Chapter 206 Beauty's Schemes (9) - Prince Rui's Selection of Consorts
The graffiti was retracted, leaving a slightly embarrassing impression.
Ning Shu continued, "I was just kidding. I thought you probably hadn't eaten either, so I ordered it for you."
Upon hearing this, Tuya's face lit up with a smile; he knew Ning Shu wasn't that petty.
He quickly sat down and asked the waiter to bring him a bowl and chopsticks: "Then I won't be polite, thank you, Sister Ning."
Ning Shu nodded and continued eating.
After the two had a hearty meal, Tuya told her that he had found an inn near the Prince Rui's Mansion to stay at, and the inn's name was Yunlai.
He told Ning Shu that she could go there to find him if she needed anything, and he would also go to the back gate of Prince Rui's mansion to find her if he needed anything.
Ning Shu felt this was quite inconvenient, but she couldn't leave the Prince Rui's mansion, which was the most valuable resource she could utilize.
Staying there is a good chance that something might happen, and we can ask the Dowager for help, since we are now related to her.
Finally, she nodded in agreement to the graffiti suggestion and, unusually, returned to the palace before sunset. As soon as she got back, she heard Xia Ju say that the Dowager Consort was looking for her.
She hurried to the Empress Dowager's courtyard. As soon as she entered, she heard the old nanny she had met before say that the Empress Dowager was waiting for her in the hall.
The formality made her a little worried that something might have gone wrong, and she was also concerned that it was because she had been going out frequently these past few days.
When the Dowager saw her arrive, she urged her to step forward and say, "Ruyi, the Prince's birthday is coming soon, and the manor will be holding a birthday banquet for him."
"I'd like to take this opportunity to invite some ladies from prominent families over for the Prince to choose from. Could you help arrange it?"
Another blind date? Is this instance a giant blind date event?
Yin Xinyue came to Beijing for a blind date, but ended up in jail instead.
It's absurd that a prince like Prince Rui would have to go on blind dates. Isn't it usually the emperor who arranges marriages?
The Dowager immediately offered her an explanation, sighing, "My son's life has been full of misfortunes."
The previous princess was unlucky; she died of illness less than two years after entering the family, and my son has been unable to remarry until now.
But the Prince's residence cannot remain without a mistress forever, so I must still take care of things for him.
This rhetoric is truly something else! The princess is in trouble. Isn't she the one with a tragic fate? How did it become the prince?
Sure enough, when a mother looks at her son, he always seems the best.
Ning Shu quickly flattered, "The Empress Dowager always thinks of the Prince; the Prince must be very grateful."
Upon hearing this, the Dowager Consort smiled and said, "His ability to remarry and give the Prince's Mansion a son is the greatest gratitude he can show me."
Ning Shu continued to flatter, "It definitely will, Your Highness, just wait and see. Maybe you'll be able to hold a big, healthy boy next year."
The Empress Dowager was even happier to hear this, seemingly not minding her frequent outings at all.
Ning Shu wondered if she could go out legitimately by helping to take care of these things.
Isn't this exactly what I wanted?
When Ning Shu started working with Zhao Mama, a capable maidservant of the Dowager Consort, she learned that the Prince's mansion had been preparing for Prince Rui's birthday banquet for a long time, but the matter of finding a suitable woman for Prince Rui had only recently been put on the agenda.
For some time now, the Dowager Consort has been sending people to find women from noble families. Now that it's been decided which ones to invite, Ning Shu has been asked to assist Granny Zhao with the follow-up work.
She reviewed her work, and the Prince's Mansion invited the other party's parents and the young lady over.
The other party's father attended the banquet, while his mother and daughter enjoyed the meal and flowers in the garden.
When the time comes, the Dowager Princess will find an excuse to let the Prince meet these girls in the garden and choose one of them as his future Princess.
When Granny Zhao was working with Ning Shu, she secretly told her that all the invited noble families actually knew the purpose of their invitation.
Tell her to be careful so that things don't turn out badly.
Ning Shu couldn't understand how a blind date could turn into such an ugly scene. Hadn't everyone already been screened by the Dowager Consort? How could anyone dare to cause trouble in public?
She was curious, but didn't ask, because that wasn't the focus of her task; she had been waiting for Cui Zeyu's progress these past few days.
Unable to leave the mansion, she instructed Tuya to finish her own business and then spend an hour or two at the Dali Temple to see if Cui Zeyu had made any progress without telling her.
Ning Shu never expected that one day she would have to be on guard against Cheng Chuan. It was because Cheng Chuan had lost his memory and was seeing her completely from the perspective of an NPC, so she had no choice but to be wary.
The main problem was that she hadn't been able to figure out Cui Zeyu's opinion of Yin Xinyue last time. If he didn't intend to save Yin Xinyue but instead wanted to kill her, she would have suffered a huge loss.
Therefore, graffiti is very important.
Every day before the key was locked, she would wait at the back door for the graffiti artist to come and tell her about the progress, but unfortunately there was never any progress, so Ning Shu could only wait patiently.
Time flies, and Prince Rui's birthday banquet is here.
The banquet was held in the front yard east of the hanging flower gate, which leads to the garden. The yard was very spacious, and there was a small gate to the north leading to the garden.
The front yard was where visiting officials held their banquets, while the garden was where the women enjoyed the flowers.
Prince Rui could exchange pleasantries with officials in the front courtyard, then move to the garden to pay his respects to the Dowager Consort, and take a look at the noble ladies who came to offer their congratulations.
This arrangement can be described as perfect.
Because Ning Shu was a person close to the Empress Dowager, she did not go to the front yard to help, but stayed in the garden to serve the female relatives of the officials who had arrived.
Since entering the instance, she has basically stayed in the courtyard where the Empress Dowager resides, and has hardly ever been to any other courtyards.
Firstly, her job doesn't require her to go there, and secondly, she doesn't want to waste her time in a house.
So far, she has never met the master of this palace—Prince Rui.
Today, after she and Granny Zhao finished inspecting the garden's layout, they began to greet the female relatives of the officials who had come to visit.
To be honest, she thought the Dowager Princess had excellent taste; all the potential princess candidates she invited were quite beautiful.
Come to think of it, if you're not good-looking, how could you catch the prince's eye? Even if he looked like a pig, he still likes beautiful women, right?
The women who came were only after the title of princess; it was truly a case of each getting what they wanted.
Ning Shu silently observed those young ladies from aristocratic families, as if watching a beauty pageant; they were quite a sight to behold.
"Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine has arrived!"
At the servant's shout, the women automatically parted to make way for the Dowager Consort.
Ning Shu also automatically stepped aside, making room for the important person in the center.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
The group paid their respects to the Dowager Consort, who exchanged a few pleasantries with them before asking them to sit down and then began to admire the flowers.
Ning Shu found the activity quite boring. Although food was provided for them, they probably didn't eat much because they wanted to maintain their image; they only drank some tea.
The topics of conversation were all about female factory workers or books on female virtues that they had read.
Ning Shu felt that she might as well go out of the manor to eat and drink, since she had almost finished her work.
Then she wondered why there was still no progress on Cui Zeyu's side. Almost half the time had passed, and such slow progress was unacceptable.
Should she consider finding them a place first, and if there's really no time, break them out of prison, and then hold a wedding for them to complete her mission?
Just then, a servant announced that Prince Rui was coming to pay his respects to the Dowager Consort.
Wow~ The most exciting part is about to begin, Prince Rui is going to choose a concubine!
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