Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower

Long Qian Xing looked at the young girl beside him. At the thoughts that she was within that damn Hai Family during that incident, his heart felt heartache. She should have just stayed within her warm family with her grandfather and not within those mess.

He felt that he should have stabilized his power and rise even quicker. That way, he would be able to make sure that his family didn't have to be in difficult position.

Hmm?

Long Qian Xing's thought paused for a moment. Why did he feel that he had treated this little girl as his future bride and even part of his family?

His eyes deepened as thoughts swirled within his mind.

"Brother Long."

The girl's crisp voice pulled Long Qian Xing from his messy thoughts. He turned to look at the young girl warmly. "Yes, Hua'er?"

Nan Hua blinked her eyes when she noticed that he had returned to his method of calling her name directly. It seemed that he would only follow the proper etiquette when there were other people around.

"Will His Majesty host the selection personally?"

"No." Long Qian Xing knew how lazy that man was. If not because he needed an Empress for his inauguration, he was sure that Emperor Yang Zhou wouldn't even bother to select anyone to become the Empress. "Her Highness Empress Dowagers would be the one to lead the selection."

Nan Hua nodded.

It was at this time that the two Empress Dowagers had arrived. They were dressed in beautiful clothes and swept their gaze across the young ladies who had arrived.

"Imperial Sister, it seems that everyone is already here." Empress Dowager Yan smiled kindly towards Empress Dowager Mei.

Empress Dowager Mei had been in bad mood lately because of the court situation. It was not like she was a very capable Empress Dowager either as she usually assigned the work to the other officials. But lately, she felt that the number of people who supported her decision seemed to have decreased more and more.

This realization made her mood worsen.

Though, she still knew how to put on a smile despite her real feelings inside. If she didn't even master this basic skill, there was no way she would be able to survive this long in the Imperial Family.

When the two Empress Dowager appeared, everyone kowtowed on the ground to greet them. Nan Hua and Long Qian Xing were not exception.

Though, Nan Hua's eyes were cold and tranquil without any hint of respect in the slightest bit.

Empress Dowager Mei waved her hand, indicating for everyone to rise.

"Today is the day His Majesty will pick the woman who will stay with him." Empress Dowager Mei looked at the sea of women below her. They were all waiting for her to speak. "His Majesty had said that he'll pick the most talented woman to be the Empress. In order to do so, we'll give you all a chance to perform."

After that, Empress Dowager Mei listed the rules based on the list that she had prepared. There were a lot of them, making it hard for her to remember it all. Thankfully, Empress Dowager Mei learned how to read and write after she entered the palace, so she could simply read the content of the scroll.

Nan Hua listened carefully.

"His Majesty has a lot of requirements." Nan Hua blinked her eyes. Why did it feel that all of those requirements would make it hard for any of these women to pass?

Music, painting, chess, maths, the woman selected by the Emperor had to excel in the four arts. Not to mention, Empress Dowager Mei also said that His Majesty wanted his Empress to be of virtue and so on.

The list was so long.

Long Qian Xing chuckled. "His Majesty is watching the show from another place. Naturally, this competition is just to see how these ladies would perform."

He thought to himself that if the previous Emperor was still alive, there might have been a noble lady randomly picked for Emperor Yang Zhou. After all, Prince Yang Lu was already engaged ever since he was young to Mu Fei Jiu.

It was only because of Emperor Yang Zhou's somewhat special position that his marriage was not determined so early.

Back then, not many noble ladies would volunteer themselves.

But now, they were basically throwing themselves to him.

"His Majesty is wise."

"This kind of competition will also allow him to see their personality. The result is secondary." Long Qian Xing took the teacup in front of him and sipped calmly.

Nan Hua was staying still on her place. She naturally knew this because it was what Long Qian Xing said to Emperor Yang Zhou when he was planning the event. Other people didn't know and only think that they had to be the best, thus causing them to reveal some of their true nature in order to win.

However, was it fine for him to tell her about this?

Long Qian Xing put down the teacup. He continued in relaxed tone, "Hua'er is my fiancée. There's nothing I'm not allowed to say to you."

"That'll be inappropriate, Brother Long."

Nan Hua looked at Long Qian Xing and felt that he was getting harder to read. It often made her wonder whether she could really begin to open up to him or not. After all, knowing the future based on that original story caused her to understand some things were not meant to be changed.

There were things that still proceeded in accordance to how it was supposed to be in the original story even with the changes she had made.

But there were also things that changed.

"What flower is this?"

The sudden yell attracted everyone's attention. At this time, they could see Empress Dowager Mei was pointing at the fragrance pouch on one of the participants' hip. Her expression was so ugly that it could definitely paint a pond black if she were to submerge her head.