At the right time, after Emperor Xuan's words, the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet officially began, and the lights in Liuqingchi Yan were as bright as day, singing and dancing were level, and the atmosphere was warm and lively.

Empress Dowager Liu wore the golden yellow queen mother's luxurious phoenix robe, and her exquisite makeup made her both dignified and graceful, full of majesty and courage, and she was the demeanor of the most noble woman in the harem.

She sat on Emperor Xuan's right hand, although she had not spoken since she walked into Liuqing Chiyan, but she still understood what kind of occasion this was, and she was not allowed to lose her temper with Emperor Xuan at this time.

Because the queen was deposed, not to mention that Emperor Xuan did not mean to re-establish the queen, even if there was and could not be at this time, there was no chair placed on the left hand side of Emperor Xuan, and the rest of the concubines were sitting behind Emperor Xuan.

Although it is only the meaning of Emperor Xuan's words, Emperor Xuan is still a kind person, and in line with the attitude that his son is not his own son, all the concubines in the harem who have princes are qualified to attend tonight's Chinese New Year's Eve banquet, but there is no such preferential treatment at the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet in the past.

Emperor Xuan was not a good woman, since the death of the first emperor, he ascended the throne as the emperor, and the concubines in the harem are still the women in the backyard of his original mansion, and the new one can't be found.

As far as he is concerned, except for the deceased Queen Han, the other women probably look the same, and he has never taken it to heart, but since he has a son between him and them, such a major matter as correcting the concubine for his son, although it will not let them decide which one to choose, but it will more or less let them look at it.

Sitting in the middle of the high position, on the left and right sides of the sitting is his minister of civil and military affairs, on the other side sits the ministers' families, the middle is completely vacant so that the girls of each province can perform their talents later, and the front and back of the seats are arranged according to the level of the grade, the higher the rank, the lower the rank of the back.

Concubine Mi is one of the few Zhengyipin county lords of Jin Fengguo who enjoys the four-character title and has a fief since the founding of the country, and it can be said that she is the most noble among the female dependents in addition to the queen mother and the queen.

The deposed queen Pang has a prince under the name but no son, so there is no princess who can compete with Concubine Mi, and although the princess of other concubines is a golden branch and jade leaf, she can't stand being a concubine, and her rank is not as good as Concubine Mi.

Unless she is extremely favored and enjoys a special title, Concubine Mi is also very unceremonious to be able to press the princess, which is definitely the first share of the Golden Phoenix Kingdom.

"Ahem... The emperor looked at me like this, could it be that my face was dirty and not cleaned?"

Emperor Xuan was asked by Concubine Mi's words, shook his head and said, "That's not true." ”

"The emperor stared at me, attracting the eyes of most of the people in this palace to me, isn't it a flower on my face?" If she had a choice, Concubine Mi would not be willing to sit in such a high place, and Emperor Xuan would see her at a glance.

I think she just came to the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet to make soy sauce, and she didn't mean to come up with it at all, so it didn't matter if she ignored her existence as much as possible, who liked this position wanted to go.

I don't know how many of the daughters in this hall have broken their heads in the seat that is so disgusted by Concubine Mi, and she is the only one who disdains it.

"Hahaha... Concubine Mi is still so amused. Emperor Xuan looked at Concubine Mi's slightly twisted brows, and suddenly laughed out loud, he didn't expect him to be happy at this time, but the consequences seemed to be a bit serious.

Concubine Mi was silent, and said in her heart: I amuse your sister!

A certain prince sitting opposite Concubine Mi miraculously did not have any anger, and his face was still as gentle as the breeze and the bright moon, but the more he looked at the corners of his mouth, the more evil he looked, and he could see that people were trembling with their livers.

Your Majesty, is it really good for you to tease the woman of this world like this?

