The city wall was still as majestic as ever, no different from more than ten years ago. The only difference was that it was cleaner outside during the selection of concubines. After watching for a while, I found it wasn't interesting and simply lowered the curtain.
After a long and arduous journey, it took almost half a month to reach the capital. Indeed, the saying "slow travel and a lifetime is only enough to love one person" is true. I didn't feel that Tongcheng was far from the capital, yet it took more than half a month to get there.
All the candidates lived in a large manor. Only after all the candidates from all over the country had arrived would they officially enter the palace to participate in the selection.
Tang Baozhu was assigned to a private room. Later, she went out to take a look and found that everyone had a private room, which gave her an idea of how big the manor was.
The eunuch Xiaodouzi was probably assigned to Tang Baozhu and had been following her around. After entering the manor, another palace maid joined her, who was specifically there to serve the young ladies.
Tang Baozhu was absolutely thrilled with this. For the past two weeks, she hadn't been able to comb her hair properly in the carriage. Combing her hair was a real challenge for her. Now that she was here, she finally didn't have to do it herself, and the thought made her very happy.
I thought things would be easier once I arrived at the manor, but I didn't expect that I would have to continue learning etiquette and manners with the nanny every day.
However, it is indeed useful. The stiff bowing that was at first is now smooth and natural, and the demeanor looks several levels higher.
Tang Baozhu stayed at the manor for about ten days. The young ladies from all over the country finally arrived. In order to allow time for them to familiarize themselves with the rules and etiquette, they were scheduled to go to the palace to participate in the selection three days later.
Tang Baozhu wished time would pass quickly so she could see the emperor sooner and take the fertility pill, then she would have the nerve to ask to bring her parents back.
After much anticipation, the day finally arrived for me to go to the palace to participate in the selection. I washed up and dressed early, thinking that I would be eating breakfast soon, but to my surprise, no breakfast was served.
It is said that, fearing the smell might offend the emperor, he rubbed his rumbling stomach and decided that he could only secretly eat a couple of pieces of fruit later.
It was truly awful; she couldn't even eat breakfast. After getting ready, she went straight outside to wait in the carriage. As soon as she entered the carriage, Tang Baozhu realized that it was the same carriage she had ridden in when she last came to the capital.
It's better to stay in a familiar carriage; after all, I've slept in one for over half a month. After checking the carriage to make sure there's nothing else out of the ordinary, I can sit on the train with peace of mind.
I took a few pieces of fruit out of the warehouse, and worried that the guards outside would hear me. I carefully and slowly ate them until I finally put my heart at ease.
He patted his stomach and felt he was only half full, but he didn't dare to eat more. What if he really needed to go to the toilet? He couldn't take out his portable house, and he couldn't even crawl into it.
The carriage traveled for about an hour, or two hours, before slowly coming to a stop. When it was Tang Baozhu's turn, Xiaodouzi had already gotten off the carriage and was waiting below it.
As they carefully descended the vehicle, Xiaodouzi quickly came to help them. There was no other way; to maintain proper etiquette, they couldn't just jump off the vehicle directly. They had to ask for help to slowly descend.
"Little Bean, are you coming in with me, or are you waiting outside?"
“Miss Tang, Xiao Douzi cannot go in. All the eunuchs who serve you are waiting outside. Only after you are selected will Xiao Douzi enter the harem and serve you personally.”
"OK."
Tang Baozhu breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that he would continue to serve her if she was chosen. At least the two of them had spent almost a month together and were more familiar with each other than with other people. It would be too troublesome to get to know a stranger all over again if she were to choose a new one.
Looking at the tall city walls before me, I was about to enter the palace. I felt quite excited, but also a little scared.
After all, before coming to ancient times, she was just an ordinary person. After coming to ancient times, she spent all her time at home embroidering and rarely went out to stroll around, so she was completely unfamiliar with the outside world.
Tang Baozhu took a deep breath to calm herself down, put her hand down from Xiaodouzi's shoulder, and slowly walked inside.
Fortunately, palace maids would guide the way, so there was no need to worry about getting lost.
Because they had already undergone a physical examination in Tongcheng, today's process is simply called the Emperor selecting concubines.
Tang Baozhu was quite nervous. She wondered what the emperor looked like. If he was too ugly, she would feel like she had been taken advantage of.
She could only pray that this emperor was good-looking, otherwise she was afraid she wouldn't be able to bring herself to kiss him.
Tang Baozhu followed the palace maid in front of her, winding her way to the front of a large hall, where many young women were already standing.
The young women lined up and went in six at a time. When Tang Baozhu arrived, a gasp of cold air came from the crowd. Then she felt the glares flying towards her like knives. If those glares had a physical form, Tang Baozhu would already be riddled with holes.
Tang Baozhu stood motionless at the back, appearing aloof, but in reality, she was panicking. For the first time, she hated that she was too perceptive; the gazes coming from all directions made it hard for her to ignore them.
She could only try her best to ignore the stares around her and pray that time would pass quickly. There were many people in front of Tang Baozhu and a steady stream of people coming from behind. There were thousands of imperial concubines from all over the country. The emperor was indeed blessed.
After waiting for almost an hour, it was finally Tang Baozhu's turn.
Taking a deep breath, and using the best posture I'd learned in the past few days, I slowly went inside.
As soon as she entered, Tang Baozhu secretly glanced inside. The person sitting in the very center should be the emperor, and next to him sat a noblewoman, who was presumably the empress dowager.
I heard that the Empress Dowager's background wasn't very good either. She was just lucky to give birth to a prince, which allowed her to rise in status and become the Empress Dowager.
Tang Baozhu was finally relieved after that one stolen glance at the emperor, who was quite handsome.
She was around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, and it seemed she didn't have a child yet. The emperor was indeed anxious, which explained why he held a grand selection of concubines, choosing only those with good health.
Situ Rui, who was sitting above, had been watching the candidates for so long and was already impatient. If it weren't for his mother holding him back, he would have run away long ago. But when he saw the candidate who had just entered, his impatience vanished instantly, and his eyes lit up.
This finally piqued his interest a little. You see, this selection of beauties only chooses those with good physiques, so you can imagine how beautiful they could be.
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