June 6th was the day of the Imperial Selection.
The daughters from each family awaiting selection had entered the palace by carriage early in the morning.
At the entrance of the Su residence, Yun Yiniang watched the carriage depart with a gentle smile, but as soon as she turned around, her expression changed.
“Mother, do you think eldest sister will be selected this time?”
Su Yuewan followed her mother as they walked back, her face filled with tension and jealousy.
“What selection?” Yun Yiniang sneered. “Have you forgotten what happened two years ago? Even among commoners, there’s the saying ‘a good horse doesn’t eat the grass it’s already passed.’ How could the Emperor, as the sovereign, accept a woman who once rejected him into the palace?”
Su Yuewan certainly remembered, and mentioning this matter made her gleeful enough to want to laugh.
The Su family were distant relatives of the Empress Dowager. Three years ago, when the Emperor was still the Crown Prince, he selected eldest sister Su Yuewu and several other Su women to enter the palace. Officially, they were to serve as companions to the princesses, but in reality, it was for the Crown Prince to choose his consorts and concubines.
That wretched Su Yuewu was fortunate indeed. Despite being raised with such a spoiled temperament at home, she stood out among the crowd solely because of her seductive, fox-like face, catching the Crown Prince’s eye.
One by one, the Su women left the palace, and only she remained.
Su Yuewu spent a full half-year in the palace with the Crown Prince. Su Yuewan once visited the Eastern Palace under the pretext of seeing her sister and witnessed the handsome Crown Prince, like a deity, personally teaching eldest sister to practice writing under a peach blossom tree. His eyes were filled with affectionate smiles, as if there was no room for anyone else.
At that time, Su Yuewan was almost driven mad by jealousy.
Fortunately, heaven had eyes. Shortly after that, the Crown Prince was assassinated. Although he wasn’t seriously injured, a knife wound scar remained on his face.
That foolish eldest sister, always shallow and fond of men’s handsome appearances, decided to leave the palace and sever ties with the Crown Prince upon hearing that the scar might not heal properly.
Su Yuewan was so excited she couldn’t sleep all night, for the first time feeling that eldest sister looked so agreeable.
However, good fortune still didn’t fall upon her. After eldest sister left the palace, the Emperor arranged for the Crown Prince to marry his Crown Princess and several concubines, all from prestigious families.
A year ago, the eldest prince raised troops to force his way into the palace. Although the Crown Prince quelled the rebellion, the Emperor died from stray arrows, and the Crown Prince ascended to the throne, becoming the new Emperor.
Although the Emperor could observe mourning by substituting days for years, Su Yuewan truly didn’t expect that the new Emperor would hold an Imperial Selection without waiting even three years.
The age limit for candidates in this dynasty was fourteen to seventeen years old. Eldest sister was exactly seventeen this year, while she herself was still one month short of fourteen.
Thinking of this, Su Yuewan was so furious she felt smoke rising from all seven apertures, only regretting that her mother hadn’t given birth to her a month earlier!
＊
The sky was clear and bright, with the sun shining intensely.
Outside the Ti Yuan Hall, fragrant clothes and elegant hairstyles filled the scene. The candidates lined up according to the instructions of the matrons, entering the hall in groups of four, one after another, to be inspected and selected by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.
Under the green shade beside the hall entrance stood a woman wearing a goose-yellow kesi silk skirt with intertwined osmanthus patterns and an outer layer of light green embroidered half-sleeves, perfectly suited for the summer scenery.
Her figure was slender, with snow-white skin and flower-like beauty. Standing there alone, she resembled newly bloomed osmanthus on a branch in August—tender, charming, and captivating.
With such striking looks, she naturally drew the attention of many candidates.
Yet no one wanted to be in her group.
“Everyone in the capital knows that Su Yuewu almost became His Majesty’s concubine back then, but for some reason she later offended His Majesty and was expelled from the Eastern Palace. Now she’s reduced to participating in the Imperial Selection alongside us. It’s clear His Majesty has completely abandoned her. Wouldn’t it be unlucky to be grouped with her?”