Suddenly, Emperor Xuan seemed to sense something, and cautiously glanced at Mo Yan with the corner of his eye, seeing that the latter seemed to be pondering something, the heart that was lifted fell to the ground, and said to Concubine Mi with a smile: "Concubine Mi is already born more delicate than flowers, and the color of the flowers in my imperial garden is not as good as yours. ”

"Didn't the emperor say that the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet is happy with the princes and courtiers, and there is no need to pay attention to so many etiquettes, my nature is also unrestrained, I am used to it, and my mouth is a little picky." At this time, Concubine Mi looked up at Emperor Xuan, holding a bunch of plump grapes in her hand, and her pink lips hooked up and muttered embarrassedly: "This is a little sour, I look at the emperor and the ladies in front of me, which is better than mine." ”

"Dare you girl to think about these two plates of fruit on my table?"

"I've never been tempted by food. Concubine Mi winked playfully, and said unceremoniously: "The good things in this palace, one is to be close to the emperor, the second is to be close to the queen mother, and the third is to be close to the ladies of the palaces. ”

Seeing Concubine Mi's eyes shining as she stared at the fruits on his table, Emperor Xuan twitched the corners of his mouth with a black line, and instructed Gonggong Zhang: "Hurry up, bring these two plates of fruits on my table to the county lord, don't spoil her." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. ”

"Thank you to the emperor, Concubine Mi will not be polite to the emperor. With a smile on her face, she took the fruit plate that Father-in-law Zhang sent to her, and Concubine Mi's whole person softened, a little less cold.

"If you want to be polite to me, I still think it's strange. ”

"In this case, if there is good food and drink for a while, the emperor will have to keep a copy for Concubine Mi. ”

"Did Gonggong Zhang hear the words of the county lord?"

"Back to the emperor, the slave heard. ”

Emperor Xuan withdrew his gaze from Concubine Mi's body, raised his eyes and swept to all the people in the hall and said in a deep voice: "I Jinkou Yuyan, tonight, although you are as comfortable as Concubine Mi, don't be so restrained, the things on the table are originally for eating, not for seeing, if you like to eat, eat more, don't be polite to me." ”

"Wait for the emperor. ”

"You should all know that the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet is going to marry the crown prince and several other princes, so Shu will go straight to the point and say that all the girls in the Zhongqing family who are not of the right age can participate in the election, and the most outstanding ones will take the initiative to marry them." ”

The prince's side concubine is almost determined, in order to appease Taishi Pang, Emperor Xuan has to give a woman surnamed Pang to enter the prince's mansion, and the selection of the remaining princess is also a bit of a headache.

If you point too high, the prince will be happy, but Emperor Xuan will not be very happy, but if you point too low, you will inevitably lose the identity of the prince again.

There is also King Ming, King Chen and King Wu's concubine and side concubine The choice of candidates is a headache for Emperor Xuan, the things involved are too wide, and it is difficult to ensure that there is no impact on the future if something goes wrong in one place, all of which Emperor Xuan should take into account when referring to marriage.

This time, it is said that there are no candidates for these positions, to put it bluntly, how can there be no candidates at all, but the face is very hidden.

"Thank you for the emperor's grace. "In the palace, the ministers who did not marry their daughters into the heart of the royal family have nothing to do with themselves, and before entering the palace, they also carefully told their daughters, how to behave in a while, they know what to do.

However, those ministers who are bent on climbing the royal family, looking at the delicate flowers on the women's table at this time, they can't help but worry that their daughters will be compared to other people's families.

For a while, the whole hall was turbulent, and the undercurrent was surging, don't look at the ministers who usually have good friendships with the ministers who wear the same pants, at this time they all have their own careful thoughts and small calculations, and they can only believe three points if they say it.

If you believe it all, you will be planted.

"I won't talk about it, although the news has not been spread for a long time, but I believe that even if it is only for two or three days, you are ready to show your best side. ”

As soon as Emperor Xuan's smiling words fell, there was a low voice of discussion on the side of the women's banquet, and the girls who came in costume all blushed, but their eyes showed the imperative of the position they longed for.

"The courtiers will wait for the emperor's good intentions, and they will behave as a good student for a while, and they will not disappoint the emperor. ”

"Haha, okay, I'll just wait to see how you perform. Emperor Xuan waved his hand, and the dancing girls in the hall retreated in an orderly manner at this time, and the pleasant sound of silk and bamboo continued to make people a little drowsy in their ears.

