Chapter 56 Female Official Zhou
Zeng Heling understood the deeper meaning of her words.
It was because of her trust that she handed Yu Ying and Wu Ning over to him. Before forming cliques, Princess Shunde's idea was to have more talents available in the court.
Zeng Heling saw the carriage approaching and suddenly remembered something. He said hurriedly, "Your Highness has recommended Tingyi to serve in the capital, but he has a strong character, so I'm afraid Your Highness needs to pay more attention to him..."
After saying this, Zeng Heling couldn't help but feel nervous. After all, Princess Shunde and Yu Qian had only met once, and he also felt that he did not have the face to ask Princess Shunde to do something for him.
But she never expected that the Princess Shunde across from her would say with a smile: "Since I recommended him, how can I not protect him?"
In the sixth year of the Zhengtong reign, only the civil examinations were supposed to be held, but due to Zhu Qizhen's urging, the military examinations were also held. However, time was short, so only candidates from the two capitals could be selected to participate. While this was officially the case, in reality, most of the candidates were children of noble families, with a small number recommended by officials after a simple selection process.
One reason is that the preparation time was too short, and this was the first formal military examination in many years, so it was inevitable that officials would not be able to prepare enough. Such a small scale was also conducive to officials trying and correcting mistakes.
The second reason was to appease the children of these noble families and prove that Zhu Qizhen's words were golden and he was definitely not kidding them.
The court was busy and the palace was not relaxed either. It was easy for Zhu Qizhen to bring the people back, but it was not easy to settle them down.
The Ming Dynasty palace had no system for sending either palace maids or court ladies outside the palace. Only a small number of court ladies, granted special favors by the emperor, were allowed to retire from the palace. Even if these women escaped being buried alive with the emperor, they were never allowed to leave the palace and would eventually die of old age there. For this reason, after Hu Shanxiang became empress and then empress dowager, she rarely selected young women to serve as court ladies or maids.
As for these elderly female officials and palace maids, most of them were homeless after leaving the palace. Although those who could return home were free, they might not live any better in the palace. There were very few who could escape unscathed and enjoy honors like Hu Shanwei.
Each woman had her own place. Most of the women summoned to the palace could only become ordinary maids, but Zhou Yingying, due to her special circumstances, was awarded the position of female official. Of course, Zhou Yingying was officially a female official, but Hu Shanxiang, Empress Dowager Sun, and even the female officials knew that Zhou Yingying's status was a transitional position. When she was old enough, she could officially become Zhu Qizhen's concubine.
In fact, Zhou Yingying could have naturally transitioned to become a concubine in the future, just like Empress Dowager Sun, on the grounds that she was raised by the Empress Dowager. However, Zhu Qizhen himself did not want Zhou Yingying to have any entanglement with either Hu Shanxiang or Empress Dowager Sun, so he had to "suffer" Zhou Yingying for the time being.
As for the other Changping girls who followed Zhou Yingying into the palace, they were asked by the concubines of the Xuan Temple to work in their own palaces, which helped them share the pressure of jobs in other places.
They all knew that most of these girls were older than Zhou Yingying, and their chances of becoming the emperor's concubines in the future were very small. The reason they entered the palace was entirely because Zhu Qizhen needed a reason. Instead of doing so, it would be better for them to live with these concubines of the Xuan Temple. Those who wanted to succeed would naturally work hard, and those who didn't want to work hard would not be wronged by following them.
In this way, only Zhou Yingying was left to enjoy special treatment. She followed the female officials every day to receive instruction as a future concubine without having to worry about anything else.
Empress Dowager Sun was originally a little confused about Zhu Qizhen's move of bringing women into the palace, but after seeing Zhou Yingying, who stood out from the crowd, she immediately understood that Zhu Qizhen was paving the way for Zhou Yingying.
When Empress Dowager Sun heard that Zhou Yingying was born in the Changping Huangzhuang area, she almost immediately thought of Shunde Princess Zhu Yuhuan. Thinking of the maids in her own palace that Zhu Qizhen never even glanced at, Empress Dowager Sun was almost amused.
It's true that he played with the eagle all day and ended up getting his eyes pecked by the eagle!
"Old Lady Sun has arrived."
Hu Shanxiang hummed and said, "Let her in."
After all, Zhou Yingying was the future concubine, and she should meet Empress Dowager Sun. Hu Shanxiang called Empress Dowager Sun and all the concubines who were to be enthroned in the temple over.
Empress Dowager Sun came in and greeted Hu Shanxiang before sitting down. She said, "I heard that among the girls entering the palace this time, His Majesty favored one named Zhou the most and even appointed her a female official, just like the virtuous concubine she had been. Where is she now?"
Everyone could hear the subtle sarcasm in her tone and couldn't help but look at Wu Miaosu secretly. However, Concubine He Hui next to her was a little indignant. She held the handrail tightly with one hand, obviously trying to restrain herself from speaking.