“Yes, what if we get implicated and incur His Majesty’s wrath? That would be terrible.”
As these two candidates finished speaking, many murmurs of agreement followed.
The chattering gossip reached Su Yuewu, who was taking shelter under a tree, making her sigh helplessly.
She raised her wide sleeve to block the sunlight filtering through the canopy, then turned her head and offered the group a faint smile. “Excuse me, could you please lower your voices when speaking ill of others? At the very least, don’t stare at me while doing so. It makes it rather difficult for me to pretend I don’t hear anything.”
For a moment, the air fell silent.
Perhaps because they hadn’t expected her to not only show no shame but also speak so bluntly, the candidates all looked somewhat embarrassed.
After all, Su Yuewu bore the surname Su. No matter how fallen she was, she remained a relative of the Empress Dowager’s clan. With the final palace selection at hand, none of them wanted to cause trouble, so they simply pretended nothing had happened and quietly moved forward to line up.
Only Lin Yue, who had just called her unlucky, remained unmoved. She let out a contemptuous snort, tilting her chin slightly as she looked at Su Yuewu, her somewhat attractive face filled with disdain. “So what if you heard? Su Yuewu, was I wrong?”
Su Yuewu narrowed her peach blossom eyes, giving her a once-over. Noticing the other’s meticulous appearance from her hair down to the tips of her embroidered shoes, a flicker of understanding passed through her gaze. “I don’t know whether what you said was right or wrong. I only know—”
She paused, her voice lazy and unhurried. “If you keep provoking me, I won’t be able to resist hitting you. Then we’ll both be guilty of disrespect before His Majesty, dragged away and punished together. Neither of us will come out unscathed.”
“You!” Lin Yue couldn’t believe that a discarded member of the Su family would dare speak to her, the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Personnel, in such a manner. She pointed a finger at Su Yuewu, furious but unable to form a retort.
If this were outside the palace, she would have immediately ordered someone to teach this insolent wretch a lesson! But here…
She feared Su Yuewu might actually act recklessly—since she had no hope of being selected, she might drag her down too!
Beside her, a demure candidate timely tugged at her sleeve, glancing at Su Yuewu as she softly advised, “Sister Yue, the Imperial Selection is what matters. She’s nothing but a broken-backed dog—she’ll suffer plenty in the future. Why should we ruin our own prospects over her?”
Seeing an opportunity to save face, Lin Yue’s expression softened slightly. She deliberately raised her voice and said, “Sister Chen is right. Why should I bother with a spineless cur?”
With that, she quickly turned and hurried to the front of the line.
Chen Yanqiao, who hadn’t expected this, twitched at the corner of her mouth.
Her father held a low-ranking official position, and she had deliberately lowered her voice earlier to avoid offending Su Yuewu. But Lin Yue had gone and shouted it out loud instead.
Feeling guilty, she glanced at Su Yuewu, her lips parting slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she said nothing and hurried after Lin Yue to the front.
Group after group was led into the hall by the matrons, emerging with either joy or sorrow. The courtyard outside gradually emptied until only Su Yuewu and another solitary young woman remained.
Su Yuewu glanced at her.
The other girl was wearing a light pink dress, probably just around the age of fifteen. Her eyes were round like almonds, and her face still had a hint of baby fat, though she looked rather timid. She had been standing there awkwardly, but when she unexpectedly met Su Yuewu’s gaze, she flinched in fright.
“I—I wasn’t saying anything bad about you!”
Su Yuewu was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh.
Was she scared by what I just said?
“You look unfamiliar to me. Which family are you from? Would you like to join my team?”
Even though only the two of them were left, Su Yuewu still asked out of courtesy.
Jiang Junrou then realized she had misunderstood, instantly feeling embarrassed. Blushing, she glanced around and saw there weren’t any other options, so she whispered, “I’m from the Jiang family. Um, alright…”