Chapter 418: Wei Wei’s Appearance Evaluation
The next day.
Inside the court, each and every one of the officials was behaving in an unusual way if compared to how they used to be. They looked nervous.
All of these abnormal behaviors were led by the unexpected appearance of the Third Prince in the morning court, which he had never attended in the past.
He chose not to stand but to lay on the carved wooden chair right beside him. He then raised his eyebrows and said to them, “Are you all lining up for the bride-show?”
The group of old officials kneeling down there had their own thoughts as they knew that the Fifth Prince had lost his power upon the fall of the Emperor Murong.
If they could bring in their daughters into the palace through the bride-show organized by the Third Prince, then they might be able to hold their position. In addition, they could prove to the Third Prince that they were standing on his side.
However, these old officials had never thought that Baili Jia Jue was unwilling to acquire a secondary consort.
“Lord Zhang,” Baili Jia Jue slowly mentioned a name. “During the time when I was eliminating the Murong’s subclans, one of them happened to know about you. Could you please elaborate on the story about how you both met before even mentioning the selection of the secondary consort?”
Lord Zhang had sensed the unusual response coming from Baili Jia Jue and therefore, he immediately kneeled on the floor and shouted with a pale face, “Your Highness, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life, please!”
Baili Jia Jue did not even glance at him for a second, not to mention the Emperor who had never once care about the issue in the imperial court.
None of them was brave enough to voice out their opinion inside the violet gold palace.
However, even if Baili Jia Jue refused to get a secondary consort, he was already at the age whereby as a prince, he was required to pick a lady who would be decent enough to be shown off in public to stay by his side.
For the past few generations, the emperors in power would always pick the most elegant lady as queen during the secondary consort selection. However, Baili Jia Jue was the exception. He had eventually picked a plain lady as his queen among all the ladies.
This strange behavior was unable to be justified away.
Moreover, there were still plenty of outstanding women in the capital, such as Yun Biluo and Helian Jiao Er. Therefore, it had aroused intense discontent among the people.
“I agreed that Helian Wei Wei is not as useless as she used to be. However, frankly speaking, she is not attractive at all. I am confused about the Third Prince’s decision.”
“Perhaps it’s because of her Helian’s bloodline. Don’t forget that the Old Master Helian had brought several great achievements in the past.”
“Forget about it. She has already been expelled by the General’s residence. It is still unknown whether she will be acknowledged by her biological father.”
“I’ve heard that the second lady of the Helian family was staying in the temple for two days a few months ago because she was having a guilty conscience. She had even gone chanting sutra. Honestly, I felt that she was kinda pity as the one who did the wrong thing was Madam Su, not her…”
To retrieve the reputation of her own daughter, Su Yan Mo had chosen to sacrifice herself. This was certainly a tough move made by her.
During these few days in the Capital, the people would keep talking about her when she stepped into the streets.
Su Yan Mo hated Helian Wei Wei from the bottom of her heart. She could not wait to slap her in the face.
If it was not for that b*stard, she would never have to suffer all these insults!
Moreover, Su Yan Mo knew exactly that one’s reputation would be a crucial part of the selected ladies during the secondary consort selection.
That was the reason why she made up her mind to do so!
During these few days, Su Yan Mo’s actions in the public had affected the reputation of the Su family and therefore, they had started to restrain her. Moreover, Murong Guang Yao had disappeared from the Capital for a few days. Perhaps, he knew that Su Yan Mo had embarrassed the Su family, causing him to feel ashamed of being with her.
Su Yan Mo knew exactly how tough her life was at the moment.
However, she managed to retrieve Jiao Er’s reputation before appearance evaluation, which was good news after all.
“Jiao Er.” Su Yan Mo was standing beside the sedan while waving to Helian Jiao Er. She was trying to wipe away the sweat on Helian Jiao Er’s forehead with her white handkerchief.
However, Helian Wei Wei turned her head away and hurriedly took a glance at the group of ladies who were walking with her. She then pulled Su Yan Mo to a corner and said, “Mom, why are you here?”
“It’s already late at night but you still haven’t returned home. So, I am worried about you.” Su Yan Mo was shocked for a second and then she asked, “Why? Is there anything that you want to tell me?”
Helian Jiao Er raised her eyebrows while swinging her white handkerchief as she said, “They are having fun with me just like before, but you have interrupted us while I was enjoying the fun. I think you should return to the Capital first. I feel awkward when you are standing here.”
Su Yan Mo then took a glance at the ladies standing behind Helian Jiao Er and realized that they were the people of various wealthy families in her social circle. Shen then smiled and said, “I understand. I’ll go back right away. You have fun, have fun.”
The ladies moved closer toward Helian Jiao Er after Su Yan Mo had left.
“Jiao Er… that is your mother? She looks like a courteous and amicable person, but why would she…”
Helian Jiao Er felt sad and moved to tears upon hearing the words. “Even though she has done something bad before, she is still my mother. Actually, I believe that she wasn’t as evil as she was perceived.”
“Forget about it then. Let bygones be bygones.” The ladies from various families came over to comfort her. “You have such an adorable look and sometimes, it might excite some other ladies to jealousy. That’s why they would come out with all these dirty tricks to hurt you.”
Helian Jiao Er started using the puppy-dog eyes trick. “I am not putting the blame on my sister. If it was me who encountered such an incident, I would definitely be mad too, but it seems like my sister was not trying to forgive me and my mother. No matter how hard we tried to convince her, it still did not change a thing. I was hoping to sincerely apologize to her one day.”
“Jiao Er. You have to know that not everyone is as kind as you. Think about it, the secondary consort selection is around the corner and with her plain look, she would definitely feel jealous about anyone who looks better than her. Therefore, I believe the reason she does not want to forgive you is that she is trying to affect your reputation, causing you to fail in the selection stage.”One of the ladies commented in disdain.
“Yes! I feel that the Third Princess Consort is definitely jealous of others. She knows that she is not good-looking and therefore, she tries to bring harm to others… even Yun Biluo has become one of the victims… Her heart is as malicious as snakes and scorpions.”
“Let’s stop talking about her. It’s running late already so we better get to the appearance evaluation center before it’s too late.”
Helian Jiao Er nodded and immediately went to get herself prepared.
The first stage of the secondary consort selection would be the appearance evaluation test.
The appearance evaluation test would be done in a confidential manner. Each and every contestant would only be asked for their registered number and their surname. Their names were covered up to ensure total fairness of the final results.
After completing the appearance evaluation process, Helian Jiao Er smiled as she took a glance at her score on the paper. She felt like she was on cloud nine.
Helian Wei Wei, let us see how you would be able to beat this rule.
All she could do was to witness the Third Prince in getting a secondary consort for himself.
Hah.
That dark and ugly face of Helian Wei Wei! She could not even pass through the appearance evaluation stage if she was here!
Helian Jiao Er laughed happily but right when she was leaving the room upon fixing her hair, she saw someone coming out from another room. A pair of fair and long legs appeared right in front of Helian Jiao Er…