Chapter seventy-seven: Stage two selection

An early morning notice arrived at the houses of the selected ladies bearing the information to arrive early at the break of dawn.

Before Eun-hye left that morning, her mother had a word of advice. " Take the selection process seriously; if you are to lose ... lose with dignity".

She huffed. Even she wants to lose with dignity but they won't let her. They have set their eyes on her making a feeling of foreboding surround it.

Different colours, shapes and sizes of palanquins arrived at the palace entrance bearing the ladies and their maidservants. Feelings of joy, happiness, nervousness, shyness and many others were etched on their faces.

The morning of selection, the palace looked as it had not looked before . The sound of beautiful music fell on the ear, the air was warm and fragrant with the breath of flowers. The beautiful faces, the shinning uniform and gleaming fountains all combined to make the palace look like a fairyland.

Breakfast was served to the young ladies. A good start of the day and also the first round of selection... Etiquette.

Elegantly, the ladies consciously used their chopsticks in such a way it looked like in a movie. The mechanical movement flowed with such succession the empress and her other judges fell in deep reverie. So beautiful.

It was a moment of torture that commenced for a dear beautiful girl called Eun-hye. She who was torn between etiquette and her prepared destructive acting, fed herself in a way lacking decorum. Instead of three fingers she used all five to hold her chopsticks.

The dowager who had been in a foul mood due to the empress's eccentric behavior felt her mood lift at the sight of such a breath of fresh air... Eun-hye. She adopted Eun-hye's techniques of holding chopsticks making her amused and a little bit shy.

Seo-yun who saw her friend's behavior whispered to her. "What are you doing?".

The second form of activity commenced at the end of the etiquette lessons. They all were assigned a courtmaid who was responsible for getting their embroidery material for them. The embroidery hoop was made necessary.

They were asked to embroider any plant of their choice or any bird . In reality, they were being asked to embroider anything they like in a limited time of two hours.

Even the empress, the dowager and all other royal concubines joined in. Their art would be the judge of the ladies .

At the end of the session, Seo-yun emerged with the highest score. The handkerchief was embroidered with a beautiful jasmine flower, though little but looks elegant. Other ladies embroidered fanciful things that are eye-catching too except Eun-hye.

She embroidered a round circle with two dots at the top, a dot at the middle and a long thin line just above the bottom line. Her stitches looked messed up and the embroidery had no significance to anything.

The empress lost all hope in her while the dowager was greatly pleased with her creation. "Child, is that a smiling face you embroidered?"

Her eyes lit up making her look happy. "Yes your Majesty, indeed it is a smiling face". She replied.

Dowager empress erupted into a convulsive laughter, her body shaking vigorously. This child really is the sunshine they are lacking in the palace.

The empress looked at the embroidery again and gave her mark. A very low score. Only the dowager gave a high score but not a full mark this time around. She pointed out that her stitches are not good. She made a mental note to teach her properly if she ends up being selected.

With the way things are, if she makes the top three from todays activities, she will be a royal concubine. After all , it is not a hidden fact that lady Seo-yun is really doing well and has enough backing.

A short break was given to allow the ladies relax their nerves but was advised against venturing too far away from the pavilion.

Eun-hye decided against going with Seo-yun to practice her painting as it is next agenda. She wandered into the palace with the courtmaid assigned to her for sightseeing. Today will be the last day of her being here pending her elimination and she wants to explore the palace for a later story.

The buildings looked so tall and magnificent.

Arrays of flowers adorned the sidewalks creating a picture of wonderland. The striking colors used as paint brightened the scenery with a striking elegance. The beauty, the exquisite bloom and the radiance made her heart flutter.

"My lady, where would you like to go?". The courtmaid asked respectively breaking into her line of thoughts.

"Let's go to the training ground, I want to see how the palace military train". The courtmaid saw the lady's face turn crimson and gave out a startled cry.

"Are you unwell, my lady?"

"I'm fine". She retorted before dragging the courtmaid to the direction she pointed at.

At the curvy road leading to the royal tailors quarters just before the military training camp, Eun-hye stopped abruptly.

"What is wrong my lady?" . The courtmaid asked clearly confused.

She did not seem to have heard her words for she was looking, with a strange, far-off gaze in her brown eyes, at the distant road.

She stood terribly still, the same shock would have killed some women. The light faded from her eyes, the flush died out of her face, leaving it white and colorless. She stood for what seemed like eternity but it was but a few minutes of time.

A familiar man marched towards her dressed in an exquisite royal robe . You don't need a soothsayer to be told of his rank. A bright red parasol was used to shield him or rather as an ornament as there was no visible sun. Royal guards and lines of courtmaid marched behind him in deep reverence.

He has been a royal all this time?

She turned around so that he could not see her before dragging her courtmaid with her in a flight, but it was already too late. He saw her.

He stood perfectly still for a moment before resuming his march. "What is she doing here?"

Eun-hye ran as fast as possible before stopping to catch her breath. What's going on? Why is he the crown prince? How is this possible?

"Lady Eun-hye, we meet again".

Fiddlesticks! how did he catch up with her?

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The painting easel had been arranged when she returned flabbergasted. The timekeeper blew the whistle as sign to start.

The ladies all eagerly picked up their painting brushes including Seo-yun who started painting with vigor.

Eun-hye picked up her brush too , calmly she allowed herself to be lost in deep thought. The serenity on her face made the dowager almost cry. She is not trying to flop this one too, right?

After a few minutes had passed, she started painting. The fierceness, the determination and the passion startled even the empress. Her previous look of nonchalance was replaced with a vigour so pure, so passionate, so strong.

She painted a girl sitting by the river with a painting easel ,painting a large tree. Her talent marvelled all and sundry.

Seo-yun looked up from her own painting to see her friend painting seriously. "That's more like it girlfriend". She smiled proudly at her before returning to her own.

The dowager's mouth hung up in a smile whilst witnessing the change in attitude. What she lacked in embroidery, she gained in painting. Her powerful strokes made the dowager inebriated.

The timekeeper announced the end of the section while they moved to the next part , poetry. The results will be mailed to them at their family house and the selected first three will get an extra red letter.

The first lady presented hers followed by the second .They had picked a slot and fortunately or unfortunately for Eun-hye, she picked the last number.

Seo-yun picked up a poem about a farm girl who fell in love with a prince. The poem was so beautifully rhymed it looked more like a song.

It got to Eun-hye's turn and she shocked the whole assembly with a very powerful poem, better than Seo-yun's. She read about loneliness. The feelings associated with it and the emptiness that comes with it.

The day's activities ended with a light refreshments presented to them. The ladies were all advised to prepare themselves very well. After all, the three final contestants are among them.

Outside the palace, the minister of defense's daughter, Hong Shi young who is known for rashness fanned a burning flame. She asked the ladies who the remaining two contestants will be as it is indisputable that Seo-yun is the best among them.

She turned to Eun-hye and teased her. "What's up with you today? You suddenly picked up a fast pace as if being injected with chicken's blood".

Weakly, she answered that it has been a long day and should be allowed to go home for a long rest.

Shi young looked at her with interest before climbing her palanquin for a ride home. She's quite confident that she will be selected. A smile dazzled from her face on getting to be a crown prince's wife even if it's just being a concubine.