Wearing a book, hooking him up

Ever since Jun Zechen returned from his three-year expedition, the empress dowager prepared to select a beauty for the emperor, but the emperor decisively refused.

After this, the empress dowager had no idea what to do with the emperor and could only sigh helplessly.

The fourth year of Chongwu.

In the court, a group of court officials spoke to His Majesty earnestly, pleading with His Majesty to start a beauty contest to enrich the harem and continue the royal heir.

However, Jun Zechen seemed to have heard nothing and remained indifferent.

In the end, these court officials turned to the Queen Mother for help.

But the emperor had already issued an express ban on the selection of concubines. Was she, as a mother, going to take the lead in violating her son's imperial edict?

The Queen Mother sat in the palace with a frown on her face, feeling extremely conflicted.

Finally, she came up with an idea to have ministers present beauties instead of holding a large-scale beauty pageant.

After listening to Anshun's report, Jun Zechen frowned slightly and pinched his forehead with one hand, seeming a little helpless.

After a moment's silence, he finally stopped trying to stop his mother from doing this.

Three months later, the Queen Mother carefully selected five beauties to enter the palace. This time, she did not pay much attention to the family background of the beauties she selected.

These five beauties have different styles, but if you look closely, they all have some similarities with the deceased queen.

After the five beauties entered the palace, they did not dare to delay for a moment and went directly to the Cining Palace to pay a visit to the empress dowager.

When they arrived at the Cining Palace, the six concubines had already arrived.

The five beauties walked to the middle and bowed to the Queen Mother and the ladies respectively.

The Queen Mother's eyes fell on five beauties. These five were carefully selected from the many beauties that were presented to her by the maids who had met the Queen before.

The purpose is to find someone who looks similar to the queen.

"Raise your head." The Queen Mother said majestically.

Upon hearing this, the five beauties slowly raised their heads, with smiles of similar arcs on their faces, which were caused by the strict training in palace rules.

The Queen Mother's attention was instantly attracted to the second beauty on the right.

Like, really like.

"You, take a few steps forward."

The Queen Mother pointed her finger at the woman in the goose yellow palace dress.

The woman was a little surprised, but her good upbringing prevented her from showing it, and she walked out as she was told.

"What's your name?" asked the Queen Mother.

"My name is Bai Yingyue, and my father is Bai Xiang, the Chancellor of the Imperial College." The woman lowered her head slightly and answered softly.

The Queen Mother nodded slightly.

Although her family background is not high, her appearance is really good.

Lin Miaoyin also shifted her gaze to Bai Yingyue's face at this time, with a hint of inquiry in her eyes.

She had long heard that the Queen Mother was selecting a woman who looked like the Queen. When she first heard the news, she did not take it seriously and even secretly despised it in her heart.

The Queen has no sisters, how similar can they be?

She didn't believe there was anyone who could compare to the Queen.

But when she actually saw Bai Yingyue's face, she couldn't help but be shocked.

Bai Yingyue's face is 60% like the Queen's, but her temperament and demeanor are naturally not as arrogant, domineering and willful as the Queen had been when she was in the East Palace.

"Please sit down," the Queen Mother said gently.

"Thank you, Queen Mother."

All the women responded in unison and then took their seats.

After meeting them, the empress dowager conferred titles on each of the beauties according to their appearance and family background.

Bai Yingyue was named a fifth-rank beauty because of her outstanding appearance.

That night, the Empress Dowager had Lady Bai carried to the Qianqing Palace.

When Anshun saw that the beauty had been sent to the west hall, he couldn't help but look embarrassed and had to bite the bullet and go to report to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Lady Bai has already arrived at the west hall. Would you like to go over and take a look? The Queen Mother said that she specially selected this for you according to your preferences."

Jun Zechen frowned when he heard that. His handsome sword-like eyebrows seemed to be twisted into a knot and a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.

His preferences?

In the past few years, he has had no thoughts of touching a woman and has almost returned to the state of health preservation in his previous life.

How does the Queen Mother know his preferences?

Just ridiculous.

"Send her back." Jun Zechen said in a cold tone.

"The Queen Mother sent someone to say that this beauty must be the one that Your Majesty likes, and asked Your Majesty to go and see her."

Cold sweat broke out on Anshun's forehead, and his voice became lower and lower.

The impatience between Jun Zechen's brows became more and more obvious.

But he didn't want to offend his mother again and again. After a moment of silence, he finally stood up and walked towards the west hall.

Bai Yingyue sat on the edge of the bed, her hands folded on her legs, her body stretched straight, looking very nervous.

She was wearing thin clothes, and the slight chill made her cheeks turn pink.

Jun Zechen walked in, and his footsteps seemed quite loud in the quiet west hall.

When Bai Yingyue heard the sound, she quickly stood up and bowed respectfully and properly.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Get up."

