Except for the First Prince who had married a principal wife and left the palace to open his own palace, the other unmarried princes lived in the West Third Palace.
The West Third Palace was in the first six palaces. On weekdays, if no emperors or high-ranking concubines summoned them, they could not enter the harem at will.
Among them, the Third Prince and Fourth Prince already had several concubines.
They were all sent to the palace from the families of minor officials during the small draft in previous years. They were selected from the girls who were originally intended to be female officials. Some of them were given by their respective mothers.
Because of their humble birth, they were only given the title of concubine. However, the positions of the principal wife and the side concubines were still vacant.
As for the Fifth Prince Li Chenghe, although he was the same age as the Fourth Prince Li Chengyan, he did not have a mother to care for him. He only had a few maids given by Noble Concubine Jiang to teach him. Their status was low, so they were not even worthy of the position of a concubine.
Apart from the Seventh Prince, who was only twelve years old and had not yet reached the age, he had the most deserted one in the backyard.
Ever since the news spread that Emperor Qian was planning to select concubines for several princes, the number of people targeting the First Prince and the Third Prince was the largest.
However, the Fourth Prince, although he was of an equally distinguished background, had a sickly body and was in need of medical attention every now and then.
After a serious illness, just the body, let alone whether he could compete for that position, even whether he could live a long life was two questions.
The Seventh Prince was still young, so it was unlikely that Emperor Qian would take this opportunity to choose a concubine for him, so he was temporarily forgotten.
Not to mention the Fifth Prince Li Chenghe.
The daughters of officials of the third and higher ranks looked down on him.
While the fourth or fifth ranks, which were from a small official family, were too arrogant. They also wanted to climb a high branch and expect to be a master in the future, so their initial target was not set on him, a prince who was not valued by Emperor Qian.
Liu Bingyan, the youngest daughter of the Minister of Revenue who was planned to be the companion of the Third Princess Li Lang, was nominally the First Prince’s cousin. Because her eldest sister married into the Third Prince’s mother’s family, according to seniority, the Third Prince also had to call her cousin-in-law.
The Minister of Revenue’s position had always been ambiguous. No one knew whether he favored the First Prince or the Third Prince.
However, anyone with a keen eye could see that the old man must want to earn a share of the credit for following the emperor. Otherwise, he would not have married his eldest daughter to the Third Prince’s mother’s family when he was already related to the First Prince.
The most likely possibility was that he wanted to have both sides, but as the competition between the First Prince and the Third Prince becomes increasingly fierce, he might soon have to choose a side.
Liu Bingyan is the youngest daughter of the Minister of Revenue. She has been doted on since she was a child.
Not long ago, she was frightened by the words of the Third Princess and had long since given up the idea of being a companion to the Third Princess.
However, her thoughts were also very active. Since she didn’t want to be a companion to the Third Princess, she might as well choose a path to rise to the top.
She wanted to be betrothed to the First Prince or Third Prince.
Although she was not old enough, it did not prevent the emperor from arranging a marriage for her. After she reached the age of 15, she could get married. This had happened in all dynasties.
Liu Bingyan believed that since she was the legitimate daughter of a high-ranking official and had a noble family background, she was worthy of being the prince’s wife.
Unfortunately, the First Prince had already married the principal wife. If she was betrothed to the First Prince, she would only be a concubine, which would be an insult to her family background and character.
But who could blame him for being a royal family member?
If her husband could really sit on the throne of the emperor in the future, even if she was a concubine, she would at least be able to be an emperor’s concubine. If she was lucky enough to give birth to an heir, she could fight for the throne.
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Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1