Compared to those women who are so excited that they want to jump three feet high to express their joy, Concubine Mi is also the only one who doesn't feel these at all, as if she is outside this world.

Let the Empress Dowager Liu stare at her and eat her eyes from time to time fall on her, she simply ignored the existence of the Empress Dowager Liu, anyway, the more this time the Empress Dowager dared not trouble her, unless she could really give up her face, and she would embarrass her if she couldn't get off the stage, otherwise the Empress Dowager Liu couldn't do anything else except glaring at her resentfully.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Mi looks at the girls of the right age in this palace, not sixty or seventy, but also thirty or forty, if you want to compete in the same field, this is quite a big learning to appear first and then appear. ”

"Oh, it seems that you girl has a better idea, and if you want to use it, you will do as you say. "The Chinese New Year's Eve banquet turned into a concubine selection banquet, to say that Emperor Xuan is quite innocent, but who made him sign an unequal treaty."

Every year the singing and dancing at the Chinese New Year's Eve banquet are top-notch, which can definitely feast people's eyes, and this year's shows except for the opening two and the final one, the rest have all been canceled, in order to give these noble ladies the opportunity to perform.

"The performance in front will inevitably have an advantage, and the performance in the back will inevitably be buried. ”

In this ancient period when the imperial power was supreme, men were inferior to women, people were divided into three, six, nine and so on, high and low, but everything must be a noble status, the rank is in front, and the lower status is more and more backward, and even where there are concubines, concubines don't think of anything at all.

The women in the harem are expensive by their sons, but the daughters in the back house of the official family are expensive by their fathers and mothers, as the saying goes, the official is a big crush to death, this is not unreasonable, the father has a high official position, the mother has a big fate, and they are daughters who are also stained, which is like the position they sit in.

Those who are inferior to them in terms of identity retreat as if they were interested, and do not hinder their eyes.

As soon as Concubine Mi said this, the ministers with high official positions couldn't help but look at her angrily, and those with lower official positions felt that Concubine Mi had said a fair word, at least giving their daughters a chance to compete fairly.

In their opinion, their daughter's talent and appearance are not inferior to the daughters of the Shangfeng family.

"Why are you looking at the county lord like this? Could it be that the county lord said the wrong thing, or do you think that your daughter has no ability and is not as good as someone else's?"

The ministers who were swept by Concubine Mi's cold gaze were all shocked into a cold sweat, this woman's eyes were too sharp, they had to retreat in embarrassment, but they had to take a mouth again.

"The county lord is not wrong at all. ”

"What the county lord said is reasonable, but it is just a comparison between some daughters' families, which is really not true. ”

"Yes, yes, the county lord speaks most fairly. ”

Concubine Mi lowered her eyes and said nothing, these old guys who couldn't eat ancient food couldn't provoke her heart, so they ate a few more delicious and juicy grapes, looked up at Emperor Xuan with a smile, and said in a cold voice: "Since the emperor has allowed all the adults to bring the concubines of the family to the banquet, I want to treat them equally, why don't you let them go together?"

"The Chinese New Year's Eve banquet is not long, but there are quite a few of them, does the concubine have any good intentions?"

"This is simple, this competition is divided into three games, the first is the preliminary round, the second is the semi-final, and the last game is naturally the final. After a pause, Concubine Mi continued: "Count the number of people participating in the game first, and then draw lots to determine the order of appearance in each game, which is very fair, who comes first and who comes last is just a matter of everyone's luck." ”

"The idea is good, I am very satisfied, what do you think. ”

"The county lord's idea is very good, but the emperor is in charge. ”

"After the first preliminary round, there can only be forty people on the field to enter the semi-finals, and after the semi-finals, only fifteen people can enter the finals, the county lord believes that the ladies who can enter the finals are talented, and then through the finals to select the top ten with the best results, the same county lord also believes that the last ten laughs, the emperor will definitely point you to a good family business, give you a good marriage. ”

"Well, you have any objections to the county lord's arrangement. ”

"If you go back to the emperor, the courtiers and others have no objections. "Most of the women in the palace are still grateful to Concubine Mi, only a few of them feel that Concubine Mi is nosy, but they can't stand Concubine Mi's status is too high, and even their father doesn't dare to provoke people, where do they dare to send it up themselves.

