Chapter 20: The Third Draft Pick

  That day, Lin Qingyu had just returned from the Yonghe Palace De Fei's place. As soon as she entered the house, everyone's eyes were focused on her! The eyes were filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. Lin Qingyu had long learned to ignore them and calmly walked back to her bed.

  "Qing Yu, Princess De's maid, is there something you want to tell me?"

  She flashed a fierce glance, then walked elegantly to Lin Qingyu's bedside with a warm smile and asked softly. But in her heart, she was thinking: Si Si is mine, if anyone dares to ruin it, there will be no need for their existence! Lin Qingyu, I hope you are not my obstacle! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!

  The people around Lin Qingyu also followed, and as a result, Lin Qingyu was surrounded!

  If it were an ordinary person, they would have been overwhelmed by this invisible aura and be unable to move or stiffen up! But Lin Qingyu's expression remained natural, without any influence. A faint smile gave a very pure and true feeling! Her vermilion lips lightly opened: "Empress De heard someone mention my family's triplet younger brother, she's quite curious, so she sent me to ask about it!"

  Niǔ gǒu lè wén yán sōng le yī kǒu qì, yǔ qì míng xiǎn yú yuè le bù shǎo, "dì què yě shì, sān bāo tāi zhēn de hěn shǎo jiàn!"

  Translation:

  Niǔ let out a sigh of relief and his tone became much more pleasant. "Indeed, triplets are really rare!"

  Suddenly, Niu Ke thought of the Empress Dowager's passing, and the selection for the new empress would definitely take place this time! With her own family background and her mother's official position, it was completely impossible to even imagine that there was any possibility! However, Lin Qingyu's mother was a second-grade inner court scholar from the Upper Three Banners under the direct command of the Emperor. Moreover, Empress De had summoned her twice in a row, although this time they were discussing the topic of triplets, but who knew whether she would be appointed as the new empress or not?

  What's crucial is that Lin Ruhai and his wife knew that the Fourth Prince would become the future Emperor Yongzheng! Wouldn't they want to become the in-laws of the future emperor? From then on, the Lin family rose to prominence overnight!

  It's highly likely that Lin Qingyu came for the Fourth Prince!

  Although she is not her own opponent, but there is a fellow traverser, Ama, who supports her from behind, so it's still quite threatening to herself!

  It seems that Lin Qingyu must be eliminated!

  "Hmmph!"

  Niǔ gǒu lù yù yǎ xiǎng dào zhè lǐ, chōng lín qīng yù lěng hēng yī shēng, gāo ào de diào tóu jiù zǒu!

  Translation:

  At this thought, Chong Lin's face turned cold and he let out a cold snort, then turned around and walked away with his head held high.

  Lin Qingyu sensitively perceived the sudden burst of murderous aura emanating from Nian Yu's body, and her heart secretly became vigilant.

  At this time, Yu Lian came in from outside, put down the teapot and walked up to Lin Qingyu. "Qingyu, you're back from Empress De's place!"

  "I asked where you went? It turned out you went to fetch water."

  Yue Lian smiled and linked her arm with Lin Qingyu's, saying: "Really, oh dear, I'm so tired!!"

  "It's always good to drink water you've drawn yourself!"

  "Absolutely not!" Yu Lian said with a smile: "My mother had repeatedly warned me, I must fetch water myself, or else I'll be in trouble if something goes wrong!"

  "Your mother is right, a steady hand can sail a ship for ten thousand years!" Lin Qingyu nodded in agreement.

  "Tomorrow, let's also go to the Imperial Garden for fun! I heard that there are many rare flowers and strange grasses inside!" Yuelian looked at Lin Qingyu with a face full of longing.

  "Alright, I promise you! Go to bed early! Tomorrow we still have to learn etiquette, or else it'll be hard to get up!" Lin Qingyu patted Yuelian.

  "It's settled then!" Yu Lian happily returned to her own bed.

  After washing and combing her hair, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  Palace of Heavenly Purity

  Kangxi was reviewing the memorials on his desk when he suddenly remembered that his fourth son had come. He said to Li Dequan: "I remember that Lin Hai's eldest daughter is participating in this selection of imperial consorts, what's her name?"

  "Returning to the Emperor, I remember it was called Lin Qingyu!" Li Dequan replied respectfully. In his heart, he thought: Being remembered by the Emperor, it seems that this Lin Qingyu is going to be lucky!

  "An San!" Kangxi suddenly shouted into the air.

  A black-clad masked man suddenly appeared from nowhere and knelt before Kangxi, "Your humble servant is here!"

  "Keep an eye on Lin Qingyu!" Kangxi ordered.

  "Yes! Your humble servant obeys!"

  As soon as the words were spoken, the person vanished into thin air!

  Kangxi sighed as he looked at the memorial, "The fourth son doesn't know what bad luck he's had this year. His only legitimate son has passed away and now even Fu Jun is gone! This time we must carefully select a good one to raise, preferably one that will produce many offspring. The fourth son still has too few descendants!"

  If I had known earlier that the Fourth Prince would become so cold and distant because of my one sentence, I wouldn't have said it. I just thought his personality was a bit too hasty and hoped he could be more steady, but I didn't expect him to overcorrect like this! Alas, if my niece were to find out, who knows how heartbroken she would be?

  Shook his head and continued to review the memorial.

  The next day, Lin Qingyu and Yue Lian finished learning the rules and went for a stroll in the Imperial Garden.

