It was the time for beauties to enter the palace again. Countless carriages pulled beauties into the palace. After passing through layers of screening, the remaining beauties could finally meet the emperor in the Yu Garden.

Xu Yu's father was only a fifth-rank minister. Although she was not born into a good family, she had an outstanding appearance and was good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. Since she entered the palace, she had not encountered any difficulties and had a smooth journey to the stage of being selected by the emperor.

When she was a private scholar, she had heard of Consort Zhao's fame and had secretly read some vernacular biographies about the Emperor and Consort Zhao. However, she knew that these biographies were written by some down-and-out scholars who probably didn't even know which way the gate of the imperial palace opened.

The emperor is sentimental and beauty fades easily. She doesn't believe that the emperor will treat Concubine Zhao Gui as always. What is lacking in the harem is not women, but women who are ambitious.

The contestants stood in order. Although the weather was not very good today, most of them were still dressed elegantly and stood neatly in the cold wind.

The first to come were the concubines with higher ranks in the harem, Concubine Rou, Concubine Shugui, and Concubine Xian. I heard that Concubine Xian was once a noble concubine, but after the birth of the fourth prince, she was somehow demoted to a concubine and was not valued by the emperor. Although she had the title of concubine, she was not as honorable as Concubine Rou.

Concubine Shugui no longer cares about the affairs of the harem. Although people have come, her attention is not on the contestants, and she does not care about these gorgeous contestants.

"Concubine Zhao Gui is here!"

The contestants present were excited, because this was the rumored most favored concubine, So Gwi-bi. They knelt deeply, and could only see the long hem of her skirt sliding on the ground.

Xu Yu listened to the concubines exchanging greetings before she heard Consort Zhao Gui calling out. She stood up and took the opportunity to take a look at Consort Zhao Gui. She was a little surprised. Consort Zhao Gui was indeed very pretty, but not as pretty as Consort Shu Gui and Consort Rou. She looked very young, with very fair skin that matched her dark black hair. She had a smile in her eyes and did not have the arrogance that a favored concubine should have.

"There are so many beauties in this year's selection," Zhuang Yuyan sat down opposite Concubine Shugui, picked up the tea served by the palace maid, smiled slightly, glanced down, stroked the jade earrings on her ears, and turned to Concubine Rou and said, "Concubine Rou, what do you think?"

Concubine Rou glanced down and sneered, "There are a few who are worth showing off." After that, she didn't care what the contestants would think, and continued, "There is no shortage of such beauties in our harem."

Xu Yu, who was standing below, was a little unconvinced, but did not dare to refute. He just lowered his head honestly like the other contestants.

Another quarter of an hour later, they heard the eunuch announce that the emperor and empress had arrived.

Xu Xu's face turned red with excitement, but he could only kneel on the ground obediently, burying his head, and could only see the texture of the bluestone in front of him.

The emperor's voice was deep and pleasant to the ear. Xu Yu's face turned even redder. She had already begun to imagine what a handsome man the emperor was.

Feng Jian and the Queen sat down at the top. He glanced at the women kneeling below and said to the Queen, "Let's get started. I have something else to do at noon."

The Queen knew that the Emperor would have lunch with Consort Zhao and the Fourth Prince at noon, so she nodded and signaled the eunuch who was reading the book to start. She took a sip of tea, glanced at Zhuang Yuyan from the side, and saw that although she had a smile on her face, it seemed a bit forced. She sighed helplessly and said, "Consort Zhao, the dishes you sent to me a few days ago were very good, but my chef just couldn't make them taste as good. I'll have him come to your place to learn in a few days."

"If the Empress is pleased, I will let the cook serve in your palace. There is no need to go through so much trouble," Zhuang Yuyan said with a smile. "A few days ago, I asked for a cook from you. This is my return to you."

"Then I will accept it. Don't feel bad about it when the time comes," the queen said with a smile, and then she looked at the beauties being selected. Three groups had already left, and the emperor hadn't chosen any. She didn't care and continued to chat with Zhuang Yuyan.

"Xu Yu, daughter of Xu Jia, assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, is sixteen years old."

"Your humble servant pays respect to His Majesty, the Empress, and all the ladies." Xu Yu bowed gracefully, with a smile on her face that was just right, almost a little too much and a little too dull.

Feng Jin waved his hand to ask people to leave, then he glanced at the back and saw that there were not many contestants left, so he nodded slightly and signaled them to stay.

Xu Yu was delighted, but she bowed calmly and stepped aside. She was the first contestant to be left behind, which at least proved that the emperor had taken a liking to her.

Zhuang Yuyan glanced at the chosen girl, picked up the teacup and said slowly: "Your Majesty really has a good eye, what a stunning beauty."

The Queen took a look and said with a smile, "That's right."

