The selection process was surprisingly fast.

Gu Qimei was talking to me, and I caught a glimpse of Liang Xue, the beautiful woman who had been noticed by the two of us, staying on the edge of the flower garden with an indifferent expression, standing there alone.

Moving her gaze from her to the other people standing in the courtyard, Gu Qimei said in a low voice: "I heard that this batch of selected palace maids has a fixed place, I don't know if the rumors are true or false?" “

She met me at the entrance of the alley that day, and the two of us talked a lot about the audition, and I also mentioned some of the news I heard at the teahouse.

I think that since we are all holding the same goal and being honest and comfortable getting along, I have a hunch that I have since I met her by chance that day.

I think that this girl named Gu Qimei has a great chance of entering the palace. "Don't pay attention to the rumors, if you can enter the palace, you will know as soon as possible." "That's what my sister said."

Today's preliminary exam, the results are about to be available, and I saw that the female officer who came out of the big room was holding a scroll in her hand, and if I guessed correctly, it was the list.

The crowd reverted to the regular formation in which they had approached the courtyard.

I listened to the female officer standing at the front reading the names of the palace one by one in a calm and calm voice, as I expected, Gu Qimei and I both entered.

Surrounded by suppressed voices, I once again witnessed the different expressions of the people around me, and for those who didn't want to enter the palace themselves, it was also a relief to lose the election, not necessarily bad.

When Liang Xue's name was read, I quietly glanced back at her, and it was strange to see that she still had the same indifferent expression.

Gu Qimei stood beside me and reached out and patted my elbow gently.

She gestured at me. In fact, she didn't say it, and I also knew that I was most likely to live in the same car with her

I originally thought that I would enter the palace the next day, but what I didn't expect was that they didn't do things very fast, and I stood in the middle of the line. Follow the people in front of him out of the wall of the yamen of the national capital.

Outside the door, there was a crowd of people in the dark, and the girls who stepped out of the threshold were startled.

My gaze swept over the neatly lined carriages parked on the long street outside, and the crowd separated by guards in the distance.

Gu Qimei's eyes were sharp, and she had already found the family member who had sent her in the morning in the crowd, and waved her hand over there in some surprise.

Meanwhile. The queue that walked out of the side door was full of unsuccessful girls, and they each returned to their families and friends, and merged with the black group of others.

I glanced at the crowd with interest, and unexpectedly saw the three people living in the small courtyard in the crowd.

Why are they all here at this time?

I looked away. I saw Ji Jiu's gray hair, he was far away from me, and I saw the expression on his face, that indescribable expression.

My footsteps suddenly paused I don t know whether to wave at xiao an like gu qimei uncle liu , ji jiu or They stopped there and kept looking in my direction. Gu Qimei pushed my elbow and said, "Sister Xiaoling, has your family come to see you off?" “

I nodded and immediately shook my head, those were not my family.

Gu Qimei's face was stunned. Then he patted the back of my hand comfortingly and said: "Although the primary selection has passed, and I have the qualifications to enter the palace to see, if I really want to stay, I have to go through several levels of selection." ”

"yes," I silently thought about the process Xiao An had told me, and echoed her. "Half of it is in yourself, and half of it is in the eyes of the people chosen from above."

When I got in the car with Gu Qimei. Suddenly there was a commotion from the two cars.

I don't know for what dispute. I saw that Liang Xue seemed to be a little unhappy with the girls in the queue, so the female officer walked over and reprimanded a few words, to the effect that if she made any more trouble, she would go home directly.

I exchanged glances with Gu Qimei, and I was not interested in watching more excitement, so I got into the car one after the other.

As the carriage started, I quietly lifted the curtain and looked in the direction where the three men were standing.

Xiao An's expression was the same as I imagined, smiling, while Uncle Liu had a worried expression, and the only one left had already disappeared.

Along the root of the imperial city, the carriage went to the destination unhurriedly, and when it arrived at the Donghua Gate, there were more guards, and the biggest difference with the palaces of other countries was that there were men and women among them, unlike the snow country in the previous memory, all the guards were men.

A total of six girls sat together in the car, not like talking and laughing in the Yamen Garden, and they were quiet and silent halfway.

The curtains of the car windows were lifted, and everyone would look out of the window to see what the legendary palace looked like.

The carved beams and paintings were magnificent, but my focus was not on the stunning and magnificent buildings outside the window, and I was about to ask, when the two girls sitting opposite me seemed to have known each other for a long time, and began to talk in a low voice.

"Qiao'er, in His Majesty's harem, I heard that the back position has always been vacant."

"Which emperor is the most favored in the palace now?"

"I heard that it's the one who lives in the Lin De Temple."

