Gu Hou presented the brocade box brought from the mansion with both hands, and even tied the black and gold silk knots back.

His Majesty glanced at the brocade box, and then raised his hand to take it.

The old emperor smiled and said, "You old thief, you can be a man." ”

"The minister is not a man, but the kind of person His Majesty wants the minister to become, and the minister will be what kind of person he becomes." Gu Hou said.

"You can talk." His Majesty sneered, he beckoned and called Gu Hou Ye over. "Come here, I have something to explain to you."

……

……

In the southwest part of this deep palace, there is the harem where the concubines live.

In the courtyard of the harem, there was a noble lady sitting in the courtyard admiring the flowers. The noblewoman was richly dressed, and her robe made of brocade satin was blown by the wind.

There were a dazzling array of fruits and pastries on the table, and she peeled the fruits, chewing her lips slightly, freely and dignifiedly.

She was leaning over to listen to what the palace maid said, her apricot eyes narrowed slightly, and her thin lips were slightly curled. This noble lady did not look like a girl, but the years did not seem to have left a trace on her body. She is very well maintained, there are few wrinkles on her face, and just looking at her demeanor, her charm is undiminished.

At this time, a palace maid hurried over, "Guifei Niangniang, the lord has been summoned by His Majesty." ”

Concubine Qi let out an "oh" and didn't look up.

After a while, another palace maid hurried over, "Guifei Niangniang, the lord was sent out of the palace by His Majesty." ”

Concubine Qi replied simply, and then heard the palace maid say again: "Your Majesty has summoned Gu Houye again." ”

"Gu Houye? Gu Zhan? Qi Guifei asked. The voice was extremely gentle, yet calm.

"Yes, concubine." The palace maid whispered back.

"What did Your Majesty do when you summoned your father and Gu Hou?" Concubine Qi frowned, could it be related to the selection of concubines?

In the past two days, the palace has been busy, all because of the draft ceremony.

"There is news from the front, saying that it is also involved in His Royal Highness the Third Prince." The palace maid wanted to speak and stopped.

"Did you say anything?" Qi Guifei was curious.

The palace maid owed: "Back to the words of the concubine, Your Majesty and Gu Hou's voices were very small, and they said that they didn't hear clearly." ”

Concubine Qi was very perfunctory in her mouth, but she was full of worries in her heart.

Why did you call Gu Hou when you talked about Jing Yan?

Usually, in this emperor's draft, he will select some good women to marry to the royal family according to his mood, in order to show the emperor's grace. Could it be that Your Majesty wants to marry the daughter of the Gu family to Jing Yan at tomorrow's draft ceremony?

It's okay, Gu Houye is a minister of the imperial court. The Gu family is a veteran of the Three Dynasties, if Jing Yan has the strong arm of the Gu family, with the help of his father, he must have a bright future in the future.

Concubine Qi smiled, turned around and said to the palace maid who had been whispering beside her, "That's it." ”

……

……

This draft was single-handedly run by the internal affairs of the imperial court, and the hooks and hooks in it were rarely known to outsiders.

Wherever there are people, there must be intrigue. The money opened the way, and everything became logical.

Gonggong Zhu looked at the portrait album of the draft girls presented by the people below, and before he saw half of it, he scolded the little eunuch under his hand: "This is Your Majesty's draft, not a business for you to take advantage of the opportunity to make money, you can stuff all these crooked melons and cracked dates into it."

Gonggong Zhu waved the dust in his hand and knocked on their heads. "Work hard, one by one, don't spoil Your Majesty's mood, you have to lose your head."

After layers of screening, most of the show girls who were reported were either rich or expensive, and a small number were relatively young and beautiful. The eighteenth generation of these women who participated in the draft were all dug out and studied by special spies from the imperial court.

On the day of the draft, the show girls who participated in the election were sent to the main gate by various carriages early in the morning. First, the household officials were responsible for maintaining order, divided into three groups, and then introduced into the palace by the small eunuchs of the imperial court.

When you arrive at the palace, there is a special palace for the show girls to rest. Soon, there were special female officers and mothers to conduct a clean inspection of the show girls.

Some people are still reluctant and feel that they have lost their identity, and many of them are forced to come like Gu Nian.

The little girl of the Lin family is the most obvious one.

This Lin Yu'an is the youngest granddaughter of Master Lin, and she has been pampered since she was a child. The Lin family hadn't changed a few years ago, but this Lin Taishi gave birth to an unfortunate son. Not to mention the swagger and deception in the name of Lin Taishi, he also sought a half-official position in the court, and was ousted a few years ago for taking bribes.

This uncompetitive son did not repent at all, and forced the only daughter to participate in the draft, trying to exchange his daughter's happiness for the glory and wealth of the rest of his life.

But this Lin Yu'an is not a good-tempered person, he fought with his father at home for half a month, and in the end, this father forced Lin Yu'an to participate in the draft while Lin Taishi was not in Beijing.

Gu Nian saw that Lin Yu'an was about to make trouble in the palace, so she hurriedly went up to persuade Lin Yu'an.

"Girl, this is the palace, it's not at home, and if you can't keep it, you're going to lose your head." Gu Nian persuaded her bitterly, she didn't expect that she was already twists and turns, and now she was still in the mood to be someone else's spiritual mentor.

Lin Yu'an was very irritable, she looked down on these women who rushed to the harem for glory and wealth, and thought that Gu Nian was also such a person. She pushed her backhand and shouted impatiently: "Don't touch me, stay away from me." ”

"Hey, you little girl, I'm kind enough to treat you as a donkey." Gu Nian was speechless, she almost forgot that the world was not what it used to be.

In this world, there is suspicion and oppression, and people no longer trust each other easily, and it is no wonder that she is abrupt.

Gu Nian shook his head, and thought in his heart, then you can make trouble, anyway, I don't like this palace very much, you make a big fuss and mess up this draft.

But no matter how big Lin Yu'an's temper is, she won't dare to speak out when this holy decree comes.

Gonggong Zhu looked at Lin Yu'an, who was taking care of his cheeks, and comforted: "Ouch, I said that the Lin family's aunt and grandmother, you don't have to make a fuss yourself, but the key is that today you are the palace on behalf of the entire Lin Old Taishi Mansion, you are a little careless, and you carefully put the entire Taishi Mansion in." ”

Gu Nian listened on the side, and also said: "That's it." ”

"Where did you come from, how can you speak!" When Lin Yu'an saw that someone was joining in the fun, he was so angry that he opened his hand and was about to hit him.

This Lin Yu'an saw that he had practiced, and with a palm he came over, he pushed the female officer who came to stop him far away. This female official also knew Lin Yu'an's background, and she didn't dare to say more.

This really startled Gu Nian, she imitated Lin Yu'an's left hand to pluck the palm and push it sideways with her right hand, but it was useless at all, why didn't the original owner practice martial arts much.

She touched her chest and thought: The strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, endure the calm for a while, and my sister doesn't care about your little girl.

The auspicious time has arrived, and all the show girls are waiting for the palace selection before entering the palace with Zhu Gonggong.