Although Concubine Mi may not necessarily beat them, even if they are just being subdued by Concubine Mi in public, it is enough for them to be embarrassed for a while.

"The dinner time is limited, there are too many of them, and it takes too much time for them to perform one by one, not to mention, is it possible to sit here for one night tonight?"

"What the prince of Chu Xuan said is not unreasonable, what do you think of Concubine Mi?" Emperor Xuan decisively kicked the ball back to Concubine Mi, even if he couldn't sit for so long, watching these women fight for me.

Concubine Mi rolled her eyes speechlessly at Emperor Xuan's eyes, she really thought she was kicking a ball, you kick it and I will kick it, and then decisively kick it all to her?

"Considering the problem of a bit of a large number of people, and in order to test some of your character, then, the first and second games are taken in the way of team promotion, the fifteen people who successfully enter the third game, first all sit down to compete in a piano skill, the one that plays the best is to be determined, the remaining fourteen people PK duels in pairs, the winner is also to be determined first, until the two winners and the eight people to be determined again PK from the seven people who failed, the five winners are ranked by the length of the game, and the losers are also PK again with the other five, and the ranking of the sixth to tenth place is also determined by the length of the game。 ”

His Royal Highness, including Emperor Xuan, are all thinking about the way Concubine Mi said about this competition, so it does save time, "What do you think is the rules of the game set by the county lord, if you have different objections, you can raise them and listen to me." ”

"If you go back to the emperor, the ministers have no objections. ”

"Really?"

"Nope. ”

Seeing that they answered affirmatively, Emperor Xuan was too lazy to care, so he frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice: "Girl, what do you say is the first team competition with the second game?"

"Can Grandpa Zhang count the number of people who are going to participate in the competition?"

"If you go back to the county lord, the minions will be counted, no more, no less, just seventy young ladies are going to participate. "Gonggong Zhang, who received Emperor Xuan's instructions, answered all questions to Concubine Mi, and his attitude was so good.

But after listening to Zhang's father-in-law's words, Concubine Mi's whole person was stunned for a moment, she was still less before daring to love, aside from the women in the palace who did not fight for the position of the crown princess and those concubines, there were still seventy women to fight for?

Obviously, Concubine Mi was a little frightened, and swept over the ministers sitting opposite her with her watery eyes, and three solid black lines slipped from her forehead, and said in her heart: These ministers are really capable of giving birth, she can be regarded as an eye-opener.

Just thinking about it, there are not many daughters among these women, and they occupy half of the country, and suddenly, Concubine Mi feels that this is nothing, after all, the men of this era are not to mention those who are officials in the court, but the big families who are a little more wealthy in the family are not three wives and four concubines.

There are more women in the backyard, not only do men have more daughters, but sons are also indispensable.

"Since there are exactly seventy people, then divide them into seven groups, ten people in each group, and who is the group to draw lots, and the order of appearance is also determined by lots, after the distribution, even if there are people in your group that you particularly dislike, and especially dislike and look down on, the lord of this county tells you that you only have two ways to choose. ”

"Wouldn't it be too domineering for the county lord to say this, since we want to participate in the competition in groups, why can't we choose who we are in a group with?"

"Yes. ”

"If you have the final say, then we ......"

With the first person to eat crabs, there will be one person after another who dares to eat crabs, and seeing that the first person to ask Concubine Mi was not questioned by Concubine Mi, there will be voices one after another.

"It's easy to be a girl at home, it's not easy to get married, whether it's a housewife or something else, especially the royal family, not everyone can marry in, since you want to be a royal daughter-in-law, you should understand a truth, it's not good to like gangs. ”

"Shhhh

As soon as Concubine Mi's voice fell, the women who thought they had the upper hand changed their faces in unison, and their legs were faintly weak and gasped.

"You can be in a group with whoever you like, do you think that those who are excluded by you will be eliminated, and you will be able to advance smoothly?"

