"He doesn’t," Shu Wan replied, but clearly lacked confidence.
"Ha, it’s not for you to say whether it exists or not." The nanny sneered coldly, "You, as a woman, don’t understand the matters of the officialdom. You only need to know that if you dare to have other intentions, the Third Prince will leave your whole family with nowhere to bury their dead."
"I’ll heed every command of the Third Prince."
"Good, someone will prepare clothes and jewelry for you tomorrow, you just need to perform well."
Not long after the nanny left, Shu Wan’s door was knocked.
As soon as Shu Wan finished speaking, the door was pushed open, and Ning Yuan, dressed in powder pink, walked in, "Ziruo, that nanny just now seemed to be from the Imperial Palace."
"I’m so envious." Ning Yuan looked at Shu Wan with admiration, "You are so beautiful, you will definitely be selected."
"You are beautiful too."
"It’s just okay." Ning Yuan was quite happy to be praised, but then she felt a bit down, "But I’m far inferior to you. I really hope I can be selected too." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveI[F]ire.net
"Once you enter the palace, you will stay there forever. With your temperament, won’t you find it too dull?"
"I will." Ning Yuan pursed her lips, "But if I don’t enter the palace, my mother won’t survive."
Ning Yuan was a legitimate daughter, but her father doted on his concubines and slighted his wife. Although Ning Yuan’s mother was the principal wife, she didn’t have much say in their residence.
What was worse, Ning Yuan’s mother didn’t have a son, while the concubine had given birth to several sons. Her mother’s position in the residence was becoming increasingly difficult, and these past two years, her father had even considered promoting the concubine to the principal wife.
Ning Yuan, a girl, couldn’t do much to help her mother. Her only hope lay in the selection process.
As long as she could enter the Imperial Palace, her mother’s status would improve with her daughter’s. Even if her father disliked her mother, he wouldn’t go too far.
Hearing Ning Yuan’s words, Shu Wan’s gaze flickered slightly, "The nanny mentioned earlier that His Majesty likes Magnolia flowers, you can wear a hairpin in the shape of a Magnolia."
"Really?" Ning Yuan looked at Shu Wan with surprise.
"Um." Shu Wan nodded.
"You’re the best." Ning Yuan happily hugged Shu Wan’s arm, "When we enter the palace, we’ll continue to be good sisters."
Shu Wan’s eyes flashed slightly, neither agreeing nor objecting.
She approached Ning Yuan to learn more information, and Ning Yuan approached her probably with her own plans in mind.
She was willing to give Ning Yuan a helping hand, considering it a way to repay the kindness of the past few days.
"Then I’ll hurry back to prepare." Ning Yuan smiled at Shu Wan, "See you tomorrow."
With that, Ning Yuan returned to her own room.
Hearing that she was going to prepare a Magnolia-patterned hairpin for the selection process, the maid expressed some doubts, "Miss, didn’t the master inform you that His Majesty prefers peach blossoms? Could Shu Wan be deceiving you?"
Ning Yuan paused in her packing, "Shu Wan seems quite honest."
"Ah, but what if it’s an act?"
"That’s true." Ning Yuan frowned slightly, "What should we do then?"
"Miss, I have an idea."
The maid leaned over and whispered a few words to Ning Yuan, her eyes lit up, "Good, we’ll do as you say."
The next day, just past the hour of 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., the contestants were gathered together, and the Palace Attendants from the Ritual Supervision led them through the palace gates.
The early spring day dawned late, and the towering palaces were hidden in the dark blue sky, their outline only faintly visible from a distance.
Shu Wan walked in the front row, looking nostalgically at the bluestone pavement beneath her feet.
In her previous life, Shu Wan had been into the Imperial Palace once when she was six years old, and after that, she never returned. That was her only encounter with Qi Yuan.
Time had passed, and her next meeting with Qi Yuan was under such circumstances, with this identity.
She didn’t know how long they had walked, but gradually the sky brightened, and the chime of the corner tower bells rang out. The selection process for the daughters of fourth-rank officials and above had started.
For those like Shu Wan, daughters of officials ranking below fourth-rank, they had to wait until the previous selections were finished before they could present themselves.
The previous selection would probably take two hours or even longer, and Shu Wan and the others were arranged to wait on the side.
Most people on the scene were visiting the Imperial Palace for the first time, their curiosity barely concealed.
Shu Wan also raised her head, her eyes fell upon the familiar rooftops of the pavilions, with their drooping eaves extending into the night, the golden glazed tiles shining brightly, and the Coiling Dragon Golden Osmanthus Trees towering on either side, alongside the intricately carved Han Baiyu railings and plinths.
"So beautiful," Ning Yuan, who managed to join Shu Wan, exclaimed joyously as she looked at everything around her, "I’ve never seen such beautiful buildings. How happy it would be to live here."
Shu Wan responded faintly, her gaze landing on the peach flower hairpin on Ning Yuan’s head.