Chapter 322 The Wind Rises
At some point, news and secrets are like birds with wings on their backs, fluttering in all directions, or like the fluffy seeds of dandelions, which are blown everywhere by a gust of wind.
Gu Shanrou revealed the news of the talent show to Xia Daohua. At the same time, countless tiny, soft and gentle voices quietly revealed the same news to the people they cared about.
Not only the small Jixiang County, but the upper class of the entire Chu State, all took action quietly.
Those who have already decided on their marriages have all moved up their wedding dates, and those who are still in the dating stage have also accelerated their actions.
More families are discussing marriage, but the demands for marriage are becoming less picky.
All of a sudden, the prices of wedding supplies on the street soared. In less than half a month, the prices of good materials, good wood products, and good porcelain on the street increased by 30%.
The price of Jiangnan Jinggong step-out beds has tripled, and they are already in short supply. Even the building materials, stones, wood, paints and other materials used to renovate houses have seen a wave of price increases.
In fact, although the selection of concubines in the Great Chu Dynasty covered all walks of life, from high-ranking officials to common people, how many of those powerful officials would be willing to send their daughters into the deep palace?
Aristocratic families have their own pride.
The Gu family was not a very important family in the aristocratic families. Instead, their status was close to that of a third-rate local tyrant. Families like the Wang family and the Yang family simply looked down upon the harem of the Gu royal family.
Unless she was an unfavored concubine in the family, no one would be willing to marry into the Gu family.
What's more, she was sent to the harem to be a concubine of that villain named Gu!
Therefore, although the selection nominally covered all classes, in reality, most of those who were chosen to enter the harem were children from ordinary people's families.
Moreover, the people working below are of varying quality.
There are also many people who use their jobs to bully the powerless people, demand bribes, show off to no end, and even touch the women in their families.
When Xia Daohua got the news, she naturally had to inform her family.
The Xia family members generally have good complexion. If they don't find a way to deal with it quickly, perhaps several girls from the same generation as Xia Daohua will be eliminated in this talent show.
When the Xia family heard the news, they immediately became busy. Several families in the family had already arranged marriages, and the pressure would be great if they wanted to get them done before the decision of the beauty pageant came down.
But this is not the biggest problem.
The most troublesome thing is those girls who are of the right age but haven't found one yet.
How can you find anything good if you search so hastily?
But if we don't look for one, based on the appearance of the woman from the Xia family, it is almost certain that she will be chosen. Wouldn't this ruin the child's life?
The current situation is just like Wu Dalang drinking arsenic - if you drink it, you will die, and if you don’t drink it, you will die too.
The old couple were not the type to resign themselves to fate. After some discussion, Zhou gathered the whole family together and said with emotion:
"It would be fine if we didn't know about the letter, but now that we know about it, we have to make sure the child is properly taken care of!"
Sun lived up to everyone's expectations and said what everyone was most worried about: "Where can we find a reliable family in such a short period of time?"
Mr. Xia pondered for a moment and said:
"It's okay, start scanning now.
We don't pick family background, dowry, or anything that has everything! As long as the child has good character, good temperament, can live a down-to-earth life, and is sincerely willing to marry into our family, it's fine!
Even if they are just average looking, or have some minor flaws on their hands or feet that don’t affect the overall situation, it’s still a big deal!”
This is relaxing the standards to include people with disabilities!
Isn't this too perfunctory? !
Facing the disapproving gazes of his children, Old Master Xia gritted his teeth and said:
"That's the last resort. If there's really no other choice, we still have to pick the best ones we can! Aren't we afraid that we won't be able to pick out the ones that are in a hurry and waiting to be snatched up? In fact, if the ones have external injuries or broken fingers or toes, it won't be a problem!"
The more Old Master Xia spoke, the lower his voice became. Xia Yougui, the second son of the Xia family, even said to him, "What if a gambler cuts off his little finger and says he got hurt?"
Before Grandpa Xia's pipe flew over, Zhou was already unhappy. She rolled her eyes and glared at her second son who was not following the rules:
"Whatever they say is what it is? Can't we listen carefully?
If you don’t know how to speak, just keep it to yourself. No one will think you’re dumb if you don’t speak!
Since our family was able to escape from Beiguan Town peacefully and settle down in this Jixiang County, it means that we are still somewhat lucky.
We will try our best to arrange this matter as much as possible. If we can find a suitable marriage, that would be great. But if we really can't, we can't accept those ugly ones.
Even if our girl is chosen to enter the palace, she won't necessarily lose her sense of life!"
Although Zhou spoke generously, the listeners all felt heavy-hearted.
Although the Xia family had their own shortcomings, none of them wanted to send their girls to the palace to enjoy wealth and glory. The girls themselves didn't have such an idea.
But when they thought about finding someone quickly and getting married quickly, they all felt a chill on their scalp.
There is only one little girl named A Liu left in the main house. There is no need to worry about her for the time being, but Xia Dalang has to marry his chosen wife quickly, otherwise the cooked duck will fly away.
None of the girls from the second room have found a marriage yet, so they are the hardest hit in this talent show.
Lihua from the third room was the first to be affected. Although she was engaged, she was still at risk of being chosen since she had not yet married.
Then there are the two girls that Aunt Xia brought with her, none of whom have found their marriages yet.
The whole family dispersed like a cloud of gloom, and began to look for friends they knew to find sons of the right age.
Erlang pulled Taohua aside to talk - he had taken a fancy to a young man and had wanted to tell his family about it, but he had been busy these days and had not had time.
Perhaps it was the lesson he learned from his own marriage, Xia Erlang felt that before mentioning it to his parents, he should first find out what Taohua felt.
The same scene happened not only in the Xia family, but also in countless families with girls.
Whether in Kyoto or elsewhere, the atmosphere was inexplicably tense and impetuous. The atmosphere in the capital was especially tense, with a sense of impending storm.
Even in some wine shops and teahouses, rumors began to spread quietly, saying that the emperor intended to depose the empress and promote the seventh prince born to the imperial concubine. The expansion of the harem was just a deception.
Gu Mingzhen heard the rumors on the street and made a special trip to the palace to ask for an audience with the emperor.
However, the process of requesting an audience was not smooth. Gu Mingzhen was left in a side hall by the emperor for more than an hour before he was summoned.
He was surprised to see Eunuch Wei beside the emperor.
It's been such a short time since we last saw each other, but Eunuch Wei has become much thinner. The most important thing is not that he has lost weight, but his spirit. Compared to the last time I saw him, he seems to have suddenly aged ten years.
Eunuch Wei is the emperor's confidant, so why does he look like he has suffered a serious crime?
Good night, sweet dreams.
(End of this chapter)
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