After the Emperor and Empress Dowager arrived, everyone greeted them and took their seats, leaving no time to dwell on the Empress’s unusual silence.

  The selection began, with groups of ten candidates entering at a time.

  This was the second selection since Ying Qionglou's ascension, so it was certain that more candidates would be chosen this time.

  Since the previous emperor had passed away in his prime, Ying Qionglou, the eldest prince, was still only twenty-seven years old.

  Moreover, several of his younger brothers were yet to be married, making this selection not only for the emperor’s harem but also to provide consorts for the imperial cn.

  At first, Wumian didn't express any opinions. She knew that both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager already had candidates they wanted to select.

  Sure enough, in the first few groups, seven candidates were chosen—not necessarily all for the imperial harem, but certainly for the imperial cn.

  When the fifth group entered, the Empress Dowager pointed to one of the candidates and asked the Emperor,

  "This one looks quite promising. What do you think?"

  Then, as if remembering to maintain harmony, she also turned to the Empress and asked,

  "What does the Empress think?"

  Wumian leaned forward slightly and replied with a smile,

  "Mother’s judgment is impeccable! This young dy has both a pleasant temperament and an outstanding appearance—I think she is an excellent choice. But, Mother, how about the one on the left? She is exceptionally beautiful as well. Why not keep both?"

  At this, the Empress Dowager looked surprised. The Emperor was also surprised. The concubines were even more shocked. The Empress was infamous for her jealousy, yet she was voluntarily recommending candidates? This was unheard of!

  "Hmm, the Empress has a good eye. Let’s do that, then," the Empress Dowager agreed, feeling that she couldn’t outright refuse.

  Of course, Wumian wasn't just randomly choosing candidates. She had noticed that the young dy in question had been stealing gnces at the Emperor with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. When Wumian suggested selecting her, the girl lit up with joy, making it clear that she was more than willing.

  If any of the candidates had seemed unwilling, Wumian would never have spoken up—she had no intention of ruining a girl's life.

  With both the Empress Dowager and the Empress approving, the Emperor naturally gave his consent as well.

  As the selection continued, Wumian pointed out several more candidates—all of them incredibly beautiful. Of course, not all of them could be chosen, but since Wumian’s eye for beauty was truly impeccable, the Empress Dowager found it hard to reject every suggestion. In the end, four stunning candidates were added to the selection.

  None of these four had particurly powerful family backgrounds, but they were undoubtedly breathtakingly beautiful.

  What shocked the Empress Dowager and the Emperor the most, however, was that throughout the entire morning, the Empress did not oppose them even once.

  Whenever the Empress Dowager or Emperor approved a candidate, she simply agreed. Even when the concubines pointed out their own choices, Wumian would examine them with great interest before nodding and saying,

  “You have an excellent eye—she is indeed a fine choice.”

  And so, in the span of a morning, the Empress never once opposed anyone’s decision. Logically, this was a good thing. It was just… too good.

  It made people uneasy—as if the Empress was pnning something big.

  Meanwhile, Wumian was starting to feel a dull ache in her waist. Thankfully, only two groups remained. Once this was over, she could finally eat—she was starving.

  By the time the selection was finished, more than forty candidates had been chosen. Ten would enter the imperial pace, while the rest would be given to the imperial cn.

  However, exactly who would enter the pace was still undecided.

  At st, it was over.

  Wumian stood up and asked,

  “Shall I accompany Mother back?”

  “No need, it’s already te. Let’s all return to our quarters,” the Empress Dowager waved a hand dismissively.

  Wumian had been hoping for exactly this and immediately bid farewell with a respectful bow.

  The Empress Dowager, watching her hurry off, found the behavior somewhat suspicious but chose not to comment.

  The Emperor also left, and Wumian turned to the four concubines with a pleasant smile.

  "Shall we all disperse now?"

  Guifei had been bracing herself, expecting the Empress to say something provocative—but instead, all she did was suggest dispersing?

  For a moment, Guifei was stunned before nodding, “Yes. May Your Majesty walk carefully.”

  Once the Empress left, the four concubines exchanged uncertain gnces.

  None of them particurly respected this successor Empress, but all four had been personally troubled by her before.

