The spring exam is once every three years. Since the New Year, the spring exam has become the biggest topic of talk among the officials and people in the capital. It is hard to say that there are juren and candidates at home, and those who don’t have one can watch the fun with relish. The new top scorer and second place, the day when Tanhua rode his horse and paraded around, the capital was crowded with people, so it was so lively. In such an atmosphere, no one expected that Emperor Xuande would suddenly issue a talent show.

In the talent show, select women for the emperor and clans.

Some people regard talent shows as a ladder for official promotion. Small officials hope that after they become in-laws with the Tian family, noble people can support themselves. High officials think further. If the prince who follows his daughter sits on the dragon throne in the future, their family will definitely become successful. Some other officials are reluctant to let their daughter enter the palace and are resistant to talent shows.

If the officials from all over the Great Zhou Dynasty were selected, if the officials far away from the capital did not want their daughter to enter the palace, they could quickly make a marriage for their daughter before the emperor's edict arrived in the local area. However, there was no local official matter in this talent show. Emperor Xuande did not want to mobilize the troops on the grounds that there was war on the frontier last year and limited the daughter to the capital. There were few officials in the capital. In order to make King Shou and King Gong have more choices, they naturally had to send all officials of the grades of the unmarried daughter of the right age.

At the foot of the emperor, after the imperial decree was announced by the morning court, the father-in-laws in charge of the draft quickly left the palace and went to the various prefectures to register the unmarried ladies. Three days later, the officials sent their daughters outside the Gongchen Gate of the Imperial City to wait for the preliminary election.

The Duke of Wei was unprepared. When the Duke of Wei was announced, the Duke Gao, who was passing the imperial edict, came over. Song Jianing was playing on a swing with his younger brother in the backyard. The two brothers were having a good time. Qiu Yue suddenly ran over in a panic and asked her to go to the front yard to listen to the imperial edict. Song Jianing was inexplicably led his younger brother who had not yet swung his swing to the main courtyard of the Duke of Guo's Mansion.

The three of Lin's mothers were close to each other, and the eldest wife, the second wife and the third wife were delayed for a while before they arrived.

With all the people, Eunuch Gao announced the purpose of the talent show aloud.

Lin's heart suddenly broke out, and he held back and didn't look back, looking at his daughter kneeling behind him.

The lady lowered her eyes and moved, but the order came too quickly and she did not give them time to plan for their granddaughter.

"Dare you ask the old lady, are the three girls in the mansion married?" Eunuch Gao glanced at the three girls in the Guo family and asked the grandma with a smile.

The lady could only tell the truth, pointing at Lan Fang, Yun Fang said: "These two have been married, they will get married within a month, and the wedding date will be in September." Her eyes fell on Song Jianing, and seeing her granddaughter still in shock, the lady sighed in her heart and said helplessly: "Only one of them is not willing to go out."

Eunuch Gao looked at Song Jianing carefully and said sincerely: "The fourth girl must be blessed with beauty."

The grandmother smiled and watched as Eunuch Gao recorded his granddaughter's name on the list.

After Eunuch Gao finished his errands, the women in the yard looked at each other in front of each other.

The second wife looked at Lin's pale face and knew that Lin had no intention of climbing up, so she walked over and whispered: "Sister-in-law, don't be anxious. We will discuss it with our elder brother tonight, and maybe we can save An'an's talent show."

The third wife also advised: "That's right, let's talk about it, An'an's reputation for delicious food has long been spread. The emperor also gave An'an four treasures to An'an. Even if An'an enters the palace to run for election, the emperor should not choose her."

When this was said, the eldest lady frowned slightly and glanced at the third daughter-in-law unhappy. It was one thing that the eldest daughter-in-law didn't want the younger granddaughter to be selected, but the third daughter-in-law implied that the nobles in the palace looked down on the younger granddaughter, so who would be the mother's love?

Lin really doesn't like to listen, but now the talent show is the first major event in her heart. Without thinking about talking to the third wife, Lin calmly said to the two sisters-in-law: "It is An An's fortune to be able to enter the palace to give a talent show. Even if you lose the election, you can go to see the world. But I'm the first time I've experienced this, my younger brothers and sisters will go back first, I'll learn from my mother."

