August of the second year of Dacheng Hongwu

When the city gate is opened, the merchants and shops open early, and the hawkers set up tents, the carriages and horses are like dragons, and the passengers are like ants, with continuous shouting.

At noon, a Taoist slowly paced, arrived at a street, saw this kind of prosperity, stopped and looked, there is really a feeling of being separated from the world, this person is Tongxuan, at this time muttered: "In the blink of an eye, the world is too peaceful......

"Isn't this the Master of the Mystery Dao?" someone suddenly stepped forward and said, bowing his hand.

Tong Xuan looked at it, this person was thirty years old, wearing ordinary clothes, but he had luck, not an ordinary person, he was stunned for a moment, Tong Xuan remembered that this was Chai Zhengxin, a relative of Xue Yuan, who had not seen him for a few years, and he was also an official.

said with a smile: "It turned out to be you, I remember the last time I saw you in Xue Mansion, but now it's different." ”

Chai Zhengxin stretched out his thumb and said: "The Taoist chief is extraordinary, I can see through it at a glance, I am not afraid of your laughter, I followed Lord Xue, first got the official body, and after a few years, I also accumulated officials to the eighth grade...... Please, Lord Xue happened to come out and go together. ”

Tong Xuan followed, and saw a middle-aged man in the distance, dressed ordinarily and with a clear face, it was Xue Yuan.

Xue Yuan smiled slightly and arched: "It turned out to be the Taoist chief." ”

Tong Xuan bowed slightly and said, "Just returned to Jinling, you are not a foreign officer, and now you are transferred back to Beijing?"

"No, it's just that the emperor has a decree to discuss the knighthood, and the court has summoned us back. Xue Yuan said a little dullly: "It's okay for others, I'm ashamed!"

He laughed at himself.

"Oh?" Tong Xuan trembled, stared at Xue Yuan, and his heart fluctuated, but he smiled faintly on his face, and said: "The world is peaceful, and this is the founding event of the country." ”

Chai Zhengxin said: "It's not early, this hotel is good, what do you two think?"

Xue Yuan said, "Yes, go in and sit!"

A hotel in front, three floors, downstairs lively, upstairs to see the screen separated by a seat, ordered, and sat together, Xue Yuan knew that Tongxuan had an official body, and asked: "I heard that you were also sent out, now come back?"

The curse forbidden division five products, now through the six products of Xuanzheng, received the luck of Yu Lu and light yellow, and said: "Yes, I just came back from a business!"

At this moment, the cruise ships are continuous, the cars and horses are like dragons, the passengers are like ants, and they can't see the taste of the troubled times at all.

Xue Yuan sighed and said: "In a blink of an eye, it is prosperous, I heard that Youzhou has been peaceful, and now the aftermath of the grassland has not been settled, and I have not enjoyed the peace, but this year's draft has been carried out again." ”

Wang Hongyi has been on the throne for two years, but counting the king, there are five or six years, the world has been pacified this year, even if there is still grassland chaos, but the Central Plains has never included the grassland into its own territory, in the eyes of the world, Dacheng has unified the world.

Tong Xuan smiled slightly, carefully watched Xue Yuan's luck, but saw that the two green fortunes were confused, and they were not the same, knowing that this person would have the Lord of the Hou Earl, and said with a smile: "Which enemy of the grassland is Tianwei, it will be swept away." ”

but they do not say anything that has been swept away.

After a pause, he said: "The matter of the draft, related to the national unification and the reproduction of the clan, should have been, and most of them are female officials, and they will be released when they are old." ”

After the decline of Dayan, the emperors of several dynasties had the name of the emperor and the majesty of the emperor, and the princes of the feudal towns in various places had long since hollowed out the country and were constantly at war with each other.

Wang Hongyi won the world, and all families in various places have shown favor to the imperial court.

And one of the ways to show favor is to cooperate with the draft and select suitable daughters to participate.

The emperor has a wife and sons, the queen canonizes the phoenix seal, and the concubines who entered the palace early are ranked as concubines and concubines, and other concubines, although the number is not small, but the position is not high, and most of the four concubines are vacant, which makes some people happy and worried.

Secretly, there are many nobles of the family who are running around for this matter.

Xue Yuan sighed and said: "I have a daughter, twelve years old, who is at the same age as the selected person, but I don't know whether to go or not." ”

Tong Xuan listened to it and said persuadingly: "This is the law of the imperial court, the lord is from the old minister of Long, it is still not appropriate to disobey, and the emperor is not in Jinling at this time, and it is handled by the queen, and it is not appropriate to be at this time." ”

Xue Yuan listened and nodded silently.

Imperial Palace

At the beginning of the new dynasty, the new emperor ascended the throne for two years, although some girls were selected in the harem, most of them were palace people, there were not many concubines, and there were only a few heirs of the emperor.

Due to the gradual stability of state affairs, in order to stabilize people's hearts, the Queen Mother held a draft to select unmarried girls with both talent and appearance, good morality, speech and good work to enter the palace, enrich the court, and spread out branches for the royal family.

Because the emperor is not in Jinling, the draft will only be conducted in the primary selection and re-selection, and the final candidate will be decided by the emperor.

These daughters were pampered by their families from an early age, in order to benefit the family when they were married.

Concubine Jin'er has a light blue palace dress and decent accessories, and when she saw that the palace in front of her had arrived, she ordered the palace attendants to stop and let the chamberlain report inside.

Moments, summoned into the palace.

