If An Lingrong was reborn before the draft

When Lingrong was practicing etiquette with Aunt Li, she was trying to be more delicate. Originally, Lingrong had the appearance of a beautiful girl from a small family, pretty and charming, but not stunningly beautiful. Aunt Li made her posture more delicate and lively like a little girl, and reduced the feeling of maturity and solemnity.

“My lady, the emperor is selecting concubines who can accompany him and add beauty to his life, not female officials to do work. You might as well smile more cheerfully and be a little more gentle.” Aunt Li saw that Lingrong had good manners, but she was still too solemn.

After Lingrong's hard work, she finally achieved the requirements of Aunt Li. During the break, Lingrong asked Aunt Li about some things in the palace. "Aunt, the day for me to enter the palace has been set. Please tell me something about the palace. I don't know anything about it."

"Hey, we common people all have our own masters in our houses, and it's the same in the Forbidden City. However, there are only three real masters: the Empress Dowager, the Emperor and the Empress. The rest of the concubines can only be called little masters. This cannot go against the rules of hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children." Aunt Li and Ling Rong sat opposite each other beside a small table in the yard.

"For example, even though Consort Hua is favored by the emperor, she can only be called Lady Hua. To show respect, she can be called Consort Hua."

"Can you all call her Empress?" Ling Rong actually knew all this, after all, Aunt Fangruo had already told them about it in her previous life.

"No, only the mistress of a palace who is above the rank of concubine can be called the Empress. Once she becomes the mistress, she lives in the main palace and is in charge of the affairs of the palace. However, there is a fixed number of mistresses, but the number of noble ladies, maids, and concubines can be as many as you want."

"Then aunt, is this my final agreement?" Ling Rong asked.

"No, the last one is an official's daughter, and you with a title are half a grade higher than those without a title, and you are often at the same grade as those without a title." Aunt Li replied.

"What is a Guan girl?" Lingrong knew the term because Yu Ying'er was once demoted to a Guan girl, but she was not clear about what a Guan girl was.

"Official girls are actually similar to palace maids, except that they are palace maids who can serve the emperor overnight. If the emperor likes them, they can be promoted to concubines. According to the ancestral system, palace maids are promoted one level at a time, and they cannot skip levels."

Now that I think about it, in her previous life, when Yu Ying'er first came into favor, she was also extremely favored. Otherwise, would one letter be a promise? It was just talk that one could not go beyond one's level.

"Let's talk about the current emperor," Ling Rong asked

“The Emperor is the fourth son of the late Emperor. He was named Prince Yong in his early years and got married in the palace to Ulanara, the niece of the current Empress Dowager. Concubine Ulanara was gentle and elegant, and was very popular. She was also very affectionate with the Emperor. However, three years after the wedding, Concubine Ulanara died of dystocia, and even lost the newborn baby prince. The Emperor is still very sad about this, and he posthumously named Concubine Ulanara as Empress Chunyuan.” Aunt Li looked very calm.

Ling Rong remembered that many old people in her previous life respected and believed in Queen Chunyuan. But seeing that Aunt Li was respectful, she might not believe in her. It seemed that there was something complicated going on.

"Who is the current queen?"

"The Empress is the biological sister of Empress Chunyuan, but they are not from the same mother. The Empress entered the palace before Empress Chunyuan and was named Concubine. When Empress Chunyuan died, she succeeded her as Concubine."

"Then how does the Emperor treat the Empress?" Ling Rong was not actually curious about the Emperor's feelings for the Empress. She was most curious about how the Empress killed Empress Chun Yuan. Although she told Zhen Huan that the Empress killed the Empress when she died in her previous life, this was just her guess and she didn't know the details.

"The Emperor has great respect for the Empress."

When Lingrong heard this, she wanted to laugh. If she hadn't been reborn, she would have taken it seriously just like in her previous life. The emperor had never been to Jingren Palace except for the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. The emperor was probably just trying to save face for the queen.