Story of Yanxi Palace: Fu Ying's banner will never fall

Before she finished her words, she turned and ran away. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared, leaving only a cloud of dust behind her.

"What a naughty monkey." Empress Fucha shook her head helplessly.

"She is just a naughty monkey, lawless." Wei Yingluo walked forward and carefully took off the small jasmine ball from the queen's hair. The queen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

After a while, they arrived at the selection hall. Empress Fucha simply changed into a slightly neater and cleaner set of clothes and washed the dirt off her hands with clean water.

However, even without makeup, Empress Fucha still outshined many other women present, one because of her natural beauty, and the other because of her extremely noble status.

But in the Forbidden City, perhaps only Concubine Gao did not take the status of queen to heart.

"Noble Concubine Gao has arrived!"

Following the eunuch's loud shout, a noble concubine with heavy makeup walked gracefully into the hall with the help of her maid.

She walked up to the queen and bowed. Both her movements and her voice revealed a perfunctory attitude: "I pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen."

Wei Yingluo had a blank expression on her face, while Mingyu was already looking angry.

As long as Empress Fucha gave the order, this "little monkey" would rush forward and give the other party a few loud slaps. However, Empress Fucha just smiled and said, "No need to be polite."

Before she finished saying the word "Li", Concubine Gao had already stood up and walked to the seat below the Queen. She raised her hand to take the teacup handed to her by the maid and took a sip.

After putting down the teacup, Concubine Gao began to comment on the concubines outside: "The quality of the concubines this year is quite good. Some of them are pretty and lovable."

The Queen said calmly, "In the selection of the Qing Dynasty, we need to select women from famous families with both good moral character to serve the Emperor. Appearance is secondary."

Concubine Gao smiled and covered her lips: "We can't choose a bunch of ugly people, otherwise the emperor will be upset when he sees them, and it will also affect the appearance of the heir, right?"

The conversation between the two seemed murderous, and to everyone's surprise, Empress Fucha seemed to have chosen to back down.

She said in a gentle tone: "No matter how beautiful the concubines are, they can't compare to the imperial concubine who is the most beautiful among all the beauties."

Seeing Empress Fucha give in, Concubine Gao was even more proud.

She smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you are too kind to praise me. I really don't deserve it. However, the peony is the king of flowers with its beauty and fragrance. Not everyone can be worthy of it!"

"You..." Mingyu was so angry that she was about to curse "how outrageous", but she saw the queen waving her hand at her.

Although Mingyu was extremely reluctant, she could only clench her fists tightly and step aside.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

A loud shout interrupted the confrontation between the two men.

A moment later, the emperor walked in with his hands behind his back. In comparison, his outfit was more similar to Empress Fucha's, and neither of them wore too many jewels.

The emperor was dressed in dark blue uniform, looking extremely capable and simple. There was a faint scent of ink wafting from the hem of his sleeves, as if before coming here, he had been busy processing a pile of official documents at his desk.

"Your servant pays respects to His Majesty."

"No need to be so polite." The emperor walked quickly to Empress Fucha and offered her a hand to help her up.

A gentle expression appeared on his handsome face, "Queen, there is no need to be polite."

The first sentence was spoken to everyone present, while the second sentence was spoken only to Empress Fucha.

Concubine Gao stared at the two people's clasped hands expressionlessly, with a hint of jealousy flashing in her eyes.

The emperor did not notice any jealousy. To him, the selection was more like a routine matter.

He helped Empress Fucha sit down, and then he also sat down casually beside the imperial desk, propped up his cheek with one hand, and casually ordered: "Let's start."

"Yes!" The chief eunuch called out the name loudly, "Suochuoluo Yuli, daughter of Dali Temple Minister Suochuoluo Daojin, aged fifteen."

A dark-skinned beauty came forward in small steps.

"Do you bask in the sun with soy sauce on your head every day?" the emperor asked casually.

This question was really too strange. The dark-skinned maiden uttered an "ah" and then shook her head blankly: "No, I rarely go out..."

"Hahaha, Your Majesty, is he saying that you are black?" Concubine Gao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The young lady's face turned red from the laughter and tears welled up in her eyes.

The eunuch behind him called out her name: "Next, Wuya Qingdai, daughter of Wuya Xiongshan, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, seventeen years old."

A moment later, a woman with outstanding appearance came out.

Different from her previous arrogance in the Imperial Garden, at this moment she restrained her edge and showed her most beautiful side to everyone.

Even those who didn't notice her would notice——

"Hmm?" Concubine Gao suddenly asked in surprise, "What is this on the ground?"

Everyone followed her gaze and saw two long strings of lotus marks left behind where Wu Ya Qing Dai had passed.

The emperor asked with some displeasure: "What happened to your foot?"

Wu Ya Qingdai was filled with ecstasy. Even though she tried her best to suppress it, her joy could not help but show on her face. Even her voice trembled a little: "Your Majesty, this is called Lotus Step by Step."

"Really?" The emperor chuckled, and there was a hint of chill in his laughter that made people shudder.

The next moment, she heard the emperor continue to say: "Take off her shoes, I want to see!"

It happened too suddenly. Wu Ya Qing Dai raised her head, and before the joy on her face faded away, two young eunuchs came towards her. Four strong arms pressed her heavily to the ground, and then the head eunuch squatted down, took off her right embroidered shoe, held the sole high, and presented it to the emperor.

The emperor took one look and sneered: "It turns out that the sole is carved into the shape of a lotus."

Concubine Gao beckoned, and the eunuch quickly held the sole in front of her. She took a look and said with a smile, "The sole is filled with fine powder, no wonder it left a mark!"

She was still smiling, but there was no trace of smile on the emperor's face.

The emperor shouted sternly: "Someone, take her out!"

Wu Ya Qing Dai finally woke up from her dream, and crawled to the emperor, tears streaming down her face, "Your Majesty, please spare my life. Your Majesty, I am only imitating the Lotus Step by Step method, hoping to stand out in the selection. Please spare me, Your Majesty!"