Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 833 Self-concealment
Empress Dowager Xie and Grand Empress Dowager Wu both knew that Li Fengniang, the daughter of the commander-in-chief of the imperial armies stationed in Ezhou, was unwilling to enter the palace because she already had someone in her heart.

Zhao Ning'er said.

Zhao Yuan had only one daughter, and Xie and Wu doted on her very much.

She is also willing to tell her mother and grandmother whatever is on her mind.

Wu didn't agree with what Zhao Ning'er said.

In order to minimize disturbance to the public, the Song Dynasty selected girls between the ages of thirteen to seventeen only from Lin'an and surrounding prefectures and counties.

As for other places, only the daughters of officials of appropriate age would be selected from the yellow book to go to Beijing.

Once selected into the palace, if she was the daughter of an official, she would be given some status, such as being named a talented person.

It was impossible for the imperial court to allow an official's daughter to be an ordinary maid in the palace.

Once she was given the title, she was destined to be the emperor's concubine, and she would never be able to leave the palace until the emperor died.

Therefore, knowing that Li Dao's daughter already has someone, why force her to stay in the palace?
The emperor has too many choices. One more or one less would not make much difference.

Besides, Wu and Xie are both women, and they can sympathize with Li Fengniang in this regard.

Now it was Ning'er's rare opportunity to ask them for help, so the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager naturally agreed.

The two palaces arrived at Zhong Meitang and saw Li Fengniang's name on the list of only 37 people at a glance.

The Empress Dowager said, "Li Fengniang? There is a word 'Feng' in her name. She is very suitable for my eyes. Let's call her first."

Li Fengniang was ranked 28th on the list, but the palace maids and eunuchs serving in the palace knew that it was the Empress Dowager who disrupted the ranking rules, so they naturally would not find fault with her.

This is the Empress Dowager.

Since King Kang of the Song Dynasty moved south, it was almost like re-establishing a dynasty.

The Wu family was the one who accompanied the founder of the new dynasty, Zhao Gou, from being displaced to ascending the throne, helping him all the way.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Wu had a very high prestige in the Song Dynasty.

It's just a small matter, who would dare to find fault with her?

Li Fengniang was brought up first.

As soon as Li Fengniang entered Zhong Meitang, she saw Zhao Ning'er standing pretty beside the Queen Mother.

As soon as she saw her come in, Zhao Ning'er winked at her.

Li Fengniang immediately felt relieved and at ease.

She almost got into trouble this time. If she had known it was so dangerous, she would have got a thick incense stick and burned two scars on her arm.

In that case, she would have been eliminated directly during the physical examination, and she wouldn't have to ask Princess Jiaguo for help and trouble the two palaces to step in.

When Mrs. Wu took a look at Li Fengniang, she found that she was very beautiful despite her young age.

More importantly, her beauty is extremely bright and elegant, and she really has some of the temperament of a mother of the nation.

Wu couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

This little girl is really good-looking.

It's a pity that she already has a lover, and I promised Ning'er. Otherwise, I would really like to make her the queen.

Xie looked Li Fengniang up and down, showing a somewhat satisfied look, and asked, "Li Fengniang, are you proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting?"

Li Fengniang said, "Your Majesty, I am a dull girl, and I only know a little bit about music, chess, calligraphy and painting."

Mrs. Wu smiled slightly and said, "Oh, then you can play the piece "Three Variations on Plum Blossoms"."

Today is the final interview, which is to ask some questions, observe their conversation and temperament, and then let them show their talents.

So things like music, chess, calligraphy and painting are placed aside.

Li Fengniang agreed respectfully, walked to the back of the piano and sat down, plucking the strings to test the sound, and then began to play.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Zhao Ning'er couldn't help but burst out laughing.

When she smiled, the palace maids and eunuchs couldn't help themselves.

But they didn't dare to laugh out loud, their shoulders just kept shaking and their faces turned red.

Li Fengniang seemed unaware of how poor her piano skills were and was still working hard to "pluck the cotton".

She had no choice but to resort to fists, kicks and sticks. She was not proficient in the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but she had learned some of them, so she was not out of tune.

However, she passed the first three levels smoothly, and now she was really scared.

First of all, her piano skills are not very good, and if she is a little more deliberate, it would be almost like playing cotton.

"That's all!"

Empress Dowager Xie frowned. She had guessed that Li Fengniang was putting on an act.

Although she had already promised her daughter and didn't think the emperor had to marry Li Fengniang, she still felt a little unhappy.

Are you so unwilling to marry into the royal family?
Fortunately, Zhao Kai was not Empress Dowager Xie’s biological son, otherwise she would be even more unhappy if he despised the little emperor.

Xie said, "Come forward and write a poem... The Song of the Wandering Son."

Li Fengniang agreed, stood up quickly, walked to the other side of the desk, and picked up a pen.

When Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Xie saw the way she held the pen...

Well, it is written as if it is a dog's crawl. I predicted your prediction.

Grand Empress Dowager Wu turned to Empress Dowager Xie and asked with a smile, "Empress Dowager, what do you think of this girl?"

Mrs. Xie said calmly, "Mrs. Li Feng's behavior is quite dignified, but her talent is mediocre. How could someone like her pass three levels?"

These words were already filled with a tone of reproach. The eunuchs and the female officials who were in charge of the selection of the imperial concubines knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed, saying, "I admit my guilt."