The second wife nodded and left first with Lan Fang.

The third lady looked at Song Jianing, who was in vain and led her daughter Yun Fang to the third room. The third lady didn't believe that Song Jianing would choose the princess at all, so she only treated this as a joke. Yun Fang's eyes swept over the Shou Palace next door, and a thought suddenly appeared in her heart, and she said in shock: "Mom, the third prince has some connection with the fourth sister, will he..."

The third lady turned her head to look at her daughter and asked unexpectedly: "What is their origin?"

Yun Fang thought about it carefully and said two things about Song Jianing and Shou Wang forming a team to guess the riddle. When Shou Wang just moved to the palace, he scolded Princess Duanhui for defending Song Jianing. After that, Yun Fang thought about it, the more she felt that the fourth sister might become the Princess of Shou, and frowned and said, "Although the fourth sister is a little fat, she..."

She has a good face, and none of her two legitimate sisters, in terms of appearance, can match her fourth sister.

For some reason, Yun Fang felt a little uncomfortable in her chest when she thought that the fourth sister might become a princess. As early as when King Rui of Chu and King Rui chose a concubine, Yun Fang believed that the princess must be from small families, so she never thought of becoming a princess. Now Emperor Xuande has temporarily changed the rules, and the fourth sister has become a beautiful girl. With the opportunity to be a princess, she is inexplicably disliked.

The eldest sister and the second sister marry better than her. Once the fourth sister becomes a princess, even though the King of Shou is stuttering, the stuttering is also the prince, as soon as they stand there, the men of the three of their own sisters will have to kneel down to pay salute to him. In the end, she married the most unsatisfactory.

"Impossible." The third lady walked silently for a while, suddenly said firmly, signaling the maids behind her to follow him to stay away. She whispered to her daughter: "First of all, it is the emperor and the queen who chooses the concubine. The princes can't interfere. If the virtuous concubine is alive, she might help the third prince to plan. Besides, your fourth sister has long been famous. She was greedy and delicious, but was disliked by Lu Zhen..."

Yun Fang pouted: "Outsiders don't know, they are laughing at Lu Zhen for being stupid." She was so angry that it was Lu Zhen who saw that she was better than the fourth sister.

The third lady did not argue with her daughter about this and continued to say to Song Jianing: "Anyway, the emperor will never let your fourth sister be the concubine, and the concubine, maybe it is possible."

Isn’t the concubine the concubine?

Yun Fang finally felt a little better. As long as the fourth sister didn't become a princess, she could accept it if she was not elected.

~

At Huanyueju, Lin asked for help from her mother-in-law anxiously: "Mom, An An is what you have grown up. Her temperament is that she can't be a princess or a good concubine. She looks like...Mom, can we find a way to avoid An An from going to the talent show?"

Now Lin only regrets that her daughter was born too beautiful. If she was a little ugly and her reputation for being greedy, she wouldn't have to worry.

The lady sighed and hugged Song Jianing, who had not spoken, and said, "If we get the news in advance, we can also arrange for An to install an illness to avoid it. But just now, Eunuch Gao saw it. How could An An look behave at all? He heard that the talent show will be sick immediately. No one will believe it, and he will only offend the emperor for nothing."

Lin's heart sank.

Qiuyue helped out with an idea and whispered: "Madam, I heard that some girls in the palace in the previous dynasty did not want to be selected, so she deliberately ate something that made her breath smell bad, or moved her hands and feet under her armpits..."

Before she finished speaking, the grandma rejected it: "An An entered the palace, and the nobles in the palace praised her for her good appearance. These methods are too easy to expose." It is precisely because of her granddaughter's good appearance that there has been a banquet in the palace in the past two years that she did not ask her granddaughter to go. The princes are fine, and the grandma is even more afraid that her granddaughter will be taken by the emperor who is nearly 50 years old.

The master and servant discussed for a long time, but finally found that it could not stop Song Jianing from entering the palace to run for election.

