestered the late emperor to change the throne to a crown prince. At that time, the Queen Mother had fallen out of favor and was in danger of deposing the crown prince, so she was in constant panic all day long.

Everyone in the palace knew about this past incident, so no one dared to dance the Hu Xuan Dance in the palace to avoid offending the Queen Mother.

And Yang Caidi was so bold as to dance the Hu Xuan Dance in front of the Queen Mother. Didn't this force the Queen Mother to think of that miserable and tragic past? How could she not make the Queen Mother furious?

All the beautiful ladies showed off their talents one by one. The Queen Mother was very satisfied with Du Qianyu and praised her for being gentle, virtuous, elegant and dignified, and a role model for women in the world. Concubine Wan Gui was full of praise for Zhang Hua, and the emperor always obeyed Concubine Wan Gui's words, so she also praised her full of praise.

Zhang Hua.

The Queen Mother frowned. After decades of trouble, she still didn't understand why the Emperor fell in love with an old woman who was nineteen years older than him. What was even more hateful was that this Wan Guifei relied on the Emperor's favor to always act against her in front of everyone.

The beautiful lady really didn't want to embarrass the emperor, so she looked at Zhu Youtang with questioning eyes.

Zhu Youtang glanced at the beautiful ladies casually, and finally paused on Zhang Hua. He had already made up his mind and was about to speak when Yang Caidi suddenly stepped out of the queue, knelt down and kowtowed: "Queen Mother, Your Majesty,

My daughter is guilty!"

When the Queen Mother saw it was her, she couldn't help but darken her face: "What's the matter with you?"

"My daughter knows a shocking secret, but she has been afraid to report it because she is timid and cowardly." Yang Caidi said in fear.

"What shocking secret?" the Queen Mother asked impatiently.

Yang Caidi's expression changed, as if she had made a major decision. She raised her head and pointed at Zhang Hua, "The show girl Zhang Hua is not qualified to participate in the concubine selection at all!"

Zhang Hua's heart was so shaken that she almost fell to the ground unsteadily, her face turned pale. Could it be that Yang Caidi knew her secret?!!!!!!

"Why?" the Queen Mother asked solemnly, her face solemn.
Chapter completed!