The contestants in this round quickly finished their performances. Meanwhile, the qualifiers were announced. Only Mu Fengqie and her companions, along with Tule Haojia and a woman, made it through.
The group followed the madam upstairs. The fourth floor was deserted. In contrast to the bustling first and second floors, it was extremely quiet.
"Ladies, you can choose your favorite young men by their backs. Just pay ten thousand taels, and you can take your chosen one away. Please wait a moment, miss."
The madam walked up to Mu Fengqie and looked at her with a meaningful glance. Mu Fengqie was greatly surprised. What did the madam mean by asking her to wait? Did it mean she wasn't allowed to participate?
Although she was puzzled, she had no choice but to follow the madam's order and patiently wait aside. Before long, the door opened, and five veiled men walked out. Then they turned their backs.
The moment the door opened, Mu Fengqie smelled a strong fragrance of peach blossoms. It didn't seem to come from just one person. As she sniffed carefully, she found that every man carried that scent.
Jing Xinche quickly observed her reaction. He saw her frowning tightly, as if she was struggling with something. Without a doubt, things were not that simple.
"How about it? Can't you find him?" Jing Xinche asked, confused.
Mu Fengqie shook her head blankly. "No. Every man has the fragrance of peach blossoms. It'll be hard to identify him just based on this. Do you have any other clues?"
Mu Fengqie always felt something was off. Logically, only the descendants of the Ruan family would emit the fragrance of peach blossoms. Why did all these men have it? Was someone deliberately doing this?
But if so, who could do such a thing? And could that person have predicted they would come here to look for someone?
Jing Xinche had thought the person he was looking for wasn't here either. He never expected that all the men had that peach - blossom fragrance, which left him at a loss.
The only clue he had was that the person had a unique peach - blossom fragrance. Since few ordinary men had scents on them, he thought it would be easy to find this person. But he never anticipated this setback.
Tule Haojia had been secretly observing their actions. He had come here just to redeem his childhood friend from the grassland who had been sold by the Grassland King. He never expected to run into the person he had been longing for.
He also found it strange. What else in the Southern Qing could they possibly want?
Relying on the shadow in his memory, he quickly found the person he was looking for. But he didn't act right away. He wanted to see what they were up to.
Jing Xinche's eyes were fixed on the five men. The clues they had found before were of no use. So, if they wanted to find the person, they had to think of other ways.
Yuan Yuhan was also carefully observing, trying to find the answer from the five men. But their backs were almost identical, and there was no one who stood out.
Jing Xinche shifted his gaze to their hands and finally noticed something different.
The hands of the first man on the right were full of calluses, indicating that he often wielded swords and guns. The hands of the other men were fair and delicate, showing that they had never done any heavy work.
The Ruan family had served in the military for generations. So, the hands of the Ruan descendant must be full of calluses, not as fair and delicate as the others.
Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. "Choose the first man on the right. Brother Yuan, I'll leave this to you."
Yuan Yuhan agreed and quickly chose the first man on the right, bringing him to their side.
After this round, almost everyone had made their choices. Just as they were about to leave, the madam suddenly appeared and blocked their way.
"Don't go, miss. You're so lucky! A noble guest wants to see you. Please come inside quickly!" The madam gave Mu Fengqie an obsequious smile.
Mu Fengqie pointed at herself blankly and asked, puzzled, "Do you mean me? Who on earth wants to see me? And why?"
The madam grinned. "You ask too many questions, miss. You'll know once you go. You're really the luckiest person today."
Hearing this, the group looked at each other. They had no idea what was about to happen, so they had no choice but to go.
But when they wanted to go together, the madam stopped the others and only allowed Mu Fengqie to enter.
"You wait here. I'll be back soon." With that, Mu Fengqie walked into the room.
The room was decorated as it used to be, except that the curtain was drawn. There was a man and a woman sitting behind the curtain. Their clothes indicated that they were of extraordinary status. Just the headdress of the woman was priceless.
"This young lady is truly peerless. I didn't expect your taste to be as good as mine, sister. Only such a beautiful woman is worthy of my younger brother." The woman said with a smile.
Mu Fengqie was smart enough to catch some important information from the woman's words. Since ancient times, only the emperor could call themselves "zhen". So, this woman was actually an empress!
But what did the words after that mean? What did she mean by saying only such a beautiful woman was worthy of her younger brother? Did the empress take a fancy to her?
"I wonder what the empress wants with this commoner woman?" Mu Fengqie asked, feigning calmness.
Hearing this, the empress looked at Mu Fengqie in surprise. "You're really a smart and cute woman. My younger brother's mansion lacks a concubine. I'll take you as a side concubine today."
The empress was very fond of Mu Fengqie's beauty and her smart and cute nature. Otherwise, with her status, she would only be worthy of being a concubine, not a side concubine.
When Mu Fengqie heard this, she stood there stunned, as if struck by lightning. This empress was really decisive. She didn't even ask if Mu Fengqie was married before making the decision!
"This commoner woman is afraid she'll disappoint the empress's kindness. I'm already married and not worthy of the prince!" Mu Fengqie lowered her eyes and refused.
Suddenly, the man spoke up. "This prince doesn't mind. As long as you divorce that man, you'll be the side concubine of this prince's mansion tomorrow!"