The first branch of Dongfeng (down)

  It would be great if it were the girl I met during the Shangyuan Festival, she should also be a girl from a banner family, but I don't know if she has come to participate in this year's selection. Since that night when he met a little girl wearing a bean green flag dress, with a beautiful face like a flower, in the dragon dance team at Xiuyun Temple, Hong Yu had been thinking about her all the time, and her lively smile under the lanterns was unforgettable. Unfortunately, he never ran into her again after leaving the palace to stroll around the streets.

  "Good!" Yongzheng was delighted and said to Su Peisheng: "Reward!"

  Su Peisheng went down and came back with a purple sandalwood tray, Yongzheng nodded slightly, and he directly handed it to Yunzhu. "The slave thanks the emperor for his reward." Yunzhu bowed and thanked him, receiving the reward, which was a pair of green ice jade bracelets.

  Although Yunzhu was eager to know about the performance of other girls in Manjia Huang Qi, it wasn't the right time to ask. Besides, even if she asked, those girls would not take her seriously with their envious, jealous and hateful glances.

  Yongzheng looked at those two wrists, which were as white as jade and had been adorned with cloud-shaped ornaments, and nodded in satisfaction. "Continue," he said to the chief eunuch.

  The eunuch in charge shouted loudly: "Girls with Manchu yellow flags, step down! Girls with Mongolian yellow flags, come forward and pay respects!" Yunzhu and the girls in this row immediately turned right and retreated to one side, while the Mongolian yellow flag girls who were originally lined up in the second row elegantly swung their sleeves and stepped forward on the flower pot base to pay their respects: "Slaves give greetings to Your Majesty, may Your Majesty have good fortune."

  "Get up. Everyone, lift your heads..."

  Six Mongolian beauties, three surnamed Borjigit, two surnamed Borjijin and one surnamed Jalut, were skilled in horse riding and archery. They had never met before, but the first five beauties all chose to show off their skills in horse riding. Although they didn't shoot three arrows at once like Yunzhu, their equestrian stunts were more dazzling than Yunzhu's, with flips, lying flat, standing upright... Perhaps because they all came from the Mongolian grasslands, such talents were not appreciated by Yongzheng.

  The last Mongolian girl named Borjigit. Qinggeertai (Mongolian for "happiness"), was the legitimate daughter of Deputy General Gemeng, and was as beautiful as a Gesang flower on the grassland, with talents that exceeded expectations. She chose to paint, and when Yongzheng continued to review the Han army's Mongolian girls, she painted alongside him, resulting in a painting of a fine horse, which delighted Yongzheng and earned her praise, drawing envious glances from the other five Mongolian girls.

  The elegant and refined figure of the Han army's embroidered yellow flag is indeed more pitiful than that of the Mongolian beauty, her talent surpasses that of the Mongolian banner's beauty by a notch, and her charming and elegant demeanor is not inferior to that of the Manchu noble-born beauty. If it weren't for the limitations of the Eight Banners' status, some of them might have had better prospects, such as Zhang Jia. Yu Ying's performance was particularly outstanding, with a painting of "Jade Spring Mountain Bamboo" accompanied by the emperor's poem, which immediately suppressed the previous performance of Yirgenjiro. Shulan - and it's not clear what grudge they held against each other. Moreover, her temperament was warm, elegant, and refined, with bright eyes that seemed to embody the fresh and resilient spirit of bamboo, instantly winning the top prize among the Han army's embroidered yellow flag beauties.

  Others might think she had won the emperor's favor, but Yunzhu keenly saw a thread of displeasure in Yongzheng's eyes. How could he not see that such an obvious provocation was meant to suppress him? Was this kind of temperament worthy of being compared to bamboo?

  You don't have to step on others to express yourself, especially when you have the ability. In the end of the world, humans can resort to any means to survive, Yunzhu doesn't mind doing so, but the examiner is someone else after all, and one has to think about whether they like such behavior or not... Intelligent and astute people are everywhere... Don't take yourself too seriously.

  Zhang Jia. Ruoying's father is Liang Dao Zhang Ting Shu, and the family status is not low either, it's just that he is a bit younger, so the above-mentioned name can be forgotten for now, it's possible that he will be kept on the waiting list for selection in the next session, or he might be married into the imperial family after a few years and then have a grand wedding...

  But all of these have nothing to do with me.

  After the selection of the Yellow Banner, it was followed by the selection of several other banners. Yunzhu did not, like the other showgirls, wait for the selection to be over and then swarm forward to ask questions; she was calm and unruffled, and it was not a matter of life and death, so she would have news in her ears at the right time.

  It's true, who would have thought that someone would unexpectedly... Such topics can be heard every day, and Yunzhu's performance was overshadowed by the elaborate performances of the other concubines. Of course, which concubine truly caught the eye of the emperor, and whose behavior was too excessive, making people feel frivolous and unrefined, were all counted in the minds of the palace staff.

  Among the showgirls, those who are truly clever and have a plan in mind also understand that the showgirls from good families who behave steadily will marry into high-ranking families or even enter the palace as masters after the selection is over. Therefore, although they look at them with envy, they do not dare to take action and make trouble for themselves in the future.

