Yi Xin as a concubine

Walking out of the tent, Xin Baoer heaved a sigh of relief, "It's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with the little ghosts," although she still felt a little sorry for the golden melon seeds.

Xin Baoer followed the team and stepped over the threshold that was as high as her knees. She couldn't help but look back at the world outside the door, and suddenly a premonition arose in her heart.

Perhaps this door is the beginning of her nirvana.

Opposite the door is a large screen wall with a vivid and lifelike painting of maids arranging flowers in bright colors.

After turning around the screen wall, there is a large square.

There are a few water lilies planted in the large water tank in the middle, and a few small red fish are swimming lazily around, adding a bit of vitality to the empty yard.

But today the whole yard is filled with chirping and singing of birds, so those few little fish are not enough to look at.

As soon as they entered the door, the girls who came in together went to find their familiar sisters. Only Xin Baoer was not familiar with anyone. She walked to a corner with her head down and stood there quietly.

Although Xin Baoer was standing in a corner, it was a corner with a wide view. She lowered her head, hugged her package tightly, and looked like she was afraid that others would snatch her things. But her ears were not idle, silently listening to the sounds around her.

Another half an hour passed, and the last group of women finally arrived. There were a lot of people in this group, about 20 to 30 of them. They all looked tired and it seemed that they had come from far away.

There are two lists for the autumn selection, one is for Shengjing City and its surrounding areas, and the other is provided by lower-level officials, so some girls have even been on the road for more than half a month.

With the arrival of this wave of people, all the girls participating in the election are here.

"Okay, all the girls, please stand in the middle. It's getting late, and I think you're all hungry and tired. It's better to assign accommodation to you as soon as possible so that you can settle down earlier."

An old lady with a serious face looked at the chattering women in the yard, frowned impatiently, and spoke in a bad tone.

Hearing the sternness in the old nanny's tone, the girls fell silent and obediently walked out from the shadows in various parts of the courtyard and gathered in the middle of the yard.

The old lady standing on the steps in front of the main house frowned even deeper as she looked at those who were either jumpy, timid, or acting coyly.

"It's really that one batch is worse than the next."

The old nanny felt sad in her heart and her patience became more and more impatient.

"Be quiet." The senior palace maid who was waiting on the side saw that the old nanny looked unhappy, and quickly spoke up to interrupt the whispers of the group of people below.

When everyone was quiet, the old lady finally relaxed her frown.

Logically speaking, most of the contestants chosen in the beauty pageant are ladies from prominent families, and they all follow first-class rules and etiquette. But the current emperor has come to power in an illegitimate way and is so absurd that he changes women more frequently than women change clothes.

It has been fifteen years since Emperor Ning came to the throne. Except for the time when he first ascended the throne, when those surrendered ministers sent their beloved daughters to the palace to consolidate their positions, no other high officials were willing to send their daughters to the palace.

The reason is simple. After Emperor Ning ascended the throne, he changed his previous style of doing great things quietly. He monopolized power in political affairs, did not tolerate any opposition, and was tyrannical and murderous.

He was even more dissolute in his enjoyment of women. He held a general election every three years and a minor election every two years. He would also ask his confidants to search for beauties everywhere during normal times. In addition, those officials who wanted to take shortcuts would offer their beauties. There were more than 3,000 beauties in his harem!

Among the people nowadays, there are peasant girls, unfavored concubines of officials, and also beautiful girls and skinny horses who are trained with great expense by people with ulterior motives, etc., but there are no real noble ladies or ladies from wealthy families.

In order to avoid today's general election, daughters of good families are vying to get engaged. In the first half of this year, young men in Shengjing City had no worries about not being able to find a wife. Girls of some appearance who were twelve or thirteen years old had already been engaged.

Xin Baoer couldn't help but think that nowadays women on the street dress in an old-fashioned way, probably because they are scared by the old emperor.

"Okay, now the ladies can choose their own neighbors in the same courtyard. Each courtyard can accommodate three people. There are two palace maids to serve food, tea, and washing. They are all servants who do rough work and cannot serve fine servants. So the ladies will have to take care of the things in their own rooms by themselves."

