The photo I used as the chapter cover is
Noble Lady Liu, aka Liu Ying.
The photo I used it's not mine, credit to the rightful owner.
–
It was the day of the selection. currently it was held in the Hall of Ethereal Blessings, only the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were allowed to decide and observe the outcome of the selections. In the end, the concubine who are competing for the Empress seat are, Imperial Noble Consort Qi, Noble Consort Xi and Consort Chun.
The other concubines, like Jiao Wei said, were waiting under the Pavilon of YuanMing Garden, meanwhile the servants just arrived with the new brewed Longjing tea and some refreshments, Imperial Concubine Li started the conversation to break the awkward silence,
"NiangNiang, this concubine wonders how will the Emperor and the Empress Dowager select the Empress."
"The Empress will test himself the three Consorts, and Li Gong will let us know for first who will be the Empress, – said Jiao Wei, – Li Pin, who do you think will be the Empress?"
If Imperial Concubine Li gives the wrong answer, she might even get demoted or have some physicist punishment, Consort Zhen really has shown who are the powerful concubines here, excluding the three candidates, the most powerful concubine in the harem is Jiao Wei.
"This concubine thinks that whoever the Emperor and the Empress Dowager will decide to be the next Empress, will be worthy, – replied flawlessly Imperial Concubine Li, – all of the three candidates have potential to be Empress, pin qie doesn't dare to make assumptions."
'She's smarter than I thought, I will keep an eye on her in the future.', thought Jiao Wei, after she replied, "Yes, Imperial Concubine Li is right, us as concubines, we don't have the right to speak about who will be the next Empress, we will just wait for Li Gong."
The concubines didn't dare to talk anymore, since not only Consort Zhen was present, but also Consort Xian; who quickly became a powerful force in the harem, after giving birth to a Prince and getting promoted to a high-ranking concubine. After some minutes, Ling Xue spoke, trying to start a chat with the concubines, "Li Pin, is the pregnancy difficult? Do you already know the due date?"
"Pin qie thanks NiangNiang for worrying,this concubine is currently eight months pregnant, even if pin qie has some difficulties to eat and sleep, but Imperial Doctor Jiang is checking every week to see if there are improvements or not, so this concubine is not that worried."
"Also both Imperial Noble Consort and Consort Zhen are pregnant!, – added Imperial Concubine Rong, – this concubine gives her congratulations another time to NiangNiang."
Jiao Wei didn't say anything about Rong Pin interrupting Li Pin, she played the same game and she replied thanking her, "Thank you for the thought, MeiMei, BengGong thinks that it doesn't matter if its a Prince or a Princess, the most important thing is that my child is healthy."
(t/n. BengGong means 'This Palace', high ranking concubines (from Consort and higher) can use this word to refer themselves to low ranking concubines or servants.)
"JieJie is right, the things that matters is that the Royal child is healthy." continued Ling Xue, then Noble Lady Niu added,"NiangNiang is for sure blessed, after only a year of the birth of the blessed twins, Consort Zhen is already pregnant."
Jiao Wei knew they were trying to win her favor, since the rumor that the Emperor will promote her to Noble Consort has spread trough the Forbidden City, not only concubines, but also servants were more careful around her.
After the Empress Selection, Jiao Wei will ask to the Emperor to investigate another time the poisoning of Imperial Concubine Li and Jia, 'There's something fishy about it.', thought Jiao Wei.
As Jiao Wei was absorbed in her thoughts, the other concubines continued to chat, mainly about the new Noble Lady Liu, that wasn't present at the time but managed to serve the Emperor for two or three nights, and about the new rumor in the harem; apparently, the Prime Minister wants his niece to join the harem in the selection after the Empress Coronation, her name is ChuHua Hui, daughter of the only brother of the Prime Minister, a Duke of third rank.