  The empress and several imperial concubines also summoned the palace maidens in a leisurely manner, while Yongzheng had several nephews who had come of age enter the palace for an audience at any time.

  Yunzhu was summoned by Empress Ulanara and Consort Xian for the second time, respectively receiving gifts from them, knowing that she had already been betrothed, just as history recorded: becoming the legitimate wife of Aixinjueluo Hongli, the future Empress Xiaoxian.

  The final round of selection lasted for nine days, with the first three days being personally presided over by the emperor and the last five days being presided over by the empress, with the emperor occasionally dropping by to take a look. The fact that he could spare time from his busy state affairs to personally review and pay attention to this selection already showed how much importance he attached to it. In the past, such matters were usually left to the empress to preside over.

  The last day announced the re-election results and sent the show girl out of the palace.

  One hundred and fifty-three candidates, except for two who accidentally sprained their feet, one who fell into the pool in the Yu Huayuan Floating Emerald Pavilion and got sick, and two who mysteriously grew rashes on their faces. A total of 147 candidates participated in the final selection. Seventy were eliminated, three were eliminated and sent home to be scolded for poor upbringing, eight were retained for the next grand selection, four were recorded as having passed, and the remaining sixty-two waited at home for an arranged marriage.

  After hearing the announcement of the eunuch, the girls who were called out showed different emotions, some joyful and others worried. However, they were after all the most well-behaved and well-mannered ladies from the Eight Banners nobility of the Qing dynasty, so they quickly gathered their belongings under the arrangement of the aunties in charge and left the palace in an orderly manner by banner.

  Outside the Shenwu Gate, many of the Eight Banners' nobles sent carriages to pick up the Xiu girls leaving the palace. The Fuca family's was particularly eye-catching, with Yunzhu's eight older brothers and one younger brother lined up in a row, accompanied by Xiaomingliang and Guo Yiniang, as well as their guards... It was truly an astonishing array.

  The people from the weaker Eight Banner families couldn't help but feel a sour taste in their hearts, thinking that this Fu Cha family is really something, who doesn't have a noble daughter, do they need to occupy so much space with so many people?

  Yunzhu hadn't seen her relatives for nearly two months, and she had been thinking about it all along. Now that she saw her brothers come to pick her up, her eyes suddenly turned red: "Brother...... why did you all come?"

  "Auntie, Mingliang misses you so much." The little guy was sweet-talking, and Yunzhu picked him up, giving his pale face a big kiss, not caring about the sideways glances from others. "Auntie also misses Mingliang."

  Coreyette saw this scene and curled up her lips, refusing to acknowledge the sour feeling in her heart.

  Yunzhu's ears were sharp and her eyes were bright, she heard that soft hum, raised an eyebrow, and just caught a glimpse of a maid helping her into a horse carriage. She thought to herself, "Who are you? Still humming away, do you think being a Manchu noblewoman familiar with etiquette means being aloof from human emotions?! With this temperament, you still want to win the favor of that romantic Emperor Qianlong? Dream on."

  "Go home quickly." Fu Guangqing said with a smile as he looked at his sister's son.

  "Uh-huh." Yunzhu smiled at her family and, with the help of Guo Mama and Suwen, stepped onto the carriage.

  Yunzhu might be the first Xiu girl to receive the imperial edict of marriage, and when she returned home, her family was still asking about her well-being, when Su Peisheng arrived with the imperial decree.

  This is also too early, right!? Although they had prepared early, Li Rongbao and Guajia's two people still couldn't help but mutter in their hearts, letting their son and daughter-in-law go down to change into formal attire, and ordering the housekeeper to quickly set up the incense case that had been prepared, a whole family full of people kneeling on the ground listening to the edict.

  Yunzhu knelt among her family members, listening to Su Peisheng unfold the imperial edict and read aloud: "By the grace of heaven, the emperor decrees: The eldest daughter of Li Rongbao, a high-ranking official, Fucha, has given birth to a child with noble lineage and virtuous character, suitable to be the empress consort of the fourth son of the emperor, Hongli. Let it be so."

  Li Rongbao's expression remained unchanged as he respectfully accepted the imperial edict and said in a respectful tone, "Your humble servant has received the edict and thanks Your Majesty for his kindness."

  From now on, she will be tied to that famous and romantic emperor in history! Yunzhu let out a sigh and helped Guaerjia up, standing silently behind Li Rongbao.

  Fu Guangqing and his brothers had received some hints from Li Rongbao in private, but when the moment truly arrived, they still felt complicated. Yunzhu marrying the fourth prince, the future heir of the Qing dynasty, was a glorious event for the Fu family, even though the Fu family had always relied on their military achievements to stand out in court, it was different from producing an empress, just look at the Tong and Nara families, which one wasn't flourishing because they were the imperial family? (The current empress dowager doesn't have a biological son, and the Ula Nara family doesn't have many talented people, so they can only lie low.)

  But as the loving elder brother of his sister, they really didn't like Yunzhu's future life to be buried in the deep palace - that place, even if it was glorious, was not easy to pass.