After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 124 The Beautiful and Charming Xue Baoqin

On this day, Chu Yan summoned his ministers in the Linjing Hall. Suddenly, two guards led a man in. The eunuch Xia Shouzhong was startled, thinking it was a mutiny. But when he saw the two guards on duty outside the Linjing Hall bowing and saluting, he realized that the man had not broken in without permission.

"what's up?"

Chu Yan asked.

"Your Majesty, General Chang Neng has sent a report of victory, having beheaded He Qing, the former military commissioner of Shun, east of Haishan!" the guard reported.

Chu Yan was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Bring me the good news!"

Xia Shouzhong was about to step forward, but the guards had already come up with the letter and personally handed it to the emperor.

Xia Shouzhong then realized that the battle reports could be transmitted directly to His Majesty without passing through other people.

Chu Yan unfolded the victory report and read it. He then asked the messenger a few questions, instructed his guards to give him a reward, and took him away to rest.

Then he summoned Chu Ming, Xu Zhiyi, and others.

"Read the letter first."

After they arrived, Chu Yan showed them the letter reporting the victory.

Li Changjin laughed and said, "After killing He Qing, the loyalist general, the northeast of the capital is basically pacified. The border troops in five key places on the west side, including Khotan, Pamir, and Yuzhi, have all surrendered. And the officials from the Qianwang Mansion will arrive in the capital tomorrow. It can be said that three happy events have come together!"

Everyone else was beaming with joy, but Chu Yan simply smiled and ignored it.

He only dared to relax a bit after the border troops were completely pacified. The reason he hasn't decided on the cabinet members yet is because he is diligent in his duties every day and doesn't need the cabinet to handle the memorials for him.

He addressed his ministers, saying, "I did not summon you here to listen to your flattery. After the pacification of the loyalist army, the people of Tuhe, Guzhu and other places still need to be appeased."

Chu Ming already had a draft in mind, and immediately proposed: "The country has just been settled, and people's hearts are not yet at ease. There are many talented people in various prefectures and counties, as well as those who have served as officials and are now retired. We can issue an edict to order local officials to recommend them, and they can go to the capital to be examined by the Ministry of Personnel and then be appointed to official positions."

Chu Yan nodded and smiled, "You can have the Ministry of Personnel handle this. Tomorrow, the officials from the Prince Qian's Mansion will come to the capital. First, give them official positions and send them to various places. The rest can be reinstated as former officials or virtuous talents."

Xu Zhiyi said, “Your Majesty is eager to find talented people, but the virtuous and talented people in the world are still afraid of the new dynasty. Why not first summon a few honest and loyal officials from the old dynasty, give them official positions, and set an example for them?”

"Approved. Go and select a few people, and have the Imperial Secretary draft an edict for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After the meeting, Chu Yan wrote a letter and handed it to the messenger, instructing him to rest for the night and then relay the decree back to Chang Neng the next day.

An hour later, the Imperial Secretary presented the draft imperial edict.

Chu Yan read it and saw that the list included Han Mujie of the Censorate, Song Rui, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Yu Zhou, the Grand Master of the Imperial Library, and others, most of whom were officials of the Censorate. There were also a few people whose official titles were not listed.

Only after asking did I learn that they were a group of upright officials who had resigned from their posts.

This decree was relatively lenient; it did not force people from other places who were unwilling to serve as officials to come to the capital.

After he finished dealing with the matter, Xia Shouzhong took the opportunity to report: "Your Majesty, the two young ladies from the Xue family have entered the palace."

Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin?
Chu Yan immediately became interested. He had already seen Baochai once, and she was indeed beautiful and had the charm of Yang Guifei.

According to the praise from the characters in the novel, Xue Baoqin's appearance is even better than that of Baochai and Daiyu, but that is just praise and may not be true.

Furthermore, everyone has different opinions on beauty. What others find beautiful, you may not find beautiful yourself. You only know for sure once you see it for yourself.