She was rumored to be even more beautiful than her cousin, Imperial Noble Consort Qi, known as XiuYing Hui; and for this particular rumor, the concubines were afraid and, at the same time, curious about her; if she's really that beautiful and even smart like Imperial Noble Consort Qi, she might even become Consort in a year! Like only Consort Zhen and Consort Hua, now Noble Lady Xing, managed.
But from what they knew, Imperial Noble Consort Qi didn't like her cousin at all, so if she were to be chosen as the Empress, she won't let ChuHua live an easy life in the harem, 'Imperial Noble Consort Qi will either blame her for something or poison her if she were to be promoted to Imperial Concubine to soon.', thought Jiao Wei.
"Yes, this concubine heard that for the next selection, even some Noble Ladies from Joseon will try to join." said Noble Lady Shen, the concubine next to her, Noble Lady Feng, replied, "This concubine heard it too, apparently only Dukes and Imperial Descendants daughters are allowed to join, – then, Yue Feng, looked at the Royal Princess Uisun, – Li Pin NiangNiang, did you know about this?"
Imperial Concubine Li, Yi-On Hui, looked with an evil gaze at Noble Lady Feng, and replied,
"Yes, this concubine recalls that my brother sent a letter about what clans will be allowed to present their daughter to the Emperor, this concubine personally picked them since not many Noble Ladies have the standards to attend to His Majesty."
"Oh, is that so?, – said Jiao Wei, looking at Li Pin, – how much Noble Ladies will be at the selections?", Imperial Concubine Li looked at Consort Zhen and replied, "Yes it's right, this concubine picked twelve Noble families to present their daughters, if they're born from concubines, their mother must be a di daughter of a first-ranked Marquis at least."
Basically, Princess Uisun was saying that she won't allow certain people, to her standards, to enter the harem; but Jiao Wei wanted to play dumb, so she rewarded her instead of questioning and punishing her,
"Good, Imperial Concubine Li is thoughtful thinking about His Majesty's reputation and the harem's reputation, this Consort will reward her the high-quality silk that was imported recently from YunZhou, Li Rong, – Jiao Wei called one of her maids, – give to Li Pin's personal maid the reward.", the maid bowed and went to the goods room of Consort Zhen's Palace.
"This concubine gives her thanks to Zhen Fei NiangNiang, Yin Ruo, – also Imperial Concubine Li called one of her maids, – store well the reward from NiangNiang.", "Shi", replied the maid, after bowing.
After Imperial Concubine Li returned to her seat, finally, Li Gong was seen about ten meters from the concubines' gathering.
He was running towards the concubines, while still trying to be composed and respect etiquette, when he arrived, he quickly knell to give his greetings, "This servant gives his greetings to the NiangNiangs."
"You can stand up, – said Jiao Wei, – tell us, did the Emperor and the Empress Dowager select the Empress?"
"Replying to NiangNiang, this servant came to report about the results of the selection by the order of the Emperor.", said Li Gong, while bowing towards Consort Zhen, the latter replied, "If the Emperor gave you this order, then tell us who we should go to greet at the Phoenix Palace."
"Replying to NiangNiang, the Emperor bestowed upon Imperial Noble Consort Qi the title of Empress XiaoQiShen, or Empress Qi. He also promoted the First Prince and the Third Princess to the second rank, and will promote them later to the first rank when the coming of age ceremony will be held." (t/n. the coming of age ceremony is at 15 years old.)
"We give our congratulations to the Emperor and the Empress, may they live thousands years.", all the concubines, along the servants, bowed towards the Dragon Hall, in sign of their respect towards the new mother of the Jin Empire, Empress Qi.
–
The concubines were currently at the Phoenix Palace, each of them seated with next to them a table with tea and refreshments served; also the higher the rank you had was, the closer you were seated to the Empress, who was at the center. (t/n. for reference, this screenshot from ruyi's love in the imperial palace.)