After the old nanny finished giving the instructions, she seemed very tired. She waved her hand to signal the senior palace maid to stay and watch, and she slowly walked into the main hall. Soon she disappeared from view.

As soon as the old lady left, the little monkeys below had no one to control them and they immediately became happy.

"Sister Jing, Sister Qin, can we live together?"

"Sister Li, Sister Zhang, can I live with you?"

"Miss Xu..."

"Miss Liu..."

The girls were talking all at once, looking for sisters they could get along with. The scene was very noisy for a while, and Xin Baoer almost suffered from her social phobia.

She quietly moved towards the edge of the crowd. She didn't know anyone anyway and no one knew her. She just waited. Once everyone had made their choice, someone would naturally be there with her.

"Hello, young lady. We are from Lanzhou Prefecture. My last name is Zhao, Zhao Xian, which means virtuous and virtuous."

"Wei Yu."

"Hello, I'm... my name is... Xin Baoer. Do you want to talk to me about something?"

The two women looked at each other, and it was Zhao Xian who spoke up: "Ms. Xin, don't be nervous. We are just asking if you can live with us. There are two of us, and we just happen to be short of one more person."

Xin Baoer was really a little nervous at the moment, but not to the point of being scared. She looked around frantically, and after making sure that no one was looking at her, she nodded slightly.

Seeing her nod, the two of them smiled knowingly, then stood with her naturally, and the three of them leaned to one side.

After about an incense stick of time, the head palace maid clapped her hands on the steps, signaling the people below to be quiet.

The girls cooperated and quieted down.

"I am the head maidservant beside Madam Xue. You ladies can call me Qingying. The one who just came in is Madam Xue, the head madam here. You must stay here for five days and learn the etiquette and rules of entering the palace before you can enter Chuxiu Palace."

After Qingying finished speaking, several maids and two palace maids dressed the same as Qingying walked out of the hall.

After several people came out, they nodded and saluted to Qingying respectively, with some respect in their expressions. It can be seen that Qingying's status in the Palace of Etiquette is second only to the head Nanny Xue.

"The teachers are Madam Kong, Madam Li, and Madam Xiang who checked you when you came in. If you have any questions, you can ask the maids. If you have any questions in your life, you can ask Miss Hongchou and Miss Lu'e."

Qingying kindly returned the gifts to several people, and then introduced them to the girls below.

"Got it." There were sparse responses from the audience, but Qingying didn't care.

"Okay, without further ado, all the girls have chosen the people you want to live with. Come here to register, and then someone will take you to your accommodation."

A group of girls were crowding together and vying to register, but Qingying just coughed lightly, and they all lined up in an orderly manner. Xin Baoer also joined the line with Zhao Xian and Wei Yu.

By the time it was Xin Baoer and the other two's turn, it was already completely dark. Candles were lit in various places in the courtyard, making everyone coming and going look hazy and unreal.

After completing the registration, the three of them followed the palace maid to a small courtyard on the west side of the main courtyard. The courtyard was not big, similar to the small courtyards of later generations.

It is divided into the north room, the east room, the west room, and the upside-down room. The east, west and north sides are for the three girls to live in, and the upside-down room is for the two servants to live in.

Zhao Xian and Wei Yu looked at each other and humbly gave the main house, which was the north yard, to Xin Baoer. The reason was that Xin Baoer looked very weak and the main house faced the sun and would be more comfortable for her to live in.

Zhao Xian chose the west room, and Wei Yu naturally went into the east room.

Watching the two of them turn around and leave tacitly, Xin Baoer touched her nose and slowly walked into her room.

Seeing that the three people had solved the housing problem so calmly, the two palace maids turned around and walked out of the courtyard with tact.

First, she went to report the situation to the head palace maid in charge, and second, she went to get some food for the girls.

The furnishings in the room were simple, with a canopy bed with a curtain, a dressing table with a makeup mirror, a round table and four stools in the middle of the floor, and an incense burner on a small table in the corner.

There was a not-so-big wardrobe next to the dressing table. Xin Baoer hung the few clothes she carried with her into it and left the other things in the package untouched, placing them casually in the corner under the wardrobe.

He walked around the room again, sat on the bed, and touched it.

"Not bad. At least the quilt has been dried in the sun. It's clean and soft."