Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

Ever since Prince Xiang proposed to marry his eldest daughter, he noticed that the emperor began to be wary of their Xiao family.

Looking at the four final candidates for the Crown Princess this time, two of them are daughters of military generals, which is enough to show that the Emperor is preparing to use military generals to deal with their civil officials.

If they want to suppress the Xiao family with just a Crown Princess, that would be too much of an underestimation of the Xiao family's years of operation.

There was a fierceness in Xiao Chengzhang's deep eyes. Military generals were no more than warriors who knew some boxing and kicking. They were good at expanding territory, but when it came to the scheming and conspiracy in the court, they were far from it.

Three days passed quickly, and the day for the prince to choose a concubine arrived.

Emperor Tianqing held a banquet to select concubines at Yinlu Terrace and invited all civil and military officials to attend. The Empress and Concubine Qiu sat on the left and right sides of Emperor Tianqing respectively.

Prince Xiang Shen Zhaoyan arrived early and sat at the head of all officials. Opposite him was the seat of Crown Prince Shen Zhaoyong, and below him was the seat of the third prince Shen Zhaoyi.

Shen Zhaoyi came with his twin sister, Shen Furong, the only princess of Emperor Tianqing.

Shen Furong has always been favored by Emperor Tianqing. As soon as she appeared at Yinlu Terrace, she attracted the attention of all officials.

She was dressed in a red dress, with a pretty face full of arrogance. Her eyes swept through the people in front of her, and only when she saw Emperor Tianqing sitting in the middle did a smile appear at the corner of her mouth.

"Father, I am late."

Emperor Tianqing looked at his daughter who had come late, without any displeasure in his heart, and said gently, "It's okay, take a seat."

Shen Zhaoyi followed his sister Shen Furong in paying their respects and took their seats.

Logically speaking, Shen Furong is already seventeen years old and it is time for her to get married. Concubine Qiu has already looked for many young men for her daughter, but none of them caught Shen Furong's eye.

There are many good men in the East, but no ambitious man wants to be a princess consort. If he becomes a princess consort, he cannot receive military merits, cannot enter the official career, and can only live a mediocre life as a vassal of the princess.

If the princess herself was weak, he could still secretly take a beautiful concubine, but Shen Furong was not like that. She had been spoiled since she was a child, and she could not tolerate any sand in her eyes.

Compared with the strong Shen Furong, Shen Zhaoyi seemed much gentler. He sat down quietly, greeted his second brother who was at the table, and then sat quietly, looking around the room with his eyes. He did not have the liveliness of a young man, but was as steady as an old man.

It was almost time, but the crown prince's seat was still empty.

Emperor Tianqing waved to Yang Zhao, "Where's the Crown Prince? Why hasn't he come yet?"

Yang Zhao bowed his head and nodded, "I will send someone to ask right away."

A young eunuch left and went to Chonghua Palace to inquire about the situation.

Not long after, the eunuch came back and whispered a report in Yang Zhao's ear.

After hearing the news, Yang Zhao returned to Emperor Tianqing to report.

"Your Majesty, the people at Chonghua Palace reported that the Crown Prince was caught in a cold yesterday and has a headache today and cannot get up."

Emperor Tianqing frowned and asked, "Have you summoned the imperial physician to see him?"

"Zhang Yuanzheng has already gone to see it."

"That's good, let the prince have a good rest."

Yang Zhao glanced down and asked hesitantly, "Then what about the concubine selection banquet..."

"continue."

Although it is the prince who chooses the concubine, the one who may make the decision is Emperor Tianqing. Whether the prince comes or not will not affect the overall situation.

As Emperor Tianqing said, "Let's get started," Yang Zhao raised his shrill voice and shouted to the people below, "Please invite the girls!"

There were only four people left chosen by Emperor Tianqing. As soon as Yang Zhao finished speaking, figures walked side by side from the edge to the middle.

The first person people saw was Qiu Fuqiu, who was wearing a sky-blue mist skirt. Her body was adorned with gold and silver accessories that jingled when she walked. She wore a pearl necklace around her neck, a rare pink string of beads, each the size of a thumb.