"It's not that the new favorite is"

Although their voices were very soft, the few people sitting in the same car could still hear them clearly, even if the axles were turning and the sound of horses' hooves was muffled, they could still hear their names clearly.

"Two sisters," Gu Qimei said in a low voice, "Don't talk about this in the car, if it reaches the ears of the female officer, not only you, I'm afraid even we will be beaten"

The two hurriedly silenced, glanced nervously out of the car window, and nodded at Gu Qimei.

In the small courtyard, I have heard a lot of rules in the palace and practiced them, but this is the only one that is not the focus of Ji Jiu and Xiao An's attention, or those two people have not been in the palace for a few years and do not know the movements within the palace walls.

I would be very willing to listen to the two girls talk about the gossip about the empress's harem, but as soon as Gu Qimei stopped them, the two of them consciously stopped mentioning it.

I was left to sit there, frowning with some regret.

Unexpectedly, in the next second, Gu Qimei leaned into my ear and said, "Wait until you settle down." I'll take a chance to talk to my sister. “

She did see my thoughts, and it may have betrayed me with the intent expression I had just heard.

Ji Jiu's indifferent voice suddenly came back to his ears: "When you arrive in the palace, remember that joy, anger, sorrow and happiness cannot be invisible. “

I sat upright and didn't say a word for the rest of the journey.

When I arrived at the candidate place, my eyes lit up.

It's different from the harem setting I imagined I saw before I crossed over. The place where the empress selects the palace maids is a huge courtyard, and the rows of houses next to each other actually remind me of the word "barracks".

I couldn't help but laugh at my own speculation and imagination about this place.

Again, it was different from what I expected, very different.

When I walked in, there were four beds in each room, and I followed Gu Qimei. There are two other girls whose families are in the capital city and live in the same room.

The female officer first asked the girls to settle down on their own, and after waiting for half an hour, they were unified into the courtyard.

I talked to Gu Qimei while making the bed, but unfortunately she Miss Gu was used to being served at home, and I knew that she was also an excellent one in answering the questionnaire for the first exam. But when I sat up, I didn't feel so comfortable tidying up my room.

She shook her head and said, "It's better for me to come by myself, I always have to get used to it slowly, and there will be no one in the palace to serve." "But I still have to serve others," said the girl who lived opposite, "I heard that there are still many places where there is a shortage of people in the palace. It's just best not to be assigned to the place in the harem to serve those noble masters. “

"Why is that?"

I couldn't help but ask.

"My sister must not be from the national capital." The girl named Gu Lan laughed. "You guessed it right," Gu Qimei, who was behind her, put down the pillow she was holding in her hand, stepped forward and put her arm on my shoulder in response. "Xiaoling, she, she has been fostered in the countryside for a long time, and she only arrived in the capital." "No wonder," said the two girls, but not mockingly, but with an empathetic smile. They whispered, "My sister will find out later." All the people in the capital city know the harem of His Majesty. How to say it, it's not peaceful. ”

"A few years ago, when the emperor of Chaohua was here, it was too peaceful for a while, but unfortunately later"

"Shhhh

Taking advantage of the busy situation of the two girls, Gu Qimei pulled me to the window and whispered about the general situation in the palace, the time is limited, and I have to go to the courtyard to gather in half an hour.

"I'll tell you slowly in the evening, with me, I won't let you inexplicably cause trouble without knowing anything, after all, the palace is in the palace, and if you make a mistake, you will be punished."

"You're here, and I have a companion too."

I stood in the crowd, and after entering the palace, there was no distribution of places, so the formation was still similar to when I was in the Yamen of the national capital, but the number of people was less than half, so I only lined up in four rows.

The three men in the room stood to my right and left, and soon the voices in the courtyard fell silent, and I looked up to catch a glimpse of the vigorous and resolute female officer I had met walking up the steps with a bad face.

The first lesson she taught everyone, what I heard in the small courtyard was not far from ten, her eyes were stern, and the girls standing with their heads bowed everywhere they went were all nervous.

After talking about the rules, the test of the first lesson is to stand for a long time.

I kept a fixed posture motionless, but I practiced some of the internal skills of the three-legged cat, and this concentration was not difficult for me.

But this was not a difficult test for me, and after half an hour, there were girls in the team who couldn't stand still.

I glanced at the girl who was sweating profusely and was brought out, for her, today's entry into the palace was like a half-day tour.

The atmosphere was quiet, and the place where I stood with my roommate was in the last row, near the courtyard gate.

I was startled by the sudden sound outside the courtyard gate, and I wanted to glance in the direction from which the voice came from, but remembering my most important task at the moment, I could only suppress my curiosity and remain motionless.

The voice from the side of the hanging flower door was a little smiling.

"Are these children new to the palace?" To be continued