“Wait a minute!”
Shao Wanru turned her head in amazement but saw that there was a nanny under the shadow of a lamp nearby. There was a table over there. Behind the table sat an old nanny. It seemed that she was much older than the previous nanny. She happened to be in the shadow of the lamp, and Shao Wanru was flustered just now, so she hadn’t noticed her.
“Just remove the outer clothes!” The old nanny raised her eyes and looked at Shao Wanru gently.
“Then the other…” The previous nanny froze for a moment, confused. She had never encountered anything like this before.
“That’s it!” said the old nanny.
The nanny did not dare to say anymore.
It was just that it was much simpler to remove the outer clothes than to take them off completely. But Shao Wanru still blushed. The younger nanny pressed her hands and legs a few times and asked a few more questions. After she finished answering these questions, the nanny recorded the results of the examination, nodded, and told her to leave.
She put on the outer clothes again and left. She was still blushing, but fortunately she had just taken off the outer clothes.
“Fifth Miss!” A happy voice came from the front, and Shao Wanru looked up, only to find that she had walked to a flower hall where the ladies who had been checked before were all gathered here.
It was Zhang Qilan who was talking to her.
“Miss Zhang!” She tried to calm down and smiled. Zhang Qilan had also lived in Yuhui Nunnery for some time. The two had a close relationship during that time. Shao Wanru admired Zhang Qilan’s lively temperament.
“You came too! Great, I was worried that you would not come!” Zhang Qilan took Shao Wanru’s hand and said affectionately while pulling her to a pavilion next to the flower hall for a chat.
Two young ladies were sitting together in the pavilion and chatting in a low voice. When they saw them coming, they nodded slightly and kindly.
The two also smiled at the two young ladies and sat down at the fence on the other side.
“I thought you were still observing mourning!” Zhang Qilan leaned over and pointed at the flower hall. “There are too many people there, so it’s better here!”
She thought there were too many people, so she had come to the door and waited. “The mourning period will end in several days!” Shao Wanru said softly. Although there were still a few days away, basically it didn’t count now. It was true that learning palace rules and etiquette were not a real draft. It was just the first hurdle to eliminate some inappropriate candidates. Besides, the royal family also knew about this. If they didn’t say anything, it meant they had approved it.
What happened next was the key part.
“That’s great. I thought it was so boring, but now it’s great to have you here!” Zhang Qilan said happily, “Where do you live? I’ll come to see you sometime.”
“Okay, I’m staying in the last room in the second row over there.” Shao Wanru pointed his finger in the general direction.
Zhang Qilan stood up, looked in the direction of Shao Wanru’s finger, and asked some questions. Then she sat down again and nodded with a smile, “Great, I see. It seems we are quite close. I’m right there, not far from you. It’s the first room in that direction. If you have time, you can come and play with me.” Zhang Qilan stretched her right hand and pointed.
Shao Wanru looked in the direction and nodded. Zhang Qilan’s father was Prime Minister Zhang. It was naturally impossible for his daughter to share a room with others in the back rows. It was inevitable that she lived not far from her.
The daughter of such an important courtier was supposed to live in a closer and better room than other mansions.
“You… what was going on with you?” Both of them were very happy after telling their positions. Zhang Qilan suddenly leaned in, blushing and pointing at the beauties who were waiting still in line, and said vaguely.
After Shao Wanru heard it, she remembered what had happened just now, and flushed again, “It was okay!”
“No, it was not okay. It’s better to return home early!” Zhang Qilan sighed helplessly.
“You don’t want to draft?” Shao Wanru looked at Zhang Qilan sideways. Zhang Qilan was also a beautiful girl, delicate and cute.
“I don’t!” Zhang Qilan shook her head. She didn’t like coming to the palace the least. She was told to behave and was not free at all. Every time she followed her mother into the palace, she felt uncomfortable.
“What did your father say?” Shao Wanru hesitated and asked.
“My father said that I might not be selected.” Zhang Qilan lowered her voice and approached Shao Wanru. Then she looked around and saw that the two young ladies were also chatting in low voices without noticing them. She lowered her voice and said, “I heard that your eldest sister will be selected. Which prince mansion will she go to?”
“I don’t know!” Shao Wanru shook her head calmly.
“Your eldest sister is so outstanding. It’s said that she is the first beauty. If the first beauty doesn’t marry into the royal family, will she marry into an ordinary house? I doubt it.” Zhang Qilan curled her lips and spoke. She and Shao Yanru had met several times. Miss Shao looked dignified and decent, but she always felt that Miss Shao was insincere.
It seemed that Miss Shao was perfect without any flaws. In the words of her elder brother, few women were beautiful and talented as Miss Shao was. What was more, Miss Shao’s identity was extraordinary, and she was the kind of woman the son of an aristocratic family would most like to marry.
