Chapter 75: The Screening Begins
Just as Qi Huang had predicted, over the next two days, those with ill intentions harassed her relentlessly, employing all sorts of tactics. Unfortunately, in the face of her formidable strength, these petty tricks appeared pale and powerless.
Ouyang Tong, however, was not as fortunate. Although she managed to escape, she was constantly worried that Qi Huang might be exposed. Only after enduring two days that felt like an eternity did she finally breathe a sigh of relief, her admiration for Qi Huang growing with each passing moment.
The first day of August marked the date for the initial selection of Imperial Concubines by the inner court, personally presided over by Steward Zhong, in the Imperial Garden. According to past practice, many imperial concubines and consorts would be present at the scene.
As for Lin Tu, he typically wouldn’t attend in person, as he handled state affairs daily and couldn’t afford to waste time on such a trivial initial selection. However, this time might be different, given that he had personally orchestrated a grand play.
In the early hours of the morning, Qi Huang quietly found Ouyang Tong, and the two switched identities back.
Qi Huang then had to consider how to extricate herself. Since she was impersonating Chen Yuzhu, who was also an Imperial Concubine, she was supposed to participate in the initial selection. Not doing so would be equivalent to defying an imperial decree. However, if she participated and achieved too high a score, it would certainly attract the Dog Emperor’s attention, and she wouldn’t be able to leave then either. Therefore, she had to find a decisive solution.
After a brief contemplation, Qi Huang came up with an idea. Since she had been feigning illness all along, pretending to be gravely ill wouldn’t be excessive, right? As long as she could drag herself through the initial selection, she would naturally be expelled from the palace.
With her mind made up, Qi Huang took out a small bag of elixirs from her Storage Ring. These were elixirs she had prepared specifically for herself to aid in blood production for planting. Overdosing on them would lead to an inability to absorb deficiencies, causing various symptoms.
Of course, Qi Huang didn’t want to personally experience the feeling of “inability to absorb deficiencies.” Without hesitation, she summoned her clueless clone.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to persecute me again?” Huang Tian instinctively sensed danger and questioned in panic.
Qi Huang didn’t waste any words and directly stuffed three restorative pills into Huang Tian’s mouth, washing them down with water.
Shortly thereafter, Huang Tian’s body temperature began to rise. Her face flushed, she was sweating profusely, exhibiting symptoms identical to those after catching a cold. These were signs of an inability to absorb deficiencies.
Qi Huang herself found Ouyang Tong, entered the Storage Ring, and asked her to accompany her. She couldn’t rest assured if Ouyang Tong wasn’t with her.
“You… how did you do that?” Ouyang Tong’s mouth gaped wide enough to fit a duck egg as she watched Qi Huang enter the Storage Ring.
“Nothing, this is a treasure given to me by Eunuch Zhong,” Qi Huang replied casually.
“Why are you hiding? Aren’t you an Imperial Concubine? Don’t you need to be tested? Not being tested is defying an imperial decree!” Ouyang Tong said worriedly.
“Tested for what? I don’t want to be some concubine,” Qi Huang replied impatiently.
Ouyang Tong had many more questions but hesitated to ask further.
“By the way, I forgot to ask you something. How were you eliminated in the previous selection? With your excellent conditions, you shouldn’t have been unable to enter the harem!” Qi Huang inquired curiously.
“The Phoenix Selection Token gave me a score of zero for fertility, which lowered my overall evaluation,” Ouyang Tong said hesitantly, her expression unnatural.
“Zero? How is that possible?” Qi Huang was shocked. Even with a poor bloodline or hidden ailments, one should at least get a point or two. What was a score of zero all about?
Ouyang Tong sighed deeply and then gave a self-deprecating smile. “I later asked someone to have a court physician examine me, and he said I couldn’t have children.”
“Ah?” Qi Huang froze on the spot and could no longer speak.
…
Qi Huang had gone to great lengths for this performance, and so had Steward Zhong. Early in the morning, he summoned all the members of the Imperial Concubine Guard and assigned them a mission.
Besides that, Steward Zhong had also investigated the palace maids and guards who had interacted with Ouyang Tong in recent years and assigned them tasks as well. The purpose was to prevent them from moving around and recognizing the fake appointed Imperial Concubine.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, and everyone hoped this grand play would have a perfect ending. However, they overlooked one thing: in the Imperial Palace, the most precious thing was not the “Empress’s position” but the “Throne”!
After breakfast, Shangyi Zhou ordered her subordinates to summon all the Imperial Concubines, preparing to take them to the Imperial Garden for the first round of screening. However, it was discovered that one person was missing.
Shangyi Zhou counted the number of people and found that the missing person was Chen Yuzhu, who had caught a cold.
Shangyi Zhou instinctively felt something was amiss, so she immediately took a lady-in-waiting to look for “Chen Yuzhu.” It was then that she discovered her condition had worsened considerably; not only could she not get out of bed, but she couldn’t even be woken up.
“Quick, find an imperial physician!” Shangyi Zhou ordered urgently.
“My lady, there’s no time. The screening is about to begin. If we delay the time for her alone, we will all be in trouble,” the lady-in-waiting advised rationally.
Shangyi Zhou pondered for a moment, then sighed helplessly. “What a pitiful girl, you can only blame yourself for not having the fortune.” After saying this, she left with the lady-in-waiting.
Qi Huang breathed a slight sigh of relief. She was afraid that this woman would be stubborn and escalate the situation pointlessly, making it difficult for her to manage.