The main theme is wealth.

Shen Furong who was sitting upstairs couldn't help but burst out laughing. Her cousin, even at this time, did not forget to show off her wealthy family.

Compared to Qiu Fuqiu, He Jie's outfit was much more plain. She wore a light crimson top with scattered flowers, a lighter-colored gauze on the outside, and a misty pleated skirt. She only tied a sachet around her waist. With her tall figure, she looked like a lotus emerging from clear water.

She half lowered her head, looking like a pretty girl who wanted to say something but hesitated.

Walking at the end of the three people was Jiang Yun. She had clear eyes and was looking straight ahead. She was wearing a lilac-colored long gauze double-breasted dress. As she walked, lines like water flowed slowly.

The three of them walked to the center and stood still, being constantly scrutinized by everyone.

"Why are there only three people?"

Emperor Tianqing asked, he remembered that he had chosen four people.

Yang Zhao looked back at the young eunuch, and the young eunuch quickly ran out to find out what was going on.

The little eunuch's repeated running away attracted the attention of the court officials. They dared not say a word and lowered their heads to criticize him in their hearts.

What happened today? It was supposed to be a concubine selection banquet, but first the prince fell ill and didn't attend, and then there was one less candidate for the concubine. And neither of these two things was known in advance.

The young eunuch hurried out and came back sweating profusely. Before he could catch his breath, he hurriedly reported: "Miss Fang fell off the carriage on the way here and broke her leg."

Yang Zhao was shocked when he heard this. It was inevitable that something bad would happen sooner or later. He broke his leg at the very moment of choosing a concubine.

Isn't Miss Fang a martial artist? How could she break her leg so easily?

Yang Zhao didn't dare to think too much about it. After all, Miss Fang was the most favored candidate among the four by His Majesty. If nothing unexpected happened, Miss Fang would most likely be appointed as the Crown Princess.

But an accident happened.

Yang Zhao told Emperor Tianqing the matter without hesitation, and Emperor Tianqing's expression became extremely ugly after hearing it.

Before the selection even started, they had already taken action against people. This was because some people were afraid that he would really choose the daughter of the Fang family as the Crown Princess.

Emperor Tianqing had a sullen face, and with an intimidating look on his face he surveyed the silent crowd below.

Everyone had sensed the change in Emperor Tianqing's aura since the young eunuch came back. Not knowing what had happened, everyone lowered their heads and sat upright, fearing that they would accidentally anger the emperor.

After a moment of silence, the queen finally spoke, "Your Majesty, it's time to begin."

Emperor Tianqing glanced at Xiao Ling coldly, and his suspicious look made Xiao Ling's heart jump.

Her seat was closest to Emperor Tianqing, and she heard clearly what Yang Zhao had just reported: Fang Suhua had broken her leg and could not come.

Originally, she was somewhat happy in her heart. If the most feared one didn't come, she was afraid that none of the remaining three would satisfy Emperor Tianqing.

But the look in Emperor Tianqing's eyes clearly showed that he suspected that she was the one behind this, but she hadn't done anything. She was a girl from the Fang family, not the Crown Princess, so it wasn't enough for her to take action.

Without waiting for her to explain, Emperor Tianqing withdrew his gaze and said to the three women standing below: "Raise your heads."

Upon hearing the voice, Qiu Fuqiu and the other two raised their heads tremblingly and looked upward. The majestic emperor, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, was sitting in the middle. There was no smile on his face, and his sharp eyes seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts.

Qiu Fuqiu had seen the emperor before. That was the Emperor Tianqing she met when she was with Shen Furong. At that time, the Emperor Tianqing was gentle and kind, not as serious as he was today.

She lowered her eyes as if avoiding the others, and prayed silently in her heart, please don't choose me, please don't choose me.

Neither He Jie nor Jiang Yun dodged. One was shocked by the emperor's power, and the other was simply trying to guess what the prince looked like through the emperor.

"you!"

Emperor Tianqing raised his hand and pointed downwards, "Whose family is this?"