Spring Drunk Chang'an

The Shoushou Marquis's family coveted Shi Xiaoyue's beautiful dowry and her father, the Duke.

As for Shi Lin, he fought for his eldest daughter a little, but seeing that his wife Princess Nan Weng was determined, he didn't want to really anger the princess who was the housekeeper and gave birth to his son. After all, his daughter's appearance really made it impossible for the family to use her to arrange a profitable marriage.

Marrying down would be better for my daughter, but it would not benefit the family, and my wife strongly opposed it.

Shi Lin compromised.

She verbally agreed to the proposal of Lord Shouning, and the two families would get married as soon as the selection was over and the formalities were completed.

Liu Changan knew this matter clearly, and he didn't know how many times he had cursed Shi Lin in private, calling him "unworthy father" and "the second Liu Xiu", but he was helpless.

"What happened to the Eleventh Young Master? What went wrong in the Shouning Marquis's Mansion?"

Liu Changan asked anxiously.

Shi Xiaoyue pursed her lips and said in a tone that was half carefree and half helpless: "What could go wrong? The Li family is very smart. A few days ago, they came to my house and asked the princess for the dowry list. They also sent me an old nanny, saying that she used to serve the empress dowager. Knowing that I would be selected, they taught me the rules to prevent me from bringing shame to the family..."

"After that nanny came to my courtyard, she refused to pick up the needle or the thread, and she found fault with me every day. She also goaded me, both openly and covertly, to ask my father for more dowry. I was so fed up with her that I wanted to send her away, but the princess kept forcing me to do so, making me feel uncomfortable all over!"

"Did you complain to Guard Xiong?" Liu Chang'an asked. Then, he frowned fiercely and scolded in a deep voice, "Speaking of which, the Shouning Marquis's Mansion is really going too far. His family is an Marquis's Mansion after all. How could they be so, so..."

"Shameless!"

They haven't even completed the three letters and six ceremonies, yet they went straight to the girl's house to ask for a dowry list, and even sent servants to urge the girl to ask her father for more money. Is this the behavior of a noble family?

So are you short of money?

Liu Changan cursed in her heart. Looking at Shi Xiaoyue's helpless face, she asked again, "Duke Shi, are you indifferent?"

"Father doesn't want to have conflicts with the princess, so he has agreed to the marriage. Our two families even exchanged horoscopes in private and started to get along. What else can he do?" Shi Xiaoyue spread his hands.

Liu Changan was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

Liu Yu listened at the side, his brows slightly raised. "Xiaoyue, I remember your family didn't ask for permission from the royal family to marry you on your own. How come you even changed your horoscope?"

The concubines to be selected may all be wives of the royal family. They may have made some verbal promises to others in private, such as: if one is not selected, the two families will marry each other. These are unspoken rules and cannot be made public.

But changing the horoscope and matching the name cards are almost following the rules of the Three Books and Six Ceremonies.

If it gets out, it's almost like they're an unmarried couple.

Is the Shi family so brave? Do they completely disregard the royal rules?

Is the Shouning Marquis's Mansion so fierce? Dare to compete with the royal family for women?

Liu Yu doesn't understand.

Shi Xiaoyue, on the other hand, had a normal expression. She pointed at the large birthmark on her face and said calmly, "Brother Yu, look at my face."

"How picky do you think the Royal Family would have to be in order for me to be chosen?"

The main purpose of this royal selection was to select a girl for the crown prince. After all, Xiao Chuo had missed two selections because of the ancient monk's comments that "it is not easy to get married early" and "two dragons fighting each other".

His younger brothers, especially the Prince of Yan, had numerous wives and concubines, and their children were almost grown up, yet he was still alone and helpless, even though he was destined to marry late...

Xiao Chuo is already in her twenties, it's already too late!!

We can’t wait any longer, if we wait any longer he will go to the third position!

In this selection, the Eastern Palace must have a Crown Princess, and even a Crown Princess and a Crown Princess. These are all candidates that must be selected. Most of the ladies from the nobles, high-ranking officials, and upright families in the capital are also aiming for these positions.

As for the remaining positions that are slightly inferior, they are the positions in the inner courts of the kings.

Of the four adult princes under Emperor Yingwu, except for the crown prince, the others have already married wives. However, according to the rules, a prince can have four concubines, and the palaces of the three princes are not full!

Their main target was Prince Yan. After all, the remaining two princes had already left the capital to become fiefs, but Prince Yan, who was older than them, still remained in the palace.

This represents His Majesty's love and respect for Prince Yan, as well as...

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

That unspeakable ambition.

Who doesn't want to marry someone with great expectations?

In the inner court of the Three Kings, the Prince of Yan is the head. For the rest of the beauties whose official positions are not so high and whose looks are not so good, the third choice is to marry a son of the royal family and live a life of wealth and leisure.

As for entering the harem of Emperor Yingwu, it was the second best option. After all, Emperor Yingwu was already old and had his true love, Concubine Qu. It was said that he had not entered the harem for seven or eight years and stayed at Concubine Qu's place every day.

This can be seen from the fact that there was no crying baby in the harem for ten years.

The rumors are true.

Noble women entered the palace hoping to ascend to high positions, bear princes, and bring honor to their families. What good would an emperor do to them if he couldn't give them concubines and children? Did he love them for their age? Did he love them for their bad temper?

They don’t want to be widowed alive, even if it’s a widow in the harem!

If the first three options of marrying the crown prince, the prince, or the royal family are not successful, they would rather fail than enter the harem of Emperor Yingwu.

and so……

"Brother Yu, my father is a royalist and has no preference for any of the princes. No one would be interested in my father's power. He would rather marry an ugly woman than take me into the backyard. My father doesn't want to cause that trouble, and he doesn't want an ugly wife!"

After all, with Shi Xiaoyue's status, unless she enters the harem or the backyard of a prince, ordinary royal family members are not worthy of her being a concubine!

"The Emperor wouldn't condescend to accept me. I would definitely be eliminated. In fact, if my father didn't think so highly of me and wasn't unwilling to ask the Emperor for an exemption from selection, I wouldn't have to go to the palace and suffer that punishment!"

With her face, if she doesn't do well, she won't even be able to pass the first stage of the audition, the "appearance test".

If you go in in the morning, you will be kicked out at noon.

There's nothing to be ashamed of.

"That Duke Shi is too much, too much..." Liu Yu paused, thought for a long time, and finally didn't want to be too harsh, so he just sighed and said, "Whatever!"

Only someone who doesn't care about his daughter at all would do this.

"Compared to the Princess, my father doesn't take me seriously. Isn't that a well-known fact?" Shi Xiaoyue tilted her head and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, Brother Yu, Sister Chang'an, let's not talk about this anymore, or we'll spoil the fun. Let's talk about Brother Xiong!"

"I did tell Big Brother Xiong about the Shouning Marquis's Mansion, the horoscope, and the matter of sending Nanny, but I never complained to him. Do you think he would be unhappy about this?"