Of course, there are also those who are willing to give it a try and want to become relatives of the royal family. These families all have their own considerations, and it is not Lianyi's concern. She only needs to spread the news.
As expected, due to the news released by Lianyi, after the New Year, there was a wave of marriages and broken-off engagements among the dignitaries in the imperial city.
The families who were getting married did not want to become relatives with the royal family, while those who cancelled the engagement wanted more, so they would rather break up the engagement and keep their daughters until next summer, which is only about half a year.
After receiving the news, the Ministry of Revenue had already started preparations in advance, passing the news down layer by layer, asking the counties below to make preparations for the draft, and everything went on in an orderly manner.
Lianyi now has much more free time. She just takes care of her three children every day. After the New Year, the three children can crawl on the ground, and there are more people serving them.
The eldest prince, Jiang Hongji, was the most energetic and was the one who crawled all over the ground the most happily. The second princess, Jiang Yunshan, was more delicate and followed her eldest brother carefully. The youngest, Jiang Hongye, was weaker and had to sit down to rest after crawling for a while before continuing to crawl.
Lianyi felt that raising a cub was still fun, as long as she didn't have to do it herself. Fortunately, she was now the most powerful woman in the harem.
"Your Majesty, after the first round of screening, the Ministry of Revenue has sent you a list of one hundred concubines. Please take a look."
Nanny Sun held a list and reported respectfully.
Lianyi was mixing perfume. After hearing what Nanny Sun said, she just said lightly:
"Have someone send the portraits of these beauties here so I can screen them first."
"Yes, Queen."
As the master of the harem, Lianyi naturally has this right.
A quarter of an hour later, the palace maids entered the hall one after another, holding picture albums.
"Unfold it, and let me take a look."
"yes!"
The Queen spoke, and a long picture album unfolded in front of Lianyi. Lianyi glanced at it, then raised her hand and said to Lanzhi:
"Pen!"
"Yes, Queen!"
Lanzhi immediately handed over a red pen.
Lianyi started to draw on the album. Lanzhi and Nanny Sun, who were standing by, breathed a sigh of relief after seeing it.
Because the beauties selected by Lianyi were all women of lower official rank and average looks, they could only be said to have barely met the standards for the beauty pageant.
But they were too happy a little too early, because after Lianyi finished drawing, she said to Nanny Sun:
"Except for the beauties I have drawn, the rest will be sorted out and sent to the emperor for his inspection."
"Empress!!"
"this"
Lianyi's right-hand men reacted extremely strongly.
Lianyi glanced at the two of them, and they immediately realized that they had lost their composure. After calming down, they bowed and left the hall, taking away the booklet that Lianyi had drawn.
After reporting the results to the Ministry of Revenue, Nanny Sun returned to the palace with a heavy heart. She hesitated for a long time before she gritted her teeth and asked,
"My Queen, I think this is not good for you."
"What's the downside?"
"The emperor must like fresh colors."
Nanny Sun's words were cryptic, but her meaning was very clear. With so many beauties vying for the Queen's favor, the Emperor's love for her would definitely be diluted.
"Mammy, you also said that the emperor likes new colors. Besides, he is rich and can find any kind of beauty. Even if I prevent this one, can I prevent it next time?"
Ripple asked back.
"This old servant means to wait until the relationship between the Queen and His Majesty becomes deeper."
Nanny Sun knew exactly what Lianyi meant, but she still wanted to try harder.
"Madame Sun, the Emperor and I only have interests, not feelings. It's better this way. He likes my understanding and sensibility. I need his respect to secure my position as Queen. We just get what we need."
Ripple spoke clearly.
"I understand, old slave."
Nanny Sun nodded.
Lanzhi, who was standing by, had not said anything, but was listening with her ears perked up. At this moment, she whispered:
"My Lady, even so, you don't have to choose so many good colors. You can mix in some ordinary ones."
"If their appearance is too bad, how can they attract the emperor's attention? How can they fight for each other? If they don't fight, I will have no good show to watch."
Ripple said jokingly.
If the client of this mission had not already been reincarnated, she would have to live out his life for him. Otherwise, she would have left this plane after fulfilling his wish.
In order to amuse herself and also to set a trap for the emperor, she spared no effort to promote this talent show.
Sure enough, when the album that had been screened by Lianyi was presented to the imperial desk, the emperor was very satisfied and felt that his queen was really knowledgeable and interesting.
The selected beauties were all daughters of civil officials whom he intended to win over. Moreover, each of them was good-looking and talented in playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. They were rare beauties.
Although they had gone through layers of screening, there were still as many as fifty selected concubines sent to the emperor, and it was impossible for the emperor to take all of them into the harem.
So after careful consideration, the new emperor selected twenty people to fill his harem, and also some daughters of ministers who had been invited. He granted them marriages, and for a time, both the court and the harem were very satisfied, and everyone was happy.
The first thing the twenty selected beauties did after entering the harem was to pay their respects to Lianyi, the Empress Dowager, commonly known as paying their respects to the Empress.
Lian Yi was still dressed in her usual attire, sitting in the back seat, and after receiving the kowtows from all the concubines, she gently opened her red lips and said:
"Everyone, please stand up and speak. There are not so many rules here in this palace."
The concubines who were paying their respects below did not think so. If there were no more rules, they would not have said this after they finished bowing. However, they were all smart people and would not show on their faces what they were thinking. They all looked smiling and talking.
"You all went through several rounds of selection before entering the palace. Your first job after entering the palace is to serve the emperor well and expand the royal family. The harem is in great need of children. You all know that I am the only one with children now, so you must work hard."
Lianyi said with a pleasant expression.
"Yes, I will obey the Queen's order."
The concubines responded immediately.
"I have already said this before. If you are pregnant, your status will be raised. If you give birth to a prince, you will be promoted to concubine."
Lianyi first painted a big picture. After all, these beautiful girls who had just entered the palace were usually only given the titles of noble lady, maid or concubine, and their status was relatively low. Only if they were promoted to concubine would they be qualified to live in a palace alone. If they wanted to get the main seat in the palace, they had to be promoted to concubine.
After hearing this, the eyes of the women below were all sparkling, and it was mainly because it was very attractive.
As the dust settled on the beauty pageant, the emperor began to move around the harem more frequently. After all, he had released so many beauties, and each of them was obedient to him, so he naturally wanted to relax after finishing his government affairs.
However, even though he reveled every night, the emperor would go to the queen's Fengqi Palace on the first and fifteenth of every month. This was considered to be giving Lianyi enough face, as Lianyi had done a great job, and he did not want to disappoint the mother of his three children.
However, after more than a year of the emperor's efforts, no good news has come from the harem, which makes all the concubines a little anxious.
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