Wu Miaosu, who was sitting opposite, smiled and replied, "I was born a palace maid, and later passed the examination to become a court lady. However, I am not as lucky as this court lady Zhou, who was appointed a court lady the moment she entered the palace. This shows how much Your Majesty appreciates her."
She pushed back with neither a soft nor a hard attitude. Empress Dowager Sun's face turned sour, and she forced a smile, "You're joking. It's her good fortune that she resembles Consort Xian. When you became a concubine, you had a prince not long after. Now Prince Qing is trusted by the Emperor. Who could be as lucky as you?"
Empress Dowager Sun's words were originally spoken in anger, originally intending to irritate Wu Miaosu, but she didn't show any annoyance at all. Instead, she responded, "If it is true, as the Empress Dowager said, then this Lady Zhou is truly lucky to have such a good fortune."
Hu Shanxiang cleared her throat and instructed the people around her, "Call Lady Zhou in."
"yes."
Everyone's eyes turned to the door, and they saw a person coming in with a tea tray. On it was a pot of tea and various snacks. She bowed and greeted obediently, then raised the tea tray to her chest, allowing everyone to see her true face.
Beneath her crescent-shaped brows were a pair of affectionate, peach-blossom eyes. She raised her gaze slightly, looking at everyone with such tenderness that both Empress Dowager Sun and the other concubines felt a pity for them. Yet, Zhou Yingying's every move was devoid of any sense of weakness; she was capable and shrewd, a stark contrast.
No wonder the emperor brought a country girl into the palace.
Although it is not yet the end of the first lunar month, Zhou Yingying is as bright as a spring day.
Even Empress Dowager Sun could not find any fault with her, and even felt that things had changed and people had changed.
She vaguely remembered the time when she first entered the palace to pay a visit to the Crown Princess, but at that time she was far less at ease than Zhou Yingying.
"I have recently learned some small skills from the ladies-in-waiting. Please appreciate them, my lady."
Seeing her graceful demeanor, Concubine He Hui couldn't help but praise her, "What a clever girl! I like her very much."
Zhou Yingying immediately responded sweetly, "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty."
Wu Miaosu vaguely saw some of Zhu Yuhuan's cunning in her, but Zhou Yingying was the complete opposite of her. She was always smooth with everyone, while Zhu Yuhuan disdained to show off his intelligence in front of people close to him.
If Zhu Qizhen's meeting with Zhou Yingying was not an accident but a deliberate act, then Wu Miaosu would almost immediately understand why she chose Zhou Yingying.
Zhou Yingying's cleverness is a kind of cleverness that cannot make any waves. If her "good luck" continues, she will become Hu Shanxiang with a son if she is smart, and she will become another Empress Dowager Sun if she is not smart.
Seeing how clever she was, Empress Dowager Sun couldn't help but clench her fists.
Although Empress Dowager Sun suspected that she was Zhu Yuhuan's confidant, she knew in her heart that Zhou Yingying would definitely win Zhu Qizhen's favor. If Zhu Qizhen did not choose a queen as soon as possible, then the eldest prince would most likely be born to Zhou Yingying...
Zhou Yingying's cooking skills are very good. Although the taste is not as good as that of the palace kitchen, it is still pretty good. The concubines all praised her.
This is the future emperor's concubine, perhaps the first person in the emperor's harem, and she was brought back by Zhu Qizhen himself. It is very necessary to maintain a good relationship with her.
Empress Dowager Sun twitched her lips, then looked at Hu Shanxiang and said, "After the mourning period for the Grand Empress Dowager is over, it will be time to choose a queen for Your Majesty. What does Empress Dowager Cihui think?"
If Zhou Yingying is already Zhu Yuhuan's woman, then she must ensure that the next queen stands on her side!
Hu Shanxiang remained silent, saying, "Choosing a queen is no small matter. It must be decided by the emperor himself. Furthermore, the cabinet and the six ministries must be mobilized. It's not a trivial matter, so there's no need to rush."
Empress Dowager Sun did not take Hu Shanxiang's words to heart. She just glanced at Zhou Yingying and saw that she was still calm and did not show any regret at all. She felt a tightness in her heart.
How could most people be as calm as Zhou Yingying when they heard that their loved one was getting married?
Zhou Yingying had already been prepared by Zhu Yuhuan, so naturally she would not have any unnecessary emotions.
What's more important is that these concubines are nominally Zhu Qizhen's stepmothers. Although they cannot have any influence on Zhu Qizhen like Empress Dowager Hu and Empress Dowager Sun, they still need to be respected. Otherwise, if any of them complains behind her back and the news gets to Zhu Qizhen, it will not be a good thing for her.
No matter how she stirred it, the lake remained calm. Empress Dowager Sun turned her head away with some displeasure.
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