"According to the news from the government, the uncle of Marquis Zhongshan has already passed away. It was his aunt who brought her son and family to the marquis's residence to demand the share of the family property that they had divided earlier. However, after arriving at the marquis's residence, Marquis Zhongshan surprisingly did not drive them out as swindlers, but instead voluntarily acknowledged their relationship and returned the family property to them. This is truly strange beyond measure."

  At first, the old Marquis of Zhongshan was able to kill his stepmother and younger brother, and what he was after was the idea of monopolizing the family property. As for saying that the current Marquis of Zhongshan is more kind-hearted than his father, the old Marquis of Zhongshan, she didn't believe it.

  Lin Xinyue said that since the Marquis of Zhongshan has now sent this Jiang Xi girl into the palace, it's likely that the key to whether the Marquis of Zhongshan is willing to acknowledge her as his own lies with this Jiang Xi girl herself.

  Lin Xiao asked again: "Have you heard about that Jiang Xi girl? Since she skipped the preliminary round, who put her on the list of candidates for the preliminary round?"

  This is no trivial matter, the Zhongshan Marquis's estate has long since declined and doesn't have such great ability.

  Qī's eyebrows furrowed, and a hint of annoyance appeared on his face. "It was Jiǎng Niáng," he said. "The letterhead bore the seal of the Wǔ Guó Gōng Fǔ."

  That is to say, Lin Wei, who came from the Wu Guo Gong Fu, borrowed the name of her natal family, used the connections and power of her natal family, and secretly helped her husband's family put a girl who had not gone through the preliminary selection into the list of those who had passed the preliminary selection. Everyone thought that this Jiang Xiang girl was being pushed by the Wu Guo Gong Fu and given preferential treatment, but in fact, the Wu Guo Gong Fu knew nothing about it.

  This aunt of hers is actually considerate of her husband's family.

  Mrs. Qi was also furious with this little daughter-in-law, and she really didn't know how a family like the Lin's could produce someone as stupid as Lin Wei, who had only been married for a short time and hadn't even given birth to a son yet, but still dared to betray her husband's family.

  It's just that she, like the Lin family, is a respectable and dignified household, but even after having one or two children, she still doesn't dare to put her husband's interests first. And yet, she still has to maintain a good relationship with her natal family. But she's different, as soon as she got married, she offended her entire natal family. When the Marquis of Zhongshan treats her poorly in the future, without the protection of her natal family, she'll have no one to turn to.

  She was eloquent, but when she was called over to interrogate her, she knew nothing about it and cried that she was also deceived by the Zhongshan Hou Mansion and had no idea what the Zhongshan Hou Mansion had done.

  He's just a self-proclaimed genius who is actually an idiot.

  There is also the kind of foolish daughter who can be born to a mother who is not very intelligent. After Old Master Guo's death, Xia Yiniang found an excuse to pray for blessings for Old Master Guo and hid in the temple.

  She really thought that relying on the status of a widow, hiding in the temple would make her untouchable. In the past, Li didn't bother with her because she didn't want to get involved with her. Women from aristocratic families are raised to be able to torment people in 180 different ways, each one as ruthless as a knife edge without shedding blood.

  After Lin Wan and Jiang Er's incident, Li Shi was so angry that she let the Shifu in the temple take good care of her. Now Xia Yiniang is clamoring to return to the mansion, but who will bother with her again.

  Mr. Qi said, "And there's also the Marquis of Zhongshan who is inexplicable. Although Lin's family is a later generation, if they want to send their daughter into the palace, we will stop them from doing so. That Miss Jiang Xie, until now, not even a single meeting has taken place."

  "What about the portrait? Isn't it here either?"

  Qī shì shook his head and played cards: "I've also inquired at other households, but none of them have seen this Jiang Xiū maiden either."

  Lin Xinyue thought to herself, "The Zhongshan Marquis Manor is being so secretive about sending this Jiang Xi young lady into the palace. This Jiang Xi young lady must either have a stunning beauty that can topple cities or some other extraordinary qualities."

  The Zhongshan Houfu didn't worry at all that she couldn't enter the emperor's eyes, and for this reason, they didn't even let her participate in the initial selection, fearing that families like Lin and Wu would feel threatened and eliminate her during the initial selection.

  She was quite curious about this Jiang Xi girl, what kind of person she was, to be so valued by the Zhongshan Hou Mansion.

  After Zhi left, Mu Qing said to Lin Xiang: "Your Highness, do you want to remove this Jiang Xi girl from the list? Anyway, she didn't participate in the preliminary selection and doesn't conform to the rules."

  This Jiang Xi young lady always gives her a sense of unease. Unconsciously, she feels that after this Jiang Xi young lady enters the palace, she will become the greatest threat to the Empress.

  Lin Xiao shook her head and said, "I can only draw a line for one person, not everyone." She looked up at Mu Qing: "Auntie, my husband is the Emperor, not an ordinary person. As long as he wants to, he can have any woman in the world. I am powerless to stop all the women who want to enter the harem. All I can do is try my best to make the Emperor put me in his heart."

  This is the sorrow of women in the harem, and the empress is no exception. Ordinary people's families have at most two or three concubines, but an emperor can have as many as he wants, even a hundred. The imperial concubines of the previous emperor were counted by the hundreds.

  Mu Qing lowered his head and stopped speaking.

  At first, Yuan Hou also said such words. It's just that Yuan Hou successfully put herself in the emperor's heart, making the emperor unforgettable to her, but can the current empress do it?

  Mu Qing looked at this lovely and clever girl in front of her, she must be able to do it too.

  After all, she is worth loving by men.

  "Wait and see, in ten days it will be the small selection of the Ministry of Rites, at that time we will present the portrait of the beautiful girl, then we can know what kind of extraordinary woman this Jiang Xiulan is."

  But when it came to the small selection at the Ministry of Rites, Mu Qing went to the Ministry of Rites to ask for Xiuniang's portrait. With a heavy face, he returned to Changkun Palace, and Lin Xiang regretted saying what she had said.

  Lin Xiao looked at the portrait of a woman in red dress with elegant demeanor, and exclaimed in her heart, it's so alike, so alike, really too alike.

  The woman in the painting looks like a lady who lives in the emperor's heart - Lin Fei's aunt, the late Empress Lin Xiang.

  Even their mannerisms are similar, among the Lin family members, Lin Xiao is the most similar to Lin Xian, but she looks even more like Lin Wu Fen.

  No wonder the Zhongshan Houfu wanted to hide her, if the Lin family had discovered that she looked so much like Lin Xian during the initial selection, they might have also tried to get rid of her.

  Mu Qing furrowed his brow and once again advised Lin Xiao: "Your Majesty, think of a way to prevent her from entering the palace."

  Mu Qing felt a strong sense of unease and disgust, and her aversion to this Jiang Xi young lady. Lin Xian was her former master, she respected and admired her, like Lin Xian who was noble and sacred, with unparalleled beauty, anyone who looked like her made her think it was a blasphemy against Lin Xian, let alone someone from the Zhongshan Hou Mansion.

  Lin Xiao shook her head: "It's too late. The portrait of Xiū Girl will be presented to the palace, but at the same time, it will also be presented to the Emperor. Besides, do you think that if we brush her off, Zhōngshān Hóu won't have a way to let the Emperor see her?"

  As long as this person exists, the emperor will always have a chance to see her. And how can Zhongshan Hou bear not to use such a trump card in his hand?