They just gave their greetings to the Empress, and had food and Longjing tea served, Empress Qi started to speak, "Since now BengGong is crowned Empress, I will firstly spread the Emperor Decree, he will promote some concubines to balance the harem, since soon the selection will be held and the Emperor will depart for war."
Empress Qi's speech surprised Jiao Wei, 'But she still might fake it, even if she wants to kill someone, she still needs to act as the Empress and master of the harem.', thought Jiao Wei.
"The Emperor decided that Noble Consort Xi, along Consort Zhen, will help me manage the harem. Also, the Emperor promotes Consort Zhen to Noble Consort Zhen, Noble Lady Niu to Imperial Concubine Xin, and Noble Lady Feng to Imperial Concubine Ying, the ceremony will be held along the new concubines, in two weeks."
"This concubine thanks the Emperor and the Empress.", the three promoted concubined bowed to the Empress, and only after they had permission from XiuYing Hui, they returned to their seat.
'Now. the power is balanced. With an empress and two Noble Consorts, not many concubines will try to take the Empress throne. she's smart, – though Jiao Wei, – also, that Yue Feng got promoted to Imperial Concubine in less than a year, probably for filial piety towards the Empress Dowager.'
"Also, the Emperor announced that the selection will be held next week from today, since the preparations are completed.", said Empress Qi, looking seriously at the concubines, in response they replied, "This concubine understands."
The Emperor was already in his twelve year of his reign, but he was still young, in his thirties, and since he will go to war and make new connections, when he will return, tons of women will be placed under his feet. Most of the concubines in the hall thought that they must carry a Royal child when they still had a chance, they still had one month before the Emperor will got to war.
"You may all retire, BengGong is tired from the ceremony."
"Pin qie will now retire, may the Empress live thousands years."
–
It was the day of the selection, after the Empress was throned, the harem was calmer than before, for a week there was no trouble; it didn't happen since the announcement of the Empress selection.
The Emperor allowed only the Empress and the two Noble Consorts to assist at the selection, they will assist him in choosing the new concubines, the selection will be held in the Pavilion of Peonies, and only one hundred Noble Girls passed the last test to partecipate in the final selection in the Forbidden City.
The Pavilion of Peonies was situated at the outskirts of the harem, in one of the numerous gardens of the Imperial Palace, in the inside, it was luxuriously decorated.
In the main hall of the Pavilion, the selection will be held; there were to thrones on the same level for the Emperor and the Empress and, next to both of them, there were the thrones for Noble Consort Xi and Zhen.
A concubine selection wasn't held for almost three years, so many new young girls were participating this year, both from old and high ranking families, and from the new nobles.
Since this morning, the maids couldn't stop talking about how pretty and elegant the Noble Ladies were; all of them from fifteen to eighteen, an age were young girls will hit puberty and grow into beautiful maidens.
A Noble Lady in particular attracted the maid's attention; the rumored cousin of Empress Qi, ChuHua Hui. In her eighteens, the girl's beauty was flourishing in the room with the other candidates; she was previously engaged to the second son and heir of the Grand Chancellor, but because of some disputes between the families, it was annulled. Instead, ChuHua was sent to the concubine selection, after the Prime Minister heard of the broken engagement of his niece, he immediately went to his brother to speak with him about the concubine selection.
Lady ChuHua was said to be one of the top beauties in the capital, she was also the flower of the high society; always participating in banquets and tea parties of high ranking and prestigious families; as the niece of the Prime Minister and eldest Lady of the Duke Mansion, she had to have some power and connections in the aristocracy.
Back to the Pavilion of Peonies, the Emperor accompanied by the Empress, just arrived. After Jiao Wei and Noble Consort Xi gave their greetings, the Emperor started the selection.
Five Noble Ladies from the Mongol Reign came out, starting officially the selection.
The first groups of girls didn't catch the Emperor's eye, even if they came from a good background, they didn't interest the Emperor. Until now, none of the concubines or the Empress spoke or showed favor towards a Noble Lady, until the twelve group entered.
