When Ah Wu returned, she did not disturb anyone.
There was a door not far from her small room. It was a small door in the Palace of Peace and Harmony that was originally used for palace maids and eunuchs to enter and exit.
However, no noble master had lived in the Palace of Peace and Harmony for many years, so the courtyard gradually became desolate. Even the small door that few people passed through was locked and could not be passed through.
But that was before today.
After getting the confirmation from the master, Xiang Tan took the key to the door and quietly unlocked it. At dinner, she pretended to talk to Ah Wu about it casually.
Ah Wu knew what her brother meant. She naturally knew that this was because her brother was afraid that her whereabouts would be seen by others and cause trouble, so he specially asked Xiang Tan to do it.
Therefore, after dinner today, Ah Wu did not go out from the main gate of the Palace of Peace and Harmony. Instead, she quietly went out through this small door when no one was paying attention.
After Ah Wu returned to the Palace of Peace and Harmony, Xiang Tan locked the small door again while no one was paying attention. Seventh Young Lady Ling’s room was too close to the side door. If it was not locked on weekdays, it might be unsafe.
Because the two of them acted very secretly, until the next day, no one knew that Ah Wu had secretly gone to the plum forest the night before.
***
“Lang’er, since she will be your study partner, you should decide the candidate. This booklet records the performance of those young ladies after entering the palace, their family background, and temperament, as well as the portraits drawn by the painter. If you can’t make up your mind, Concubine Li Shu, as Lang’er’s mother, can also make suggestions for you. ”
It was not easy to meet Emperor Qian on ordinary days. It was rare that Emperor Qian came out of the palace he specially set up in the palace to ask questions and seek immortality for the matter of choosing a study partner for his beloved princess.
The man sitting in Concubine Li Shu’s palace was about forty years old. He was wearing a flowing Taoist robe. He was slender and not very tall. He didn’t look like an emperor at all.
Especially now when he looked at the little girl lovingly, he was no different from an ordinary father.
Emperor Qian suffered from smallpox when he was young. Even after more than thirty years, there were still many acne marks and scars on his face, which were shallow and dense.
Moreover, Emperor Qian’s biological mother was not beautiful. She was able to enter the palace and be favored by the late emperor only because her biological mother’s family was powerful. The woman entered the palace to appease the power behind her.
She inherited her biological mother’s ordinary facial features, plus the spots and scars on her face, which made Emperor Qian’s appearance not outstanding, and even a little mediocre.
“Father Emperor, is it really up to this daughter to choose?”
The Third Princess, Li Lang, looked like Emperor Qian. It would be better if she were a prince. However, Li Lang is a princess, with a face similar to Emperor Qian. No matter how carefully she dressed, she could only be praised as heroic.
It just so happened that the Third Princess also liked to dance with swords and guns, and was not interested in the piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting that girls should learn at home.
The purpose of choosing a reading companion for her this time was also to select a few gentle and elegant ones to subtly change her temperament.
“This is the Seventh Young Lady of the Marquis of Changping Mansion, right? I have heard a lot about her these days. Was she really stolen by a villain when she was young and lived outside for eleven years? Poor thing, how cruel that villain must be.”
Li Lang flipped through the thick booklet that Emperor Qian handed to her. The list on it seemed to be sorted by family background. As the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changping, Ah Wu was naturally ranked very front.
“I’m curious about her life in the past eleven years. Unfortunately, there are too many rumors outside, so I can’t tell the truth from the false. Why don’t I choose her to be my companion this time?”
“I have seen the records in this booklet. This girl who has been away for eleven years is well-mannered and well-educated, and she is honest and decent. She deserves the status of my companion.”
Li Lang’s behavior in front of Emperor Qian had always been coquettish and unpretentious, so there was no fault in her reason for wanting to keep her by her side because she was interested in Ah Wu’s experience.
After Ah Wu, she named several more people. If you listened carefully, you could find that these girls were all from neutral factions, or they were people trusted by Emperor Qian.
How could there be a truly innocent person living in a deep palace?
Long before Ah Wu and others entered the palace, Concubine Li Shu had discussed with her daughter who among the young ladies entering the palace was the most suitable person to be her companion.
Concubine Li Shu had no princes, and she only wanted to keep the princess safe and sound, so she was unwilling to get involved in any party struggles.
If the companion was not chosen well, and the girl happened to be from the faction of the First Prince, the Third Prince, the Seventh Prince, or even Yan Zhongying, it would be easy for people to think that Concubine Li Shu and the Third Princess might change their positions.
Li Lang was favored, so several princes had secretly tried to win her over, but they were all evaded by Li Lang.
If a companion with a clear position appeared around her, it would not be a good thing for Li Lang.
The selection of Ling Wu was also the result of Li Lang and her mother’s hesitation.
As a princess, it was impossible for all her companions to be selected from the families of low-ranking officials because Emperor Qian went to great lengths to select companions for her, summoning all the daughters of officials of the fifth rank and above from outside the capital and officials of the second rank and above in the capital to the palace.
If Li Lang blindly chose the daughters of those officials for the sake of safety, she might be accused of wasting Emperor Qian’s efforts and causing his dissatisfaction.
Therefore, they must select a candidate from high-ranking officials who was least likely to participate in the party struggle.
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After Being Read by The Whole Family, The Real Daughter Became Everyone’s Favorite
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Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1