Chapter seventy-five: Stage one selection

The contestants arrived that morning following the marriage ban the last night.

There had been such a constant succession of new arrivals that no one had formed any plans as of yet, neither had there been time for many exchange of pleasantries.

To all intent and purposes, mistresses of noble houses grouped themselves into tiny groups whispering among themselves. Why? The prime minister's daughter and her friend is yet to arrive.

Their servants kept a little distance but were close enough to receive instructions and orders from their masters. The court ladies in charge of taking care of their needs fawned over the most likely candidates to succeed, creating scores and earning points for loyalty.

Dressed in the same uniform of a white sequin top and a skirt of red and gold colour, they all looked like a collection of blush roses . No fairer picture can give this description a perfect score.

She made her entrance at last... The Queen of hearts.

Her arrival was synonymous with a rising sun. As she crossed the draw bridge into the pavilion they are in, it was as if a ray of sunshine was flooding the palace.

Birds chirped in idyllic melody as the one dreary pavilion was transformed into an exuberant setting.

Gliding in a graceful pace , she looked stunning despite being dressed in same uniform. The ladies all swarm to her like a school of fishes going for dinner.

"Lady Seo-yun, you are welcome" . They all chorused despite the tight competition at hand. "You look graceful". They complimented .

In strong comparison to the arrival of Seo-yun, a rather dull- looking girl arrived.

Looking around, Eun-hye saw nothing but happy and interesting faces. They were all talking very earnestly to Seo-yun. Her eyes lingered on her friend's face and couldn't help but marvel at the ray of sunshine emitting from her. She looks like a goddess.

What do she care anyway? She's only here to be her bride's maid. She never dreamed of being selected anyway, they are both like night and day.

Seo-yun saw her arrive with her personal maid and removed herself from the swarm of bees.

"Hey ! you are looking disinterested... what's wrong?".

Eun-hye raised her brown eyes to hers, and the expression startled Seo-yun. "I'm obviously being forced here, it's obvious that you will be selected so why all this hassle?"

They walked in silence to the stone parapet. Roses and passion flowers , all sweet, climbing blossoms, seemed entwined around the slender pillars. So beautiful.

"I want to speak seriously with you, what's wrong?". Eun-hye made to answer but was cut short with the announcement of the empress's arrival.

They hurriedly arrived and arranged themselves before her own arrival.

The empress liked the faces of the young ladies before her, she liked the sweet sound of their voices greeting her delightedly.

Nodding to their greetings, she signaled the commencement of the event.

"Not so fast, Hwanghu!"

There came to her, the croaky voice of the dowager flagged by her old cronies. She almost forgot that they are all heading it together. But why are they coming after her?

She smiled at them together with the young ladies curtsying before them. Apologetically, she explained that she almost forgot.

The dowager ignored her and sat down with other concubines of the former emperor.

"Begin". The chief courtmaid instructed at the signal of her mistress.

"The first stage of today's selection is on your physical attributes, only the most beautiful will be selected". The courtmaid announced.

The perfectionist were ordered to paint a portrait of their young beautiful faces. The most exquisite profiles would be selected.

The queen of that gorgeous throng was undoubtedly Seo-yun, the prime minister's daughter.

The diamond on her neck accorded well with her regal style of beauty. They glittered on her graceful arched neck adding a sheen and lustre to her beauty, they seemed to draw all the light to themselves. She had never looked more beautiful than on this day. Thanks to the empress's tip.

The dowager found Eun-hye's kind of beauty more pleasing to her. A soft glow emitted from her face despite no adornment of any jewellery. She was the perfect kind of beauty.

After the first round of selection, twenty-one ladies were selected out of thirty.

They moved on into the second round. The health test and physical examination.

The physical examination comprised of taking off the outer garments to check of scars and women with the right curves and shapes, together with the ones with the best and strong waist for carrying the royal children. A woman able to carry her royal child to full-term would be selected. In addition, no woman with big or numerous scars should be selected.

Those that passed the first round eagerly removed their garments except Eun-hye who tightly held unto hers. For her, the only persons allowed to see her undress are her maidservants not some random noble ladies and courtmaid.

Encouragingly, Seo-yun goaded her into obeying the instruction which she reluctantly did. Seo-yun has a way of convincing her against her wishes.

After the physical examination, they moved on to health test. Seo-yun was found to have a slight fever which was attributed to tension and stress , but aside that , she was healthy.

Eun-hye passed both test unhappily. Why do they keep selecting her she wondered. Well, she will eliminate herself from the next round.

The results arrived making both the empress and the empress dowager happy. The ladies they set their heart to both passed. Three girls were eliminated from the round leaving a total of eighteen ladies.

The third and final round was more of a recreational and relaxing activity. Music.

The rule was simple, you either dance or play a musical instrument. Both has the same mark. The aim of this round is to imbue and groom talent among royal women.

A royal mother should not only know how to take care of the emperor's body , but his mind and soul through music.

Better than all this was the fact that the crown prince loved good music. He had made known his interest from the beginning ,and the thought of picking a lady with that talent for his son filled the empress with unutterable happiness.

The gorgeous company had all assembled, the hall were full. The first sound of music announced that dancing was about to begin.

Ladies that selected dancing arranged themselves in an orderly manner and waited for the real business. This time around, the empress, the dowager and the royal concubines are the judges.

The beautiful faces made a tableau never to be forgotten by those who saw them. Their graceful dances were etched on the mind of everyone. They danced so well.

Seo-yun chose the zither. She played such wonderful tunes the soul was touched. A popular and classical song known to everyone was played in such a way it had magical feelings. The judges gave her full mark except the dowager who gave her a zero , reason being that she played a very common song.

Nonetheless, she scored a high rank from the scores of other ladies. She emerged the best making the empress roll her eyes at the dowager discreetly.

As for Eun-hye, she barely passed this round with her chicken dance that reminded you of an epileptic victim in a state of crises. The dowager gave her a full mark on her sense of humor while the empress gave her a fairly good mark to give face to her father and to their party.

A daughter of their West faction shouldn't be disgraced which greatly annoyed Eun-hye who wanted to be eliminated. What is wrong with this old women anyway?

The noble ladies that witnessed the display barely contained their laughter. To them, she's a real clown and should be appointed the royal jester, not a consort.

The total scores of the day's total event summed up to eliminate two ladies from a lower rank leaving a total of sixteen ladies. Eun-hye made the tenth person on the list due to her earlier points on facial attributes.

A journey thirty ladies started ended with sixteen remaining just in a day. Their selection process is so strict.

They were sent home to rest for a day. The next selection process will be in a two days time.

The tired ladies were happy to be given a break. The competition was so tense, unnerving some of them except Eun-hye who wanted to go home and be forgotten.