Spring Drunk Chang'an

Xiong Zhen knew Shi Xiaoyue too well. He knew exactly what he should do and to what extent, and how Shi Xiaoyue would react.

He always maintained a state that made Shi Xiaoyue feel a little uncomfortable, but not too uncomfortable, and not so rebellious as to directly question him.

He did it very successfully.

He quietly distanced himself from her, gradually grew indifferent, and retreated to the proper distance between a young lady and a guard. During this long period of time, he had never let Shi Xiaoyue react too violently.

Today, he's broken through!

He did it on purpose!

"Miss, I'm fine now." Xiong Zhen drove the car silently and suddenly said.

With relief in his voice, he repeated, "We're all fine."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has already promised to help his young lady with her marriage at the Shouning Marquis's Mansion, to deal with the Eleventh Young Master in a fair manner, without damaging her reputation at all, and to leave the Duke and Princess Nanweng speechless!

Being steady and balanced is the result of not getting involved, which Xiong Zhen cannot do. The most he can do is secretly hit the Eleventh Young Master with a club, beat him so that he cannot take care of himself, or even kill him.

She still has to worry about others saying that her young lady is unlucky in marriage, or even worrying about Princess Nan Weng causing trouble. Even though the Eleventh Young Master is disabled, she still forces her young lady to marry him!

The prince helped him solve the problem, and also gave her a way out. As long as he was willing to fight hard and work hard, he would not be unable to achieve a happy ending with his own lady.

The most important thing is that this path will not affect the future quality of life of our young lady, nor will it ruin her reputation, nor will it make her lose her status.

It’s so beautiful!

It makes me happy just thinking about it!

The corners of Xiong Zhen's mouth curled up uncontrollably, his eyes showing joy. He said sullenly, "Everything is fine."

"Miss, don't worry, I'm here. Just leave it to me no matter what happens!"

"Okay, Brother Xiong, I feel relieved when you say that!"

After Xiong Zhen said these words, Shi Xiaoyue believed him instantly without even thinking. The worry that had been lingering between her brows recently disappeared, and her smile immediately brightened.

Shi Xiaoyue climbed out of the carriage and sat down next to Xiong Zhen without any ladylike image. She crossed her knees and poked Xiong Zhen's shoulders with her slender jade fingers.

He chattered, "Brother Xiong, I haven't been out of town for a long time without you by my side."

"Sister Chang'an is busy dating the Crown Prince, and I can't keep bothering her. The county supervisor has been very strict with me lately, sending nannies to bother me every day..."

"And my brothers and sisters, seeing that I have a good relationship with the princess, they come to me and say this and that!"

"I know they're after my dowry and want me to give them some of it through my fingers. Bah, I won't do that!"

"They've treated me coldly for so long, and now I'm fine after a few words of comfort? Tsk, I don't have that kind of temper. I don't want to play with them..."

"Brother Xiong, Brother Xiong, can you accompany me out of the city tomorrow? We haven't been back to Yuantan Temple for a long time, and it's time to go back and pay our respects."

"It's been a long time since I last burned incense for my mother!"

"...Really, it's strange to say this. When I was starving and freezing in Yuantan Temple, I always hoped that my father would take me back home as soon as possible. I would never set foot in the temple again in my life. But now that I'm back, I've started to miss life in the temple..."

"At that time, the nanny thought I had no future, so she took my monthly salary and ran away after not being able to take care of me for more than a few days. There were only you and me in the temple, and we had nothing to eat. The only food we had was the vegetables and tofu sent by the temple. I was so hungry that my face turned green..."

As if he wanted to say everything that Qiyuan had not said during this period of time, Shi Xiaoyue poked Xiong Zhen's arm, smiling and chattering non-stop.

Xiong Zhen listened quietly, without any sign of impatience, but instead a look of comfort in the corners of his eyes and brows.

He occasionally interrupted, "...When you were craving meat, I went to the back mountain to catch a pheasant. The pheasant flew away, but it hit a rabbit instead. You ate the whole thing that day, and then you got a stomachache and cried in pain..."

"When I was a child, the wet nurse could rob you of your silver, but after I turned twelve, she couldn't beat me anymore."

"Later, she even got her two sons to teach me a lesson, but unfortunately I beat them both up. After that, they never dared to mess with me again."

"We can all get our monthly salary, but unfortunately, you love to eat and you love beautiful clothes and jewelry, so you buy them whenever you have money. We don't have much saved..."

"...Is life in the Duke of Qi's mansion uncomfortable? No, I'm free in Yuantan Temple. That's why you keep thinking about the past. But, it's okay, everything will be fine soon!!"

Facing the afterglow of sunset, the carriage clattered forward. Xiong Zhen and Shi Xiaoyue sat side by side, with the setting sun shining on their backs.

Their voices slowly drifted away in the air.

-

Time passed and it was April in a blink of an eye.

The audition has officially begun!

As early as half a month ago, the beauties from other provinces had already arrived in the capital one after another.

When Song Zhilan took Liu Changan and Song Zhinian out to buy jewelry, she saw that the jewelry shop, rouge shop, and tailor shop were all crowded with people...

All the inns are full!

The capital city has become a bit more lively.

Unlike the concubines from other provinces who had to travel long distances, the concubines from the capital had a unique geographical advantage.

Moreover, according to the rules of Daxia, officials in the capital are more valuable than local officials of the same rank.

Similarly, the beauties from the capital also have advantages over those from the local areas.

For example, during the preliminary selection, regardless of official rank, the beauties from the capital were selected first.

The Cheng'en Mansion is the most prestigious among the officials in the capital, so Liu Chang'an and Lu Zhinian will participate on the first day of the selection.

Those in the same group as them were all girls from super-noble families.

Like Shi Xiaoyue.

After changing clothes and getting everything ready in the mansion, Liu Changan and Lu Zhinian got on the carriage and headed straight for the palace.

Prince Song took special leave to send them off.

After entering the palace gate, there were naturally female officials and palace maids who came forward to lead the way and bring the beauties into the inner palace.

The Daxia draft is divided into four stages.

The first stage is the preliminary selection, which looks at the girls' appearance, figure, weight, arm length, foot size, whether they have any unusual posture, and whether they have any facial blemishes.

Generally speaking, there are no major problems - for example, people like Shi Xiaoyue who have a large birthmark, are too fat, are 1.6 meters tall and weigh 180 kilograms, have ears that hang down to their shoulders, and have hands that go below their knees, can basically pass.

The second stage is a physical examination. Are there any blemishes? Any scars? Any body odor? Any foot odor? Any bad breath?

Of course, the most important thing is whether you are innocent!

After passing this level, it is the third stage, meeting the emperor, the queen and the concubines in the harem.

These people were selected, and according to the scale of previous years, there were usually at least 20 to 30 people, and at most 50 to 60 people. All of them entered the Chuxiu Palace and lived in the palace for two months.

It is called: learning the rules!