In the center, Lady ChuHua got recognized by her cousin, Empress Qi; since the latter had to put good words for her dearest cousin, she looked at the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, don't you think the girl in the middle is quite eye-catching?", the Emperor couldn't not agree, and wanted to make the Empress happy, so he answered, "The Empress is right, – he whispered back, then he announced, – Li Gong, announce the candidates."
"Replying your Majesty, this group of five Noble Ladies all comes from the Noblest clans of the Jin Empire; Presenting the second di daughter of the Kui clan, daughter of the Gran Chancellor.
Presenting the first di daughter of the Yang clan, daughter of General ShenHui.
Presenting the first di daughter of the third-ranked Duke of Hui clan, niece of the Prime Minister.
Presenting the first shu daughter of the Minister of the Army of Jing clan, and the di daughter of the former General XiJin, so of noble birth.
And lastly, Presenting the second di daughter of the Prince Gao of second rank. His Majesty second-grade niece."
The Emperor was quite surprised of the background's of the ladies in front of him, so he made a question that will cause surprise and some rumors in the harem later, "All of the Ladies in this group come from a dignified background, Li Gong, in the groups of Noble Ladies from our Jin Empire, are there Ladies with higher ranks than them?"
Eunuch Li rapidly controlled the list of the candidates in his hands, and after throughly checking, he said, "Replying to Your Majesty, No, there's aren't high ranking noble ladies than this group.", then the Emperor said, "Good, Li Gong, since this Emperor then won't hold a selection for at least twenty years, We will allow all of these Noble Girls into the harem. To make the officials and nobles happy, also, bestow the flower to all the candidates that are lower than Duke, General, Minister or other important and high ranking figures; it doesn't matter if it's a di or shu daughter, We will select other two concubines, one from Mongolia and one from Joseon."
"Shi.", all the candidates were enthusiast, excluding ChuHua, who had more enemies now, at least she hopes to be the only GuiRen between the new concubines. But what nobody knows, is that the Emperor planned this along Jiao Wei, so nobody will torment the emperor about concubine selection and, for twenty years he will not have to deal with this. Allowing seven concubines, five from the Jin Empire and two foreigns, will keep the Official's mouth shut.
Also, the Empress didn't have time to organize all the things for the selection, so she asked to Zhen and Xi GuiFei to help her, and Jiao Wei had the opportunity to arrange herself the groups of the concubines who will be presented at the selection.
"Li Gong, We will promote these five ladies to Chang Zhai (First-Class Female Attendant.), meanwhile you will bestow the flowers to the Noble Ladies and invite over the high ranking ones, We will select who will spend the night with Us."
"Shi", the concubines were feeling ashamed that they didn't get the title of Noble Lady, but still thanked the Emperor since he just said he will spend the first night with the Noble Ladies of the Jin Empire, not the foreign ones, "Pin qie thanks the Emperor."
As Li Gong retired to do his task, the Emperor started to speak to his new concubines, who were standing up in front of him, "This is Empress XiaoQiShen, or Empress Qi, the master of the harem, next to this Emperor and the Empress, there are Noble Consort Zhen and Noble Consort Xi, the two highest concubines and the ones who help the Empress in managing the harem."
"This concubines gives her greetings to NiangNiangs, may NiangNiang take care of us.", the concubines bowed in respect, and then the Emperor added, "You may now retire, this Emperor will now continue the selection. We already decided who will spend the night with Us, – then, the Emperor looked at one of the candidates, – First Class Female Attendant Yang will serve this Emperor tonight."
–
After about an hour, Li Gong sent home almost all the candidates, expect two groups, each of them from different backgrounds, Joseon and Mongolia; like Jiao Wei planned.
The first group that was presented at the Emperor was the Mongolian Noble Girls but only two of them were present, since the other three didn't pass the standards of the Emperor.
