Chapter 103

The ministers who favored the selection process were furious, glaring hatefully at those who disagreed with them.

I just think these people are so selfish. They have no daughters to send to the palace, so they cut off their source of income! It's really despicable!

However, things soon took a turn for the better.

His Highness the Crown Prince stepped forward, bowed, and proposed, "Your subject supports Your Majesty in selecting heirs, so that the royal family may produce offspring as soon as possible!"

The crowd was in an uproar. If His Majesty were to give birth to a child of his own, it would have the greatest impact on the Crown Prince and would seriously threaten his position.

Logically, the person most opposed to His Majesty's selection of concubines should have been the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince's reaction was completely unexpected.

Everyone stared at the Crown Prince in astonishment, even more so than when Grand Secretary Yu had opposed the selection of candidates.

"Your Highness is wise!" someone quick-wittedly praised the Crown Prince, and the ministers who supported the selection of the Crown Prince followed suit.

"The Crown Prince is a man of great wisdom and compassion, truly a blessing to the Southern Frontier!"

"The Crown Prince is upright, kind, benevolent, and magnanimous, which is a great blessing to me. Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Crown Prince!"

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Crown Prince!"

The candidates bowed again, their expressions sincere, as if they had become staunch supporters of the Crown Prince. They were showing the Crown Prince that even if His Majesty expanded the harem and even if a new prince was born, they would still support him.

Regardless of their true thoughts or future ambitions, at this moment, they stand firmly with the Crown Prince.

Li Tianyi stared silently at the Crown Prince, his eyes unfathomable. The Crown Prince lowered his eyes, respectful and courteous.

Li Tianyi knew what the Crown Prince was thinking: he wanted another woman to be between him and Rong Rong, so that their relationship would be strained.

The crown prince is too inexperienced. It's uncertain whether such a prince will be able to keep the wolves and tigers under his command in the future.

The court fell silent once again.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Tianyi finally slowly curled the corners of his mouth and said, "My ministers are right, it's time to hold a selection of candidates."

The contestants were overjoyed, their eyes shining as they looked at Li Tianyi with anticipation.

Li Tianyi's smile deepened as he continued, "The Empress is in dire need of a few maids to wash her feet. The newly arrived ladies-in-waiting are all of the highest caliber, making them perfect for washing the Empress's feet."

What? The draft pickers were shocked again, their joy frozen on their faces, looking quite comical.

Their beloved daughter, whom they had raised with countless efforts and care, was used to wash the empress's feet.

Although the empress was the principal wife in the harem and all other women were concubines, it was perfectly reasonable for a concubine to serve the mistress by washing her feet.

But no empress has ever been served like this by her concubines. Moreover, serving the empress as a concubine is different from serving the empress as a foot-washing maid.

Foot-washing maids were lowly and inferior people. How could their daughters be allowed to enter the palace as foot-washing maids?

The members of the talent show faction stared at Emperor Chengyuan in disbelief, wondering if His Majesty was joking.

However, all they saw was the seriousness in His Majesty's eyes and the somewhat cruel and ruthless sneer on his lips.

This smile easily reminded them that if their daughter really became the empress's foot-washing maid, she might be beaten and killed on some pretext within a day.

And they couldn't say a word.

This is His Majesty telling them that His Majesty will kill all the women who enter the palace, and is even willing to hand them over to the Empress for her to do as she pleases.

The draft pickers got scared and backed down.

Even if they no longer love their daughter and use her as a tool to climb the social ladder, they will not ignore her life or death.

Besides, they've raised their daughter with so much care over the years; it would be such a waste if she died. If she were to marry into another prominent family through a political alliance, she could still contribute to the family.

"What? Are you all dissatisfied?" Li Tianyi asked with a smile. "If you're not satisfied, you can go wash chamber pots. The laundry department is also short-staffed. If all else fails, you can go raise pigs."

"The Empress loves pork, so the pigs raised by the beauty must have tender and delicious meat, which will surely make the Empress want to eat more."

The more Li Tianyi talked, the more violently the contestants trembled.

Finally, Li Tianyi suddenly lowered his voice, his tone becoming extremely cold, "I heard that the Empress recently wanted to practice riding and archery. Why don't we let those young ladies serve as targets for the Empress? They're big targets, perfect for beginners."

"This...this...absolutely not!"

Finally, someone cried out in grief, "The ceremony for the coronation of the empress has not yet been held. Your Majesty, I believe that it is inappropriate to select a consort now, as it may damage the relationship between the emperor and empress. I beg Your Majesty to rescind your decree!"

After that, more and more people who supported the selection of imperial concubines changed their tune and began to oppose Emperor Chengyuan's selection of concubines.

After this incident, they never dared to mention the talent show again.

Li Tianyi stared disdainfully at the kneeling ministers, but his expression finally softened.

The candidates breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the storm had passed. However, one of them shouted, "Your Majesty is right. It is a blessing for the candidates to serve the Empress. Your Majesty, I support the selection of candidates."

Everyone turned their heads and saw that the one who shouted was none other than Marquis Yongning.

Oh, so it was this idiot, everyone realized.

Ignoring the stares of the crowd who thought he was a fool, Marquis Yongning looked at Emperor Chengyuan with eager anticipation.

Is it shameful to have one's daughter serve as the Empress's foot-washing maid? Yes, it is! Is it an insult? Yes!

However, if you think about it another way, being the empress's foot-washing maid means being by her side every day, which gives you more opportunities to meet Emperor Chengyuan and makes it easier to attract his favor.

Of course, this is all predicated on his daughter being beautiful and him being confident enough.

His daughter is the most beautiful woman in the capital. He's not afraid that His Majesty won't be moved when he sees her. Others might want to imitate her, but he can't!

Marquis Yongning was smug and didn't notice that Li Tianyi looked at him as if he were a dead man.

Regardless of whether his daughter will be favored after entering the palace, he has already offended Li Tianyi and the new empress beforehand. He did not consider that he might fall into hell before his daughter could even whisper sweet nothings in his ear.

Li Tianyi was unwilling to waste any more words on such a fool, and simply said, "Have your daughter pack her things and go to the Inner Palace to report for duty today."

"Court adjourned!"

After saying this, Li Tianyi got up and left, giving Marquis Yongning no chance to speak again.

Being ignored like this, Marquis Yongning's face instantly turned red.

Moreover, although everyone tacitly agreed that they would send their daughters to the palace if His Majesty selected concubines, no one ever said it outright.

Li Tianyi just tore off Yongning Marquis's fig leaf, giving him the illusion that he was naked in public.

The Marquis of Yongning's face turned red, then blue, then red again—it was quite a sight.

Amidst shouts of "Long live the Emperor!", Marquis Yongning knelt on the ground. When he rose again, he was greeted by the mocking, sarcastic, and laughing eyes of his colleagues.

"Marquis Yongning is truly daring; I concede defeat!"

"Wishing Marquis Yongning all his wishes come true and that he may be promoted and ennobled!"

"Haha, who knows, maybe one day the Marquis of Yongning will become the emperor's father-in-law. We must be polite to the future emperor's father-in-law."

......

As everyone seemed to be praising Marquis Yongning, they were actually mocking him.

Even if Marquis Yongning was stupid, he could still hear the sarcastic remarks from the crowd.

But none of the people in front of him were people he could afford to offend, so he could only suppress his anger, put on a forced smile, and his old face turned a deep purplish-red.

After everyone had finished laughing and left, Marquis Yongning's eyes, filled with hatred, watched their retreating figures with a sinister gaze.

Sooner or later, he'll make these people pay! He'll be waiting for the day they come begging to him with lavish gifts!