The Chinese New Year is a festive occasion.
The emperor was very annoyed by Qin Wen'er's nonsense.
Xiao Guijun's face was not looking good either. It was he who asked the Queen to ask for Qin Wen. Now that Qin Wen had angered the Emperor, he was also scolded by the Emperor.
Xiao Guijun's eyes accidentally swept over Fu Yichen, who was standing there with his head lowered. A smile suddenly appeared on his lips, "Your Majesty, a harmonious family is the foundation of everything." Yichen managed the eldest princess's residence in perfect order, but the Eastern Palace was in chaos because of Qin Wen'er.
In my humble opinion, it is time for Your Majesty to choose a noble young man from a prominent family as your second wife for the Crown Princess. It would be best if the wedding took place during the New Year holiday to dispel the bad luck of the past two days.
The emperor listened to Xiao Guijun's words and found them quite reasonable. "Then, in your opinion, which young man is worthy of the position of the Crown Princess?"
Noble Lady Xiao smiled and said, "My nephew's family has a nephew named Xiao Songhan. He will be sixteen after the New Year this year. He is one of the most talented and handsome men in the capital. If the princess finds him pleasing to the eye, Your Majesty may wish to give him to the Crown Prince."
The emperor said, "I seem to have heard someone say that your nephew is praised as one of the four great talents in the capital. As for his appearance, I have not seen him yet. If he is handsome and comes from a scholarly family like your Xiao family, he would be a worthy match for Shu Mo as her husband."
With just a few simple words from Xiao Guijun, the emperor seemed to be able to choose the person to be the Crown Princess in the next moment.
The Queen glanced at Xiao Guijun with a subtle look.
Xiao Guijun recommended the candidate for his daughter's wife so blatantly in front of His Majesty.
Especially since the person who recommended it is surnamed Xiao, this is really overreaching.
The Queen laughed and said, "The appointment of Qin Wen'er, the Crown Princess, was too hasty. I didn't understand his character well enough before I rashly let him into the Eastern Palace. As a result, that immoral person caused great trouble. We must be more cautious about marrying Shu Mo as a concubine. We must not make the same mistake a second time."
The emperor nodded in agreement. "Your Majesty is right. If another disaster is sent to the Eastern Palace, I will be so angry that I will lose at least half a year of my life."
The queen said in panic, "Your Majesty is the one who wishes to live forever. Please don't say these words to scare your servants."
The emperor laughed and said, "I made a mistake. How about this? This summer's selection will be moved up to next month. It's not just about choosing a princess. The East Palace and the harem are really empty. It's time to give Shumo a few more concubines. Of all my daughters, she's the only one who still has no children, and I'm always worried about her."
Ling Shumo had just stood up, less than half an incense stick long, when she knelt down again after hearing the emperor's words. "I am an unfilial son, causing the Queen Mother to worry about me. I deserve to be punished."
The chief court lady beside the emperor hurried forward and personally helped Ling Shumo up. "What fault has your Highness done? Your Highness is childless because of Qin Wen'er's jealousy. Your Highness is also a victim."
The emperor said, "This selection will be fully entrusted to the Queen. If there are suitable young men, you may also add some newcomers to the palaces of the other princesses."
The Queen bowed her head and responded respectfully.
The imperial court's selection of candidates was originally held every three years, and the sons of officials of the fifth rank and above were required to participate in the selection. They could only marry if they failed.
There is a small selection every year. There is no explicit legal provision for this selection. Most of the time, ministers or concubines recommend their relatives to enter the palace.
However, the emperor has become less and less interested in beauty in recent years. Another reason is that he has not held a beauty pageant because it is a waste of money and time. The most recent small selection was to choose people from the harem of several imperial daughters.
The matter of arranging new people for the Eastern Palace had come to an end. The emperor was finally affected by Qin Wen'er's affairs and his mood was affected. "I am tired, so I will not keep you talking any longer. You can all return to your own residences."
…
This time when Ling Shumo entered the palace, she brought Shangguan Xu, Lu Jinshu and Qin Wen'er with her.
Now that Qin Wen'er has been deposed and imprisoned, and Lu Jinshu is weak, the imperial physician suggests that he rest in the palace for another night.
Therefore, the only people in the carriage returning to the East Palace were Ling Shumo and Shangguan Xu.
The carriage was well heated.
Shangguan Xu's cheeks were flushed.
Ling Shumo asked in confusion, "Are you hot? If you are, open the window a little to let the heat out."
Shangguan Xu hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a purse embroidered with colorful silk threads and decorated with flowers and birds. "It's not very pretty, but I put my heart into it. I hope Your Highness won't dislike it."
Ling Shumo took the purse. The fabric and stitches of the purse were both of high quality, but as Shangguan Xu said, the stitches and corners were very rough, and there were many mistakes in the embroidery. It had been taken apart and re-embroidered, leaving many fine and dense holes.
Rumo explained hurriedly, "When our master was still in her boudoir, she didn't like needlework. But she heard from others that the men of Chisha would personally embroider purses and clothes for their loved ones to express their love. She didn't dare to rest day and night and studied for a long time, hoping to embroider this purse before the New Year and give it to His Highness as a New Year's gift.
Don’t be fooled by the crude workmanship of this purse, but before this one, the master had embroidered more than a dozen purses, and this is already the master’s highest level of workmanship.”
Ruyan also echoed, "I don't know how many needle holes the master's fingers have been pricked by. She even stayed up all night to embroider this purse. The black spots under her eyes haven't gone away yet."
Ling Shumo pulled Shangguan Xu's hand over. Just as Ruyan said, there were many needle holes on his fingers in order to embroider the purse.
Ling Shumo's eyes were filled with heartache. "There are many ways to express your feelings, but you chose to hurt yourself just to embroider this purse. I feel pain for you just by looking at you."
Ling Shumo said this and tied the purse around her waist. "I have received your kindness and I am very happy. However, please don't do such stupid things again in the future."
Shangguan Xu's cheeks turned even redder. "As long as I can please Your Highness, I will be happy even if all ten of my fingers are pierced."
As he spoke, he looked at Ling Shumo with a look of infatuation and admiration that was hard to conceal. "Your Highness, can you go to Changqiu Palace to accompany me tonight?"
Ling Shumo held his hand and said, "Just for the suffering your hands have endured, I will go to Changqiu Palace to comfort you."
Shangguan Xu moved closer to Ling Shumo's arms and said, "The luckiest thing that has happened to me in my life is meeting Your Highness. My sister wanted me to leave my hometown and marry far away in Chisha. I was unwilling to do so. Now that I think about it, it's a good thing that my sister insisted on me coming here. If I can't spend the rest of my life with Your Highness, there is no point in me living."
…
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