If not abolished

The news that Zhu Di was going to choose a concubine for his grandson soon reached the ears of the wife of the Earl of Pengcheng. So, she immediately went to the palace to look for the Crown Princess. Originally, the Crown Princess had not allowed her family members to come to the palace for a long time because of the previous incident. This time, her mother personally handed over the name card, and if she didn't show up, she was afraid that people would gossip about her, so she had no choice but to invite them in.

After the Lady of Pengcheng paid her respects to the Crown Princess and sat down, she said anxiously, "Your Majesty is going to choose a concubine for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Why didn't you tell the family earlier? Now the family is completely unprepared."

"What are you talking about, mother? I just found out about this. Besides, Agui's affairs have always been handled by His Majesty himself. Why didn't you tell me earlier that I have no right to interfere? Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can't do anything about it." The Crown Princess immediately retorted.

The wife of the Marquis of Pengcheng was speechless for a moment. After a while, she continued, "I know that His Majesty has always valued His Royal Highness, but Your Majesty is also His Royal Highness's biological mother. If you don't have the right to make decisions, don't you have the right to make suggestions?"

The Crown Princess knew that if there was nothing wrong, her mother would not be in such a hurry to come to the palace. Besides, they had intended to bring in someone for Zhu Zhanji before. So she went straight to the point and said, "Mother, why are you here? You might as well just tell me. Why bother to hide it and say something nonsense, and do things secretly like you did last time?" The Crown Princess had a heart attack when she thought of what happened last time, so naturally she was not in a good mood this time.

When Lady Pengcheng heard what she said, her face changed again and again with anger. She could only silently endure it in her heart, took a deep breath and said, "Since that's the case, I'll speak frankly. There is a girl named Sun in Yongcheng who is very virtuous, well-known far and wide, and quite beautiful. She is also about the same age as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so she is the perfect match. Your Majesty is just about to choose a concubine for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Why don't you introduce her to me?"

The Crown Princess lowered her head, smoothed her sleeves, and sat down and said, "Your Majesty means that this time, there will be no national election. Only the young ladies from the noble families in the capital will be allowed to enter the palace to be selected. Isn't this going against the will of the emperor?"

“I know. At worst, we can let Sun come to the capital, and then tell others that this is your brother’s adopted daughter in Yongcheng. That’s all.” It can be seen that the wife of the Earl of Pengcheng came prepared.

Seeing that she was determined to do so, the Crown Princess did not want to persuade her any further, so she said, "Well, I will go and talk to her, but the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Meeting will be held in less than a month. If Miss Sun cannot arrive in the capital on time, this matter will be dropped."

"Okay, okay, your Majesty, don't worry about this." When Lady Pengcheng saw that the Crown Princess agreed, she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling.

"If there's nothing else, please go back, mother. Agui still has a lot of things to do in selecting a concubine."

The wife of the Marquis of Pengcheng knew that she was trying to drive him away. It seemed that she was still angry about the last incident. She only hoped that Sun would be chosen this time, so that she could calm down.

"Then I will take my leave first."

Nagajo

"Miss, Miss, good news, good news." Xia Lian ran in from outside.

Sun Ruoji was practicing calligraphy, and when she interrupted him, the stroke went crooked. Sun Ruoji put down his pen, crumpled up the paper, and asked, "What happened that made you rush here?"

Xia Lian took a few breaths and said, "Good news, young lady. I just heard from the madam that the Prince's Mansion will send someone to take you to the capital. I heard that His Majesty wants to choose a concubine for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and the Prince's Family has recommended you." Xia Lian finished the story in one breath.

"Have you heard it carefully? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has recommended me to choose a concubine, and he is going to the capital." Sun Ruoji was shocked after hearing this.

Xia Lian immediately assured: "I listened carefully, and it is correct. The person who came here told Madam this, and Madam will come and tell Miss later."

