Such a small incident, but it immediately drew everyone’s attention!
The Empress’s face turned very ugly, staring at the spider box that had been snatched away from Duan Huirou, her eyes practically blazing with fire.
Lu Momo was also shocked. She coughed lightly and whispered, “Your Majesty.”
The Empress took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and forced a smile.
Meanwhile, Duan Huirou instinctively glanced at the Empress, her face full of panic and helplessness. She randomly grabbed a box nearby and held it to her chest.
Consort Gui also realized something was off, her beautiful eyes shifting quickly until they landed on Consort Shu.
Noticing the gaze, Consort Shu immediately lowered her head and pretended to sip tea.
— It was an accident, an accident! Nothing to do with my Mingxi!
Consort Gui and Consort Shu had spent decades in the harem together and had grown closer in the past couple of years. Seeing her act so guilty now, she immediately knew: something had definitely happened!
After all, this was about choosing a Wangfei — how could she know nothing about it?
What on earth was going on?
Consort Xian, on the other hand, didn’t care much. She was eager to get a side consort into her son’s household anyway, hoping he could finally forget He Wanyi.
Consort De, dissatisfied with her daughter-in-law lately, watched closely today, hoping to pick a thoughtful concubine to serve her son. But even seeing this scene, she didn’t find it strange. In the palace, such little tricks were all too common — ones they had played themselves in their youth.
“Since everyone has picked, let’s open the boxes,” the Empress said with little enthusiasm, already thinking about how she might salvage the situation.
At that moment, Consort Shu exchanged a look with Duan Mingxi, then smiled and said, “Your Majesty, I’m also quite eager to see which young lady has such good fortune today.”
Consort Gui quickly picked up on the mood, and although she didn’t fully understand the deeper meaning, she knew she should push along. She smiled and said, “Indeed, I’m very curious! After all, the champion today will enter the Eastern Palace — having good fortune is a blessing on top of a blessing.”
The Empress: …
Originally, the Empress was choosing a Wangfei for Jin Wang, and side consorts for the other princes. The Eastern Palace wasn’t supposed to be the main focus.
But the Crown Prince held the highest status among those present. Naturally, the best match should go to him — it was unspoken but expected.
Still, if the Empress didn’t say anything first, there would have been room for maneuvering. But with Consort Gui speaking so bluntly, the matter was practically set in stone.
Consort Shu earnestly followed up: “What Consort Gui said is true. His Highness the Crown Prince is the heir apparent. Whoever has the greatest luck should, of course, enter the Eastern Palace.”
Hearing this, the Empress’s temples throbbed uncontrollably.
With these words, which royal household would dare to compete for the “one with great luck” now?
Consort De stayed silent, but Qi Wangfei’s household looked very upset, her eyes scanning the remaining young ladies nervously.
Yu Wangfei’s household was the most composed, and the Crown Princess herself — heavily pregnant — sat demurely, not drawing attention.
Bai Shixi hadn’t been worried at first. But when Duan Huirou was the first to complete the needlework earlier, she had a bad feeling. Then, when Hu Momo acted, her heart sank even further.
Today, Jiang Liangdi wasn’t qualified to attend. Besides, both the Empress and Crown Prince had long given up on Jiang Liangdi due to her incompetence.
Bai Shixi hadn’t expected the Empress and Crown Prince to target Duan Huirou — who was Duan Mingxi’s younger sister!
Knowing their characters, she still couldn’t help but feel uneasy today.
She clenched her handkerchief tightly. If Duan Huirou entered the Eastern Palace, what would happen?
Even a fool could guess.
At this moment, with Consort Gui and Consort Shu fanning the flames, the Empress gave the order to open the boxes. The box Duan Huirou held was the worst of the lot — while the best box was the one snatched up by the young lady who had bumped into her.
Everyone at the scene opened their brocade boxes one by one. Duan Huirou followed along and opened hers too. When she lowered her head and took a look, her hand trembled, almost dropping it.
She knew Duan Mingxi would arrange something for her, but she hadn’t expected this. The spider inside was thin and tiny, and the web it had spun was sparse, with a gaping hole in the middle — it was simply unbearable to look at.
For a moment, Duan Huirou didn’t know how to maintain her expression. She could only awkwardly hand her box over to be placed with the others before the Niang Niangs for inspection.
Standing behind Consort Shu, Mingxi casually glanced over the boxes along with a few other consorts. When she saw Duan Huirou’s box, even she froze for a moment.
In her heart, she thought, If this box had ended up in another lady’s hands, it would have been an utter disgrace.
But since it’s Duan Huirou… well, compared to losing her life, losing face is the lesser evil.
Besides, with a spider box like this, the Empress would have no excuse to send Duan Huirou into the Eastern Palace. Her luck was just too terrible — the worst out of everyone. Letting her enter the Eastern Palace would only bring bad luck to the Crown Prince.
Thinking this, Mingxi turned her head slightly to glance at Duan Huirou.
Duan Huirou kept her head down.
For once, Mingxi thought she looked a little smart — this display of shame and humiliation was well played.
Thanks to Consort Shu and Consort Gui fanning the flames earlier, even if the Empress didn’t want to, that other girl (the one who had snatched the box) still got sent to the Eastern Palace. The Empress clenched her teeth and reluctantly granted her the title of “Liangdi”.
Mingxi asked Hu Momo, “Which family is that girl from?”
Hu Momo had already found out. “Replying to Wangfei: She’s Chen Rong, daughter of Commander Chen Xian of the Five City Patrol Department. He’s a sixth-rank official. The girl’s quite bold.”
Mingxi nodded slightly, watching as Chen Rong’s face lit up with joy. She said slowly, “Let’s hope the thing she risked everything to grab is really what she wanted.”
Lu Momo added calmly, “Old servant has seen many like her. If she can stay patient and endure a few years, she might have some fortune. But if she can’t hold her ambition back… well, who knows?”
In this lifetime, fate plays a big part. Duan Wangfei had risked offending both the Empress and the Crown Prince to pull Duan Huirou out of the fire pit — yet someone else had jumped into it voluntarily.
Looking at the Gan girl from Zhenbei Wang household standing obediently next to Zhenbei Wangfei, Lu Momo thought: Now there’s a clever one. Even though she was born of a concubine, she was favored by Zhenbei Wangfei — truly blessed.
Chen Rong was granted the position of a “Liangdi” in the Eastern Palace. After that, it was time to select a wangfei for Jin Wang.
At this moment, the Empress, full of anger toward Consort Gui, swept her gaze across the hall and suddenly said, “I think the second daughter of the Dingyuan Marquis household is a good choice. What does Consort Gui think?”
Huh?
Mingxi hadn’t expected the Empress to still be targeting Duan Huirou. Her gaze turned cold.
Was marrying into Jin Wang’s house a good thing?
Jin Wang had a beloved side consort whom he doted on endlessly. Whoever became the official wife would be destined for misfortune.
Consort Gui was also stunned — she hadn’t expected the Empress to nominate Duan Huirou. She froze.
Mingxi’s face turned cold and she turned to look at Consort Gui.
Consort Gui glanced at Consort Shu.
The Empress asked openly, “Consort Gui, why are you looking at Consort Shu?” She then smiled at Consort Shu and said, “Consort Shu, the second daughter of the Duan family is the full sister of Duan Wangfei. Surely you won’t object?”
How was Consort Shu supposed to answer that?