Unfortunately, the political affairs were not yet finished. Chu Yan only told Xia Shouzhong, "Tell them to come to Linjing Hall in the evening, and I will have dinner with them."

Xia Shouzhong agreed first, then tried to ask, "Does Your Majesty wish to summon the two young ladies tonight? This servant will then have the palace matrons dress them up and teach them the proper etiquette for serving Your Majesty in bed."

Chu Yan said calmly, "You don't need to worry about this."

Xia Shouzhong quickly lowered his head: "Yes, this servant remembers."

Chu Yan then said, "Tell those old women that they no longer need to teach them any rules for serving the emperor in bed."

Each of the beauties in the Dream of the Red Chamber has her own unique character. If they were to learn the rules of serving the emperor in bed, they would all be cut from the same mold, which would be uninteresting.

Xia Shouzhong knelt down and kowtowed before stepping back.

As evening approached, Chu Yan put aside his official duties and returned to the inner palace to rest.

The eunuch went back to the inner palace to deliver the message. When Chu Yan returned, he saw two young and beautiful girls waiting for him. One of them was Baochai, whom Chu Yan had met before. Baochai was still plump and radiant, with a full and soft face.

The other girl standing next to her, who was a little younger, impressed Chu Yan at first glance with her exquisitely beautiful appearance, as if her features had been meticulously drawn. She was slightly shorter than Baochai, but her delicate and graceful appearance and charm were in no way inferior to Baochai's.

Chu Yan approached, wanting to look at her again, but Baochai had already tugged at her cousin Baoqin's sleeve. The two of them knelt down together, saying, "This servant Baochai/Baoqin greets Your Majesty."

"Flat body."

Upon seeing the two beauties, Chu Yan was in high spirits. After glancing at them again, he smiled and said, "Come with me."

He didn't immediately take their hands. Xue Baoqin seemed a little nervous, and given her exquisitely beautiful appearance, she evoked pity in people, who couldn't bear to frighten her too much.

Just as Chu Yan was about to enter the inner hall, he suddenly saw a slender beauty among the maids brought by Baochai and Baoqin, standing there with her head down. Judging from her appearance and temperament, she was also a gentle and quiet beauty.

After glancing at her twice, Chu Yan entered the inner hall and led Baochai and Baoqin to the east side room, while the rest of them remained outside.

Baochai's maid Ying'er and the beautiful maid Chu Yan had just seen stood outside the curtain.

"sit down."

Chu Yan pointed to the soft couch beside him. Baochai bowed and expressed her gratitude, and Baoqin followed suit. After her sister sat down on the couch, she sat down beside her, her clear eyes secretly lifting to glance at the emperor.

Chu Yan noticed her girlish eyes and asked with a smile, "Are you Bao's cousin?"

Baoqin quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"How did you end up in the capital? I remember your family is from Nanjing."

Chu Yan asked again.

Baochai glanced at her younger sister.

Baoqin cautiously replied, “Your Majesty, my family was originally a royal merchant of the former Shun Dynasty. Although my father did not hold a position in the court, he did takeout in various places. A few years ago, my father brought us to the capital and became acquainted with Hanlin Mei. He then betrothed me to Hanlin Mei’s son. Last year, my father passed away, and my brother brought me to the capital to marry into the Mei family.”

She did not mention the chaos and unrest in Jiangnan.

Chu Yan glanced at her and smiled, "You're only of marriageable age this year. Last year, when I sent troops to attack Jinling, you came to the capital because of the war, right?"

He disrupted the fates of many women in the Dream of the Red Chamber. Baoqin was supposed to come to the capital this year or next, so this is the only explanation.

Baoqin paused for a moment, looked at him, and then suddenly laughed: "Your Majesty is wise and mighty. I dared not say it just now. Please do not blame me, Your Majesty."

He then stood up and bowed.

Chu Yan looked at her exquisite face for a long time before smiling and saying, "Smile again and I'll forgive you."