Sure enough, half an hour later, Madam Sun came to talk to Sun Ruoji about this matter, and told her to leave tomorrow. The capital would be going to the palace to select concubines on the 15th of next month, and it would be too late if she didn't leave now. Madam Sun reminded her of some things.

The next day, Sun Ruoji set off early, and she was still a little confused.

We won't say much about how Sun Ruoji rushed to the capital. Hu Shanxiang, who was in the capital, heard from her father that His Majesty was going to choose a concubine for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and she also heard that she was on the list. She didn't know what to do.

Hu's House in Beijing

Hu Rong has already received an order from the palace that his daughter is also on the list of concubines to be selected by the crown prince. Hearing the news, Hu Rong was naturally happy, but then he thought that his eldest daughter did not meet the requirements in the palace, and his second daughter was already married. Now only his third daughter could try. However, his third daughter is only ten years old this year and has not yet reached the age of marriage, so the chance of her being selected is not very high.

While Hu Rong was considering whether his daughter could be selected, Hu Shanxiang, who heard the news, wanted to hit the pillar for a moment.

No way, she actually had to participate in the selection of concubines in the eighth year of Yongle. If I remember correctly, Concubine Sun was selected into the palace in this year and was raised by the Crown Princess.

"Do we have to go?" Hu Shanxiang said to Mrs. Hu, making her final struggle.

Mrs. Hu replied, "Of course, otherwise your father would not have been able to disobey the order."

"How old am I? Why do I have to choose a concubine?"

"That can't be helped. None of your older sisters meet the requirements, so it's your turn now. Okay, go and prepare yourself. In a couple of days, I'll have someone teach you palace etiquette. Don't lose your composure then, okay."

"Ah, I still have to learn the rules." Hu Shanxiang wanted to cry.

In the following days, Hu Shanxiang underwent devilish training and felt terrible. She went to her grandmother to cry and her grandmother gave her six words: accept what has happened.

"The old lady couldn't bear to see the third young lady suffer like this."

"I was reluctant to let her go in Jining before. I thought she could just marry into a similar family in the future and she wouldn't have to learn many rules. Now, in the capital, this incident has reminded us that these girls in our family may be selected into the palace or marry into a noble family, so we have to learn these complicated rules. Even if it hurts, we have to learn them."

"That's what the old lady said."

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed. In two days, she would be entering the palace. Mrs. Hu asked Hu Shanxiang to have a good rest and recuperate in these two days.

On the other side, Sun Ruoji finally arrived in the capital after more than half a month, exhausted. As soon as he entered the Pengcheng Marquis's mansion, he was pulled over by the Marquis's wife and praised for a long time.

On the fifteenth day of November, when it was still dawn, there was an endless stream of horse-drawn carriages on the official road heading to the imperial city.

Hu Shanxiang and Mrs. Hu were sitting in the carriage together. She had gotten up too early and was yawning all the way. Mrs. Hu saw that it would take some time, so she asked her to take a nap and call her when they were almost there. Hu Shanxiang felt as if she had been pardoned and immediately relaxed.

After a stick of incense

"Hey, wake up."

"Well, here we are?"

"Hurry, it's time to get off the carriage."

"Oh, okay." Hu Shanxiang had just woken up and was still a little dizzy. She almost missed a step when she came down.

She heard laughter coming from the side, and when she looked up, she found that there were carriages from various families all around her.

The carriages of each family could only be parked at the side door, and the palace servants had to check one by one whether they had any dangerous items before they could enter. After entering, they had to walk a long way. Hu Shanxiang remembered the previous rules and followed Mrs. Hu with her head down, looking at the identical floor tiles on the ground, as if it was a road with no end.

After walking for half an hour, the female official leading the way let them rest. Hu Shanxiang heard a soft panting sound from behind. They had been walking for such a long time. They were all ladies from wealthy families who usually never went out of the main door or the second door, so they really couldn't bear it. What's more, some of them had bound feet, which made it even more uncomfortable. They had to suffer so much before they even reached the gate of Yiku Palace. The imperial palace was really not a good place.

