However, the emperor really disliked the queen. He was fond of throwing tantrums and making complaints about her.
He even took advantage of the favor to attack the concubines in the harem.
Any concubine he favored more than twice could not escape her clutches.
But he just turned a blind eye to many things.
The Queen Mother sighed and said, "I know you don't like the Queen, but she is your Queen after all. It is reasonable for you to respect her."
The emperor responded disapprovingly and asked the nanny to take good care of the empress dowager before leaving.
As soon as the emperor left, the empress dowager sat up suddenly, no longer looking sick.
"Quick, bring me all the portraits of women of marriageable age and those who are fertile in the capital."
Yes, this time the Queen Mother pretended to be sick in order to get the Emperor to agree to hold another selection.
It has been six years, and there has been no new person in the harem in these six years because the emperor cancelled the selection.
The Empress Dowager had proposed the selection of concubines many times, but each time was rejected by the Emperor.
And I heard that the emperor hasn't even gone to the harem for the past two months, and the empress dowager is getting anxious and angry.
If the emperor is unwilling to touch even a woman, then he will never have children in this life.
Since none of the women in the harem can get pregnant, let's hold a new selection.
She didn't believe that in such a big world, no woman could bear the emperor's child.
The emperor returned to the Xuanzheng Hall and opened the memorial to prepare for revision. Suddenly, the hand holding the brush dropped it, and his face sank a little as he stared at the memorial.
Then he slammed the memorial on the table in anger.
The personal eunuch Youfu knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
The emperor's face was full of anger, and he threw the memorial directly in front of Youfu.
"Youfu, look at these ministers. Each and every one of them is forcing me to adopt a son."
"I'm only thirty-six, not even dead yet, yet everyone is worried that I won't have a successor."
Youfu looked terrified and spoke cautiously, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty is in his prime, young and vigorous, and strong. He will surely live a hundred years."
Youfu, as the emperor's personal eunuch, is the most trusted by the emperor. He knows very well that what the emperor hates most is being forced to appoint a crown prince.
Those ministers are really adding fuel to the fire.
Youfu secretly complained, fearing that the emperor would vent his anger on him.
Leaning back in his chair, the emperor sighed heavily, "What a blessing! Do you think I really killed too many people when I was young? My evil spirit is too strong, so no one is willing to be reborn as my child."
"Your Majesty, perhaps it is simply not the right time. After a new selection, perhaps Your Majesty will be able to fulfill your wish."
Speaking of this, a complex emotion flashed across the emperor's face. For some reason, when he thought of the women in the harem, the emperor had no interest at all.
They didn't even want to set foot there, let alone turn over the sign and stay overnight.
The Queen Mother and people close to him like Youfu thought that he didn't go because he was discouraged because the women in the harem couldn't get pregnant.
But he didn't know that it wasn't actually the case, he just didn't care about it.
In the past, in order to make the women in the harem pregnant, he would treat each concubine equally, regardless of whether he liked them or not, and take turns to visit them.
They thought this would increase their chances of pregnancy, and that one of them would eventually get pregnant.
But many years have passed and there is still no one.
Looking at Youfu, the emperor said in a slightly cold voice: "Think of a way to ruin the selection."
Youfu's eyes widened, cold sweat dripping down his face. "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother..."
The emperor looked at him coldly: "Why else would I ask you to find a solution? What use would you have?"
Eunuch Youfu: "..."
"Yes, I will definitely take care of this matter."
The empress dowager acted quickly, and soon the news that the emperor was going to hold a beauty contest spread throughout the capital.
All women of marriageable age must participate.
When the news came out, the ministers panicked and each of them started to think about which girls in their families had not yet been engaged to anyone after reaching marriage age.
Angry voices were heard in the homes of these powerful people.
No one expected that six years later, the emperor would hold a beauty contest.
"No, Daddy, I don't want to enter the palace, I don't want to participate in the selection, Daddy, I don't want to go."
In the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, Xu Yurou, with tears in her eyes, pulled the Marquis and said in a sobbing voice.
Lord Xu reached out his hand, caressing his daughter's head lovingly, and sighed softly, "It's hard to disobey the Emperor's order. If I had known the Emperor would hold a new selection, I should have chosen a marriage for you sooner."
"It's too late now. The Ministry of Revenue submitted the names and portraits of all eligible women in the capital yesterday."
Everyone in the capital knew that the emperor had no children in his middle age, so entering the palace would mean a dead end. He would have to die of old age in the harem, without anyone to rely on.
Xu Yurou cried bitterly, expressing her resentment towards her fate. She still had a lot of youth left in her life, and she didn't want to be trapped and die in the palace.
Xu Yurou kept crying about her experience, and suddenly stopped when she thought of something.
"Dad, my third sister's name shouldn't be on the list, right? She's in the mountains mourning for my aunt. Can I let her go in my place?"
Lord Xu then thought of his third daughter who had been praying for his concubine, Aunt Li, on the mountain for the past two years.
It can be said that he forcibly took Aunt Li back. Aunt Li was beautiful, so he forced her to become his concubine regardless of the fact that she was already engaged.
After entering the mansion, she was always thinking about her fiancé, so her health began to deteriorate and she became weaker and weaker.
Until two years ago, he passed away, leaving behind his fourteen-year-old concubine's daughter Xu Jinyi.
Since then, Xu Jinyi has been sent to the temple by her stepmother to pray for her mother for three years, and now it has just been two years.
"But the portrait has been handed in."
"Dad, please think of a solution."
Seeing his daughter crying, Lord Xu felt distressed: "Dad, let's go and try to use our connections."
Xu Yurou finally burst into laughter and said, "Thank you, Dad."
On the mountain.
The back mountain of Zhenling Temple.
"My chicken! I haven't eaten meat for two years." Looking at the pheasant flying away, Xu Jin stomped his feet in frustration, his movements very childish.
Suddenly she saw a rabbit again, and then she forgot her previous unhappiness and chased after it in surprise.
"ah……"
Not knowing what he kicked, Xu Jinyi fell to the ground suddenly.
Turning around, I saw a man lying unconscious on the ground with blood all over his face.
Xu Jinyi panicked and covered her mouth in fear, subconsciously moving two steps back with her butt.
Then, he slowly approached after realizing that the man was truly unconscious and not dangerous.
"Hello……?"
In a coma, Emperor Xiao Hongyu only felt a soft and boneless little hand patting his face.
In a daze, the emperor tried hard to half open his eyes.
He saw a woman emitting a stunning light all over her body, looking at him with concern and worry in her eyes.
The woman had skin as white as cream, bright eyes, a pretty complexion, a pretty oval face, and a pair of watery peach blossom eyes.
The red mole under her eye adds a touch of allure to her stunning appearance.
In a trance, the emperor felt that the woman was like a fairy from heaven.
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