Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Time flew by like a fleeting horse, and in the blink of an eye, it was dawn two days later. The many selected ladies could no longer contain their excitement and anticipation, especially those who were lucky enough to enter the palace selection stage, their hearts surging with emotion, unable to contain themselves.

Among them were several daughters of minor officials of the eighth or ninth rank, who had never dreamed they would have such an opportunity, the prospect of entering the imperial family and becoming one of the noble royal family. Whenever they thought of this, they tossed and turned in excitement, unable to sleep all night.

Among these women, two daughters of high-ranking officials from prominent families were particularly eye-catching. They were always arrogant and looked down upon the other women who came to participate in the selection.

On weekdays, these two often mocked everyone, especially the daughters of lowly ninth-rank officials, mocking them mercilessly: "Humph! Why don't you take a piss and look at yourselves to see what you really look like? You're still dreaming of marrying into the Guangping Prince's Mansion? It's simply a foolish dream! With your meager skills, how can you be qualified to cling to the powerful?"

At first, some young and impulsive girls could not stand this humiliation, and immediately stood up to argue with the two young ladies from aristocratic families, and they started arguing with each other without giving in.

However, the nanny who was in charge of disciplining the concubines was an impartial, fair and strict person. Faced with this dispute, she did not favor any side, but decisively ordered that all the women involved in the quarrel be punished together.

The two young ladies from the aristocratic families were immediately enraged, cursing profusely, "Great! How dare you punish us? When I get home and tell my mother, I'll have her go to the palace and complain to the Imperial Concubine. I'll have you, the ignorant slaves, punished!"

But the nanny didn't buy it at all. She said sternly, "I only did what I was supposed to do, and it was to help you. If I really want to marry into the royal family, with your manners, you will inevitably bring trouble to the Guangping Palace and implicate your own family."

The daughters of those minor officials had long been frightened by what the nanny said, and although the daughters of the two high-ranking officials were arrogant and rude, they were not fools. After hearing what the nanny said, they thought about it and felt that it was indeed reasonable.

Although they were in the wrong, one of them still stiffened her neck and said, "Mammy, stop scaring us!"

The other woman, though arrogant, was not rude, so she pulled the woman who was speaking and bowed to the maid, saying, "Mammy, we have been bewildered. Please forgive us!"

The nurse thought this child was teachable, nodded slightly and said, "Miss Li, it's alright, I'm just doing my duty. As for how much you listen to and whether you'll be selected, it all depends on your luck."

Miss Li smiled and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Ma'am."

The arrogant lady next to her sneered at Miss Li and said, "You are so aloof!" Then she walked away.

Not long after, two maids came and one of them said, "Ladies, those whose names I called out, please step out."

Everyone pricked up their ears to listen to see if their name was called.

The maid began to read out the names: "Li Wanqing, Lu Yiyi, Wei Linglong, Ling Yuyan, Liu Qingqing, Liu Jing. Please ask these young ladies to go with me to Zhaoyang Palace."

Several people stood in a row, and with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation, they went to Zhaoyang Palace with the nanny. Inside the palace, the atmosphere was very solemn. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess sat at the head of the table, with Li Chu, Li Neng, and Li Ruo sitting on their left and right, respectively.

Several beautiful women in the row below saluted respectfully and said, "Your servants pay their respects to the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, His Royal Highness the Prince of Guangping, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jianning, and Princess Ningguo."

After he finished speaking, he heard a solemn voice from the leader: "Everyone, get up."

Upon hearing this, all the beautiful ladies thanked him and stood up.

Then, the selection process began. First, the eunuchs read out the family background, name, and age of the selected girls from left to right. After hearing their names, the selected girls stepped out in turn, and then the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, or Li Chu asked questions.

About an hour passed before the "interview" of the four waves of beauties was completed.

Since the palace selection had ended, the concubines were sent out of the palace and returned home to wait for news.

At this time in Zhaoyang Palace, the Crown Prince asked, "What do you think of these beautiful women?"

The Crown Princess smiled broadly and said, "I see these girls are as beautiful as delicate flowers, each one is outstanding. It's clear that the Ye Ting Bureau has put a lot of effort into this."

The prince nodded and said, "Yes, that's true. Looking at these young faces, I feel a lot younger!"

The Crown Princess continued, "From my perspective, Li Wanqing, the daughter of Li Mi, is a good choice. Both her family background and upbringing are excellent."

Li Neng, on the other hand, spoke in a straight-man manner: "Mother, just by asking a few questions, you can tell whether she has good upbringing or not."

In fact, these were just some words said by the Crown Princess in order to make the Crown Prince agree with her ideas. However, she did inquire about it indirectly, and apart from being a little arrogant, he was not bad in other aspects.

The prince pretended to be serious and said, "You little brat, you question your mother?"

Li Neng quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, I'm just curious so I asked casually. Just pretend I didn't say anything."

This actually made Li Ruo laugh. After all, she rarely saw her third brother being humiliated. Li Neng just glared at Li Ruo, and when he noticed the looks from the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, he stopped.

The prince looked at Li Chu and asked, "Does Chu have a favorite candidate?"

Of course Li Chu had one. When he saw Zheng Wan and Liu Jing among the selected candidates, he wanted to choose these two people. Firstly, their fathers did not hold high official positions. In addition, Dugu Jingyao had helped them before. As long as they had a conscience, they would not cause trouble.

Li Chu pretended to think for a moment and said, "Father, Mother, I am only selecting a concubine. Miss Li is a waste of talent for me as a concubine. I have seen two women among them, one named Zheng Wan and the other named Liu Jing. They both look honest, and their fathers and brothers do not hold high positions. They are more suitable to be concubines in the mansion."

Upon hearing this, the prince thought: Chu'er is right, but although she is a concubine, Li Mi's influence in the previous dynasty is not low, and she will also be a help to Chu'er in the future.

So he said, "Since that's the case, how about choosing these three? Li Wanqing will be the Liang Di, and Liu Jing and Zheng Wan will be Ru Ren."

Li Chu was inwardly amazed: Didn't they say only two would be chosen? Why was one more chosen? He quickly bowed and said, "Father, this is probably inappropriate. After all, we previously said only two would be chosen, and now it's suddenly become three. I'm afraid they'll say Miss Li is relying on her status to enter the palace, which would be bad for Lord Li and Miss Li."

The Crown Princess agreed with Li Chu's point of view, so she also advised: "Your Highness, Chu'er is right, but this action is probably inappropriate. How about this? Let's choose two people, one is Miss Li, and the other is chosen from the one Chu'er has chosen?"

The prince nodded in agreement, and Li Chu thought to himself that he shouldn't go too far. Since his father and mother were willing to take a step back, how could he be so aggressive?

So he said, "I will listen to my father and mother. I will choose Zheng Wan."

Now that the candidates have been decided, the audition has finally come to an end.