As the candidates bowed to greet the Emperor, Li Gong followed with announcing their rank and families,
"Presenting the first di daughter of the General of the Khorchin Borjigin clan, sister of the Princess Consort of Prince Gao,
And presenting, the third di daughter of Khalkha Borjigin clan, daughter of the Prime Minister of the Mongol Reign.", said Li Gong.
Both of them were from the Borjigin clan, even if from different house branch, if someone had Borjigin in their name it means they're from one of the most powerful and noblest clans in the Mongolian Reign.
The Emperor observed the two candidates, and finally made a decision, only based on who would make a better ally for him, "This Emperor will promote the daughter of the General from the Khorchin Borjigin clan, to ChangZhai (First-Class Female Attendant.), Li Gong bestow the flower to the other Noble Lady, then summon the next group."
As the Emperor ordered, Li Gong bestowed the flower to the candidate who wasn't selected, meanwhile the one who was, she was currently bowing and thanking the Emperor for his grace, then she quickly retired following the Emperor's orders, and went to the Palace were the other five concubines were currently at.
Meanwhile, Li Gong let the last group of Noble Ladies to enter the main hall of the Pavilion of Peonies, five beautiful girls entered, as always, Li Gong followed with the announcement of the candidates,
"Presenting the second di daughter of the Cho clan, daughter of the Chief State Councillor of the Joseon Kingdom,
Presenting the fourth di daughter of Prince Uimin, only full-blood brother of the King of Joseon,
Presenting the first di daughter of the Ministry of Works of the Joseon Kingdom, of the Park Clan,
Presenting the fifth di daughter of the Ministry of Rites of the Joseon Kingdom, of the Kim clan,
Presenting the first shu daughter of the Duke of Sungan, of the Min clan, also sister of the current Queen of Joseon, Queen Min."
The Emperor observed the fifth candidates from the Joseon reign, 'Sure Li Pin and the King of Joseon put a lot of thought into this group of Noble Ladies.', thought the Emperor, then he asked to Jiao Wei, "Consort Zhen, what do you think about these candidates?"
Jiao Wei looked at the Emperor, questioning why he asked only to her about the Noble Ladies, then she picked the most attractive of them, putting into thought that she shouldn't pick any royals, that could easily side with Imperial Concubine Li, so she answered, "This concubine thinks that the daughter of the Duke of Sungan is composed, beautiful and seem to be good in etiquette too." said Jiao Wei.
"This Emperor will promote the daughter of the Duke of Sungan to Chang Zhai (First-Class Female Attendant.)"
The Empress didn't say anything about the Emperor not asking her opinion, instead Jiao Wei's one, 'Now the harem is in my hands and I have a full-grown Prince attending the Royal Academy, why I should worry of a concubine with newborns, she's can't compare to me.', thought the Empress, XiuYing.
"Spread my decree, the new concubines will live together in the Palace of Eternal Autumn, each of them will have their own residence. After a week of learning the Imperial etiquette and rites, the concubines will be able to serve me, the promotion will be held next week along Noble Consort Zhen and Imperial Concubine Xin and Ying. ", said the Emperor, before leaving with Jiao Wei; he wants to spend much time as possible with his beloved before leaving for war, in three weeks.
Meanwhile, the Empress and Noble Consort Xi went to the Palace of Autumn to arrange the residence of the concubines and assign to them maids and eunuchs; tomorrow will be their first day in the harem, and the first time they will meet with the other concubines during the daily morning greetings to the Empress, as rules says.
–
The Empress was seated in her throne, while sipping her tea, she was eyeing the concubines in front of her, each of them wore luxurious hairpins and clothes made of the finest silk you could found in the Jin Empire, 'The Golden Cage' is truly a fitting alias for the harem, to XiuYing thought. The closest concubine to the Empress were her new co-workers, Noble Consort Xi and Noble Consort Zhen; two powerful pillars in the harem, both supported by the Empress Dowager; even if the latter wasn't involved in the harem affairs anymore, that doesn't mean her influence and power also vanished.