  “Her Majesty has been ill for half a year. She still looks a bit frail,” Rong Fei observed.

  “Indeed, she still seems quite delicate,” Li Fei added.

  Sensing that they were just circling around the topic, Guifei cut in,

  “Enough—let’s all return.”

  Clearly, everyone was curious about why the Empress had suddenly changed, but no one was willing to say it outright.

  Well, if they weren’t going to say it, Guifei wouldn’t bother either.

  Xian Fei, who had always been the quietest, simply nodded and left without comment.

  ____

  That evening, the Emperor visited the Empress Dowager’s pace to speak with her.

  The Empress Dowager brought up what had happened earlier that morning.

  "What do you think of the women the Empress selected?"

  "I had them investigated. The Empress had never interacted with any of them before."

  This was precisely what puzzled Ying Qionglou.

  If the Empress had personally recruited a few candidates, that would have made sense. But in the entire month since the selection process had begun, the Empress hadn’t made any moves at all. She had followed protocol and bestowed gifts upon all the selected candidates equally, but there was not a single sign of favoritism.

  The Empress Dowager furrowed her brows.

  "Could it be that she really had your best interests at heart?"

  Ying Qionglou shook his head, perplexed.

  "Since she has chosen them, let’s keep two."

  If none were kept, it would undoubtedly lead to more unnecessary trouble.

  The Empress Dowager nodded. There was no better choice.

  Little did they know, while they were overanalyzing everything, Wumian’s reason for picking those women was exceedingly simple—They were just really, really pretty! That was all!

  The subsequent arrangements proceeded swiftly.

  Once the Emperor had assigned the other candidates to various royal cns, ten of the women were officially chosen to enter the pace.

  Among them, based on their family backgrounds and status, four were given the rank of Baolin, six were designated as Yunu.

  To prevent the Empress from making a fuss, the Emperor even went out of his way to bestow a special title upon one of the candidates she had taken a liking to—Zheng Baolin.

  Unfortunately, this was no different from winking at a blind person.

  The Empress hadn’t even noticed. She paid absolutely no attention to the matter.

  _____

  On March 14th, the new arrivals officially entered the pace. For the time being, they were housed in Funing Pavilion while awaiting their permanent accommodations.

  On the 15th, all the consorts of the harem gathered at Fengyi Pace to pay their respects.

  The senior consorts were the first to offer their greetings. Wumian did not put on any airs and immediately told them to rise.

  Once everyone was seated, it was time for the ten new consorts to perform their formal grand greeting to the Empress.

  For their first official audience, they had to kneel and perform the full ceremonial obeisance.

  Wumian waited patiently for them to finish the ritual before following protocol, offering a few words of instruction, and graciously telling them to rise and be seated.

  "All of you are beautiful women, and I find you all quite pleasing to the eye. Now that you have entered the pace, we are all sisters. In the future, do not quarrel among yourselves—your duty is simply to serve His Majesty well."

  The new consorts dutifully responded, "Yes, Your Majesty."

  Guifei chimed in with a smile, "Indeed, they are all stunning. This is truly His Majesty’s good fortune."

  Hu Meiren, ever eager to ftter, quickly added, "But none can compare to Your Highness! You are the true peerless beauty." Her sincere and direct praise had a unique charm to it.

  Guifei smiled faintly, "In the presence of Her Majesty, how could I possibly cim such a title? Anyone who deserves to be called a national beauty and heavenly fragrance must be Her Majesty."

  Wumian simply smiled, "Hu Meiren isn’t wrong—Guifei, you truly are beautiful. But beauty isn’t just about appearance; there’s also a certain..."

  She almost blurted out the word "allure"—if she had, Guifei would have been absolutely livid.

  Heaven and earth bear witness—Wumian truly meant to praise her, not imply anything else!

  Realizing her words might be misinterpreted, she quickly corrected herself, "That aura... I can’t quite put it into words, but it’s truly unparalleled. There’s just something about it—once you see it, you simply can’t look away!"

  Even though Wumian had already rephrased her statement, Guifei still felt that the Empress had to be implying something. Or perhaps there was some deeper meaning to her words that she simply couldn’t figure out.

  With no other choice, Guifei forced a dry ugh and replied, "Your Majesty ftters me too much."