When the girls sent from various places arrived at the palace, the day for their inspection was set for February 18th.
The weather was quite nice that day, and with only twenty girls in total, there was no need for anything too elaborate.
The Empress Dowager and the others read the text together in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion in the Imperial Garden.
Consort Ye, whom we hadn't seen since the New Year, also appeared.
Her belly is now ridiculously large, her complexion is rosy, and she looks to be in excellent spirits.
She has gained a lot of weight.
After exchanging greetings, everyone sat down. Those who were present were all of high rank, from the rank of concubine to above.
Soon, the twenty girls split into four groups of five and came over.
I looked at them one by one, and they were all quite good-looking. Among them, the highest-ranking official, whose father and brother, was only a fifth-rank official, was really nothing special.
Shu Chengfeng first selected two for the eleventh prince, one of which was this fifth-rank official.
He was given the title of Lady.
Two more were ordered for Prince Ping.
They selected one concubine for each of the several eligible men in the imperial clan.
Thirteen of them went.
Of the remaining seven, the Empress Dowager chose two, and the Empress chose two.
The remaining three were directly bestowed by Shu Chengfeng upon the second and youngest sons of high-ranking officials in the court.
The eldest son is usually married to someone of equal social standing, so it is appropriate to continue this arranged marriage.
For these girls who didn't come from particularly privileged backgrounds, this was a good match.
Of the four who remained, Qiao bestowed upon them the title of Baolin and granted them residence in Qingya Pavilion.
He was granted residence in Yiyu Pavilion by the Imperial Concubine, which means he went to live with Consort Wan.
Lady Lu was granted residence in Liushuang Pavilion, and Lady Wen was granted residence in Xingyun Pavilion.
With four new women entering the harem, along with the two already there, things got lively.
This batch of newcomers all seem to have good personalities, at least on the surface.
The Empress was very polite to them, which made the newlyweds feel that the Empress was gentle and approachable.
The gifts sent to various places were all intended as a way to win them over.
The maids who served in various places, having received rewards, also told them about the temperaments of the people in the harem.
Naturally, no matter where you are, you can't avoid these two sentences.
The first sentence is: "Consort Ye is the Empress Dowager's niece. She has always had a bad temper, so she must not be offended."
The second sentence is: "That Consort Chen has a mysterious background and is ruthless. If you offend her, she dares to cripple you on the spot. Wu Shiyu in Suning Palace is an example."
Then, naturally, the newcomer asked why.
The maids then began to recount Consort Chen's great achievements.
Few are not afraid.
The two women sent by Baiye Kingdom have already served His Majesty. It's too early to tell whether they're favored or not; in any case, His Majesty only went once. He hasn't had his turn yet.
As for the new concubines, they cannot serve the emperor for the time being.
When Yan Nangui paid her respects at Fengxiang Palace, she saw the way the newlyweds looked at her. Tsk.
That's good, I hope they can maintain it.
Consort Rong caught a cold when she was almost out of her postpartum period, so she hasn't appeared during this time.
I finally managed to get out today, and I look like I've lost a lot of weight.
Most people didn't care much about her, but Consort Xiangxian still sent her a few greetings.
Yan Nangui added, "You don't look like someone who has just given birth; you're even thinner than before."
"Yes, it's all because my younger sister is unlucky. Fortunately, she's recovered, and the imperial physician said she just needs to rest. Luckily, I don't need to breastfeed, otherwise what would I have done? I haven't produced any milk since I gave birth," Consort Rong sighed.
"Then take good care of yourself. The imperial physician said there's nothing wrong?" Yan Nangui asked.
"They said it's nothing serious, so I didn't need to breastfeed and just drank some lactation-boosting soup. But the cold was because I caught it myself. I'm fine now, eating and drinking well, and I'll recover in a while. Isn't my sister going to Menghaijiang? When she comes back to see me, she'll definitely have gained weight."
As everyone chatted and laughed, the Empress arrived.
The four newlyweds all had to perform a grand ceremony.
After the formalities were followed and the Empress had said those perfunctory words, she asked everyone to take their seats.
"Look at you, beautiful young ladies. When I was your age, I wasn't as pretty as you."
"Your Majesty is just joking. You're only in your early twenties, why are you reminiscing about the past? If Your Majesty wants to reminisce, I won't allow it. I feel I'm still very young," Yan Nangui said.
"Oh dear, yes, yes, I can't compare to you. I'm a housekeeper, you're still young and inexperienced," the Empress laughed.
The crowd gave a few forced laughs out of politeness.
Consort Ye scoffed: "Consort Chen just won't admit defeat."
"If I were to admit defeat, wouldn't you be old by now? We're the same kind of people, why are you trying to discourage me?" Yan Nangui smiled.
Consort Ye touched her belly and ignored her.
The Empress spoke with everyone, offering greetings and expressing concern, and then dismissed them after half an hour.
Once you leave Fengxiang Palace, there are many more people heading this way now.
There were Consort Ning, Consort Xiangxian, and Consort Sang, but all three of them were traveling from Fengxiang Palace, and they only traveled together for a short while before parting ways.
Behind them were Lady Shunliang, Lady Wancai, and the newly arrived Lady Xiang, whom we'll call Little Lady Xiang for easy distinction.
There are also Consort Huo and Consort Song in Guiyunxuan.
Consort Yi in Yiyuan Palace. And Consort Qiao in Qingya Pavilion.
Zhaochun Palace is farther away than any of these.
In the end, only the wild geese flew south.
After disembarking from the carriage, she returned to the palace. She asked, "I haven't seen Consort Ye in a long time; her belly is so big. What does she eat to get such a large belly?"
"This servant is also puzzled. This servant will go and ask someone to inquire about it right away," Jiangxiang said.
Yan Nan returned, since he was going to the Imperial Hospital anyway to get some safflower.
Safflower promotes blood circulation, removes blood stasis, clears heat, and reduces internal heat. Yan Nangui has been experiencing some internal heat lately.
So I took some back and decocted it with licorice root.
Kong Qing returned in less than half an hour.
After handing the items to Jiangxiang, he went inside and said, "Your Highness, I've inquired. Although the imperial physicians dared not say it directly, the young apprentice, having received payment, did vaguely mention it. He said that Consort Ye's pregnancy might be twins."
"Twins? That makes sense. Twins can be quite large. But... given Consort Ye's flamboyant nature, why didn't she mention it?" Yan Nangui asked, puzzled.
"From what I heard, it seems she herself didn't know," Kong Qing said.
Yan Nangui nodded: "That's right, it must be the Empress Dowager who ordered someone to keep it a secret."
To avoid her being too flamboyant and causing trouble, we'll find out when she gives birth anyway.
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"This... I also inquired, but the medicine boy couldn't say. I think perhaps it's harder to determine the sex of twins?" Kong Qing said.
Yan Nangui nodded: "Okay, I understand. Go ahead."
Chanyi said, "If Consort Ye were to give birth to twins, that would be an immense honor. I'm afraid the Empress Dowager would be keeping a close eye on them."
"The glory won't be much. As long as the Empress can't give birth to a legitimate son, everyone will be born of concubines. Who's worse than whom? Now, among the four princes, can you see His Majesty showing favoritism?" Yan Nangui asked.
“This…this servant believes that His Majesty treats everyone equally,” Chanyi said.
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