Chapter 263 Beauty

Since Jun Zechen returned from the three-year expedition, the empress dowager prepared to select beauties for the emperor, but the emperor decisively refused.

After this, the empress dowager was at a loss as to what to do with the emperor and could only sigh helplessly.

The fourth year of Chongwu.

In the court, a group of court officials spoke to His Majesty in earnest and requested Him to start the selection of beauties in order to enrich the harem and prolong the royal heir.

However, Jun Zechen seemed to have heard nothing and remained indifferent.

Finally, these court officials turned to the Queen Mother for help.

But the emperor had already issued an express ban on the beauty pageant. Was she, as a mother, going to take the lead in disobeying her son's imperial edict?

The Queen Mother sat in the palace, her brows furrowed, her heart filled with confusion.

Finally, she came up with an idea to have her ministers present beauties instead of holding a large-scale pageant.

After listening to An Shun's report, Jun Zechen frowned slightly and pinched his forehead with one hand, seeming a little helpless.

After a moment's silence, he finally stopped objecting to his mother's actions.

Three months later, the Queen Mother carefully selected five beauties to enter the palace. This time, she did not pay much attention to the family background of the beauties she selected.

These five beauties have different styles, yet in every detail, they all have some similarities with the deceased queen.

After the five beauties entered the palace, they did not dare to delay for a moment and went directly to Cining Palace to pay homage to the Queen Mother.

When they arrived at Cining Palace, the six concubines had already arrived early.

The five beauties walked to the center and saluted the Queen Mother and the ladies one by one.

The Queen Mother's gaze fell on five beauties. These five were carefully selected from the many beauties that were presented to her by the maids who had previously met the Queen.

The purpose is to find someone who looks like the queen.

"Raise your head." The Queen Mother said sternly.

Upon hearing this, the five beauties slowly raised their heads, with smiles of similar arcs on their faces, as a result of having been strictly trained in the palace rules.

The Queen Mother's attention was instantly attracted by the second beauty on the right.

It really is like that.

"You, take a few steps forward."

The Queen Mother pointed her finger at the woman in the goose-yellow palace dress.

The woman was a little surprised, but because of her good upbringing, she did not show it and walked out as she was told.

"What's your name?" asked the Queen Mother.

"My name is Bai Yingyue, and my father is Bai Xi, the Minister of the Imperial College." The woman lowered her head slightly and answered softly.

The Queen Mother nodded slightly.

Although her family background is not high, her appearance is quite good.

Lin Miaoyin also shifted her gaze to Bai Yingyue's face at this time, with a hint of inquiry in her eyes.

She had long heard that the Queen Mother was selecting a woman who looked like the Queen. When she first heard the news, she did not take it seriously and even secretly despised it in her heart.

The Queen has no sisters, how similar can they be?

She didn't believe there was anyone who could compare to the Queen.

But when she actually saw Bai Yingyue's face, she couldn't help but be shocked.

Bai Yingyue's face is 60% like the empress, but her temperament and demeanor are naturally not as arrogant and willful as the empress had when she was in the Eastern Palace.

"Please sit down," the Queen Mother said gently.

"Thank you, Queen Mother."

All the women responded in unison and then sat down one after another.

After meeting them, the empress dowager conferred titles on each of the beauties according to their appearance and family background.

Bai Yingyue was named a fifth-rank beauty because of her outstanding appearance.

That night, the Queen Mother had Lady Bai carried to the Qianqing Palace.

When An Shun saw that the beauty had been sent to the West Palace, he couldn't help but look embarrassed and had to bite the bullet and go to report to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Lady Bai has already arrived at the West Palace. Would you like to go over and take a look? The Queen Mother said that she specially selected this for you according to your preferences."

Jun Zechen frowned when he heard that. His beautiful sword-like eyebrows seemed to be twisted into a knot, and a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.

His preferences?

In the past few years, he has had no thought of touching a woman and has almost returned to the state of health preservation in his previous life.

How does the Queen Mother know his preferences?

This is simply ridiculous.

"Send her back." Jun Zechen said in a cold tone.

"The Queen Mother sent someone to say that this beauty must be favored by Your Majesty, and asked Your Majesty to go and see her."

Cold sweat appeared on An Shun's forehead, and his voice became lower and lower.

The impatience between Jun Zechen's brows became more and more obvious.

But he didn't want to offend his mother again and again. After a moment's silence, he finally stood up and walked towards the west hall.

Bai Yingyue sat on the edge of the bed, her hands folded on her legs, her body stiffened straight, looking very nervous.

She was wearing thin clothes, and the slight coolness made her cheeks turn pink.

Jun Zechen walked in, and the sound of his footsteps was quite loud in the quiet west hall.

When Bai Yingyue heard the sound, she stood up quickly and bowed respectfully and properly.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Get up."