  Inside the garden, ancient cypresses and locust trees are planted everywhere, as well as rare flowers and strange grasses. The pavilions and halls are scattered all over, and the paths made of stone slabs crisscross each other, making the whole garden both elegant and quiet, yet still majestic like a palace. Lin Qingyu and Yue Lian stared with their eyes wide open!

  Yue Lian pointed to the pavilion on the right and said to Lin Qingyu: "Qingyu, it seems like there are lotus flowers over there, let's go take a look!"

  "Good!" Lin Qingyu thought that since they were already out, they might as well make the most of it and not waste the trip.

  As they walked, Yu Lian fell behind Lin Qingyu.

  At this time, it had already arrived at the stone bridge with a pavilion, and the pool of emerald water could be seen clearly, with elegant water lilies and swimming goldfish in the water.

  Lin Qingyu stood by the pool, watching the fish swimming in the water, feeling a little envious of their free and easy life, and somewhat sentimental.

  At this time, a pair of hands stretched out from the reflection in the water behind her. Lin Qingyu didn't use any martial arts, after all, there were eyes everywhere in the palace! At least, she had been feeling it since morning that someone was monitoring herself nearby! She simply bent down to avoid those hands and then turned around to kick them away. All of a sudden, there was a thud, the sound of something crashing to the ground!

  "Yue Lian?!"

  Not bad, the one who was kicked by Lin Qingyu is actually Yiru Genxiang Lian! Lin Qingyu closed her eyes and when she opened them again, it was a clear and calm scene. She said: "What a pity! It seems that our sisterly affection ends here!"

  After finishing speaking, Lin Qingyu turned around and left!

  "Don't you want to know why I'm doing this?" Yu Lian's voice successfully stopped Lin Qingyu in her tracks.

  Lin Qingyu stood still without turning back, "No need! Betrayal has become a fact, no reason is important!!"

  "Hehe^^^" Yu Lian smiled somewhat slyly, "To be honest, Lin Qingyu, I've disliked you for a long time! You're always like this, with an air of superiority, not putting anything in your heart! Yet, so many people like you! Wu Su Shi Lan Hui is like that, Fang Jia Shi Wan Ran is also like that, the people in the palace are like that too... whenever we stand together, others will always notice you, and I can only exist as a foil to you! In the past, I could still bear it, but since we both belong to the Zheng Bai Flag, on the day of the Emperor's selection, we'll definitely be selected together. At that time, it's very likely that it will affect the arranged marriage! Although 5 or 6 showgirls are selected at a time, if you were to disappear, I'm completely confident that the Emperor would only see me!!!"

  Lin Qingyu only felt that the black line was full of her forehead. After being together for so long, how did she not know that Yu Lian was a brainless person? The show girl who went out with you is missing, and it's strange if nothing happens to you?? How can you still let you choose the show girl safely?? Are you treating the palace guards as decorations? You should know that the matters of the show girls are all monitored by the dark female guards, and the superiors don't know anything about it. There is only no one who wants to know! Besides, being able to escape the trap safely is also a hidden rule for the show girls in the selection! Those who handle things better will be assigned a good marriage!

  Shaking her head, Lin Qingyu patted her sleeves and left!

  Yue Lian looked at Lin Qingyu's back figure without any lingering attachment, and smiled. If someone saw it, they would definitely think it was ominous. She said softly: "I hope I can still see you when I come back..."

  Lin Qingyu had just walked to the door when she saw that the house was surrounded by a crowd of people. They were making a big fuss, like a group of aunties buying vegetables at the market.

  Back on her own bed, Lin Qingyu checked her luggage while listening to the discussions around her. It turned out that the bracelet given by Empress De to Nian Yu Ya was missing, and now the housekeeper was searching one by one, and it would soon be her turn!

  At that moment, Lin Qingyu had a bad premonition. As expected, she saw a bracelet in her bundle that didn't belong to her! Suddenly everything became clear - framing someone was nothing unusual! No matter what the truth was, if something was found on you, you couldn't escape punishment!

  Lin Qingyu quickly sent the bangle into her storage space. Otherwise, she would be waiting for someone else to come and get it.

  No wonder, when I came in, Nian Hu Lu Yu Ya had that proud look in her eyes! Although the plan was a bit simple, smart people can understand it at a glance, but it's effective! If it were someone else, they would definitely be dead for sure!

  "Xilin Jue Luo Ge Ge, it's your turn, please let me check!" The ayah walked in front of Lin Qingyu and bowed respectfully, but there was no fear in her eyes. After all, they were just palace slaves, a minister's daughter, and had no control over them!

  "Ah-ya, please!" Lin Qingyu got up and stood aside, letting Ah-ya inspect.

  Seeing Niu Hu Lu Yu Ya and others watching with a good show expression, Lin Qingyu rolled her eyes, thinking of harming me, the young lady, in this way? Dream on!

  As expected, nothing was found by the nanny. Niuhuru Yaya's face showed an expression of incredulity, "Nanny, search again carefully, how can it be possible that there is none?" She had personally put it in Lin Qingyu's bag, so how could it not be there? Was it taken by someone?

  The old woman heard this and sternly faced Nian Yu: "Nian Yu, I have carefully checked! Xilin Jueluo's luggage only had two pieces of clothing, nothing else. I wouldn't be blind to the point where I couldn't see something as big as a ring!"

  "I'm sorry, nanny! It's all because I was too anxious, after all, it's a gift from the empress. Losing it makes me so worried!" Nalan Rongruo looked at the nanny with an apologetic face.

  "How dare I!" The nanny waved her hand and went on to examine Lady Geng.

  In the end, since they couldn't find the armband, the matter was dropped.

  Honey, we're getting engaged tomorrow!!!