Chapter 221 Concubines in the Harem

When Yan Shixu returned to the Yangxin Palace, the palace attendant bowed and reported, "Your Majesty, General Luo and Su Shaoyin have been waiting for a long time."

It's already past midnight, so we won't have to wait for a long time.

When Yan Shixu walked into the main hall, he saw Su Muyang half-lying on a nanmu chair with his legs spread out, his head tilted, and an unknown liquid dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Luo Yunzhen was a military commander after all, and even though he had his hands folded across his chest and his head nodding, he still sat very straight.

It seems that the wait is indeed quite long.

Yan Shixu stepped forward and kicked Su Muyang awake.

Su Muyang jumped up suddenly and looked around in shock.

"Who dares to kick me?"

The next moment, he met Yan Shixu's gaze.

Su Muyang immediately became intimidated and slapped himself three times.

"Your humble servant deserves death... Your humble servant's mouth is drooping..."

He was only scared for a moment, then he came to his senses and started jumping up and down again.

"Old Luo and I entered the palace at the beginning of the evening hour... Big Brother, we've been waiting for you for two hours! Not two quarters of an hour, but two hours! I heard you went to the Bixi Palace right after noon today? You have no self-control, be careful or you'll grind an iron rod into a needle!"

Yan Shixu kicked again, but Su Muyang dodged it by twisting his butt flexibly this time.

Luo Yunzhen had already woken up and was watching the show with his arms folded.

After the two of them calmed down, he took out a thick stack of rice paper from his sleeve.

"Your Majesty, the information of the finalists is here."

After saying that, he took out a thinner stack of rice paper from his other sleeve and presented it to him.

"Mu Yang and I have carefully selected these ladies based on their family backgrounds. There are exactly ten of them. Their fathers and brothers all hold high positions in the court. It will not be an easy task to eliminate them one by one."

Yan Shixu took the small stack of rice paper and flipped through it page by page.

After reading it, he nodded.

"You made a good choice with them."

Su Muyang, who had just been condemning Yan Shixu, immediately became proud after being suddenly praised.

He shook his hair and made a pose that he thought was very cool.

"Of course. Once we, the Black and White Devils, take action, won't these villains immediately reveal themselves?!"

Luo Yunzhen also rolled his eyes at him, but thinking that Su Muyang had indeed put a lot of thought into this, he stopped bullying him.

Yan Shixu suddenly asked Su Muyang: "Among these beautiful girls, do you have any favorites?"

Su Muyang shuddered and immediately looked at him warily.

"What are you going to do?"

Yan Shixu shrugged and reminded him, "Aunt Qi asked me to find you a marriage partner no matter what. It doesn't matter if the other person is fat or fat, tall or thin, as long as she's a woman."

Su Muyang couldn't believe it: "How could you treat your own son like this? Did I pick him up from the ashes?!"

Luo Yunzhen laughed out loud without any hesitation.

"How can it be justified that you haven't gotten married at your age? It's a good thing Aunt Qi didn't marry you off to a sow."

"Hey Luo Yunzhen, you're so great about getting married?! Just wait and see, I'll definitely find someone I'm happy with!"

Having said that, he left angrily and went to talk to his mother.

Luo Yunzhen yawned and left the palace. Yan Shixu reviewed the remaining memorials before falling asleep.

The next day, after Yan Shixu finished his court session, he came to the Cining Palace with the thick stack of rice paper that Luo Yunzhen and Su Muyang had given him last night.

The Empress Dowager has fully recovered during this period and is in high spirits.

He plays with his grandchildren every day, smiling happily, and looks even younger than before.

When she saw Yan Shixu, the Empress Dowager waved to him.

"Xu'er, how come you have time to come here today?"

Yan Shixu smiled and said, "It's because of Ah Cheng and Ah Qian's marriage."

The Empress Dowager understood: "Does the Emperor have a choice?"

