Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

164. Chapter 164 The Selection Begins

Translator: Tracycbj

After he spoke, Du Chuxuan could not help but smile bitterly. Even though the Du family was fabulously rich, it could not make up such a big deficit in short time. He could tell that the Emperor was very careful when doing this. At least, he didn’t go too far when Yuxing Tianrui was small.

The expenditure was increasing as Yuxing Tianrui grew up. Even if the ministers voiced out the suspicions, the Emperor had a way to convince them.

Yuxing Tianrui gently pushed Du Chuxuan’s shoulder with his hand. “We don’t need to rush about the money.” If this had happened at another time, he might have been worried. At this time, it was not necessary to be too worried.

Currently, Noble Lady Xiao had lost the Emperor’s favor and couldn’t assist her son. No matter how anxious the Emperor was, he wouldn’t choose to cause trouble for Yuxing Tianrui at this moment. So, Yuxing Tianrui should think of a way to make up for the loss before the Emperor took action.

Du Chuxuan thought so too, “Since things have happened to be like this, I’ll try my best to get my father to help raise some money. There are many shops under the name of Sect Luo. With the prerequisite of not affecting the normal operations, they can move part of the money out.

Du Chuxuan started to calculate inwardly. Although he had never been involved in the business operation of the Du family, his father adored him and gave him quite many shops on his birthday every year. Even if he wouldn’t manage the business of the family, he would have the shops to support him in the future.

After Yuxing Tianrui left, Du Chuxuan had his shops calculated to see how much money he could get from them. He thought sooner or later he would make up the deficit one day.

The next day, Du Chuxuan was woken up by Luo Yun and Dongxiang early in the morning. Luo Yun brought the clothes that she had chosen yesterday and dressed Du Chuxuan. Looking at the red cloak, Du Chuxuan’s mouth twitched slightly. Thinking this was what Yuxing Tianrui liked, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

When the officials were reporting in the court, a crowd of pretty girls gathered in the imperial garden. These girls had been learning the rules in the royal palace for more than half a month, and now they chatted happily in groups, waiting for the selection.

When everyone was waiting nervously, a eunuch said loudly, “The Empress is here!”

Immediately, everyone knelt down. Those girls in the middle of the garden quickly made a passage for the Empress.

“As expected, the young ladies of Shenglan country are very pretty. I believe that you are accomplished and talented as well.” The Empress had actually made her selection with her confidants these days, and the pageant was only going through the motion.

“Thank you for your compliment, Your Highness.” Everyone bowed and then got up. Some bold girls looked up slightly at the Empress who was sitting on a high seat. She was intimidating and elegant, and the girls were awed.

Just as the Empress was about to say something, an old maid hurried over and whispered in her ear, “Your Highness, the Crown Princess had come.”

Surprise flashed across the Empress’s eyes. She sent the invitation to Du Chuyue yesterday just to show politeness, as she thought Du Chuyue must be too weak to come. Besides, even if she was here, what could she do? Can she stop a Crown Prince from having more concubines?

“Since the Crown Princess has come, quickly let her in. You know that she is not in good health recently. If anything happens to her today, I won’t spare you.” The Empress said in anger as she dismissed the palace maids.

The girls nearby heard that and turned pale. All the beauties had heard of the Crown Princess, whose family was extremely rich.

Not to mention that Yuxing Tianrui was the dream of all the girls in Shenglan country. If they were lucky to serve him, they might become the imperial concubines or even the Empress in the future. However, Du Chuyue was the Crown Princess at the moment, and that made things difficult.

As the girls were pondering, they heard someone outside say loudly, “The Crown Princess is here.”

The girls bowed again. Some wicked girls peeked at the Crown Princess to see how she looked. Some well-informed girls didn’t take her seriously as they thought she was unfavored.

“Mother, I’m sorry, but I’m late.”  Du Chuxuan walked up to the Empress and bowed in perfect etiquette, which set off his delicate figure. Even an old palace maid would admire the way he moved.

“Look at you. You’re not feeling well, and you should rest. If anything happens to you, Tianrui will blame me.” The Empress smiled and joked, asking the maids to bring over a chair for Du Chuxuan.

The two of them exchanged pleasantries before the selection started. In fact, the girls who could enter the palace had already gone through many rounds of screening. They had been divided into various grades and ranks. The top rank girls were pretty and decent with fathers of at least third rank in the court.

The medium class girls were from minor officials at the border. Although their statuses were lower than those at the top class, they were not inferior in other aspects. After all, some preferred turnips and others pears. Each girl had her own attractiveness.

The girls at lowest level came from ordinary families. No matter how beautiful or talented they were, they couldn’t break through their limitation.

Even if a girl at this level was fortunate enough to be chosen by the prince, she would not get anywhere further as her family could not assist the prince.The cruelty of the palace started at this moment. Many girls felt rueful that they couldn’t go higher because of their poor family background.