Chapter 42 Choosing Male Concubines
Lanlu snorted coldly, not taking Hua Manlou's threat seriously.
He and Hua Manlou had no affection for each other; they were simply forced to live in the same building for over a decade.
...
As the sky was ablaze with the colors of sunset, the head guard knelt on one knee and reported.
"Your Highness, after investigation, the notice posted at the palace gate has indeed changed the selection of a son-in-law to the selection of a male concubine, and the day for the selection of male concubines is set for the day after Your Highness returns to the capital, which is tomorrow."
"Alright, I understand. You may leave."
Tianyao stood up and walked toward the maid carrying the new dress beside her, saying as she did so.
After the head guard withdrew, Tianyao stood in front of one of the maids and reached out to touch the fabric of the new dress on the tray.
Tomorrow is the day to choose male concubines. As the main character, she definitely needs to choose an absolutely gorgeous dress, otherwise she'll be outshone by the men who have come to choose their male concubines.
This color is a bit ugly, pass.
This pattern is a bit too complicated, so I'll pass.
This doesn't feel good to use, so I'll pass.
...
After looking at all the dresses, only three caught her eye.
A light pink dress embroidered with silver peach blossoms, a pure white dress embroidered with gold cloud patterns, and a bright red dress embroidered with gold peonies.
These three items are made of top-quality materials and workmanship.
Light pink is pretty, but it lacks presence and doesn't command attention.
Tianyao waved her hand, signaling the maid to put away the light pink dress.
Pure white may look clean, but it doesn't have a strong presence and can't command attention.
Tianyao waved her hand again, signaling the maid to retreat with the tray of pure white dresses.
Finally, she stopped in front of the crimson dress embroidered with golden peonies and said, "This is it. Put it in my bedroom."
The maid bowed and acknowledged, then walked towards the inner room.
After choosing the dress, it was time to choose jewelry. Since the dress was embroidered with golden peonies, Tianyao had the maids bring out jewelry made of gold as well.
Tianyao slowly looked through all the jewelry, and finally chose a beautiful, elegant and intricate peony gold piece.
She reached out and picked up the selected peony gold jewelry with both hands.
Oh my god, it's so heavy... If I wear it for a long time, my neck will be compressed and shortened.
Sigh, wouldn't you say she's making things difficult for herself just to save face and maintain order?
But those smaller ones really couldn't hold their own.
It's like in your past life, you went to a top-class banquet, wearing a beautiful dress, but the jewelry on your head and body was cheap stuff that anyone could buy, which really didn't make you look good!
Fine, I'll just have to bear with it. Anyway, I'll remove it as soon as the selection of male concubines is over.
...
The next day, outside the Hall of Outer State Affairs in the Imperial Palace.
Two rows of imperial guards stood on either side, with a distance of about 50 meters in the middle.
At the very front, there were two chairs, one for His Majesty and one for the Princess.
In front of the chair stood a group of men, roughly estimated to be over 100, all of whom were there to participate in the selection of male concubines.
From a distance, they look like more than 100 peacocks, all dressed in colorful, flamboyant attire.
"Minister of Justice Ming Shendu, arrive."
When Tianheng's personal eunuch saw Ming Shendu, he was startled and hurriedly spoke up to announce it.
? ? ?
What is the Minister of Justice doing here?
Is this a place only people who participate in the selection of male concubines come to?
More than 100 men turned around at the same time, looking behind them with strange expressions at Ming Shendu.
Could it be...?
A terrible, unbelievable thought popped into my head.
No, impossible, how could that be?
This isn't a princess choosing a husband, but rather a princess choosing a male concubine.
How could someone of the rank of Minister of Justice possibly be willing to lower himself to become a male concubine?
Ming Shendu paid no attention to the gazes of these people. He walked straight through the passage in the middle of the crowd, until he reached the very front, then turned to the left and walked step by step to the far left, where he stood still without saying a word.
!!
More than 100 men, along with all the Imperial Guards around them, were dumbfounded.
The Minister of Justice is really here to participate in a male concubine selection event!
He was truly willing to lower himself to become a male concubine.
Oh my god!
Could it be that the Minister of Justice was once infatuated with the princess?
Otherwise, how could that be possible?
At this moment, everyone had mixed feelings and craned their necks to look at the Minister of Justice.
But before they could recover from the shock of the Minister of Justice participating in the princess's selection of male concubines...
Tianheng's personal father-in-law once again dropped a bombshell among everyone.
"Prime Minister Xie Mingyuan has arrived."
!!
Prime Minister, a first-rank official!
This time, not only more than 100 men and all the Imperial Guards, but even Ming Shendu, the Minister of Justice, turned around and looked behind him at Xie Mingyuan, who was dressed in a pure white robe and holding a transparent umbrella.
Xie Mingyuan had a cold and aloof expression, without a trace of a smile on his face. He held the umbrella handle in his hand as he walked through the crowd.
Walking to the front, he turned his head and saw Ming Shendu. A hint of melancholy flashed in his eyes, but he said nothing. He turned around and walked to the right. When he reached the far right edge, he stopped and stood quietly.
More than 100 men could no longer contain themselves and began to discuss it amongst themselves.
"A high-ranking official participating in the selection of male concubines? Are you crazy?"
"I'm not shocked by any of this right now. I just want to know what it is about Her Highness that makes the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister willingly lower themselves to become her male lovers."
"This is it. With people like the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister who are both good-looking and talented, how could someone like us who only has a pretty face possibly be selected?"
"Brother, don't lose heart. Everyone has different tastes. Maybe Her Highness the Princess likes our appearance."
"Yes, yes, don't be discouraged. It's not like Her Highness hasn't met the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister before. If she had already taken a liking to them, she wouldn't have chosen a male concubine."
"Is that so? But I don't think so. Her Highness had a husband before. I heard that she divorced her former husband recently because she was infertile. Before the divorce, because the husband was still there, people of high moral character like the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister would never have expressed their feelings for Her Highness and interfered between her and her former husband."
"I must say, this brother makes a lot of sense; it is indeed possible."
"I heard that Her Highness the Princess had a very good relationship with her former husband, and before the divorce, Her Highness the Princess had never had a male lover."
"So why does Her Highness suddenly want to choose male concubines?"
"I know that. I heard that the princess's infertility was discovered by the former consort's mother. After the discovery, the former consort's mother threatened to kill herself to force the princess to divorce him. Later, the princess divorced him. I think the princess must have been heartbroken by the former consort and didn't want to go through the same thing again. So, she didn't want to have a husband anymore, which is why she had the idea of choosing a male concubine."
"By the way, the imperial edict was originally for selecting a son-in-law, but it was later changed to selecting a male concubine. So, I think this brother's guess is very likely correct."
"I feel my guess is pretty accurate. His Majesty dotes on the princess. When he saw that the princess had divorced her former husband, he immediately issued an edict to select a husband for her. However, the princess did not want to have a husband again, so His Majesty changed the selection of a husband to the selection of a male concubine."
...
More than 100 people, talking all at once, guessed the facts to be almost entirely accurate.
As Ming Shen listened, a flash of malice crossed his clear, bamboo-like eyes. The image of Madam Cui's slanderous words against the princess that he had heard in prison that day came to mind, and his heart ached.
The princess saved him and his entire clan; to him and his clan, she was like a bodhisattva.
Madam Cui dared to slander his Bodhisattva! How hateful! She deserves to die!
If it weren't for the princess pleading with His Majesty for a decree sparing Madam Cui from the death penalty, he would have definitely made Madam Cui lose her head!
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