After breakfast, Gan Qiongying forcibly sent the two shadow guards back to sleep, then dressed up a little and wandered around the streets.
Finally, they went to the place where the opera was being performed, managed to get a table, bought two side dishes, and easily found out what she wanted to know.
They also found out that the Crown Prince's residence had 500 maids per household, but they had only found 200 so far, mainly because the selection criteria were too strict.
Phoenix eyes are secondary; even size is a requirement.
As he spoke, the man looked Gan Qiongying up and down, and then said to her, "If you were a young woman, your height would be just right."
Gan Qiongying chuckled and scratched her nose.
I inexplicably felt like I'd been force-fed a mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).
The standard set by the Crown Prince of Jinchuan... if he wasn't trying to find someone who resembled Wanwan, then he was probably looking for someone based on her standards.
"Where can I meet His Highness the Crown Prince?" Gan Qiongying asked casually.
It's unlikely that they could go directly into the palace to find someone. Regardless of how much control Li Hua has over the palace in Jinchuan, Gan Qiongying guessed that Li Hua must have many enemies.
All those in power have countless enemies. If Gan Qiongying were to appear rashly and fall into the hands of these people, it would only cause more trouble for Li Hua.
"Want to see His Highness the Crown Prince? Easy!" The old man shook his head, clearly a bit drunk, because Gan Qiongying had bought him two plates of beans, one boiled and one stir-fried, and he was quite nice to Gan Qiongying.
"His Highness the Crown Prince recently led his troops to inspect the border. When he returns to the city, find a window seat on the second floor of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, and you'll see him!"
"The Peony Hall on the east side! That's the best view. You can not only see His Highness the Crown Prince, but if the girls throw handkerchiefs at him, you can just casually hand one over in the Peony Hall and he'll be right there!"
"But the Peony Hall isn't easy to snag," the old man said, shaking his head. "The line of women in the capital who want to seduce the Crown Prince stretches from one end of the street to the other... It's because our Crown Prince has always looked down on those noble ladies..."
Gan Qiongying scratched her temple again, and inquired with great interest, as if listening to gossip: "So many people like him and want to marry him?"
"Of course!" the old man slammed his hand on the table and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince is wise and mighty! He led an army once last year! Just that one time! Not only did he defeat the enemy army on the border, but he even devised a plan to behead the enemy general!"
"That's the head of Lugu Tu, the general of the Changye Kingdom who has been harassing our Jinchuan border for years, committing all sorts of atrocities including burning, killing, looting and plundering!"
"Rumor has it that this man is eight feet tall, stands like a bear, and his weapon can sweep away the heads of a large number of cavalrymen!"
The old man seemed to get excited, slapping his hand on the table, making the plate and the beans inside pop and crackle.
"I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince had traps dug on the battlefield overnight, not only burying all the cavalrymen of that 'live bear' alive to death, but also luring him into the trap, where his swift horse was stabbed so badly that his intestines were torn apart! As he crawled out of the pit, His Highness the Crown Prince immediately struck him with his sword—"
"Just cut his head off!"
As the old man finished speaking, several people around him joined in the jeering and banging on the table.
It was even more lively than the opera on stage.
Gan Qiongying clapped her hands after hearing this, it sounded very exciting... her Lihua is really amazing.
Gan Qiongying certainly wouldn't believe that Zhongli Zhengzhen was the one who could go to the battlefield and devise a plan to take the enemy's head.
"The bloody human head wasn't even wrapped in cloth; it was just hanging in front of the horse, swaying with every step! At that time, all the young women and wives in the capital went crazy, throwing flowers and handkerchiefs at His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Gan Qiongying knew what was going on and didn't pry any further. She then heard another story about a young eunuch secretly admiring a palace concubine, and was once again shocked by the openness of Jinchuan.
This can actually be sung?
But I must say, it was actually quite exciting!
After listening with great interest, Gan Qiongying figured out two ways to get closer to Lihua.
