Chapter 732 Court Draft

On the wide official road, the carriages came one after another, all heading for the palace gate where there were inspections. Therefore, the carriages in the direction of the palace gate traveled very slowly. One end had already reached the palace gate, while the other end was still on the street.

On both sides of the street, many people were watching the carriages with their respective aristocratic family symbols passing by and gossiping. The most talked-about was Duke Xing’s Mansion.

It was because that, on the one hand, the Young Lady of Duke Xing’s Mansion had faintly become the most beautiful woman, and on the other hand, it had been a troubled time for Duke Xing’s Mansion recently, and the relationship with Yuhui Nunnery outside the city was too close. The first was Miss Shao, and then Fifth Miss Shao, and now Madam of Duke Xing.

There was something wrong with it. But some things were too confidential, and the ordinary people didn’t know it under the pressure of several parties.

But this did not prevent the people from watching the lively scene. They guessed how beautiful Miss Shao of Duke Xing’s Mansion might be, and this time she would be married into the royal family, but no one knew which prince she would marry.

It was said that Miss Shao was stunningly beautiful. How could such a beauty not marry into the royal family? The carriage was moving slowly. Shao Wanru leaned on the side of the carriage, closed her eyes, and was drowsy. She had been woken up early this morning. Since there was nothing better to do at the moment, she soon felt sleepy.

Each of the ladies of aristocratic families participating in the court draft rode in one carriage. Duke Xing’s Mansion sent four carriages and entered the fleet according to their rankings. She was sitting in the last carriage of Duke Xing’s Mansion.

The speed of the carriage was extremely slow. There were light veils hanging from the windows and brocade curtains. The sound came in from the outside, and it was quite clear. Especially with a few in loud voices, it sounded almost right there.

Someone recognized the symbol of Duke Xing’s Mansion and pushed his way through the crowd to see it. The reputation of the first beauty was widespread. He would be very lucky if he could see such great beauty, so many people were crowding around their car and discussing. Everyone wanted to take a look at the legendary beauty of Miss Shao.

Someone guessed that the carriage in the front should be Miss Shao’s, so there were the most people on her side. The horse-drawn carriages passed by, attracting crowds, but in the end, they stopped at the intersection outside the palace gate. The audience wasn’t allowed on the section of the road, and there were no shops on both sides.

At this section of the road, the voices of the audience on both sides completely disappeared. Then they slowly entered the palace.

Four hours had passed since they went out in the morning and arrived at the gate of the palace. Originally, this section of the road was a short ride of about one hour at most.

Finally, the carriages entered the palace gate and parked in the parking lot according to the regulations. Each lady showed up at the gate with a maid, and Shao Wanru brought Yujie.

There were already prepared soft sedan chairs waiting there. After the ladies got on the sedan chair, the two eunuchs carried them to the vast palace.

Shao Wanru didn’t feel sleepy at this time. She half-raised the curtain and looked outside. After looking at it for a while, she felt that the scenery in front of her became familiar. In her previous life, though she was not a beauty who was drafted in the palace, she knew that the beauties came here from time to time. It should be the palace where the beauties were staying.

Finally, the sedan chair stopped, and Yujie stepped forward to help Shao Wanru out of the sedan chair.

Along the way, she had been sitting in either a carriage or a sedan chair, and she felt sore and soft. Shao Wanru took Yujie’s hand to stand still, narrowed her eyes, and looked around. It turned out that it was the palace of the curt draft as she remembered.

This area was not a palace. It was a place for the beauties to live in and called Chuxiu Palace. It was composed of several different palaces. Although it was only the name of a palace, the large courtyard was set with smaller courtyards. There were rows of rooms, and it had always been the place for draft picks.

Most of the concubines in the palace entered the palace in such a drafting method. Of course, this also meant that the marriage of the princes was also the same.

The main purpose of the draft this time was the marriage of several princes who were of the right age to get married. The royal family members usually wouldn’t marry too young. Three years ago, it was only said to be engagement first. Marriage was decided to be premature back then, but now there should be almost no change about the candidates once they were selected.

“Third Miss, Fourth Miss, Fifth Miss, let’s go together!” Shao Yanru walked over and said softly. Duke Xing’s Mansion regarded her as the eldest, as it should have been.

They nodded and followed behind her, all waiting for arrangements to move in.

Shao Yanru knew a lot of aristocratic family ladies. Although it was inconvenient to make loud noises, they nodded and smiled at each other. Although the smiles were decent, they were not affectionate. Shao Yanru was the most popular candidate. How could her competitors be affectionate with her?