After some minutes of silence, the Empress began to speak, "BengGong has an announcement to make, the Emperor has selected seven concubines in the harem, five of them from our Empire, and two of them from our allies. The Emperor decided to select seven concubines since he will not hold another selection for twenty years, and will only allow concubines from Imperial or Royal families of allied Nations, – then, she toke a sip of her tea, and continued to speak, – This Empress wanted to let you MeiMeis know the Emperor's intention before the new concubines will arrive, to lessen future problems."
This means that the Empress will not tollerate someone scheming or framing the new concubines, which means they're from powerful backgrounds, the concubines who weren't present at the selections were anticipating the new concubines, expect Ling Xue, Consort Xian; Jiao Wei last night went to her palace and said everything that happened during the selection to her friend.
"Also, the Emperor decree states that all of them will hold the rank of Chang Zhai, MeiMeis, shouldn't be worried too much about the new concubines, the lowest of you is a Noble Lady, more higher than a First-Class Female Attendant.", added Empress Qi.
Most of the concubines feels better hearing the Empress' words, then one of the eunuch of the Empress, announced the new concubines, "Presenting Chang Zhai Min, Chang Zhai Bai, Chang Zhai Kui, Chang Zhai Hui, Chang Zhai Yang, Chang Zhai Jing and Chang Zhai Wang."
"This concubine gives her greetings to the Empress and the Niangniangs.", all the new concubines elegantly knell and give the formal greeting to the Empress, consisting of 3 bows while kneeling.
All of them were elegantly dressed with few but luxurious hairpins, they couldn't say anything about their choice of clothing.
"Great, BengGong will serve now you tea, stand up and take your seat.", as the concubines do like the Empress said, some maids bring to all the concubines new refreshments and a new type of tea, recently imported from Joseon.
"This Empress is worried about the future of the Royal children, since the Emperor will leave in two weeks, this Empress hopes that all the concubines will try to at least serve one night with his Majesty, – then the Empress gave a sign to her personal maid, who retired to take something, – BengGong spoke to the Emperor about this problem, and promised to at least spend the night with all the new concubines and some of the current concubines. This Empress will give you some gifts, all the same, – some of the Empress' maids, including her personal maid, appeared with some boxes in their hands, and each of them went to one concubine, – this Empress based the quality and quantity of the gift based on the rank in the harem, but don't worry, that doesn't mean the gift isn't expensive."
All of the concubines were surprised by the Empress, especially the old concubines, who knew her cold and evil temperament, and some of them suspected her to be the culprit of Li Pin and Jia Pin poisoning, but now, they don't know what to believe or not, but Jiao Wei didn't didn't like the others concubines, 'She might fool some of us, but at least I didn't believe her good intentions.', she thought. But the gifts were for sure expensive; Jiao Wei received more gifts than when she got promoted to Consort, she needs to wait the promotions ceremony to receive gifts for her promotion.
The meeting ended with all the concubines thanking the Empress for the gifts, and the latter replied, 'BengGong is tired, you may all leave.', all of the concubines retired to their Palace, to see who will spend the night today with the Emperor.
Then, when midnight came, a maid came to Jiao Wei's Palace, while the latter was reading a book in her nightgown, in the couch in her bedroom.
"NiangNiang, Nubi has to report something!", it was the thirteen, now fourteen, little maid that is working for Jiao Wei, about gossip and important events in the harem and the Imperial Court.
"Oh? Come here, – Jiao Wei smiled to the little maid, and she listened, – tell to JieJie who the Emperor has chosen to spend the night with."
"NiangNiang, you knew?"
"Yes, now, tell me, I hope it's one of the new concubines."
"Yes NiangNiang, its Chang Zhai Bai."
(in the next update, i will ad the updated chart of the concubines and the prince and princess.)