Jun Zechen's voice was cold and distant. He didn't even look at her. He just passed her and lay down on the bed in the west hall, one hand casually resting on his forehead and the other holding a book.

Bai Yingyue was at a loss for a moment. After a long while, she mustered up the courage to whisper, "Your Majesty?"

When Jun Zechen heard her voice, he moved his gaze from the book to her.

His originally casual and scattered gaze suddenly focused the moment it touched her face.

Is this the beauty that the Queen Mother mentioned, to be found according to his preferences?

Jun Zechen's face turned gloomy in an instant, his lips were pursed tightly, and his lines were straight and stiff.

He stood up suddenly, his movement causing a gust of wind, and then walked out without saying a word.

Bai Yingyue was completely confused by the sudden change. She didn't know why she had angered His Majesty, and she became even more panicked and at a loss.

She knelt on the ground with a plop, and her voice was filled with tears: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Did I do something wrong?"

Jun Zechen just walked to the door and stopped when he heard her pleading.

He slowly turned his head, looked at her with indifference, and said coldly: "Get up."

He really couldn't bear to see her kneeling on the ground so humbly with a face similar to hers.

At this moment, Jun Zechen suddenly had other ideas in his mind.

Since the Queen Mother thinks that he likes this, then let her see it, otherwise the Queen Mother will find ways to stuff women into his Qianqing Palace every day.

The imperial concubine is now not suppressed by anyone in the palace. Because she has a prince and a good family background, her mother lets her take care of the harem. Her ambition has grown stronger and she even dares to covet the position of queen.

Then find her something to do.

Thinking of this, Jun Zechen lay back on the bed, closed his eyes, and no longer looked at Bai Yingyue.

Bai Yingyue sat motionless beside the bed, not daring to breathe, feeling extremely uneasy.

When the time was almost up, Jun Zechen got up and returned to his bedroom, leaving Bai Yingyue sitting alone on the bed, not knowing what to do.

Anshun walked in with a smile on his face.

"Lady Bai, you have worked hard in serving His Majesty tonight. I will send someone to take you back."

Bai Yingyue became more and more confused, her beautiful eyes were full of confusion and she bit her lower lip lightly with her pearly teeth.

She didn't do anything tonight, but...

She raised her eyes to look at Eunuch Anshun and saw that there seemed to be a deeper meaning in his words. Although she had many questions in her mind, she didn't say anything more.

She knew in her heart that His Majesty had not summoned the ladies in the harem for many years.

Since she came today and stayed in the West Hall for such a long time, even if she has a low position and a humble family background, I think no one in the harem would dare to bully her easily.

Among the five new concubines who entered the palace, she did not have the highest family background, but she won the favor of the empress dowager and was the first to be sent to the Qianqing Palace.

So naturally she couldn't let the other concubines know that she didn't sleep with him tonight.

On the second day, the news that His Majesty favored Lady Bai spread quickly in the harem like wings, causing huge waves.

Lin Miaoyin originally thought that she had already let go of His Majesty. Even though His Majesty had not summoned his concubines for many years, she still had the prince by her side and was in charge of the palace. It was not impossible for her to become the empress in time.

But now, here comes a white beauty who looks like the queen!

The calmness she had carefully maintained was instantly broken, and her eyes were filled with jealousy and uneasiness that were difficult to conceal.

Since the day His Majesty favored Concubine Bai, he would summon Concubine Bai to the Qianqing Palace almost every few days.

When the empress dowager saw that the emperor finally began to favor his concubines, she felt relieved and the relief on her face became more and more obvious.

But the other unfavored concubines in the harem could only secretly envy Lady Bai. No matter whether they were new concubines or former elders of the East Palace, they all dared to be angry but not to speak out.

Lady Bai's rank would rise every few months. In just one year, she became a concubine, a position even higher than that of some of the old ladies in the Eastern Palace who had good family backgrounds.

When Bai Yingyue first entered the palace, she was cautious and prudent.

But since she discovered that His Majesty would stand on her side without hesitation whenever any concubine made things difficult for her or punished her, she became more and more bold.

Now, even when facing the imperial concubine, she doesn't take her seriously at all.

In this harem, her pomp and circumstance became more and more grand, and her arrogance became more and more strong.

The fifth year of Chongwu.

Jun Zechen dressed in the clothes of ordinary people, deliberately concealed his whereabouts, and went south to Jiangzhou with some concubines and several ministers.

Although the concubines were also dressed simply, they still couldn't hide the tenderness and nobility in their eyes and eyebrows.

The three princes also followed. The second prince and the third prince were very excited, only the eldest prince was calm.

On the other hand, after touring the dynasty, Ning Qian came to Jiangzhou with Li Jing and Zhongli Mingchuan.

They took a fancy to a courtyard in Jiangzhou and planned to live there for two months before moving on to their next destination.