Feng Jin glanced at the two of them, waved his hand, and asked the next group of people to leave. He then randomly pointed to a person and said, "No need to choose. All of you can go back."

For a moment, everyone was a little surprised. Only two beauties were chosen in this election? However, seeing the emperor's impatient expression, everyone did not dare to say anything and began to arrange for the unselected beauties to leave.

"Both of them should be given the title of Talented Lady. Your Majesty, you can arrange their accommodations," Feng Jian stood up and said to Zhuang Yuyan, "Let's go."

Zhuang Yuyan followed with a smile, not even looking at the two newly chosen concubines.

Xu Yu stared in a daze as Yu Nian left. Was that the emperor? He was so handsome and majestic. She stroked her slightly red cheeks and felt a little hot there.

Concubine Rou happened to see her action and smiled sarcastically.

Xihe Palace was quite lively today. The nearly four-year-old Fourth Prince Feng Qi was of a curious age. He was asking Feng Jin why the moon was not as bright as the sun even at night, when the night-shining pearls and candles were obviously brighter at night.

The dignified Emperor Chengxuan was puzzled by the young boy. He thought for a while before saying, "Because the sun is bigger than the moon, it is just because the sun is far away from us that they appear to be the same size."

Zhuang Yuyan on the side raised her eyebrows. This reason seemed to be good, but unfortunately the people here didn’t know that the moon didn’t shine at all.

"Then why is it that even if the big candle is far away from us, it doesn't seem to be as bright as the small candle that is close to us?" Feng Qi continued to ask, blinking his dark eyes as he looked up at Feng Jin. It was obvious that in his eyes, his father was omnipotent.

"..." Feng Jin regretted that he had told the child so many so-called "prenatal education stories". Otherwise, he would not be in the crisis of having too narrow knowledge.

"Because the moon is sleeping at night, the light is not bright enough." Zhuang Yuyan decided to restore Feng Jian's dignity.

"But the moon doesn't come out during the day, so why do we sleep at night?"

"Because the moon is lazy," Zhuang Luoyan touched his head and said seriously, "so people can't be lazy, otherwise they will be like the moon, not bright enough at night."

Feng Qi looked at his mother's serious expression and nodded solemnly, "Well, I won't be lazy!"

"Be good," Zhuang Yuyan continued to pat her, and sat back in the imperial concubine's chair lazily, "Then let's have dinner. After your afternoon nap, let Huang Yang take you to see the flowers you planted. When your father comes, you can learn to write."

Feng Qi nodded again and refused to be held. He sat down next to Zhuang Yuyan and turned to Feng Jian and said, "Father, you should eat more. Mother said you are working very hard."

Feng Jian sat down next to Zhuang Yuyan, smiled at her, and then said, "Then we should eat more buns, and protect our father and mother when we grow up."

"Hmm!" Feng Qi nodded his head heavily.

Zhuang Yuyan smiled at the father and son, then turned aside and began to wash her hands. For a man, if he knows that he is important in the hearts of women and children, he will often do better. This is the policy of encouragement.

The two new talents who entered the palace were soon forgotten. After all, the emperor had not summoned them for a month after they entered the palace, which showed that these newcomers would not be able to achieve anything.

Xu Xu lived in the deserted Changtian Tower. It was said that favored concubines had lived here in the past, but now only she and another talented person who had just entered the palace lived here. Every day they just stared blankly and ate. They didn't even have the qualifications to pay their respects to the empress, and they didn't dare to go anywhere else for fear of bumping into some noble person.

During the Qiqiao Festival, all the concubines in the palace, big and small, finally came out, each dressed up in their best, just hoping to meet the emperor by chance.

Xu Yu dressed up carefully and appeared in Yu Garden with her maids. On the way, she met many concubines of lower status. These women were older than her and not as pretty as her. She straightened her clothes and tried to make herself look more natural.

But before she could walk far, she saw the palace maids in front of her pushed aside like a tide. She looked carefully and found that it was the emperor and Consort Zhao Gui coming together. She hurried forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Feng Jin looked at the pink-dressed woman in front of him, frowned slightly and asked, "Who are you?" Didn't he hear the sound of Gao Dezhong clapping his hands to signal retreat?

"I am new to the palace..."

"You don't know the rules. Drag you away." Feng Jin frowned in annoyance when he saw her like this. "You are just a little talent, but you are dressed so inappropriately. You will be demoted to the lowest level of changing clothes and you are not allowed to appear in front of me in the future." After saying this, he walked away without caring about the other party's expression.

Zhuang Yuyan followed behind him and turned to look at the young talent, only to see her kneeling on the ground in panic.

She smiled faintly and said, look, another one is seeking death.

Turning back, Zhuang Yuyan had a faint smile on her lips as she looked at the figures that were avoiding her in front of her. Often, only those who are aware of the times can live a better life. That Xu Cairen even forgot who he was.