In order to eat, I signed a contract with the system

The presence of an extra person who agreed was a signal to Nian Shilan. She didn’t care whether the extra person who agreed was Yu Ying’er or anyone else. She only knew that the emperor had woken up and the trick she had used before was ineffective.

From now on, whether for the sake of the balance of the harem or for offspring, the emperor probably won't come to Yikun Palace often. It's time to push An Lingrong and Ye Lan'yi out.

The method that Nian Shilan used to recommend An Lingrong last time cannot be used a second time. The emperor became suspicious the first time, fearing that An Lingrong had the idea of ​​adopting a prince, and was very cautious about An Lingrong. If Su Peisheng had not "find" the cause of the incident later, and the emperor had not found any problems after probing, he would have put aside his suspicions.

But even so, the emperor deliberately gave An Lingrong a "return of the jade intact to Zhao" act, making her completely lose face. If Nian Shilan recommended An Lingrong again this time, the emperor would surely think that An Lingrong was a tool pushed by the Nian family to have a child. Although he would not refuse openly, he would definitely be on guard against An Lingrong in private, just like the emperor in his previous life was on guard against Concubine Cao and Concubine Li and did not let them give birth to princes.

Nian Shilan didn’t care whether An Lingrong could give birth to a prince, but she certainly couldn’t allow the emperor to be on guard against her.

"Baicao, send a message to An Ying, asking her to use Baojuan and ask the Queen to recommend her."

"Yes, ma'am."

As expected, it is more appropriate to let the queen do the task of recommending new people. The queen is experienced and has the right words, so it is better not to "interfere in other people's business".

Yu Ying'er successfully became a concubine with the help of Kunqu Opera. She was very proud of herself. However, she was frivolous and superficial. She only thought that she had grasped the emperor's preferences. She used her favor to suppress other concubines, especially Rou Yingying who followed the same footsteps as her.

The emperor has lived for so many years, and most of the women he has met are of docile temperament. Even someone as aloof and noble as Nian Shilan also values ​​her reputation. He has never seen a concubine as shameless, shallow and ignorant as Yu Ying'er. At the time when Yu Ying'er was new to him, he was naturally indifferent to her actions. Not only did he ask Yu Ying'er to sleep with him for three consecutive days, he also specially gave Yu Ying'er the title of Lady Miaoyin.

In the original plot, a series of actions such as forcing Shen Meiyu to give way and locking Xin Changzai up in the Ministry of Punishment were still staged a year later. When everyone in the harem was attracted by Yu Ying'er, An Lingrong used Baojuan, a spy, to successfully "surrender" to the queen and was accepted by the queen.

Not long after, An Lingrong successfully served the emperor in the bed with the recommendation of the Queen. During the New Year, Nian Shilan proposed to the Emperor to confer titles on the concubines in the harem, and the Emperor accepted the proposal. So An Lingrong was lucky enough to be promoted from a concubine to a constant concubine not long after she served the emperor in the bed.

Jingpin was also promoted to Jingfei in this grand promotion, Li Guiren was promoted to Lipin, Shen Meizhuang and Zhen Huan were also originally on the promotion list, but they could not resist the Queen's reasoning, seniority and selfish persuasion, and finally they only got the rank of concubine and did not get promoted.

As for the rest, Xin Changzai was promoted to Xin Guiren, Rou Da Ying was promoted to Rou Changzai, Fu Cha Guiren was given the title Jin and became Jin Guiren, Xia Dongchun was promoted to Xia Guiren, Fang Chunyi had not yet entered the emperor's bedchamber but remained as Changzai, Borjigit Guiren was given the title Ji and became Ji Guiren, and Yu Ying'er became Miaoyin Niang and remained unchanged.

Concubine Qi originally thought that she could become a noble concubine, but the Queen was afraid that Concubine Qi would become arrogant after becoming a noble concubine and was unwilling to hand over the Third Prince to her. She used the Third Prince's study problem to make the Emperor angry and revoked Concubine Qi's position as a noble concubine.