Yan Shixu shook his head: "As for Ah Cheng and Ah Qian's wives, they should naturally choose the ones they like, and the Empress Dowager and Auntie will help them with their advice."

The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded.

"Xu'er is right. After all, she is the wife who will accompany you for life. Let them choose the one they like."

As the grandfather and grandson were talking, Princess Wu came with a few children to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.

Prince Lin, his wife, Prince Cheng, and Prince Liang also came.

Before entering the hall, Yan Shicheng and Yan Shiqian heard about their choice of wives.

They were both a little embarrassed.

Princess Wu's personality is similar to that of King Wu, carefree and open-minded.

Seeing them like this, she immediately clapped her thighs and laughed.

"You two bastards, are you still shy? Don't worry, your royal grandmother is here and will definitely choose a satisfactory wife for you!"

The two of them agreed immediately.

"Thank you, my grandmother and mother/aunt, for your hard work."

When the Empress Dowager saw her grandsons standing in front of her, she nodded repeatedly with satisfaction.

Everyone has grown up, and only when they get married, start a career, and have someone who understands them can they live a happy life.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but think of Chi Ge'er and Shuang Jie'er who were demoted to commoners and exiled to the north.

Those two are good kids too, it's a pity they were born into the wrong family.

Now, she feels fulfilled as long as she can take good care of her grandchildren.

As for the others, it depends on their own fate.

Yan Shixu still had government affairs to deal with, so he paid his respects to the Empress Dowager and left.

Yan Shilin left Ye Caiwei in the Cining Palace to assist his two younger brothers in making plans, and he left with Yan Shixu.

Yan Shicheng and Yan Shiqian actually wanted to run away, but were forced to stay by Princess Wu.

"Why are you two running off? Tell me what type of women you both like. Come and take a look yourself. If you like any, I'll arrange for you to meet. It's okay to spend more time together before getting married."

The two were forced to watch one by one.

Over the past half month, Yan Shicheng and Yan Shiqian have visited the girl several times in a row.

The women who make it to the final selection of the concubines are either very outstanding themselves or have a very strong family background.

What they want to see is nothing more than whether the other person has a good temper and is suitable for them.

Fortunately, the two of them did choose the girls they liked.

Yan Shiqian chose Xu Xianyue, the granddaughter of the Grand Tutor.

Yan Shicheng chose Ge Jinhe, the granddaughter of the Minister of Rites.

Both of them were beautiful, well-educated and well-mannered, and had a good reputation in the capital.

It is best to marry a virtuous woman.

Moreover, their fathers and brothers were all members of the royalist party, which saved Yan Shixu the trouble of clearing up factional disputes.

At the same time, the final selection of the concubines was carried out in this way.

Except for the three that Yan Shixu had first informed the Empress Dowager about and asked her to choose, the other seven were chosen by Yan Shixu himself.

Among them, Xu Yian and Wan Suihuan, who Xie Zhenrong was satisfied with, were also there and were respectively conferred the titles of the third-rank Zhaoyi and Zhaorong.

The remaining eight people include one each of the fourth rank Xiuyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong and Chongyuan, and four fifth rank Jieyushi.

After this incident, the emperor finally remembered Lin Fujia and Wen Wanqin, whom he had forgotten for a long time.

It seems inappropriate that the two with the longest seniority have the lowest ranks.

He then promoted them both to the rank of fourth-rank Xiuyi and Xiurong.

The harem, which had been silent for a long time, finally became lively again.

As the decrees of conferring titles were issued one after another, the eunuchs who announced the decrees also brought a message.

——Before the Imperial Noble Consort gives birth, no concubine is allowed to enter the Bixi Palace. Anyone who violates the order will be executed!

At the same time, King Wu helped train secret guards, and Yan Shixu selected dozens of them and sent them to the Bixi Palace.

In addition to protecting the safety of Wen Li'er and her son, it is also necessary to monitor whether there is anything abnormal in the palace servants who serve Wen Li'er personally.

…