One was to spend a fortune to book the Peony Hall of Zuixianlou, waiting there day after day, hoping that when her Crown Prince returned to the city with his troops, she would appear from the window of the Peony Hall and call out to him so that he could see her.
Another way is... to participate in the selection of maids for the Eastern Palace.
The former requires a lot of money to support it, but Gan Qiongying is not poor now... She lives in a superior house, and she was also given a lot of travel expenses for her full-month celebration.
However, she is definitely not comparable to when she was Princess Duanrong.
Most of the money was used to aid disaster victims... and we no longer had the ability to spend money lavishly.
For many months now, her beloved husband, the God of Wealth, hasn't given her 200,000 taels of silver every month.
Gan Qiongying reluctantly inquired and found out that she could afford to book the Peony Hall of Zuixianlou, but if she wanted to keep it there to wait for people... she was afraid it would be difficult to wait until Li Hua returned with his people.
Moreover, what Gan Qiongying cannot be certain of now is whether the person in charge of the army is Li Hua or Zhongli Zhengzhen, who is controlled by Li Hua.
If you spend all your money to book the Peony Hall, and what if you wait and wait and end up with Zhongli Zhengzhen instead? That would be... not only a waste of time, but also an easy fall into the hands of the enemy.
Gan Qiongying did not believe that Zhongli Zhengzhen, with his personality, would really submit to Li Hua. Even if he was forced to submit, he would definitely find an opportunity to retaliate.
Gan Qiongying couldn't be so foolish as to give the other side leverage over her.
Therefore, the safest way is to slightly change one's appearance and then participate in the selection of maids for the Crown Prince's residence.
Once she becomes a maid, she will definitely see Li Hua in the Crown Prince's residence. Moreover, Gan Qiongying will be able to tell the difference between Li Hua and Zhongli Zhengzhen at a glance, which will ensure that there are no mistakes.
So Gan Qiongying shopped until evening and bought two sets of dresses and some jewelry to adorn herself.
Early the next morning, escorted by Shadow One and Shadow Two from a distance, she ran to the gate of the Crown Prince's residence... to queue up for the selection of the Crown Prince's beautiful maids.
It really was a queue, and a long one that took at least an hour.
This Crown Prince's residence... is not the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, but a separate residence set up by the Crown Prince in the world to receive guests and select the Crown Prince's concubines and maids.
But with so many people here so early in the morning, His Highness the Crown Prince must be incredibly popular.
Moreover... these people were all graceful and charming, with a variety of figures, though they might not have reached the level of being breathtakingly beautiful.
But each has its own charm, and Gan Qiongying suddenly... became a little insecure.
Although she had a pair of standard phoenix eyes, and after some minor cosmetic enhancements, her appearance was above average, her age... was still not as fresh and tender as these flower-like young girls.
Their temperaments are all different. They are like the sun at six or seven in the morning, but Gan Qiongying already exudes a mature woman's charm that cannot be concealed by makeup.
What will she do if she doesn't get selected?
Are you suggesting we send two shadow guards to risk their lives to break into the Crown Prince's palace and deliver a message to her?
No, no... The Eastern Palace is the imperial palace of Jinchuan, and it must be heavily guarded. No matter how high the martial arts skills of Shadow One and Shadow Two are, Gan Qiongying would not dare to let them take any risks.
What if the other side also has shadow guards? What if they mistake them for assassins and kill them?
And what if they don't recognize which prince consort it is, like Ying Jiu did before, risking serious injury but still delivering the letter to the wrong person?
Despite all her worries, she ultimately decided that choosing a maid was the safest option.
After selecting a maid, first check who the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace is. If it's not Li Hua, then you just need to wait for a while until Li Hua returns.
Gan Qiongying took a deep breath and pulled a small mirror from her sleeve to check her makeup.
She's so beautiful! Although she's not exactly energetic, her smile is incredibly charming.
Moreover, Gan Qiongying puffed out her chest, feeling that her chances of winning were quite high.
Because after looking around, she realized her breasts were the biggest!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com