Chapter 1 Participating in the Selection of Concubines
In the fifteenth year of Chengming, it was the Spring Equinox.
It was dawn, the morning dew had not yet dried, and a few remaining stars were still dotted in the pale blue sky.
On the main roads of Nanchang Street and Beichang Street, there was an endless stream of BMWs and luxury cars, but they were moving slowly towards the Xihua Gate of the Imperial Palace at the pace of a snail.
The people in the carriage were all the beauties who were entering the palace to participate in the selection today.
At the beginning of the year, Crown Prince Xiao Yan turned seventeen, and Empress Dowager Jiang ordered the Ministry of Revenue to organize a selection to choose a crown princess and fill the imperial concubines for the Eastern Palace.
In order to select good matches, Empress Dowager Jiang expanded the scope of the selection to the Zhili area - all unmarried girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty from families of sixth-rank civil officials and fifth-rank military officials and above were required to participate in the selection.
There were more than 200 candidates, and Yang Manyan was among them.
At this moment, she was dozing off in the spacious carriage of Duke Wei's Mansion.
Yang Manyan's candidacy this time is just a formality. Unless something unexpected happens, she will lose in the primary election.
When the dynasty was founded, the four dukes, eight marquises, and sixteen earls were conferred titles, which were inherited from generation to generation and lasted for a hundred years. The Duke of Wei's Mansion was one of them.
But Yang Manyan was not the daughter of the Xu family. Her aunt Xue was the concubine of Xu Yanqin, the current Duke of Wei.
This time they took the carriage of the Duke's Mansion because the Yang family was temporarily staying in the Duke of Wei's Mansion.
Yang Manyan's father, Yang Qianxing, was a Jinshi in the ninth year of Chengming. Because his articles criticized the current social ills, he won the emperor's favor. Within three years, he was promoted from the seventh-rank Hanlin editor to the fifth-rank Yintai councilor.
Just when his career was going smoothly, his father passed away suddenly. Yang Qian resigned from his post and returned home with his wife and daughter to observe mourning for 27 months.
The period of mourning ended at the beginning of this year, and the Yang family returned to Beijing, and had not yet settled down when they encountered this beauty pageant.
Yang Qianxing and his wife Xue Shulan have only two daughters: the eldest daughter Manyuan is seventeen years old, and the second daughter Jingzhen is thirteen years old.
Yang Manyan met the age requirements and was not engaged, so it was natural for him to accept the selection.
Duke Wei, out of consideration for Aunt Xue's affection and Yang Qianxing's continued favor with the Emperor, took the initiative to invite them to stay in his palace temporarily as a backup.
However, the Crown Princess must come from a noble family, so how could it be the turn of Yang Manyan, a girl from a poor family?
When they arrived outside Xihua Gate, Yang Manyan got off the car and followed another woman with her hair full of pearls and jade with her head lowered.
This person is Xu Miaohua, the eldest daughter of Duke Wei, and also a popular candidate for the Crown Princess in this selection.
Xu Miaohua glanced at her, feeling mixed emotions - she was extremely reluctant to travel with this stepmother's niece, especially since she was so seductive and beautiful.
"After entering the palace, you have to line up according to the ranks of your fathers and brothers. You don't have to follow me all the time." Xu Miaohua raised his eyebrows.
Her father is the current Duke of Wei, a second-rank cabinet scholar and the Prince's tutor, so she should be ranked in the front row.
Yang Manyan was startled, then smiled shyly and said, "I neglected it. Thank you, Sister Miaohua, for your advice."
As she spoke, she slowly stepped back tactfully.
She had no intention of taking advantage of the situation, but their carriages were next to each other just now, and it would be impolite to just walk away.
Seeing that she was sensible, Xu Miaohua's disgust lessened a little.
Thinking of the news from her aunt, the corners of her lips curled up slightly, and she secretly imagined the glory of becoming the Crown Princess or even the Queen in the future and ruling the country.
Yang Manyan looked around quietly and saw the moat surrounding the city like a jade belt, with willows swaying on the bank.
In front of us stands the majestic Xihua Gate, with a vermilion city wall, a white marble pedestal, a double-eaved hip roof with yellow glazed tiles, and railings as white as snow.
As Xu Miaohua said, after entering the palace, the beauties were arranged according to their family background.
"Which family are you from?" the leading eunuch asked in a sharp voice.
Yang Manyan replied softly, "My father is Yang Qianxing, a fifth-rank councilor of the Silver Palace."
The eunuch raised his eyes in surprise, with a flash of surprise in his eyes.
I have examined nearly two hundred beauties this morning, and this girl is the most outstanding in appearance.
Her eyebrows are like distant mountains, and her eyes are like autumn water, but it's a pity that they are a little plump.
Nowadays, slenderness and thinness are considered beautiful, so this kind of body shape inevitably looks vulgar and not dignified enough.
After a brief hesitation, the young eunuch placed her at the back of the team.
The beauties in the back row were so nervous that their eyes were darting around. They knew that they would never be able to enter the palace again in their lifetime, and they wished they could see all the beautiful buildings so that they could go back and tell their families about it.
After being searched by the nanny, they were sent in groups of six to Yanchun Pavilion in the Imperial Garden to be personally selected by Empress Dowager Jiang.
From morning till dusk, Yang Manyan's legs and feet were numb from standing before it was their group's turn.
The six people bowed together: "Your subordinates pay their respects to the Empress Dowager. May the Empress Dowager be blessed with good health."
"No need to be polite." A kind voice came.
"Thank you, Queen Mother." Everyone stood up respectfully, nodded and lowered their eyes, not daring to look sideways.
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