Shu Wan looked toward her maid, "Tell me about His Majesty today." Latest content published on novel_fіre.net
Hearing Shu Wan say this, the maid was surprisingly delighted, "Oh, Miss, you’ve finally come around. His Majesty is unparalleled in both literary and martial skills in the world. How can those sour Scholars compare? I really don’t know—"
Halfway through, the maid suddenly remembered that her mistress was wholeheartedly devoted to Scholar Lin, to the point of fasting in protest against the draft. By speaking ill of Scholar Lin, Miss would surely be angered.
However, contrary to the maid’s expectations, Miss was unusually calm today—even when she called Scholar Lin sour, Miss did not get angry.
The maid carefully looked at Shu Wan, her eyes slightly downturned with a kind of tranquility as if time had settled, as if even the breeze that blew in lingered in her presence.
Miss is really too beautiful, the maid couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim, "Miss, with your beauty, you will surely be kept in the palace by His Majesty."
"Go on about His Majesty."
The maid hastily continued about Qi Yuan. Just as Shu Wan had previously guessed, after Qi Yuan smoothly ascended the throne, he reformed the administration, encouraged production, and expanded the territories.
Even though he was autocratic and concentrated power in his hands, it did not prevent him from becoming the "Eternal Emperor" in the hearts of the common people.
Watching the maid’s starry-eyed expression as she spoke of Qi Yuan, Shu Wan was intrigued, "Who is the Empress now?"
"There is no Empress," the maid replied, "However, after His Majesty ascended the throne, he posthumously honored the Crown Princess Consort as Empress Huiyi. You—"
Before the maid could finish saying ’don’t you already know this?’, Shu Wan replied, "I know, Shu Wan."
"Yes, yes," the maid who was initially a bit puzzled by her mistress’s odd behavior now dismissed her doubts. "Since then, His Majesty has not established another Empress. Currently, in the harem, there are only the four noble consorts distinguished by virtue and, along with imperial concubines, nearly twenty people."
Knowing that her mistress’s heart was full of that Scholar and not interested in these matters, the little maid stealthily gathered a lot of information for her. Now that Shu Wan was asking, the little maid spared no effort in explaining.
Shu Wan was not surprised by the maid’s words.
In modern TV dramas, palace intrigues are popular to portray, but only those truly close to the Emperor know that for him, the harem is merely another scale to balance the power of the previous dynasty.
Not to speak of twenty people, even if it were two hundred, Shu Wan would not be surprised.
"Who else from our family is participating in this year’s selection, besides me?" Shu Wan slyly probed.
"There are many. The second Miss from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, Shu Qing, is also participating this year; there are four or five from other branches. As for our line, it’s only you."
As her words fell, seemingly afraid that Shu Wan might overthink, the maid quickly added, "Don’t worry, although master is just a County Magistrate, no matter what, you carry the Shu surname. And besides, you are so beautiful, you will definitely be chosen."
Upon hearing another familiar name, Shu Wan’s eyelashes trembled lightly—Shu Qing, the second Miss from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, her half-sister.
It seems that after she left, Shu Qing had not managed to replace her as the Crown Princess Consort as she had hoped.
The Shu Family is a vast family, with Prime Minister Shu’s line as the main branch, and its family branches spread all over. According to the maid, she must have been reborn into one of the Shu family’s branches.
As she was worrying about how to find an opportunity to meet Qi Yuan and seek the truth about time travel, an opportunity had now presented itself.
"Sister, I heard you were unwell, how are you now?"
While the two were talking, suddenly someone spoke from outside the courtyard, in a sweet female voice.
Upon hearing this voice, the maid disdainfully curled her lip. "The second Miss is really annoying. She’s just here to scoff, Miss, don’t pay her any attention."
Before the maid could finish, the door was pushed open, and a woman clad in a gold-embroidered peony brocade dress entered.
Seeing Shu Wan sitting well in front of the mirror, a shadow flickered across the woman’s eyes.
Quickly, her expression returned to normal, "Caiyun, you may leave."
Shu Wan’s gaze flickered slightly, so the little maid’s name was Caiyun.
Once Caiyun had left, the woman approached Shu Wan, her gaze sweeping across Shu Wan’s face, barely concealing the jealousy in her eyes, "Sister, Scholar Lin asked me to bring you a message. He will wait for you tonight at Que Bridge in the western city."
Shu Wan raised her head to look at the woman. Although she was unaware of the original relationship with this woman, seeing the evident jealousy in the woman’s eyes, she somewhat understood that this so-called message bringing was not well-intentioned.