Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 467 Qionglin Banquet 3
After all, an imperial marriage is always an extremely glorious event.

Although the current Emperor Longwu has no daughters, the women he is bestowing upon for marriage are all outstanding women selected through a nationwide talent search, each one one in ten thousand!
To some extent, these women who were selected to enter the palace were basically the emperor's choice for wives!

Furthermore, since these women were selected to stay in the palace through the imperial selection process, they were all carefully chosen by the palace after a thorough investigation of their family background, origins, character, appearance, and so on.

After all, the imperial palace's selection process has always been extremely rigorous! Even the smallest flaw can lead to a woman's elimination!
It can be said that for some people, except for the super-nobles, being able to marry a wife who has passed through layers of selection is like a super pie falling from the sky!
Moreover, Emperor Longwu actually married these young women off according to the regulations for county princesses! Instead of the men marrying into the royal family!
In this way, the bride's dowry is substantial, and the groom doesn't have to worry about being unable to support her after marriage, nor does he have to worry about the bride being superior to him after the wedding! It can be said that the Emperor and Empress's arrangement is a great show of respect to the groom!

At the same time, there is an even more important point! To some extent, these young ladies-in-waiting would have two families after they got married! One was their original family, and the other was the Empress, who married them off!
And the royal family was the strongest family for these young ladies-in-waiting! It was the source of their confidence! It was also the source of their confidence! And it was the source of their confidence for the future generations of their families!

Could this also be interpreted, to some extent, as marrying them making one the emperor's son-in-law? At this moment, many scholars had already considered this deeper aspect!

"Please, all unmarried scholars and those who are not engaged, pick up the pens on the table and write your names on the bamboo slips."

After they were written, the eunuchs would collect all the bamboo slips. The eldest prince, Zhu Qiyu, stood on the terrace and explained very clearly that unmarried and unengaged scholars should write down their names.

Zhu Qiyu's words immediately left the married or engaged scholars utterly astonished. After all, none of them had expected the Emperor to bestow wives upon them at this time!

Who could have foreseen this?!

For a time, a variety of complex emotions spread among the scholars who were already married or engaged.

Some scholars at the scene were even fantasizing about taking advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters.

However, they knew even more clearly that such opportunistic behavior was absolutely not going to work!

After all, the Emperor isn't a fool! Nor is the court! Since the court dared to grant this marriage in front of so many of them, it means that the court must have basic information about all of them!
No one would be foolish enough to think that the Imperial Guards were just sitting around doing nothing!
Besides, the scholars were all classmates, and they knew and understood each other!
Everyone knows perfectly well who's married and who's not! There's no point in lying at this point!

If someone takes it seriously and exposes the lie in front of so many people, then we're really doomed!
At this moment, all the scholars knew clearly that if anyone tried to be clever at this time, their losses would only be greater in the future!

After all, a dishonest minister will certainly not be favored by the emperor, much less by the future emperor!
Neither the evil emperor nor the future emperor can bear the consequences!

Immediately after the eldest prince Zhu Qiyu finished speaking, some scholars picked up the writing brushes on the table and the small bamboo tokens, no bigger than a thumb, placed in the corner of the table, and began to carefully write their names!

After the scholars finished writing, little eunuchs emerged from the hidden corners on both sides of Qionglin Garden, accurately approaching each scholar who had written their name and taking away the bamboo slips that had already been written!
The scene before their eyes shocked many scholars!
After all, the fact that these young eunuchs were so skilled and knew exactly how each unmarried scholar wrote meant that the emperor had a detailed grasp of the basic information about each of these scholars!

After all, the fact that the eunuchs could accurately collect the bamboo slips from each scholar who had written their name was itself a testament to their extreme control!

Soon, the young eunuch holding the bamboo tally sticks quickly gathered them all together and handed them to another eunuch to present them on the terrace.

"All of you unmarried scholars have already written your names on bamboo slips, and they have all been collected by me. I just glanced at them, and there are probably over a hundred slips; I won't count the exact number."

However, I know that all of you scholars are honest people, and not one of you would joke with me on this matter! Looking at the bamboo tally presented by the eunuch, Zhu Qiyu only glanced at it lightly and then stopped paying attention. Then, he said these words to the group of scholars with a profound meaning.

This immediately sent a jolt through the hearts of the scholars! They knew that the Crown Prince's words meant he had an absolute grasp of all their information!

Fortunately, we didn't take any risks, otherwise we would have been doomed! A very few scholars breathed a long sigh of relief after hearing the Crown Prince's words!

Xia Yuanji, sitting below, looked on with a look of satisfaction as he watched his grandson's performance on the terrace.

Right behind the eldest prince Zhu Qiyu, Xiao Xizi had already opened the wooden box in his hand and stuffed all the bamboo tokens he had collected into it!
"Put the screen up!" After seeing that Xiao Xizi had finished packing all the bamboo tallies, the eldest prince Zhu Qiyu waved his hand and ordered everyone to put the screen up.

After the eldest prince Zhu Qiyu spoke, no one responded.

Amidst the astonished expressions of the officials and scholars below the terrace, a row of eunuchs appeared not far away, carrying screens and scrolls, heading towards the spacious area reserved directly below the terrace.

Soon, screens were set up one by one, and scrolls were unfurled and hung in one corner of each screen.

Upon closer inspection, everyone discovered that there were as many as eighteen screens in total! And the scrolls hanging on the screens were portraits of the young ladies-in-waiting, along with their identities and other information!
Immediately afterward, to the astonishment of the scholars and officials, a line of elegant and beautiful women dressed in the attire of imperial concubines, their faces veiled, appeared from a distance.

Moreover, as if they had rehearsed, they walked straight behind the screens, leaving everyone with only their beautiful silhouettes reflected on the screens!

"My fellow officials and scholars."

As you can see, there are eighteen screens in front of you, and behind the screens are eighteen young women!
"These young ladies were all personally selected by Her Majesty the Empress!" Zhu Qiyu waved his hand, pointed at the young ladies standing behind the screen below the terrace, and loudly addressed the scholars and officials below the terrace.

Seeing the surprised looks on the faces of the officials below the terrace, Zhu Qiyu spoke again!

"As for the method of bestowing a marriage, it's very simple!"

Each of the young ladies will personally hold the bamboo tablet filled with the names of the scholars, and the Empress will personally draw lots for them!

"When Her Majesty the Empress draws the name of that scholar, she will bestow the maiden carrying the chest into marriage with him!" Zhu Qiyu briefly explained the method of bestowing marriages by drawing lots.

It has to be said that this method of bestowing a marriage is really simple and direct!
When the eldest prince Zhu Qiyu uttered these words, the scholars and officials present were all astonished.

(End of this chapter)