Chapter 67 After the forced marriage 3

After the initial and second rounds of selection, less than 20% of the contestants were eliminated.

Today is the day of the final selection, and the Emperor is personally overseeing the selection process, the first time this has happened in the ten years since his ascension to the throne.

In the previous instances, the Empress and Empress Dowager would keep whichever one they preferred, and he didn't get involved.

Several hundred young women were selected, with five entering at a time. Sometimes, they would perform talents at the behest of the powerful figures. As a result, the young women with later numbers were at a disadvantage, because by the end, the emperor might have lost interest in watching and those young women would be easily dismissed.

But this time it was an accident. At first, they did have someone perform some talents, but later they simply skipped that step. The emperor would just say, "Give flowers," and the ladies-in-waiting would be sent away.

Soon it was Ning Yan's turn to enter the hall for an audience, as she was already near the front of the line.

At just one glance, four of the five powerful figures sitting at the head of the table frowned, while only the Emperor almost blurted out that he wanted to bestow the Ruyi.

Ning Yan's beauty was so distinctive and aggressive that it aroused a strong sense of crisis among the Empress, the Noble Consort, and the Consort Shu. The Empress Dowager also disliked Ning Yan; her waist was too slender and her face too beautiful. Such a woman was a source of trouble and would only cause more problems if she entered the palace.

The Emperor finally composed himself and spoke: "May these gentlemen all be granted their wish."

Empress: ...Fortunately, the Emperor kept their family members as well. I hope this niece can live up to his expectations and conceive his child.

Several young women bowed again to express their gratitude, and then left the palace.

As the five young ladies-in-waiting departed, the emperor was captivated. Although he hadn't said a single word to them, his heart was filled with restlessness because of their departure.

It was almost noon, and there were still many candidates who had not yet entered the palace. The emperor simply waved his hand and said, "I have already kept nearly ten candidates. I will not look at the rest. I will bestow flowers upon them all."

Empress Dowager: What do you mean by nearly ten women to be selected? There are clearly only six.

Moreover, four of these six candidates were selected because they were chosen because of Ning Shilang's status as the legitimate daughter of a high-ranking official.

"By the way, I think these young ladies have learned the rules very well, so let's keep them in the palace. The Empress Dowager and the Empress can decide on their ranks."

After saying that, the emperor really left.

The Empress felt a sense of relief, but then her heart tightened again when she thought of Ning Yan's face.

The current emperor is not fond of lust. In the ten years since he ascended the throne, there have been fewer than thirty women in his harem. There has never been a case of a palace maid successfully climbing into his bed, nor has he ever shown exclusive favor to any one woman.

The women in the harem existed solely to continue the family line. The Empress believed that if the Emperor had children, he would forget about all those women.

But today, the eldest daughter of the Ning family made her feel a strong sense of crisis.

In the end, Ning Yan was granted the title of Seventh-Rank Baolin.

(The rank of the imperial concubine in the Great Liang Dynasty: Super Empress)

First rank: Imperial Noble Consort, whose rank is equivalent to that of the Empress.

Second Rank: Noble, Virtuous, and Wise Consorts

Third Rank: Nine Concubines (Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaoyuan, Xiuyi, Xiurong, Xiuyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong, Chongyuan)

Fourth Rank: Jieyu

Fifth Rank: Beauty

Sixth Rank: Talented Woman

Rank 7: Baolin

Rank 8: Imperial Concubine

Ninth grade: Cai Nv)

The other women selected for the imperial examinations were all given the title of "Cainü" (a low-ranking concubine).

Ning Yan chuckled. The Empress was making her the target of everyone's criticism. Of all the young ladies who entered the palace together, she was the only one of the seventh rank, while the others were all ninth rank. The most crucial thing was that one of the five was the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites!

fine!

Anyway, she'll climb to the top sooner or later, this is nothing.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress thought that the Emperor would soon favor these newly selected ladies-in-waiting, but seven days passed and the Emperor did not step into the inner palace once.

All the concubines in the harem breathed a sigh of relief. They had thought that the emperor had taken a fancy to Ning Baolin, but now it seemed that was not the case.

Finally, on the eighth day, Chu Chengqian began to choose his consorts.

As a concubine, Ningyan was supposed to be invited to the Emperor's bedchamber to serve him in bed, but the Emperor personally went to the side hall of Yonghe Palace where Ningyan was.

Chu Chengqian has few concubines, and many palaces are empty. Yonghe Palace is currently occupied by four concubines, including Ning Yan. The other three are all newly arrived ladies-in-waiting.

It's obvious that the Empress is deliberately trying to upset her.

When the Emperor arrived, all the women dressed up in their finest attire and bowed to him.

However, Chu Chengqian did not even spare them a glance. He walked past these women with the speed of the wind and went straight to the side hall to see Ning Yan.

He still remembered Master Wuxin's words: Just do what you feel at ease!

He can achieve his desires as long as he does what he wants. He's only interested in this one woman right now. Does that mean that as long as he stays with her, she can bear his children?

May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace.

"Get up."

The Emperor walked straight inside, and Ning Yan quickly followed.

She just hadn't expected the Emperor to be so eager!

The emperor remained unperturbed.

Truly, he was not a lecherous man. Over the years, he had been forced by the Empress Dowager to enter the harem and favor those concubines every day, and he had long since grown to loathe those women.

In the past two years, he has stopped favoring the women in the harem, because it makes him feel that he is a lowly man who serves those women. He doesn't like them, so why should he force himself to sleep with them?

Those women were always sent to sleep in his bed, and they dared not tell anyone, for they were afraid that the emperor would never choose them again.

After all, only they themselves know whether they slept with the emperor or not, but if the emperor were to become disgusted with them, their lives in the palace would be unimaginable.

Therefore, the fact that the emperor had never slept with his concubines was kept a secret for a long time.

He came early today intending to talk to Ning Yan more. After all, the whole capital knew that Ning Shilang's second daughter had stolen her eldest daughter's marriage and become Chu Rui's concubine. He wanted to ask if Ning Yan still had feelings for his cousin.

However, as soon as Ning Yan stood next to him, he smelled a particularly pleasant fragrance, and when he was looked at by her captivating eyes, he immediately became breathless, his cheeks flushed, and the words that were about to come out came out as: "Let's rest."

Without saying a word, he reached out and put his arm around Ning Yan's shoulder, pulling her into his embrace.

He couldn't let her watch anymore; his heart was pounding so fast, he was afraid it would jump out of his chest if she kept watching.

Ning Yan: ...Heaven is my witness, she didn't do anything.

Chu Chengqian's personal eunuch immediately waved his hand, and all the palace servants in the hall withdrew.

Ning Yan listened to Chu Chengqian's pounding heartbeat and a smile appeared on her lips. Even the Emperor was like this—she couldn't think of a suitable word to describe it for a moment. Pure and innocent? It was as if he had never seen a woman before!

"emperor……"

Her voice, both coquettish and reproachful, made Chu Chengqian's ears tingle and itch. He couldn't resist and lowered his head to kiss Ning Yan's lips.

The feeling was warm, soft, and sweet, making him addicted. Sure enough, the woman he had his eye on was different.

The two quickly rolled onto the bed, only to find that this man only knew one move!

Fifteen minutes later, Chu Chengqian, his face dark, called for water.

(End of this chapter)