Chapter 24

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Translator: Anne

Editor: Miqi

Proofreader: Ani

The woman was supported by two female servants that were positioned next to her on both sides. She wore a pink dress with a tulle skirt. Her hair was combed into a bun, decorated with a dangling cloud and leaf hairpin (1), and her face was covered by a translucent veil. Although she smiled as she looked toward the crowd, her eyes were filled with anger.

Those who had been swept by her gaze were, one by one, filled with a blissful sensation. The woman’s appearance wasn’t even completely visible, but this didn’t stop them from being captivated by her charming gesture.

Fan Rusu noticed that all the imperial guards were looking dazedly at the woman. He coughed lightly, glancing at them callously. The two adjutants were the first to come to their senses, taking the initiative to shout at the guards about maintaining proper conduct.

At that moment, Eunuch (2) Mo’s eyes swept toward the Ceremonial Officials. A female official, located in the middle of the gathering, hurriedly left the group and announced, “Princess Qiao Rong has arrived!”

Fan Rusu became increasingly baffled; everyone had entered through the secret door, so why was Princess Qiao Rong the only one going through the front gate? If that was the case, then the person sitting inside the palanquin that followed closely behind her was the Prince! However, this didn’t conform with proper etiquette; the Prince is more noble, his imperial palanquin should have been in front!

As he pondered over these vexations, he heard one of the commoners gasp, “Is that a fairy?”

“Princess Qiao Rong already looks so beautiful. Her sister, the crown princess, is known as the first beauty in the North. Then the crown princess must look…”

“In my opinion, the position of Princess Rui rightfully belongs to Princess Qiao Rong.”

“It’s a good thing I placed my bet on her earlier.”

……

All of a sudden, Princess Qiao Rong’s veil fell and sounds of exclamation were heard.

Fan Rusu looked over and saw that Qiao Rong’s face was truly incomparably beautiful. He was only able to catch a glimpse because one of her servants hurriedly tied her veil back on. The female Ceremonial Official hastily aided her by escorting her over, but the people’s attention was still on Qiao Rong.

When Eunuch Mo and Qiao Rong’s eyes met, Qiao Rong gave him a smile. She wasn’t in a hurry to enter the gate, and instead allowed the female official to help her stand in front of the lion statue. With bright eyes, she looked toward the second palanquin.

Si Da and Meiren felt sour, they both looked at Qiao Chu at the same time. The world only knew of the two beauties born to the northern Lord and his wife—Qiao Mei and Qiao Rong—but they didn’t know that their Princess Qiao Chu, who was birthed from a concubine, was just as beautiful as the other two.

In order to prevent Qiao Chu from joining the competition, the lord forced her to take Jue Yan Dan; a ‘face vanishing elixir’. As a result, Qiao Chu’s appearance had changed into that of an ordinary woman. If she didn’t take the antidote, which was hard to find, it would be difficult for her to restore her original appearance.

At that moment, the young man dressed in a purple robe, who had been standing by the second palanquin, laughed softly and looked at Eunuch Mo. Eunuch Mo bowed in salute and said, “Imperial Censor (3) Wang has also come.”

The purple clad young man was Wang Mang, the older brother of Wang Yuzhi, one of the concubine candidates. His father was the highest ranking civil official. He was still young, but gifted with innate intelligence and had already achieved the position of Imperial Censor. He had the highest ranking and was the crown prince’s close friend.

He stretched out his hand and pointed at the palanquin. Eunuch Mo quickly nodded his head and announced, “the crown prince has arrived!”

“May the crown prince live for a thousand years more!” The people trembled as they knelt down and kowtowed.

Si Da and Meiren were both pleasantly surprised, was this the crown prince’s palanquin?

“Kneel down.”

Before they could think any further, they heard Qiao Chu’s low voice, and knelt down along with the crowd. In the midst of the salute, they stared at Duma warily, for fear that he would harm Qiao Chu.

“You may rise.”

The palanquin’s curtain didn’t move. The man’s faint voice came out from within the palanquin, his voice warm but imposing.

When she heard this, Qiao Chu clenched her hands.

Footnotes

(1) Hairpin example:

(2) Eunuch: Eunuchs were powerful political players in ancient Chinese government; they were castrated men placed in charge of a harem or employed as a chamberlain in a palace.

(3) Imperial Censor: Imperial Censor was the name of an official position in China that lasted from the Qin dynasty to the Western Han dynasty. It was originally an official position for a historian who was in charge of writing documents, but was later changed to a supervisory official position; the chief of which was called the ‘imperial historian’ or ‘imperial minister’. In later times, the title was derived from provincial governor (刺史) and inspector historian (巡按御史). They are similar to the modern-day Supervisory Yuan/Control Yuan (a watchdog under the Republic of China, then later of Taiwan) and the National Supervisory Commission of the Republic of China.