Wu looked at Li Fengniang and ordered, "Li Fengniang is the daughter of a minister. If she stays in the palace as an ordinary maid, it would be an insult to the minister by my family.

But if we give her an identity, the royal family will inevitably be ridiculed by the world." Wu waved her hand and said, "This girl does not meet the standards of a concubine, send her out of the palace."

The eunuch in charge of the selection was a little embarrassed, but he hesitated to speak.

This selection was held to enrich the harem, so most of the remaining 36 beauties are daughters of officials in various states, prefectures and counties.

If it was announced in public that the Emperor had other concerns about Li Fengniang, and that it violated the rules of the royal selection, wouldn't the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor all be unhappy?

What would the women from official families present think after hearing this?
Thinking of this, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

Zhao Ning'er immediately said, "Didn't you hear the orders of the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager? Send Li Fengniang out of the palace and send her back to her hometown as soon as possible, and let her get married."

Zhao Ning'er waved her hand and winked at Li Fengniang, then two young eunuchs came forward and led Li Fengniang out.

For any concubine who has passed the first three levels, there is basically no possibility of being eliminated unless she has major flaws.

Just like the imperial examinations today, as long as one passes the Ministry of Rites examination, the status of Jinshi is almost certain.

The so-called palace examination was mainly to give the emperor an interview opportunity to decide the top three candidates.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a tribute scholar named Zhang Yuan who was eliminated in the palace examination. In a fit of anger, he defected to Western Xia.

Nowadays, such a strange thing has appeared in the imperial court selection of the Song Dynasty.

If this matter were to spread, it would damage Li Fengniang's reputation.

But given her personality, once she makes up her mind, she won't look back, so why would she care about these things?

Zhao Qi returned from the Qinzheng Hall with a gloomy face.

Most of the officials in the Eastern Palace had to perform salute outside the Meridian Gate according to their ranks.

But these are his team, a group of people he will have to rely on in the future, and he cannot ignore their thoughts.

He just went to deal with it personally and instructed the officials of the Ministry of Rites to handle special matters and allow these officials from the Eastern Palace to meet and pay respects in the Daqing Hall.

This was actually against the rules, but since the emperor had spoken personally, it was the emperor's will.

With a reason to shirk responsibility, the officials from the Ministry of Rites were too lazy to care about it anymore.

After settling this matter, Zhao Kai rushed to Zhong Meitang again.

Li Fengniang left Zhong Meitang and found several beautiful girls with whom she got along well at Helin Palace to say goodbye one by one.

She was talking to a concubine when she heard a shrill voice in the distance shouting, "The emperor has arrived!"

The beautiful ladies who were waiting in front of Zhong Meitang bowed and saluted.

They all had the opportunity to become the little emperor's women and were very curious about Zhao Kai.

So during the blessing ceremony, they all looked at him secretly.

Li Fengniang was also a little curious about Zhao Kai. Although she did have a crush on him, she was still a little curious about the king of a country.

Li Fengniang was just about to look up quietly to see what the emperor looked like when she saw a pair of bright yellow dragon-patterned boots stop in front of her.

"What's your name?"

Li Fengniang looked up subconsciously and was met with two burning gazes.

With just this one look, the image of the emperor in Li Fengniang's mind collapsed.

A young man of sixteen or seventeen, his appearance cannot be said to be ugly, but he is not handsome either.

Especially compared with a martial artist like Yang Yuan who has cultivated both inner and outer strength, his posture and temperament are far inferior.

There were a lot of pimples on his cheeks, which made Li Fengniang even more displeased.

"Your humble servant Li Fengniang greets the emperor."

When Zhao Kai heard this, he was slightly stunned.

Now there are thirty-seven beauties left to be selected, all of them are very beautiful.

But among the crowd, Zhao Kai noticed Li Fengniang at a glance.

It was so bright, just like the moon among the stars. After just one look, he no longer noticed anyone else.

It turns out that she is Li Fengniang...

Zhao Kai's eyes drifted away for a moment, then he smiled and nodded.

"Li Fengniang, what a good name. I remember it."

Grand Empress Dowager Wu and Empress Dowager Xie helped Zhao Ning'er "rescue" Li Fengniang, so there was no need to disrupt the review of other people.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Xie directly read out the name of the first concubine on the list.

When Zhao Qi saw Zhong Meitang calling for the concubines to come in, he nodded to Li Fengniang, smiled slightly, and walked into Zhong Meitang.

This Li Fengniang is very good.

He decided to make an exception and confer the title of Li Fengniang as one of the six highest concubines.

The Empress Dowager was about to ask the concubine she had called in a question when she saw Zhao Qi walk in. She couldn't help but smile and said, "The Emperor is here."

Zhao Ning'er bowed to Zhao Qie and said, "Royal brother."

Zhao Kai smiled and saluted the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

Empress Dowager Xie asked Zhao Ke to sit down with her, handed him the list, and said with a smile: "The emperor has come at the right time, let's take a look together."

Zhao Qi asked, "Mother, which one is this concubine?"

Xie said: "Qian Mengdie, the first one is it."

Zhao Qi looked at the list and saw that Li Fengniang was ranked 28th.

Zhao Qi smiled slightly and looked at Zhen Mengdie's face calmly.

(End of this chapter)