This day is the second election, the show girl is sent to the palace, in front of the queen, the concubine, the concubine, the concubine, show their talents, the selected person is registered, by the emperor to choose the last, not selected, can choose to be a female official, or go home.

"Sister is here, come and take a seat!" The queen sat in the middle position, the concubine Zhao sat on one side, and the seat on the other side of the queen was vacant, so it should be reserved for her.

Su'er saluted the queen and the concubine in turn, and was allowed to sit down in an empty seat.

Then the queen nodded to one of the eunuchs, who immediately walked out and shouted, "Roll call!"

A group of showgirls who were called entered the hall and waited for the queen to review, and all the showgirls knelt down to the three above according to the etiquette they taught, got up and stood in a row, and when no one asked, they lowered their hands and waited.

For a moment, the atmosphere fell silent.

I don't know what mood the queen and concubine are in looking at these show girls, Concubine Jin's eyes are unmoving.

She sat on it, with a faint smile on her face, and her eyes swept to the row of show girls below, all of whom were wearing palace clothes, which were very thin this summer, revealing a large area of skin, revealing a swaying and moving figure.

Most of these girls are between the ages of twelve and fifteen, or charming, or delicate, or cold, or holy, in a variety of forms, breathtaking.

can come here, her face is not bad, and Concubine Jin is not looking at who is beautiful, with her cultivation, she can see who among them has the nobility of the Dragon Court, and who is only slightly extravagant.

These extravagances are very important elsewhere, but the emperor is the master of life, and he has mysteries, so he will not work, and it is the queen who is presiding over the draft today, and the queen does not ask, Concubine Jin will not open her mouth at will, let alone interfere.

Zhenggong Niangniang also has her own helplessness.

In the draft in front of her, Concubine Jin naturally saw that this was to stabilize the political situation, and a few more women were filled into the harem, which could appease those princes and families who were in awe of the court and balance people's hearts.

The queen's face looked at it as usual, and her gaze stopped at a pretty figure: "You raise your head!"

Concubine Jin's gaze swept over, and on her face, this woman was only the middle and upper among these girls, with a dusty air in her beauty, and her eyes seemed to be able to speak.

Empress Wen Yan asked, "Whose daughter are you?"

This woman took two steps forward and saluted: "If you go back to the queen, the courtier Xu Juan, the father of Qingshi County guards Xu Mao!"

The queen nodded and said with a smile: "It turned out to be the daughter of Xu Taishou, and I heard that the people of Qingshi County are outstanding and clever." ”

Xu Juan hurriedly thanked her, and the queen asked a few words to let Xu Juan retreat.

And a few show girls, the queen also asked for their names and asked them to show their talents, which is nothing more than a piano painting girl, and the harem women have seen a lot, but it is just a passing scene.

There is no shortage of beautiful and talented girls in the harem.

The queen sat on the high seat, asking a few questions from time to time, watching a wave of beautiful girls coming in and out, and there was no strange expression on her face.

When the last group of show girls withdrew, the queen showed a trace of tiredness on her face, although there was ice in the palace, but the summer was hot, but it still made people tired, look at the concubine and Concubine Jin, the queen sighed rarely, cheered up and asked: "The two of you have seen some show girls, but what is the eye?"

In fact, this is just a question, and people who have some relationship with the two can also take this opportunity to choose.

But Concubine Gui and Concubine Jin don't have a family, and they don't mix this matter, they both say: "It's good to look at, and the queen decides." ”

The queen ordered the eunuchs to take the roster, circled the names of some girls, and ordered the names, origins, and families of these girls to be recorded in the register, and wait for the emperor to return before making a decision.

The inductees, including Xu Juan, a total of 36 people, are the daughters of local families and officials.

After the palace withdrew, Concubine Jin turned back to her palace.

The palace where it is located, there are thousands of green bamboos to shade it, the entrance is a zigzag corridor, there are flowers in the courtyard again, and there is a spring water ruler, circling the palace around the bamboo forest, it is the most quiet but.

As soon as I entered, I saw five continuous fine houses above, accompanied by a hall in the middle, corridors on all sides, green vines climbing the walls, elegant and abnormal, and the female official greeted me: "Niangniang, the minister just made some ice plum juice, do you want to use some?"

"Serve some, the weather is really hot, you guys should drink some each!" Su Er said with a smile, and when she heard this, several people around her were grateful.

This ice is a rare commodity in the summer, only the queen mother, the emperor, and the concubines in the palace have, and how much to give is also according to the grade, although the concubine is not a concubine, but the treatment is according to the four concubines.

Female officials and palace people like them, unless they are rewarded, where can they eat ice?

After a long time, these female officials and palace people have also become accustomed to it, although there is less service here, it is also comfortable and comfortable, and there is not much struggle.

The palace people below moved quickly, and after a while, Concubine Jin held a small bowl in her hand and took a sip slowly, the taste was not bad, but at this moment, suddenly, there was a "boom", which made her whole body shake.

Concubine Jin suddenly got up and personally picked up the curtain and went out, only to see a heavy line of thick clouds like ink, rolling, and faint thunder.

After staring at it for a moment, she said, "This palace wants to rest for a while, so you can retreat first." If there is something, the palace will call you in. ”

"Yes!" the group withdrew.

At this time, the sky was full of thick clouds, thunder, "pop", the raindrops swept down, the entire palace courtyard, became dark, seeing that there was no one around, Su'er stared at the north, revealing a complicated expression: "Born with a mutation, the black dragon has fallen?" (to be continued)