On the mountain there is a tree, and on the tree there are branches.

  In the aristocratic families, when a daughter was married off, they would choose sisters or younger female relatives of similar age and beauty to be her attendants, known as "tengnu", to accompany her to her husband's household in order to consolidate their family's influence. This custom had been passed down since ancient times before the Qin dynasty. By the Han dynasty, this practice was no longer limited to women from the same clan; beautiful female slaves born into the household could also serve as tengnu and follow the noblewoman out of her natal home upon marriage.

  Lu Yuan knew that Zhang Yan's marriage to his imperial brother was different from ordinary couples in the world, and also because Zhang Yan was still young, she would probably have to be raised in Weiyang Palace for several years under the name of "waiting for her age" and could not see her husband. Therefore, it was extremely necessary for Zhang Yan to widely select palace maidens.

  Because it was taken for granted, no one thought to inform Zhang Yan throughout the entire process. As a result, when the substitute bride, Teng girl, moved into the Hou Mansion's West Garden, Zhang Yan, as the main protagonist of this grand wedding, was completely unaware of it. With the grand wedding imminent, as the future empress, although still a member of the Zhang family, her status as the emperor's consort had been established, and the Lan Institute where she resided was heavily guarded by layers of Hou Mansion's servants.

  On this day, Zhang Yan was in her quarters, where Hua Mei and Jie You were directing the maids to pack up Zhang Yan's daily necessities, preparing to return to Chang'an the next day. Suddenly, they heard a commotion outside the courtyard, and a young girl's clear voice called out, "Eleventh Lady." She was suddenly silenced by her companions.

  Zhang Yan walked out of the inner room and asked strangely, "What's going on?"

  "It seems someone is asking to see you outside." Jie You walked downstairs and soon returned with two elegantly dressed young girls.

  "Two sisters are looking for me, is there something?" Zhang Yan asked curiously.

  Both girls were from the Zhang clan, and the older one was Zhang Jiao, who had been a witness at Zhang Yan's hairpinning ceremony. The other girl's name was Zhang Ye, also a close relative of Xuanping Hou Zhang Ao, known for her beauty, slender figure, elegant and amiable.

  Zhang Jiao pinched Zhang Ye's arm and said, "We just wanted to chat with Eleventh Sister to pass the time. Since she seems busy, we won't disturb her."

  Zhang Yan was the eleventh among her paternal aunts and sisters of the same generation, so she was also called "Eleventh Sister".

  Zhang Yan nodded. She glanced at Zhang Ye, saw that her mind was elsewhere, but she didn't want to talk, so after a while, she smiled and said, "In that case, when I'm free, I'll invite the two sisters to chat again."

  Zhang Ye was pulled out the door by Zhang Jiao, her feet slightly stumbling. Suddenly, she shook off her cousin's hand and turned around, falling to her knees with a thud. "I, Ye, am of lowly status and have poor qualifications. I do not wish to marry Tun, so I beg you, Eleventh Lady, to fulfill my wish." She repeatedly knocked her head on the ground.

  Zhang Jiao stomped his foot and also knelt down, looking anxious, "Eleventh Lady, Ye is just temporarily confused, advise her and she will come to her senses, don't blame her."

  With a snap, Zhang Yan's brush broke in her hand. She raised her head and asked sternly, "What is going on here?"

  Her heart was filled with bitter and mixed feelings.

  Lu Yuan could sense her feelings and was grateful. However, this didn't mean that Lu Yuan could understand all of her thoughts and desires.

  Her mother chose for her, was for her in the Weiyang Palace some dependence, only to sit steadily in the middle palace. However, she would not know that deep down inside, what she truly wanted was not the revered and unmatched Empress of Han, but merely Liu Ying's wife.

  Be a man's wife. She would not be pleased to have other women standing between them in any name. Let alone, bringing her own relatives' daughters into the family. Become his Di daughter-in-law.

  Her face was complex, and she looked at Zhang Jiao and Zhang Ye in the room again. They were all young girls with a strong sense of youth, and they had also been called sisters by themselves.

  "Seventh Sister," Zhang Yan smiled and said, "I want to ask you, why are you unwilling to enter the palace?"