After a while, they continued walking, and after another half an incense stick of time, they finally arrived at the gate of Yiku Palace.

Each family went in order according to their official rank to pay their respects to the imperial concubine.

"The wife of the Marquis of Pengcheng comes to see you," the eunuch shouted.

When Hu Shanxiang heard the name, she looked up curiously, wanting to see what the famous Concubine Sun in history, the white moonlight in the life of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Dynasty, looked like and how she could be remembered by an emperor for his whole life.

But she was not tall enough, and there were too many people in front of her. She could not even see what the person standing next to the wife of the Marquis of Pengcheng looked like.

Mrs. Hu, who was beside her, saw her daughter like this and quickly pulled her to stand straight. Hu Shanxiang then realized that it would be bad if she was seen like this, so she quickly stood straight.

After a long while, until Hu Shanxiang's legs were numb from standing, she heard them come in.

After the ceremony, I thought I could rest aside, but I didn't expect a voice from above: "Miss Hu San, raise your head and let me see you."

Hu Shanxiang was a little scared, but she didn't show it on her face. She slowly raised her head and finally got a good look at the imperial concubine. She was truly graceful and elegant, with a pleasant voice, speaking in the soft Wu dialect.

Concubine Wang also looked at Hu Shanxiang curiously. Maybe because she was young and still had some baby fat, she was quite eye-catching among the ladies with oval faces. She had a pair of watery almond eyes and a small nose. She was not wearing any makeup. Maybe because the weather was a little cold, her face was flushed, which made her look cute and pleasing. She seemed like a blessed child.

"What a lovely child! Go to the garden and play with your sisters." Concubine Wang said after looking at the people.

"Yes." Hu Shanxiang was taken by the palace servants to the place to appreciate the chrysanthemums.

When she went over, she saw that everyone was surrounding each other, probably because some of them knew each other. She looked around, wanting to see where the future Concubine Sun was.

After looking for a long time, she finally saw a person sitting alone in the crowd. She remembered that Concubine Sun was from Yongcheng, Shandong. She probably had nothing to talk about with the ladies from the capital, so she sat aside. Hu Shanxiang quietly looked over. Concubine Sun had an oval face, a pair of phoenix eyes, long willow-leaf eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and red lips without any makeup. She was indeed a beauty.

She seemed to notice someone was looking at her, and her eyes turned towards Hu Shanxiang, who immediately lowered her head and looked at her toes.

Hu Shanxiang was not very familiar with these young ladies from the capital, so she walked alone to a rockery to the side to relax.

When the people on the rockery saw Hu Shanxiang coming over, the corners of their mouths curled up. Wu Cheng on the side almost couldn't bear to watch. Who would believe it if this was told to others? The dignified Crown Prince was hiding in the corner to watch his sweetheart.

Hu Shanxiang quietly found a place to sit down. She had been standing for too long today. As soon as she sat down, she was suddenly patted on the shoulder. Hu Shanxiang was so scared that she almost screamed.

"Are you hiding here to rest as well?"

"Well, the girl is?"

"Oh, my name is He Yunyue, what's your name?" the man asked in a familiar manner.

"Oh, my name is Hu Shanxiang. Hello."

"Do you also find them annoying and want to come here to have some free time?"

"You too?" Hu Shanxiang asked back.

He Yunyue smiled and said, "My family is a military family, and they don't like chatting with me."

"Me too. I wasn't in the capital before. I'm not familiar with them and there's nothing to talk about."

"Wu Cheng, go and find out which family this Miss He is from?" Zhu Zhanji was listening to them talking and found it very interesting. He didn't expect that Hu Shanxiang could find someone with the same ideals as her. It would not be a bad idea if such a worry-free person could enter the palace.

"Yes."

A few hours later, Hu Shanxiang and the others bid farewell to the imperial concubine and returned home to wait for the imperial edict after learning the final result of the concubine selection.