Baoqin was taken aback at first, wondering why the emperor wanted her to laugh. After thinking for a moment, she blushed.

She looked up at him and saw Chu Yan smiling at her. Although the emperor was tall and imposing, he made her smile at that moment...

Baoqin felt both shy and embarrassed, but she obeyed the emperor's wishes, lowered her head slightly, and smiled again.

"Baoqin's smile is so beautiful!"

Chu Yan exclaimed in genuine admiration.

Upon seeing Xue Baoqin's smile, he understood why there was the story of the beacon fire that amused the feudal lords; to a king, a beautiful woman's smile was worth a thousand pieces of gold.

Baoqin's stunning beauty was secondary; in Chu Yan's opinion, beauties like Baochai, Daiyu, Keqing, and Zhaojun were all no less beautiful than her.

But Baoqin has a unique advantage that they lack:
The beautiful Qin sister has a pair of lovely crescent-shaped eyes. When she smiles, her eyebrows curve, and she is pure, lovely, and full of liveliness. She also has two dimples at the corners of her mouth, making her smile truly captivating.

In the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Xue Baoqin is not listed in the Register of Ill-fated Women, but in Chu Yan's opinion, there should be thirteen of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, and the extra one is her.

"I……"

Baoqin hesitated, seemingly a little shy and uncomfortable after being teased, but she didn't seem overjoyed at being praised by the emperor.

Baochai quickly said, "His Majesty's high praise for Sister Qin is her good fortune. Sister Qin's smile is lovely and pitiful. When the old lady first met her, she even forced my aunt to recognize her as her goddaughter. It's clear that she is even more beautiful than us. She deserves His Majesty's praise."

Baoqin blushed again. Although she had traveled around with her father, she had never encountered such a situation before.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "Miss Bao is a beauty of unparalleled grace, no less so than your sister."

Upon hearing this, Baochai lowered her head shyly, her fair face, like a silver plate, tinged with embarrassment. She sat side by side with Baoqin, both sisters being rare beauties in the world.

Neither of them had yet gotten used to being teased by a man—to them, Chu Yan's words already sounded like the flirtatious remarks of a lecherous man.

"Sister Qin".

Chu Yan said directly to her, "Now you don't need to marry into the Mei family anymore. Since you've entered the palace, you'll stay in my harem with your sister, and I will make you both concubines."

Xue Baoqin's heart trembled, and she couldn't help but raise her head to look at the emperor who would decide her future life, death, honor, and disgrace.

Before entering the palace, she had already thought things through. She had also promised Aunt Xue that she would enter the palace with her sister Baochai and become the emperor's concubines, just like Ehuang and Nüying.

But to her surprise, the emperor praised her smile and made her a concubine as soon as he met her.

It turns out she wasn't just an extra among the three housekeeper girls; she was someone the emperor genuinely favored...

This was the first time Xue Baochai had received a promise of being made a concubine from him, and she was overwhelmed with emotion. Several years ago, she had entered the palace to be selected as a tutor to the princess but had not been chosen. Now, she had been made a concubine in one fell swoop.

half an hour.

Baochai quickly got up, took her younger sister Baoqin's hand, and kowtowed again to express her gratitude.

Chu Yan saw that Baoqin seemed hesitant and confused, but in the end she knelt down with Baochai to express her gratitude and accepted his decree.

Chu Yan glanced at Baochai again.

Baochai was plump, and although she was dressed conservatively, covering her body completely, her round and wide hips still looked very eye-catching when she knelt down.

Baochai's voluptuous beauty is on full display at this moment.

"Get up quickly."

Chu Yan smiled and said, "I told you, there's no need to kneel down to express your gratitude all the time. It's not too late to express your gratitude when you are officially made concubines. You don't need to keep bowing to me on ordinary days either. Please sit down."

The two stood up and sat down again, their faces still flushed, making them even more beautiful.

Chu Yan wasn't in a hurry. He chatted with them for a while, and then a palace maid came to report that dinner had been served.

(End of this chapter)