The beauty finally arrived at the last round of inspection, and this matter had been busy with Lin Dai's hands for a long time, making her headache, only to hate not ending it earlier, and then she would throw away this matter.

  The final inspection was held in the Chunxi Hall, where the girls were lined up outside the hall and called in one by one. The Emperor did not attend, and the only ones present to conduct the inspection were Lin Di, Wu Guifei, and Cui Xianfei.

  Among the dozens of beautiful women, including Jiang Xie who had already entered the harem ahead of time, a total of six were selected.

  Although it was a selection, Lin Yi did not intend to fill the harem with beauties. The more people in the harem, the more trouble it would bring, and Lin Yi did not like trouble. Therefore, during the inspection, Lin Yi did not only choose those who looked good, but also chose those who looked obedient and well-behaved.

  The Empress Wu looked at the list of six selected people, curled her lips and said: "Your Majesty, are these selected people not too few? The number of people serving the Emperor in the harem is originally small. This grand selection was made with great fanfare, but in the end only five or six people were chosen. Is Your Majesty trying to deceive the Emperor? Be careful not to let others say that you are jealous."

  Lin Xiao looked up at her and said, "With the addition of the six newly selected consorts, it would take the Emperor more than half a month to visit each one. Noble Consort, how many do you think is suitable? Are we going to select an entire house full of women to let the Emperor's will be completely exhausted in the harem? Besides, does supporting the consorts not require spending money? The Emperor has mentioned frugality several times, but the national treasury is empty, whereas the mansion of the Duke of Xuan Guo is always overflowing with wealth. I suppose you don't know how to write the word 'frugality'."

  Empress Wu stood up angrily, pointing at Lin Xiang and said: "What does the Empress mean by this?" This was a sarcastic remark about her family's wealth, implying that they were selfishly accumulating riches without regard for the imperial court. Moreover, it was even more galling since her father was the Minister of Revenue in charge of the national treasury, making the sarcasm even thicker.

  Lin Yi didn't bother with her and instructed the palace maid: "First, send Xiu Girl back to Xiangfu Palace. After the imperial edict is issued, bring her into the inner palace. The rest of the unselected girls can leave the palace and return home on their own."

  After the imperial concubine left, Lin Xiang turned her head again and looked at the angry Empress with eyes blazing with fury. She said: "Send the Empress back to Chao Yang Palace as well, and have her copy out this 'Classic of Women's Virtues'. I think she still hasn't learned enough about propriety."

  Empress Wu glared at her with anger in her eyes and said sternly: "How dare you!"

  "No distinction between superior and inferior, those below who offend their superiors will be punished with an additional fifty strokes."

  As he spoke, he glanced at the motionless palace maid beside him and sternly asked, "What are you still standing there for? Why haven't you escorted the noble consort back yet?"

  The Empress Wu looked around at the palace maid beside her and said angrily: "I dare to see who dares!"

  "This palace dares to see who doesn't."

  The palace maid looked at the empress on one side and then at the noble consort on the other, feeling very bitter in her heart. The empress and the noble consort were like immortals fighting each other, but these little ghosts would suffer instead. If she listened to one, she would offend the other.

  They thought for a moment and finally walked to the front of the imperial concubine, made a please gesture, and respectfully yet embarrassingly said: "Your Highness, please go first."

  Empress Wu pointed at Lin Xiang and said: "Lin Xiang, you're quite something." After that, she flung her sleeve and left Chun Xi Hall in a huff.

  The Empress and the Imperial Concubine were quarreling, while Cui Xianfei was standing in the background, lowering her head to look at the floral pattern on her sleeve, seemingly deaf and not hearing anything. After the Imperial Concubine left, she also stood up and said: "Your Majesty, since the inspection is over, I will take my leave too. The Third Prince just moved into his new palace a few days ago, and I am still worried about him, so I want to go take a look."

  The princes usually move out of the palace where the queen lives when they turn eight years old and live in a separate palace, but the third prince was an exception and only moved to his new palace a few days ago after receiving an order from the emperor.

  The third prince's intelligence may be like that of a child, but he was very happy about the move to the new palace. When he came to bid farewell before the move, he grinned and invited: "Mother will come to my palace to play in the future, I'll have people make some snacks for Mother to eat, sweet and salty, many kinds."

  Not only Lin Xiao, others like the Crown Prince, Second Prince, Hu Zhaorong, and the Grand Princess were also invited, all using the same sentence. His feelings for the Grand Princess are slightly better, and he added another sentence "Come to my palace to play, I'll give you my pinwheel."

  It was Cui Xianfei who couldn't bear to part with him, and she was heartbroken for several days. However, she also knew that the crown prince had grown up and could no longer stay in the palace, lest something untoward happen.

  Lin Di nodded at Cui Xianfei.

  After Cui Xianfei left, Lin Xiao led Mu Qing and others back to Changkun Palace.

  After reviewing, things are not over yet. The rank of the selected showgirl must be determined and then arranged in which palace. However, determining the rank is not that simple, considering the quality of the showgirl herself, more importantly, also considering the family background and official positions of her father and brothers, as well as whether her family members have recently been reused by the emperor.

  Thinking of one thing after another, Lin Xiao got a headache.

  Lin Xiang said with a smile: "If it's like this every day, in ten years, I'll be old."

  No wonder the empress would become ill from overwork in the past. It can be seen that it was right for her to not choose so many palace wives to come in.

  Mu Qing smiled and handed her a cup of longan tea, saying: "After the new imperial concubine enters the palace, Your Majesty will be able to relax and also summon the Third Lady and Sixth Miss into the palace for a chat."

  Thinking of her mother and sister, Lin Ke finally gained the strength. Hurry up and finish, she can see her mother and Yu Yu soon. How long has it been since she saw Yu Yu, more than half a year since entering the palace?

  Lin Daiyu looked at the roster in her hand and asked: "What do you think of Wang Shi? What position should be given to her?"

  The most noble birth among the selected girls is Wang Shi, who comes from the Taiyuan Wang family. As for the girl sent by the Changxuan Marquis's residence and the eldest daughter of the Cui family, they were all eliminated by Lin Yi.

  Before considering whether or not to bring in Cui's daughter, Lin He specially asked Cui Xianfei.

  Choi Hui-bin smiled and said, "This niece of mine was quite mischievous at her parents' home, I'm afraid she won't serve the Emperor well. It's better to let her go back home and get married."

  Since it was a girl who was going to be sent into the palace, she must have been trained for several years already. How could she possibly be mischievous and unruly? It seems that Empress Cui had said something to the Cui family, causing them to change their minds.

  What reason could make the Cui family give up this idea, knowing that they sent Cui Shi into the palace with their sights set on the future crown prince, unless there was a greater benefit or at least an equal one.

  What benefits can be compared with those of future generations?

  Lin Xiao thought of the crown prince and couldn't help but curve her lips into a smile... The Cui family's current goal is to become the crown princess.

  The Cui family is at odds with the Lin family, and there is no guarantee of winning. Moreover, there is also the Xuan Guo Gong Fu. However, if we avoid competing with the Lin family and form an alliance with them to compete for the next imperial clan, our chances of success will be much greater.

  It's just the Lin family, and they probably won't refuse a crown princess from the Cui family.