Shortly thereafter, Shangyi Zhou led these dozens of palace maids and the two hundred or so Imperial Concubines to the Imperial Garden.
Because it was time for screening,
Upon reaching their destination, the Imperial Concubines began to panic. They discovered that the situation was quite grand, with not only many imperial concubines and consorts present, but even the Emperor himself attending.
“Isn’t this just the initial selection? Why is His Majesty here?”
“Yes, I heard that His Majesty never attended the initial selections in previous years.”
“What should we do? With His Majesty present, if I am eliminated, won’t it be very embarrassing?”
The Imperial Concubines whispered amongst themselves with panicked expressions.
“Silence! What kind of conduct is this clamoring?” Shangyi Zhou quickly reprimanded. She didn’t want to be accused of dereliction of duty before the screening even began.
Due to the Emperor’s presence, Shangyi Zhou had to lead the Imperial Concubines to pay their respects first.
At this moment, Lin Tu, Empress Zheng, and several favored concubines were seated together in the largest pavilion in the Imperial Garden, including Consort Jin and Consort Hui.
“Your Majesty, forgive this concubine for speaking frankly, but the quality of the Imperial Concubines this time seems a bit subpar,” Empress Zheng said sarcastically after a casual glance.
“Yes, Your Majesty! Looking at their appearances, there are probably very few Imperial Concubines who can pass the screening this time. They completely fail to meet expectations.”
“Your Majesty is the ruler of a nation, and not just any cat or dog can enter the harem. Even if they don’t meet expectations, they must be strictly screened.”
Consort Jin and another gorgeously dressed noble concubine echoed this sentiment.
“The Empress and all my beloved consorts are incredibly beautiful. Naturally, I wouldn’t set my eyes on mediocre women. Why would I settle? We will screen them as they should be screened.” Lin Tu responded briefly.
The faces of several women lit up with joy. After all, everyone enjoys sweet words, especially when they came from the ruler of a nation.
“The Imperial Concubine personally selected by Your Majesty should be among them, right? I heard she is a clone of a cultivator and is extremely beautiful, I must see her later.” Consort Hui suddenly said.
“Yes, and I also heard that she comes from Huang Tian Prefecture! Huang Tian Prefecture, that notorious rat’s nest in our Xihui Dynasty, has never produced an Imperial Concubine before. Can a phoenix truly fly out of it?” the gorgeously dressed noble concubine also said.
As soon as the two finished speaking, Empress Zheng and Consort Jin exchanged glances, their faces revealing meaningful smiles.
“Very well! I will satisfy your requests.” Lin Tu said decisively, but his smile turned cold. He had come only to watch his orchestrated play come to a perfect conclusion, not expecting these two foolish women to stir up trouble. It was truly damnable.
The two women were completely unaware that they had made a grave mistake. They still felt favored by the Emperor and smiled uncontrollably.
“Greetings to His Majesty, greetings to Her Majesty the Empress. May His Majesty live for ten thousand years, and Her Majesty for a thousand years.” Shangyi Zhou led the Imperial Concubines forward and knelt respectfully.
Seeing this, Qi Huang secretly admired her own intelligence. If she had come along like this, she probably would have had to kowtow to this Dog Emperor first.
“Rise, there is no need for so much formality,” Lin Tu said, extending his hand as if to help them up.
“Many thanks to His Majesty.” Shangyi Zhou led the Imperial Concubines to stand up, trembling.
“Shangyi Zhou, please report on the situation of this cohort of Imperial Concubines,” Lin Tu commanded.
“As you command!” Shangyi Zhou bowed and accepted the order, then began her report: “Reporting to His Majesty, this cohort of Imperial Concubines consists of a total of three hundred and twenty-two individuals. As of this morning, one hundred and seventy-two have reported to the Shangyi Bureau, with one hundred and fifty absent.”
“What? Why have only a little over half arrived?” Lin Tu frowned.
Shangyi Zhou responded timidly, not daring to answer.
*Doesn’t Your Majesty, as the Emperor, have any idea? Nowadays, the Xihui Dynasty is filled with wandering souls. How many ordinary women can enter the Imperial Palace alive?* Qi Huang couldn’t help but inwardly complain.
“Reporting to His Majesty, this old servant believes they must have encountered some accidents along the way,” Eunuch Zhong, waiting outside the pavilion, quickly interjected to help.
“But the number of arrivals is indeed too small, and we cannot rule out the possibility of defiance,” Lin Tu insisted, then issued a decree: “Eunuch Zhong, transmit my imperial edict. All prefectures and counties are to meticulously check the Imperial Concubines from this selection. If anyone is found alive but has not entered the palace, regardless of the reason, they will all be punished as a crime of defying an imperial decree.”
“This old servant obeys the decree.” Eunuch Zhong quickly accepted the order.
Upon hearing this, the faces of the Imperial Concubines turned pale. They thought to themselves that they were fortunate not to have played any tricks, as defying an imperial decree meant beheading.
“Alright, what about the Imperial Concubine I personally selected? Has she arrived?” Lin Tu changed the subject.
Ouyang Tong trembled upon hearing this, her legs shaking uncontrollably. She had no idea that the high and mighty Emperor himself had orchestrated this play.
“Qi Huang, Your Majesty is calling for you. Aren’t you going out to see him?” Shangyi Zhou reminded Ouyang Tong with a hint of disappointment.
Although Ouyang Tong was extremely frightened, to save her life, she gritted her teeth and walked out fearfully.