Looking at her mother's worried face, Song Jianing came to her senses and wanted to laugh a little, and held her mother's hand and said, "Mom, the emperor will choose a princess for the princes. I will definitely lose the election, don't worry." King Shou, King Gong, one is the future emperor and the other is a serious prince. How could the princess be her turn as an outsider, a fourth girl from the Guo family?

Song Jianing is really not worried at all.

The daughter's tone was relaxed, as if "decided to be defeated" was something to be proud of. Lin's face forced to smile and felt even more uneasy. This silly child was always rude because he was not a legitimate girl from the Guo family. He was so happy that he could marry Lu Zhen. He never thought about it. Just with her face, let alone the princess, the palace concubine...

Thinking of this, Lin's face changed drastically. What she feared most before was that her daughter was accused of being the concubine of a prince because of her beauty. After entering the mansion, she was bullied by her future mistress. Now that she thought that her daughter might be attracted to Emperor Xuande, who was nearly fifty years old, Lin was not only afraid, but her heart was about to be broken, and she looked at the Madam in horror.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law knew each other well, but they just looked at Song Jianing, who was extremely "confident". Neither of them showed it. They sent Song Jianing to take Mao Ge'er to the backyard to play, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law continued to think about the solution.

Before the sunset was set, Guo Xiao returned home first, but he didn't even change his official uniform and went straight to Linyun Hall.

"Mother, I heard from the people on the way that I would like to choose a girl in the palace?" Guo Xiao asked Surong after giving the ceremony.

The stepson had no feelings for her. Lin could not guess his stepson's thoughts, so he did not reveal his anxiety. He smiled and said, "Yes, your fourth sister's name has been recorded. You will be in the palace in three days. Please sit down and have a tea."

Guo Xiao nodded, sat down at the lower left of Lin's family, and drank tea. He looked outside the door and joked: "Why didn't you see the fourth sister? Are you shy and hiding?"

My daughter is so shy, she is clearly heartless, but Lin can only admit it.

The scene of her step-sister being held in her arms by the King of Shou during the Zhongyuan Festival suddenly appeared in her mind, and Guo Xiao held the tea bowl tightly.

At this moment, Guo Boyan came back.

Both mother and son in the hall stood up. Seeing her husband, Lin could no longer hide the worries in her heart and looked sad.

Guo Boyan could tell at a glance, and sent out his annoying eldest son in just a few words. He took Lin's hand to the inner room.

"I don't want to enter the palace peacefully." The couple was alone, and Lin leaned into the man's arms, but her mother-in-law couldn't help, so she had no choice but to count on her husband.

Guo Boyan had already considered this matter and smiled and said, "Don't worry, if I'm right, the emperor asked the daughter of a high-ranking official to run for the election just to make up the numbers, and he would not choose any of them, otherwise King Rui would think too much."

King Shou is the younger brother of the King of Chu. Giving King Shou’s powerful wife clan is equivalent to raising the King of Chu. At the same time, he chose a concubine, and King Shou gave him the daughter of a high-ranking official, so the fourth prince Gong naturally had to point out the same thing. In this way, only King Rui’s wife clan was insignificant, and the emperor had always been fair and would never allow such a thing to happen.

"Then, will the emperor..." Lin bit his lip, and the words behind him were a little difficult to say.

Guo Boyan stared at her red lips and was stunned for a moment before he realized that his wife was suspicious of Emperor Xuande's greed for the color of his stepdaughter. He immediately smiled and pinched Lin's slender waist like punishment: "An An is only one year older than Duanhui. How could the emperor fall in love with his daughter's cousins? If you have the skill of worrying about it, you might as well think about how to serve me."

After saying that, he picked up Lin and walked towards the bed tent. A few days ago, his wife was in her period, so he started to think about it this morning.

Lin was restless all day, but Guo Boyan just wanted to be happy. She was both annoyed and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She believed Guo Boyan. Since he was so sure, his daughter would definitely be safe after three days of traveling to the palace.

The author has something to say: Emperor Xuande: I heard that you know me very well?

Guo Boyan: Isn’t it?

Emperor Xuande: Guess.

Guo Boyan:...I'd better go home and go to bed with my wife.

Hehe, if you are more enthusiastic, you may be given a marriage tonight~
Chapter completed!