  Zhang Ye's body trembled slightly, seemingly hesitant, but bravely lifted her head, gazing directly at Zhang Yan, with a perfectly arched chin. "The Un央 Palace is revered for its grandeur and splendor, but I, Ye, am not worthy, my heart already belongs to someone else, I only wish to spend ordinary days with him, and dare not have any improper thoughts."

  "Oh, I see." Zhang Yan nodded and stood up to see the guests off, "I'll go talk to my mother about this. You all can head back first."

  As she walked out of the main gate, Zhang Jiao turned around and looked at her with a puzzled and perplexed gaze, but their eyes met, startling him, and he hastily pulled Zhang Ye away.

  Zhang Yan puckered up her lips and stood in front of the window for a while, then suddenly said, "Jie You, accompany me to Mother's place for a visit."

  "Mother," she said straightforwardly, "let those concubines in the Western Garden disperse and return home. I don't need them."

  "What nonsense are you talking about?" Lu Yuan was startled, and stepped forward to hold her hand, saying, "Mother is thinking for your own good. If you marry into the Weiyang Palace at a young age, His Majesty will not be without other concubines. Although you are the Empress of the Central Palace, you are too young, and it's hard to win over the hearts of others. Having one or two favored imperial consorts by your side can also help support your position as Empress."

  She shook her head and said with a smile, "Mother, my position as the Empress doesn't need this group of palace maids to protect me - I have my own pride. Moreover, who am I? I'm the Emperor's niece, the Empress Dowager's grandniece, and the mistress of the Un央 Long乐 Two Palaces. My biggest protection is the Emperor himself. If I still can't control the Un央 Palace in this situation, that would be my fault."

  When she said this, she smiled with joy and her eyes sparkled with spirit. Lu Yuan looked at his daughter like this, but a faint sadness overflowed in his heart, and he hesitated to ask, "A Yan, do you understand what is husband and wife?"

  She let out a sigh, her mouth seeming to hold an olive, and said slowly, "I know. Husband and wife are people who support each other for life."

  "I know you and your uncle have been close since childhood, and your feelings are good," Ruyu glanced at her and sighed. "However, Ah Yan, being cousins and being husband and wife are different things. I'm also foolish, some things can only be truly understood after experiencing them myself. You're still so young, how could you possibly understand?"

  "The matter of Empress Heng," said Lu Yuan with a lackluster tone, "is up to you. But you must select several more attendants; in the Weiyang Palace, without capable palace officials, even an empress would find it difficult to take a single step."

  Mother, I think I understand.

  I am not the child who grew up in that Hou Fu's mansion until I was twelve years old, deep in my memory. There is another world of more than twenty years of experience and knowledge, I know, the path I have chosen is very difficult to walk. I know, kinship and love are two completely different emotions, one as warm as a sunrise, the other as wild as a sea tide.

  From romantic love to familial love can be a smooth transition, but from familial love to romantic love is a kind of upstream swim.

  I understand, but I have no way.

  Suddenly, a commotion came from the direction of Xiyuan.

  Zhang Yan turned around in the long corridor and suddenly smiled. "Let's go take a look."

  Under the corridor there was a Chinese toon tree, Zhang Yan stood under the tree and heard from afar a girl's excited shout in the garden, "Wasn't it said that we were going into the palace? Why are we being sent back now?"

  She leaned against the railing, full of interesting thoughts. Just a small Houfu, there were so many women who coveted the emperor. In the future, how many young ladies would she have to compete with in order to get Liu Ying?

  No, she smiled bitterly, these women were no threat to her. Her real opponent was actually Liu Ying herself.

  She must defeat the fixed idea in his mind about her being a younger generation and an innocent niece, in order to be reborn as his true wife, Zhang Yan.

  A sixteen-year-old girl in white clothes hugged her zither and hastily ran out of the garden, with another girl chasing after her.

  "Alright?" Zhang Jiao suddenly flung open Zhang Ye's hand and said with hatred, "Now you're satisfied. You don't have to go anymore, none of us have to go anymore."

  Then she looked up and saw Zhang Yan under the Fusang tree, stunned for a moment.

  "Actually," Zhang Yan coughed and stood up straight. "You don't have to blame her, even if it wasn't her fault, in the end, I wouldn't want Tun girl either."

  Zhang's face was filled with uncertainty and he couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to betray our clan?"