Shao Yanru smiled decently. She took her younger sisters of Duke Xing’s Mansion, followed the guidance of the palace maid, and took the number plate from a steward Nanny. They looked at the numbers on the number plates and found that they were living next door to each other as expected.

A eunuch had been waiting a long time ago. Seeing their number plates, he led them inside.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the rooms they lived in, which were fairly close to the gate of Chuxiu Palace. Such a residence was usually only available to the real rich and powerful families. It was easy to get in and out and was also well-known.

They happened to have four rooms in a row. Shao Yanru chose the outermost one, and so on, Shao Wanru chose the innermost one.

They were a little tired and went into their rooms. Shao Wanru led Yujie to push open the slightly closed door and found that though it was only a room, it was divided into an outer room and an inner room with a four-fold screen.

“Miss, they all live like this. How many rooms are there!” Yujie looked inside and was surprised. Not only was the house bigger than she had imagined, but the decorations inside were good, and it was carefully arranged at first glance. When she was just standing outside the door, she also looked around. So many beauties were all living in this way, and it seemed there were not enough rooms.

“It’s just the front rooms. The back rooms have rooms for two people and four people!” Shao Wanru stepped in and said with a faint smile.

In her previous life, she had done paintings for the beauties. In fact, it should be the beauties of three years later, so she knew a little bit about it.

The high-status beauties were placed closer to the main entrance, and the place was also large, with one beauty in one room. Those of lower status lived in rooms for two or four. In the capital, the ladies of aristocratic families were also divided into different grades.

But some of them would be screened out.

Nanny Xi had told them before that the scale of the draft this time was quite large and even implied that it was more than a draft for the princes. Some would end up in the harem.

Of course, Nanny Xi was very cryptic, but Shao Wanru had taken the hint. It seemed that this time the selection wasn’t only confined to the prince’s wife and concubine, but also the concubines who would enter the palace. In the previous life, Shao Yanru should have entered the palace at this time. But she didn’t know why Shao Yanru, who was full of confidence at the time, entered the palace instead of her desired prince mansion.

In the previous life, Shao Yanru had a better reputation than this one, and Duke Xing’s Mansion was also more prosperous, but why she did not get a high position even though she was favored in the palace? Zhaoyi was not a high-ranking concubine. Could there be anything going on that she didn’t know about?

In this life, she also temporarily acted as a bystander to see if Shao Yanru would enter the palace as she had done in the previous life, or entered her desired prince mansion.

After making up her mind, Shao Wanru casually slept for a while after lunch.

The house was very clean. Yujie didn’t need to clean up it. Lunch was also delivered by a specific eunuch. After the meal was finished, the empty tray would be placed at the door for the eunuch to take away, which was very convenient.

In the afternoon, Nanny in charge of Chuxiu Palace gathered all the beauties. Shao Wanru has just woken up, and she hurriedly dressed up and left Yujie in the room. She followed the palace maid who led the way and went out with Shao Yanru and others. They weren’t allowed to bring the maid at this time.

In the garden, Nanny in-charge looked stern, waited for the beauties that were late to come over, and even severely reprimanded the last ones.

Shao Wanru was one of the first girls to arrive. It was more cost-effective to live closer than those who lived far away. She saw that the girls who were scolded all lived far away. Although they were sweating from walking all the way, they were still late.

When everyone was there, they were arranged in five teams and they entered the house where they were lined up outside one by one.

Shao Wanru lowered her head and took a deep breath. She blushed. In her last life, though she had participated in the draft as an outsider, now it was her turn.

Although others didn’t know what the investigation was about, Shao Wanru understood that half of the candidates would be screened out. They checked whether the beauty had any disease or scars on her body, and those who weren’t beautiful enough would also fail.

There were fewer girls in front of her now. Shao Wanru had been standing at the head of the line, so it was soon her turn.

She tried to hold back the panic in her heart, and take a deep breath. She followed a palace maid into the room. There was only one very old Nanny in-charge whose slightly chubby face showed a bit of sternness. She looked harsh at first glance.

After she entered the room, the door was closed. The windows had already been closed, and the curtain was drawn. The room was warm because of the lamps and the stove, like a different season from the weather outside.

The palace maid had left. Shao Wanru gasped. Even though she was born again, she had never undressed before others. “Come here! Get undressed!” the nanny said in a cold voice.

Shao Wanru gritted her teeth. It was a hurdle she had to pass. She plucked up her courage, took two steps forward, and touched her skirt with trembling fingers. She knew that she was going to undress to be checked, which was also the most embarrassing scene for a draft beauty.

“Hurry up!” the nanny said impatiently.

“Wait a minute!”

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