An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

In the entire royal autumn hunt, the Sang family was the most unlucky.

When Sang Ling first came, he had been ill for dozens of days. Later, Sang Wu broke his leg. His father had not recovered yet, and his second daughter was bitten by a snake. She stayed in the palace for several days before she recovered. Sang Ling, the eldest daughter, was not idle either. She went to her sister's room several times to pretend to visit her. After all, Sang Wu was there, so she didn't have to be stingy with her disguise.

After being sent back to the palace, Sang Mei no longer behaved as violently as she did at the picnic. She even seemed aggrieved in front of her father and shed a few pearl-like tears. She still acted like a little girl, but she treated her eldest sister the same as before and never took the initiative to talk to her.

The two sisters were still visibly polite and distant.

Sang Ling also understood clearly: Ma and Jiang had grievances during their lifetime, and a mother was taking care of her daughter all day long, and their appearance was shown before her eyes, so naturally Sang Mei would not like him very much.

Fortunately, she had no intention of interacting much with the mother and daughter. She stood by the screen early in the morning, took a look at them, and then went to Ban Le and Dai Chengjun.

After the interrogation a few days ago, the three of them analyzed the Red Head Snake incident together these two days: the people sitting next to Sang Mei at the time, the first one was the two princesses, followed by a princess of Cheng Wang, and after Sang Mei there was a prime minister's daughter... Ban Le took the lead, analyzing the motives of each person, and also talked about the grievances between several families. After a few days of discussion, there was still no result, and Sang Ling was called to talk by the people around Queen Wu.

It was the end of the autumn hunt, and the men had just returned from the mountains. It was heard that the emperor had just left for the palace, and she happened to meet Sang Ling. In and out, she was considered to have received a great favor, and had a face-to-face encounter with the monarch of this era.

However, he was not qualified to look the emperor in the face, so he followed the palace servants to the side and bowed his head to pay his respects.

The imperial chariot passed by her, and she could not help but look up, and saw a fat middle-aged man sitting on it, about forty years old. He was not as well-maintained as Sang Wu. His long beard hung down to his belly, and his straight skirt was bulging. It seemed that the chariot was too small for him.

The palace slaves in the garden stopped to salute, pressing their foreheads to the cool ground to show respect. Everyone was silent, and the emperor's carriage left quickly. Only when everyone started to move again did Sang Ling breathe a sigh of relief.

There were quite a few servants in the palace. About twenty maids stood in a row behind the door in the corridor. There were also a few eunuchs standing behind the barrier, talking. She and the maid went into another room. A five-phoenix incense burner half a person's height suddenly appeared in front of them. There was a huge velvet carpet in front of the hall. There were two wooden steps. Sitting on the seats were two women with oval faces and delicate makeup: Empress Wu and Madam Zhaoyu. There was also a man sitting on the side. She glanced at him with her peripheral vision, and as her eyes moved, she recognized that it was Nie Ce -

Perhaps because he had just returned from the hunting grounds, Nie Jialang had not taken off his armor. He had not been seen for dozens of days, so he was a little darker, but he also looked stronger. In front of his mother and aunt, he was serious, with his head held high and his face solemn.

When the person opposite them looked at them, they were both shocked.

"Come up and talk." Queen Wu said.

She then stepped forward, bowed to Empress Wu and Madam Zhaoyu, then turned to Nie Ce and nodded to greet him, before going to the Queen Mother.

The palace slaves below were very fast, and immediately brought up a square felt mat, right opposite to where Nie Ce was sitting. Sang Ling couldn't help but swallow a breath - no one had ever taught her the palace rules. She could only follow the little memory in her sea of ​​consciousness, and she didn't know if her posture just now was correct or if it was impolite.

Suddenly, I felt my throat was a little dry. I wanted to drink some water from the jade cup on the table, but I found that my whole arm was shaking.

It's no wonder that people were nervous. Ever since she came in, there was a subtle atmosphere among these people. Even though she lowered her head, it was as if an eye had opened on top of her head. She could clearly feel the three people's gazes were all on her.

This mouthful of hot water could not be swallowed in the end.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly I heard the Queen Mother on the seat burst into laughter, "It's a pity that the Grand Marshal's wife is not here. It would be much easier if she came over to talk."