  In this era, although it is said that "under the sky there is no land that is not the king's land, and on the shore of the land there are no people who are not the king's subjects", individuals exist more in dependence on their families. For example, when Zhang Ao was demoted by King Zhao to become the Marquis of Xuanping, the entire Zhang clan moved to Xuanping County. The custom of marrying off daughters is even more for the purpose of ensuring the interests of the clan in a marriage alliance.

  "Wu Jie, please be careful with your words." Zhang Yan said sternly, "Don't humiliate me, I will also make a satisfactory empress for the imperial clan."

  Zhang's face turned pale and uncertain, but having said this much, there was no need to continue. The Zhang family's daughter got into the carriage that had been sent from the Marquis' residence to take her home, and soon departed cleanly.

  Suddenly, another young woman's sharp and sarcastic voice was heard saying, "What's the use of being beautiful? The Empress still doesn't want you."

  "Rare." The girl who was having a seizure replied indomitably, her voice seeming to have a metallic ring.

  "What a good girl you are, a seamless egg that flies don't stick to. There are so many good daughters of the Xuanping family, why did the Zhu family insist on taking you as a concubine?"

  "This is nonsense," the woman said angrily. "If someone is bitten by a mad dog on the road, you don't blame the mad dog, but instead say that the person asked for it? Even if he were the emperor himself, I wouldn't stoop to being his concubine."

  Although she was in a bad mood, Zhang Yan couldn't help but burst out laughing when she heard such a blunt remark.

  Lu Yuan chose a young girl named Zhang Yan, who was only fourteen years old and had just come of age. Like Tang Mei, she was born to the Hou Mansion as a servant girl. Both her parents were dead, leaving behind an older brother who worked as a charioteer for Zhang Jiao.

  When she came over to see me, she was wearing a light yellow dress, with a round face and two dimples when she smiled, looking sweet and lovely.

  "Her father was a scholar, and she had followed in his footsteps since childhood, also having some knowledge of literature. As the daughter of a scholarly family, you should be familiar with the basics, and when you enter the palace, you should be able to assist me somewhat."

  "Thank you for your kindness, Mother." Zhang Yan looked at the young girl under the eaves and thought she was gentle and elegant. At first glance, they seemed to have a good match. Looking at the girl's clothes, he thought for a moment, "Yellow is the color of osmanthus, fragrant but not overwhelming. From now on, you will be called Mu Xi."

  Muxi bowed with her sleeves folded, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting me a name."

  "Hey," Zhang Yan said, "don't call me that way, I'm not the empress yet." She suddenly had a thought and turned to Lu Yuan, "Mother, I want to ask for another person from you."

  That day, when the corner of the curtain was slightly lifted by the wind, Zhang Yan caught a glimpse of that simple and elegant girl. When she saw her again, she couldn't help but be startled, the neat and clean girl looked up, although there was no makeup on her face, yet she was stunningly beautiful. No wonder someone wanted to take her as a concubine.

  Lu Yuan pinched Zhang Yan's waist and whispered, "You don't want to marry Fu, so why choose such a beautiful maid?"

  "This is a different story." Zhang Yan withdrew her hand and smiled. "I want her to be a female official, not a concubine." The difference between the two lies not in appearance, but in temperament.

  "That day, why did you have to follow my mother back? You didn't have to be a slave," Zhang Yan asked her.

  Gu He replied indifferently, "There is no one left in my family to rely on. The debt is just an excuse, the Zhu family has been eyeing me for a long time. This time they retreated due to the pressure of the Princess's power, but after the Princess leaves, I will still be unable to escape their clutches. It's better to follow you and take refuge under the wings of the Xuanping Marquis's estate."

  Zhang Yan nodded secretly, "Can you read?"

  Gou He's eyes flashed with a hint of dimness, "I don't know."

  "Really?" Zhang Yan's heart flashed a hint of disappointment, but still loving her temperament, "I see you're eloquent and perceptive, why don't you follow me into the palace and be my lady-in-waiting?"

  Gu He raised his head and looked at her carefully.

  "Alright." She replied indifferently.

  "Why not? There are so many men in the world, but they only see lust and can't see love. If things are always going to be like this, I'd rather stay in the palace forever."

  We're going to have a big wedding, a big wedding, a big big big wedding!

  "This road was opened by me, this tree was planted by me. If you want to pass through here, leave some tolls."

  Hand over the pink ticket in your hand and send you all the way to the wedding scene to watch.