“It’s all spreading outside?” Shao Wanru was surprised and asked in a low voice.
“Yeah, don’t you know? Everyone was talking about it before, but it has been the most talked-about topic in the past two days. They say that Madam of Duke Xing went to Yuhui Nunnery to pray for Miss Shao to fulfill her vows!” Zhang Qilan nodded.
Shao Wanru looked a little weird. She remembered the topics the crowd was talking about when she was sitting in the carriage just now, and how the crowd rushed to Shao Yanru’s carriage. With the rumor that Madam of Duke Xing had gone to the nunnery to fulfill her vows, she would say that she had guessed it right. Fulfilling her vows! Why would they do that? The daughter couldn’t go but asked her mother to go up the mountain on the excuse of illness, which meant that this vow could not be known.
It could not be known, and it was also very important. She had to enter the palace during the draft, and there was a rumor that Shao Yanru would be selected. She suddenly realized something. She might know why Shao Yanru had entered the palace instead of any prince mansion in the previous life.
If a courtier with a high level of merit was considered too big for his boots, he would certainly be punished. If the daughter of a powerful family could have any prince she wanted and was seen as an ambitious candidate for the future empress, the emperor would certainly not be happy with it.
No one knew the final result until the draft was announced. They arbitrarily assessed the emperor’s intentions and looked confident and arrogant. It would not only annoy the emperor but also affect the selection of the crown prince.
She smiled. Shao Yanru wanted to control everything, but she had gone too far. Of course, she might have other accomplices.
But no matter what, it was certain that Shao Yanru’s trip to the palace would not be a success.
“Did the Madam of Duke Xing fulfill her vows for your eldest sister? What was it? Why did she keep it a secret?” When Zhang Qilan saw Shao Wanru in a daze, she stretched out her hand to take her by the sleeve and shook it.
“I don’t know. Indeed, my aunt is not in good health!” Shao Wanru smiled wryly. She hadn’t expected things to go in this direction.
“Is she sick?” Zhang Qilan asked in disbelief.
“She’s sick!” Shao Wanru didn’t try to hide it. Other people didn’t know about this kind of thing, but many people in this palace knew about it. There was a lot involved in the incident of Honored Consort Shu. If people like Prime Minister Zhang inquired about it carefully, they could certainly find out about it.
“Okay! I thought she was destined to marry the emperor!” Zhang Qilan muttered in disappointment. She thought there was some important inside story, but it turned out that there was no inside story. It was just hearsay.
“Destined to marry the emperor?” Shao Wanru was surprised. Her eyes widened and she looked at Zhang Qilan, almost stunned. She was sure that this news was not from Duke Xing’s Mansion.
After she said it, her mouth was covered by Zhang Qilan, “Quiet!”
Shao Wanru’s voice was already very soft.
Shao Wanru shook her head to her and signaled that she would be quieter. Zhang Qilan sweated profusely and approached Shao Wanru, “I don’t know if this is true or not. I overheard it.”
“Where did you overhear it?” Shao Wanru asked in confusion.
“It was also a very occasional opportunity. I once followed my father to Huaguang Temple to listen to the scriptures. My father sent me out to play. I felt bored after a while and went back. I was afraid that my father would send me away again, so I secretly went back. When I passed by the back of a meditation room, I happened to hear someone talking about it. I just listened to it, and I didn’t know if it was true or false.”
“Talking to your father?” Shao Wanru asked.
“Not my father. My father was still in the previous meditation room. There was nothing between the two rooms.” Zhang Qilan said, “I didn’t dare to listen more. Later, when I came out secretly, I met my father. He told me not to talk nonsense and said that I heard it wrong. You can’t tell anyone else now!”
Her voice became even lower. Although she was naive, she was not ignorant. This kind of destiny thing was not something that could be discussed casually, and it was a matter of life and death.
She couldn’t believe there was such a thing as “being destined to marry the emperor”. Shao Wanru frowned. Although Zhang Qilan said that she had just accidentally heard it, Shao Wanru believed that someone had said that.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. The men in the room didn’t speak loudly, so I faintly heard the words of destiny, daughter of Duke Xing’s Mansion, etc. After that, I didn’t dare to listen more.” When Zhang Qilan recalled it, she still felt lingering fears. When she came out from the back, she realized that there were guards in front, but they weren’t the guards of her mansion.
“I heard that the host of Huaguang Temple is proficient in Dharma and he is very famous!” Shao Wanru said thoughtfully.
“They said so. I don’t know if it’s true!” Zhang Qilan said disapprovingly, reaching out and holding Shao Wanru, “Look, they are almost finished. Let’s go back to the flower hall!”
Shao Wanru looked up at the few girls in the line and nodded.
When they returned to the flower hall, the nannies were calling the roll. They were divided into two parts, one on the left and one on the right.