The women were silent, they did have such thoughts in their hearts before, but their minds were pierced by Concubine Mi's blunt words, even if they were thick-skinned, they couldn't stand it.

"It can be seen that your character is really average. ”

If Concubine Mi's previous words were a little ugly for them, the latter sentence would be light and serious, and even a little slap in the face.

"It's also the county lord who is nosy, this should be the emperor's business, so the county lord is too lazy to take care of you. After the words fell, Concubine Mi relaxed calmly and elegantly, leaned lazily on the back of the chair, and finally simply closed her eyes and dozed off leisurely.

Emperor Xuan was angry and funny when he saw this, but the prince took the lead in standing up and said to Emperor Xuan respectfully: "Father, the sons think that the county lord's method is very good, and who they are in a group is determined by drawing lots, which is a teamwork competition, if they don't even understand the overall situation, if such a woman marries into the royal family by fishing in troubled waters, it will be a dark for the royal family." ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said is reasonable. ”

"Your Majesty, although the county lord speaks more straightforwardly, and he is not very good at listening to and domineering, but the county lord's heart is good, and the women who can join my Mo clan cannot be some indiscriminate. ”

"I have taken down the words of the old emperor. ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that whether it is a royal woman or a royal woman, she should be an example for women in the world. ”

"Well, what Zhu Aiqing said is reasonable. ”

It's just a few words that have developed into what they are now, and the women who choked with Concubine Mi before were completely dumbfounded, and the whole person turned pale with fright, trembling and unable to say a word.

Seeing this scene, Concubine Mi had to be relieved, and the ladies who had been hinted at by their own men hurriedly pulled their daughters to ask Concubine Mi for guilt, but Concubine Mi 'fell asleep' and didn't care about people at all.

"Concubine Mi has never been stingy, you don't have to make such a gesture, hurry up and go to the lottery group to don't delay time. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty. ”

The speed of the draw was very fast, not only did the girls present quickly divide into groups, but even the order of appearance was decided.

Because there is not much time reserved, the girls do not have a lot of choices for the overall performance, nothing more than playing the piano and dancing, and there is no novelty at all.

In the end, the time is in a hurry, these women get together to discuss what program to perform, and there is no tacit understanding between each other, so it is not easy to run in for a while, if it weren't for their childhood skills, I'm afraid they will make a lot of jokes as soon as they get on the stage.

An hour later, the first knockout match was over, and the top four groups were promoted, and the other three groups were directly eliminated.

The game was so cruel and ruthless, even if they were unwilling, they could only retreat in tears.

Knowing that this would be the case, they would not be willing to cooperate, no matter how good they behaved, the first and second games were compared to the advantages and disadvantages of the whole team.

What's the use of regretting now, they're all eliminated.

"For the second draw, we just have to keep fifteen people and eliminate twenty-five people, how should this group be divided. When Emperor Xuan spoke, his eyes naturally aimed at Concubine Mi, but the person he looked at didn't give him a look.

In other words, he, the emperor, is very frustrated and depressed.

"Let the thirty people who were eliminated before draw another lot, and then the Queen Mother will draw five lots, if there is a woman with the same number drawn by the Queen Mother, you will be lucky to participate in this second game!"

Emperor Xuan felt that it made sense, and he pondered for a moment and said: "Five out of thirty are drawn, I hope you are lucky enough to be drawn by the Queen Mother." ”

Looking at the box held by Father-in-law Zhang in front of her, Empress Dowager Liu also thought a little when she was extracting, because her movements were extremely fast, but no one noticed the abnormality.

"The five of you are very lucky, and you have been doing well for a while. ”

"The courtiers are waiting for the emperor. ”

"Forty-five is divided into a group of fifteen people, a total of three groups, I will give you a quarter of an hour to prepare, so let's retreat first!"

Emperor Xuan didn't think it before, but he found a lot of problems through Concubine Mi's proposal, although he had a smile on his face, he was full of anger in his heart, if it weren't for his strong self-control, he was afraid that he would be angry on the spot.

This book was first published by Lewen, please do not reprint!