Empress Wu looked at Madam Zhaoyu and pointed at Nie Ce, asking: What do you mean now? Why did Madam Zhaoyu need Empress Wu to remind her? Ever since the eldest daughter of the Sang family came in, she had been secretly sizing up her son. The boy did look at her several times, but only for a moment, and then looked away again.

He still looks so calm, it's hard to tell whether he is interested in me this time.

Madam Zhaoyu's eyes met the girl sitting next to her. They were both daughters of the Sang family, but the elder sister was indeed more outstanding than the younger sister. Her eyebrows and eyes were like paintings, and her skin was white and creamy. She was really a cold beauty of inestimable value. She moved her eyes down a few inches, but she didn't know what the hands looked like.

But after all, she is a lady from a noble family, so she must have taken good care of herself since childhood.

She had already passed this test, so it was up to Nie Ce. Madam Zhao Yu hesitated for a moment, then asked with a smile, "How old is the daughter of the Sang family this year?"

Although he was asking Sang Ling, his eyes were still on Nie Ce.

"Madam, I am fourteen years old this year." Sang Ling answered softly, as if there was a drumstick in her heart, beating the drum again and again. After saying this, she even felt a little dizzy.

The atmosphere here is really wrong.

"Oh." Madam Zhaoyu nodded slightly and asked again, "Have you ever been to school?"

"Yes." She glanced at Nie Ce across from her awkwardly, "He's studying at the Zhi Family Hall."

As expected, there was a sound of "Ah", and Empress Wu interrupted with a smile, "Then you and Xuanwen have known each other for a long time, right?"

Although Nie Ce was older than her, he was delayed for a few years in the northwest. Besides, the students in the Zhi family were always older than the girls. Those with similar ages were mostly in the same school. If he had seen such a beautiful girl earlier, how could he not be tempted?

"Yeah." Sang Ling answered stiffly, and couldn't help but recall the spring horse race. This scene was exactly the same as when Lady Donghou met her that day.

Could it be that she was chosen by Empress Wu and Madam Zhaoyu? Then why did Empress Wu call Sang Mei to come over and talk to her earlier?

When the drum sounds faded away, she seemed to see a rock falling onto the lake of her heart. The waves it stirred up completely swallowed up all her emotions, and in the end, only confusion remained.

The emotions of the people below were surging, but the faces of the two nobles on the seat showed one happy and one sad. Queen Wu was still immersed in her own arrangements. She turned her head slightly and saw her sister shaking her head at her.

"How?" She was a little puzzled and lowered her voice. "Could it be that he is not satisfied with such a stunning figure?"

Madam Zhaoyu gestured towards Nie Ce, and the Queen looked over there too. Only then did she realize that, after all, she had watched the child grow up under her eyes, so she knew him well. But judging from the distracted look on his face, she probably still did not like him.

"Forget it, forget it." The Queen Mother snorted in frustration. After saying that, she waved her hand, just like she had sent Sang Mei away a few days ago. She said to Sang Ling, "Let's stop here today. The Sang family's daughter will go back first."

Sang Ling was so happy that he stood up, bowed, and left the hall with the chief palace maid.

After the people left, the hall was quiet for a while. Nie Ce was silent for a long time before he stared at Empress Wu and his mother. When he came here today, he didn't know it would be like this. Now that he saw the Sang family girl coming and going, he roughly understood that his aunt and mother always liked to make decisions for him in these matters, but he didn't know how they set their sights on Sang Ling? Although there was nothing wrong with this girl, he was really confused when he suddenly involved the two of them. He couldn't say whether he was satisfied or not, but he didn't want others to make decisions for him - even if they were his mother and aunt.

He could only suppress his annoyance expressionlessly, stood up, and bowed to the two people sitting on the table, "Madam, I'm going to go downstairs to change my clothes."

Queen Wu was feeling upset about the matchmaking she had done, and she immediately sensed something was amiss. She glanced at Madam Zhaoyu and saw that her sister's eyes lit up just like hers.

Could it be that you have taken a fancy to her and want to talk to her in private? He smiled happily and asked his nephew to leave.

After everyone had left the hall, he called the palace servants and said, "Follow us out and take a closer look."

If they really pull the person together to talk in private, then there is a high chance that the marriage will be successful.