Jun Zechen's voice was cold and distant. He didn't even look at her. He just passed her and lay down on the bed in the west hall, one hand casually resting on his forehead and the other hand holding a book.

Bai Yingyue was at a loss for a moment. After a long while, she mustered up the courage to whisper, "Your Majesty?"

Jun Zechen heard her voice and moved his gaze from the book to her.

The originally casual and scattered gaze suddenly froze the moment it touched her face.

Is this the beauty that the Queen Mother mentioned to find according to his preferences?

Jun Zechen's face turned gloomy in an instant, his lips were tightly pursed, and his lines were straight and stiff.

He stood up suddenly, with such force that a gust of wind was created, and then he walked out without saying a word.

Bai Yingyue was completely confused by the sudden change. She didn't know why she had offended His Majesty, and she became even more panicked and at a loss.

She knelt on the ground with a thump, her voice filled with tears: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Did I do something wrong?"

Jun Zechen just walked to the door and stopped when he heard her pleading.

He turned his head slowly, looked at her coldly, and said coldly: "Get up."

He really couldn't stand the sight of her kneeling on the ground so humbly with a face similar to hers.

At this moment, Jun Zechen suddenly had another idea in his mind.

Since the Queen Mother thinks he likes this, then let her see how he likes it, so that the Queen Mother won't be trying to find ways to put women into his Qianqing Palace every day.

No one can suppress the noble concubine in the palace now, because she has a prince and a good family background. Her mother lets her take care of the harem, and her ambition has grown. She even dares to covet the position of empress.

Then find her something to do.

Thinking of this, Jun Zechen lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and no longer looked at Bai Yingyue.

Bai Yingyue sat motionless beside the bed, not daring to breathe, feeling extremely uneasy.

When the time was almost up, Jun Zechen got up and returned to his bedroom, leaving Bai Yingyue sitting alone on the bed, not knowing what to do.

An Shun walked in with a smile on his face.

"Lady Bai, you have worked hard in serving His Majesty tonight. I will send someone to take you back."

Bai Yingyue became more and more confused, her beautiful eyes were full of confusion and she bit her lower lip lightly.

She did nothing tonight, but...

She raised her eyes and looked at Eunuch Anshun. She saw that there seemed to be a deeper meaning in his words. Although she had many doubts in her heart, she did not say anything more.

She knew in her heart that His Majesty had not summoned the ladies in the harem for many years.

Since she came today and stayed in the West Palace for such a long time, even if she has a low position and a humble family background, I think no one in the harem would dare to bully her easily.

Among the five new concubines who entered the palace, she did not have the highest family background, but she won the favor of the empress dowager and was the first to be sent to the Qianqing Palace.

So naturally she couldn't let the other concubines know that she didn't sleep with him tonight.

On the second day, the news that His Majesty favored Lady Bai spread quickly in the harem like wings, causing waves of uproar.

Lin Miaoyin originally thought that she had been able to let go of His Majesty long ago. Even though His Majesty had not summoned his concubines for many years, she still had the prince by her side and was in charge of the palace. Given time, it was not impossible for her to become the empress.

But now, here comes a white beauty who looks like the queen!

The calmness she had carefully maintained was instantly broken, and her eyes were filled with jealousy and uneasiness that were difficult to conceal.

Since the day His Majesty favored Concubine Bai, he would summon Concubine Bai to the Qianqing Palace almost every few days.

When the empress dowager saw that the emperor finally began to favor his concubines, she felt relieved and the relief on her face became more and more obvious.

But the other concubines in the harem who were not favored could only secretly envy Lady Bai. No matter whether they were new concubines or former East Palace elders, they all dared to be angry but not to speak out.

Lady Bai's rank would rise every few months, and in just one year, she became a concubine, a position even higher than that of some of the old ladies in the Eastern Palace who had good family backgrounds.

When Bai Yingyue first entered the palace, she was cautious and careful.

But ever since she discovered that His Majesty would stand by her side without hesitation whenever any concubine made things difficult for her or punished her, she became more and more bold.

Now, even when facing the imperial concubine, she didn't take her seriously at all.

In this harem, her pomp and circumstance became more and more grand, and her arrogance became more and more strong.

The fifth year of Chongwu.

Jun Zechen dressed in the clothes of ordinary people, deliberately concealed his whereabouts strictly, and went south to Jiangzhou with some concubines and several ministers.

Although the concubines were dressed simply, they still couldn't hide their tenderness and nobility.

The three princes also followed. The second and third princes were very excited, but the eldest prince was unperturbed.

On the other hand, after touring the dynasty, Ning Qian came to Jiangzhou with Li Jing and Zhongli Mingchuan.

They took a fancy to a courtyard in Jiangzhou and planned to live there for two months before moving on to their next destination.