At this time, Nian Shilan was already the Imperial Noble Consort, and the Empress was still in power, so there was no room for her to be promoted any higher. The Emperor could only increase Nian Shilan's share of the harem to that of the Empress, and add his own subsidy, making Nian Shilan, the Imperial Noble Consort, live a more luxurious and comfortable life in the harem than the Empress.

Perhaps it was this great promotion of concubines in the harem that made the emperor realize that the number of concubines in his harem was too small and could not even fill the positions of four concubines and six imperial concubines. Or perhaps there was no one among the newcomers who could make the emperor loyal. In this life, the emperor did not have to wait for the fall of the Nian family and the empress to select women from the families of meritorious officials to enter the palace. He himself had the idea of ​​holding another beauty contest.

The Empress Dowager in the Cining Palace had been ill for several days. At this moment, the Emperor was personally serving her medicine. "Why didn't you send someone to tell me that the Empress Dowager was ill? If I hadn't heard Su Peisheng's report today, I wouldn't have known that the Empress Dowager had invited the imperial physician."

"I am old, and it is normal for me to have some minor illnesses and pains. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and you are busy with government affairs. I cannot bear to cause you any trouble."

In fact, the Empress Dowager wanted to see her youngest son, the Fourteenth Prince, more when she was sick. It was already December, and the imperial mausoleum was colder than the capital. It was because the Empress Dowager was worried about her youngest son that she prepared warm things for the Fourteenth Prince and did not pay attention to the fact that he caught a cold and fell ill. The Empress Dowager did not dare to let the Emperor know for this reason.

"Alas, there is no war at the border, and government affairs are not busy. My son is just worried about the lack of children."

The Queen Mother knew the Emperor very well. As soon as she heard what the Emperor said, she knew what he wanted to say. However, the Emperor's concern about his offspring happened to be what the Queen Mother was worried about as well, so she said in a friendly tone, "It has been a year since the first year's selection of newcomers entered the palace. I didn't expect that among the newcomers, only Concubine Jin was pregnant. It was just that she was unlucky and couldn't keep the baby."

"Among the remaining seven concubines, except for Chun Changzai who was too young to sleep with them, none of them got pregnant."

"Emperor, it's not that I don't want you to favor the Imperial Concubine, but it's really unacceptable to favor her alone."

"I know you like the Imperial Concubine, but she can no longer get pregnant. For the sake of the heir, even if you don't like me, you have to tell the Emperor directly."

"Go to the palace of newcomers more often. If this batch of newcomers is incompetent, why not hold another talent show next year and select a few more ladies who are good at raising children to enter the palace?"

After persuading the Emperor to treat everyone equally, and following the Emperor's suggestion, the Empress Dowager brought up the matter of a beauty pageant. She felt that she had cooperated well, and that the Emperor should also nod and agree to her words.

"Um......"

"Your Majesty is right. It is my son who has been willful."

Sure enough, the emperor agreed.

"I am sorry for Shilan, I will go and talk to her myself. As for the selection of concubines, leave it to the Queen."

In the spring of the third year of Yongzheng's reign, the second beauty contest after Yongzheng ascended the throne was officially launched. When the people in the harem received the news, their reactions were mixed. The elderly people who had children, such as Concubine Jing, Concubine Qi and Concubine Xin, just sighed a few words and didn't care. Only those who still wanted to compete for favor, like Concubine Li, would be angry.

As for the group of people who entered the palace in the first year, except for Shen Meizhuang, who had already let it go, the rest, including Zhen Huan, who had always been favored, felt uncomfortable. Although Zhen Huan's encounter with the emperor had fewer twists and turns in this life, but because of this, the feelings between her and the emperor also lacked a lot of sincerity in this life. Zhen Huan yearned for 'two hearts promised each other, and never parted', and after seeing the emperor's love, she was briefly lost, but quickly got out of it. Now Zhen Huan competes for favor more for the benefits that that favor brings.

But no matter what, Zhen Huan still has feelings for the emperor, and she also thinks that the emperor treats her differently from others. How can Zhen Huan feel comfortable when she suddenly hears that the emperor is going to hold another beauty contest?