As the two figures gradually walked away, Wu Qing and Zhu Hanfei walked out from behind the pillar.

Zhu Hanfei blew away the dust on the palace lantern and relit it.

Light and shadow illuminated the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a few drops of rain fell quietly, forming several circles of different sizes on the black stone slab.

Wu Qing quickly handed the cloth bag to her and said quickly, "Miss Li'er, please take this package to Miss Zhu for me. Thank you."

Only when Zhu Hanfei put the cloth bag into her arms did she feel the weight of the package.

Zhu Hanfei felt a little weird when she thought that these were all things that were going to be "fed" to her.

"Okay, do you have anything else to say that you want me to pass on to Miss Zhu?"

Zhu Hanfei asked softly.

【There’s nothing special I want to say.】

[Jingyixuan is just a novice copy. With Sister Fei's intelligence, she can basically solve it by herself, so she doesn't need my help.]

Wu Qing thought for a while and still felt a little worried.

[But the system said that the plot has shifted...]

[Sister Fei may encounter some unexpected difficulties. Just in case, I'd better remind her.]

Wu Qing pointed at the package and said, "The first round of the preliminary selection is to examine talent. Generally speaking, as long as you don't perform too badly, you can pass."

"I'm just afraid something might happen. And at the bottom of the package is a pair of dancing shoes, I think Miss Zhu might be able to use them."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hanfei looked at "Jinxiu" deeply.

She didn't say much, just nodded slightly, promising to deliver the package to Miss Zhu intact.

"Then I'll trouble you."

Wu Qing smiled, waved goodbye to Zhu Hanfei and said, "We'll meet here again at this time tomorrow."

Zhu Hanfei's eyes curved into crescent shapes and she said goodbye to her with a smile.

Wu Qing continued to follow Xing'er.

Zhu Hanfei walked for a long time in the night holding a palace lantern.

The night rain seemed to sense her thoughts and gradually became hotter, beating heavily on the tiles on the roof.

Zhu Hanfei's footsteps were completely buried by the heavy rain.

She had to knock on the door of Room 13 three times before Ruan Yue finally reacted.

After opening the door, she saw that it was Zhu Hanfei. Ruan Yue smiled awkwardly and said, "Sister Zhu, I didn't mean to do that. The rain was so loud that I didn't hear you knocking on the door."

"It has never rained this hard in Beijing. It sounds scary..."

Zhu Hanfei closed the door and hung up her coat.

She walked over to the charcoal brazier and sat down, gently stroking her hands outside the hollow cover, using the heat coming from inside to dispel the dampness and coldness on her body.

Ruan Yue stood aside and asked timidly, "Sister Zhu, have you seen Xing'er?"

Zhu Hanfei hummed softly.

She was lost in her own thoughts.

It was worth the trip tonight, and the biggest gain was the "splendour".

She vaguely felt the kindness of "Jinxiu" and the noble lady Ji behind her towards her.

There was an inconspicuous cloth bag placed next to Zhu Hanfei's stool.

Ruan Yue glanced at the cloth bag and asked curiously, "Sister Zhu, what is this?"

The cloth bag was bulging, and it seemed that there was a lot of things inside.

"Are you so curious?"

Zhu Hanfei turned her head and said to her indifferently, "Since you want to know so much, why don't you open it and take a look yourself?

When Ruan Yue heard this, she felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on her.

She quickly shut her mouth and muttered to herself: Forget it, I can't afford to offend this woman.

The two spent a while in silence.

Only after her body warmed up again did Zhu Hanfei bring up the topic again.

She suddenly said, "Ruan Yue, do me a favor tomorrow night."

Zhu Hanfei's eyes were dark. "If you do a good job, I will forgive you and never ask you about putting dried shrimps in my soup again."

When Ruan Yue heard this, her face was filled with joy.

"real!?"

She quickly moved the stool and sat down next to Zhu Hanfei.

She was just worrying about how to ease the relationship between them, and now the opportunity had come.

"Sister Zhu, what can I do for you? Just leave it to me. I will definitely do whatever I can to help you."

Zhu Hanfei ignored her fiery gaze and said calmly, "Tomorrow night, go see Xing'er. Tell her that you want to buy all the files in Ji Guiren's hands."

A hint of surprise flashed across Ruan Yue's face.

All the files! ?

"Sister Zhu, that's not cheap... I'm afraid you can't get it without three hundred taels of silver." She reminded Zhu Hanfei.

No matter how rich Zhu Hanfei is, she can't be richer than Yan Yiyan from the North Courtyard, right?

Zhu Hanfei smiled: "You think too much. I won't give you a penny."

Not giving a penny?

...Then what did she buy, air?

Ruan Yue was stunned.

"If I don't bring money, then...then how can I buy the files from Miss Xing'er? Isn't this offending Lady Ji in disguise?"

Ruan Yue thought Zhu Hanfei was deliberately making things difficult for her, so she made a bitter face and said, "Sister, I was really wrong. I can't help you with this."

"Without money, how could Miss Xing'er sell the files to me? Sister, you want all the files, but this is not the way to ask for them."

Zhu Hanfei said to herself, "Go get a piece of paper and write down everything I say next. Tomorrow night, you will act accordingly. If you make a mistake in saying anything, I will report you to Aunt Zhao."

Ruan Yue agreed bitterly.

…

There are two rounds of preliminary selection, one to test talent and the other to test morality.

On this day, all the beauties from Jingyixuan gathered in the main hall.

Forty beauties were lined up in neat rows, like a painting of ladies.

It had been raining all night, and it was still raining outside the temple.

The main hall was extremely quiet, with only Aunt Zhao's voice.

Madam Zhao looked at everyone and said seriously, "I believe all the girls understand the rules of the examination, so I will not elaborate on them."

"Before entering the palace, the girls have already reported their assessment items."

"Next, everyone will come in one by one according to the order of the rooms to take the test."

As Nanny Zhao finished her words, the atmosphere in the entire main hall suddenly became tense.

"First place, Room 1, North Courtyard, Qiao Xiao."

Qiao Xiao, who was standing at the front of the team, bowed slightly, then walked calmly into the examination room.

Not long after, melodious and pleasant piano sounds floated out of the room. The sound was like a flowing spring, refreshing the heart.

The piano music lasted less than half a minute before the door opened again.

Qiao Xiao walked out of the room gracefully. Her posture remained reserved, without any trace of anger on her face.

Everyone could tell at a glance that she had passed this first round of tests with ease.

All the concubines breathed a sigh of relief and felt less anxious.

But the following assessment was not as smooth as they had imagined.

After Qiao Xiao, one out of every five people would walk out of the room in tears.

Seeing this, Zhu Hanfei stood at the end of the team and narrowed her eyes slightly.

Another hour passed, and it was finally Zhu Hanfei's turn.

She touched the pair of dancing shoes in her waist bag, then walked slowly towards the examination room.