Female-male sex: Salted fish forced to rise to prominence

In that beautiful and charming peach blossom forest, many young ladies from official families were initially filled with joy admiring the blooming peach blossoms.

Those women with outstanding talents could even improvise a few poems to show their talent and elegance.

However, time passed quietly, and after an incense stick of time had passed, the long-awaited King Ye still had not appeared.

At this moment, the young ladies who knew each other could not help but whisper to each other. Among them, the daughter of the Murong family of the Ministry of War was particularly eye-catching.

This Miss Murong was named Murong Xi. She was only thirteen years old, but she was the beloved daughter of the Queen's mother's brother. According to seniority, she should respectfully address the Queen as Aunt.

Different from the delicate oval face of Queen Murong Xue, Murong Xi was born with a round, cute and non-aggressive little face.

But what was unexpected was that she was the most impatient of all the young ladies in the inner chambers: "Oh my! Why hasn't he come yet? It's so boring to just sit around and wait like this. It would be better to stay in the mansion and play Cuju!"

She heard from her elders that the Empress Dowager was here to choose a princess for Prince Ye. In reality, according to seniority, Murong Xi should address Prince Ye as uncle. This was simply because her aunt had married the current emperor and became the most honorable Empress.

Originally, she hadn't had much interest in this imperial concubine selection, but her family elders insisted on sending her here. So, she could only treat it as a formality.

Jiang Li, the eldest daughter of the Minister of Rites's residence, gently opened her red lips and said to Murong Xi in a soft voice, "Don't worry, sister Murong. Perhaps he was delayed on the way here."

Before Jiang Li came, he didn't know whether the Queen Mother was choosing a concubine for His Majesty or Prince Ye. It was only after hearing a few words from Murong Xi that he found out that she was choosing a concubine for Prince Ye.

But for her, whether it was His Majesty or the Prince, it was all the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker, and she had no choice.

Her tone, which was slightly slower than that of an ordinary person, seemed to have a magical power, which instantly calmed down Murong Xi, who was originally a little anxious.

Murong Xi always obeyed her words the most. She immediately smiled and said coquettishly, "Sister Jiang, I just want to go home early to play Cuju!" Her words were full of the innocence of a young girl.

Jiang Li looked at her playful appearance and couldn't help feeling angry and funny, and at the same time shook his head gently with a hint of pampering.

She and Murong Xi were close friends. If others had not witnessed their natural and intimate interaction with their own eyes, it would be difficult for them to imagine that one of them was lively and active, while the other was quiet and gentle, and they could get along so harmoniously.

"You are the most naughty one." Jiang Li said with a faint smile.

At this time, Jiang Li was already 28 years old, in the prime of her life. As the only daughter of the Minister of Rites, she had always attracted much attention for her outstanding talent and beautiful appearance.

However, because her family's requirements for marriage partners were extremely stringent, she had been searching for a suitable husband and still hadn't found one. Unexpectedly, today, she was suddenly summoned to the palace by Aunt Qinxin, a close confidant of the Empress Dowager.

In fact, although nominally they were there to appreciate the flowers together, everyone present knew that this summons actually had another deeper meaning, most likely to select a beautiful woman for a prince or the current emperor.

Jiang Li's chance to enter the palace was entirely due to her exceptional calligraphy skills, and because of this, she became one of the Empress Dowager's favorite women.

The graceful and beautiful young lady from the Sheng family of the Censorate was standing in the crowd at this time, her eyes sweeping over the many ladies from famous families who were whispering and talking to each other.

Sheng Jinxin's big eyes, as bright as stars, moved slightly, as if she was thinking of some clever idea.

Suddenly, the corners of her mouth lifted up, revealing a brilliant smile, and she whispered, "Perhaps something urgent happened and she can't come here. Instead of waiting here, why don't we go to the Cining Palace together to see what's going on?"

Her voice was clear and sweet, as melodious as the sound of a yellow oriole singing in a valley; her tone was light and cheerful, without any trace of disappointment caused by King Ye's failure to arrive as promised.

It seemed as if she didn't care whether this highly anticipated man showed up or not, and was simply enjoying the time spent with her sisters.

Infected by Sheng Jinxin's cheerful atmosphere, Meng Shi from the Meng family of the Ministry of Industry nodded slightly, indicating that he fully agreed with her proposal, and echoed: "Miss Sheng, what you said is absolutely right. Let's set off quickly!"

After saying this, he started forward. Seeing this, the others also prepared to follow this huge team.

However, at this moment, a gentle yet slightly arrogant voice suddenly sounded: "I don't want to leave. If I leave like this, what if I miss a good opportunity?" The person who spoke was Lin Qianqian, the second daughter of the Libu family.

It turned out that she was concentrating on practicing the piano in the backyard today when her mother suddenly told her that the Queen Mother was selecting beautiful women to enter the palace to appreciate the flowers.

After hearing the news, she could no longer play the guitar. If she could get close to the Empress Dowager, she would have the opportunity to get close to Prince Ye.

She had heard many legends about Prince Ye. Some said he was homosexual, and some said he was impotent. But the Prince Ye she knew was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was also extraordinarily handsome, except that he was a little older. But that didn't matter, because old people are caring, just like her father.

Lin Qianqian was secretly delighted and began to fantasize that she would finally have the opportunity to get close to that godly handsome man.

Therefore, she dressed up carefully and came here early to wait, just to have a romantic encounter with Prince Ye. She never considered that this flower viewing party might be for the emperor to choose a concubine.

Because of this sentence, everyone who originally wanted to leave stopped and started discussing.

Among this group of pretty young ladies, only General Bai’s fifth daughter, Bai Yiling, seemed to be an outlier among them.

She did not express her opinion, had little interest in the selection process, and was indifferent to the debate.

Out of boredom, she casually broke off a dead branch and squatted on the ground to draw. It didn't seem like she was painting, but more like she was drawing an invisible prison on the ground, isolating herself completely from the young ladies around her.

In this scene that was as noisy as a vegetable market, suddenly, a palace maid came in.

The maid bowed deeply to the ladies present, then stood up and said, "Greetings to all the ladies! I am Fu Zhu, a maid from the Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager has specially sent me here to invite all the ladies to proceed to the Cining Palace."

After she finished speaking, she walked to the front respectfully, carefully clearing the way for the nobles behind her.

The crowd that was originally chattering and clamoring was now silent, not daring to say a word.

After all, this person is a palace maid beside the Empress Dowager. Talking in front of her is almost the same as talking in front of the Empress Dowager, and some of what he says will reach the Empress Dowager's ears.

Before they set out, their families warned them that, even if they were not chosen, they should at least not bring trouble to the family.

So everyone tacitly lined up in two rows and walked towards the Cining Palace.