Chapter 181: Eliminated

Chapter 181: Eliminated

Lady Qin and Lu Lingyun were waiting outside the palace gates.

Lady Qin looked nervous and anxious.

Lu Lingyun tried to comfort her, though it did little to help.

How could Lady Qin not be worried? Qin Shaojing was the only hope for the Qin family.

Nowadays, the Qin family couldn't rely on its men. The Qin family's young men had no opportunity to enter the court as officials, and none of them were promising.

Qin Shaojing's brother was currently the heir to the estate of the Duke of Qin, and he was even more frivolous than Cheng Yunshuo.

He had married several wives—one divorced, two deceased—and his current wife paid him no attention, staying home to eat vegetarian meals and pray. With dozens of concubines in the rear court, he only cared about enjoying himself in his fief, without a care for the Qin family's future.

Qin Shaojing was the only one in the Qin family with ambition.

That's why they had brought Qin Shaojing out.

They pinned their hopes on Qin Shaojing's success, hoping she would have a bright future and bring honor back to the estate of the Duke of Qin.

This time, things were different. In the previous life, when they had come to fetch Qin Shaojing, Cheng Yunshuo had eloped with Xing Dairong. The old Marquis of the Qin family hadn't even attended the funeral, and Qin Shaojing hadn't been brought to the Imperial City.

So, Lu Lingyun had no idea about Qin Shaojing's fate.

Seeing Lady Qin so anxious, she had no idea how to comfort her.

Just then, the palace gates swung open.

The first group of candidates came out.

"Why so fast?"

Lady Qin was startled when the palace gates opened, but she quickly spotted Qin Shaojing in the crowd.

"Shaojing, why are you out so soon!"

Qin Shaojing looked dejected, her face clouded with anger and frustration.

At the same time, other families who had come to fetch their girls also asked curiously, "What's going on? Isn't the selection supposed to take longer? Why are they out so soon?"

"Don't even mention it! We didn't even get to see the faces of the Empress Dowager or the Crown Prince before we were eliminated."

"Why?"

"Because of our pale blue robes!"

Lady Qin: "..."

Lu Lingyun: "..."

They glanced at the crowd and indeed saw that all the girls coming out were wearing pale blue robes.

Word quickly spread that Qin Shaojing had been eliminated from the selection without even being seen.

Upon returning to the Marquis's Mansion, Qin Shaojing headed straight to the Caitang Pavilion and locked herself inside, crying.

Lady Qin tried to comfort her, but words failed her.

She looked at Qin Shaojing's distressed expression and sighed, "I should have listened to you, Lingyun. It would have been better if she had worn the light yellow dress."

Upon reflection, she realized she had been too impatient at the time.

She should have prevented Qin Shaojing from changing into the powder blue dress, which was too bold a choice.

Later, she asked around among the other selected girls and learned that most of those who wore light yellow dresses were kept.

Although not all were assigned to the princes, the remaining ones were kept as palace attendants, under the care of the Empress Dowager.

It would have been good for her to stay in the palace as a palace attendant, remaining in the imperial court. If she had won the Empress Dowager's favor or caught the emperor's attention, the Qin family could have been restored.

Lady Qin sighed, her regret growing deeper with each passing thought.

At that critical moment, she hadn't stayed calm either!

After all, it's easy to be confused when you're in the midst of things. As a member of the Qin family, it was hard not to let emotions get the better of her when it came to important family matters.

Seeing Qin Shaojing lock herself away and cry for days, Lady Qin decided it was best to return to the villa. She called for Lu Lingyun and said to her, "Please persuade Shaojing. Tell her this doesn't matter, and there will be other opportunities in the future."

"Yes, mother."

Lady Qin sighed throughout the day and in the evening took the old Marquis to the villa.

To avoid putting pressure on Qin Shaojing.

After they left, someone did come to the Marquis's Mansion to visit Qin Shaojing.

That person was Cui Tonghua.

Upon learning that Qin Shaojing had been eliminated without even meeting the Empress Dowager or the Crown Prince, Cui Tonghua was so delighted that she laughed for days after hearing the news at Duke Xu's Mansion.

Laughing aside, Qin Shaojing's failure in the selection also made her feel a bit closer to her.

After all, she too had been eliminated during her selection.

Cui Tonghua came to the Marquis's Mansion with lots of gifts to visit Qin Shaojing.

Lu Lingyun greeted her, and after some pleasantries, they headed together to Caitang Pavilion, half-joking as they went.

"Rest assured, I'll make sure to cheer her up," Cui Tonghua said to Lu Lingyun in front of the Caitang Pavilion.

"Thank you," Lu Lingyun smiled and had the matron lead Cui Tonghua inside.

Despite her arrogance, Cui Tonghua was genuinely generous. A third of the large packages of gifts she brought were for Lu Lingyun.

All the gifts were fashionable, expensive, and of high quality.

In terms of etiquette, she truly had the demeanor of a lady from a prestigious family.

Quite different from noble young misses like Qin Shaojing, who put on airs but lacked true substance and depth.

Lu Lingyun smiled and accepted the gifts, watching them go inside.

After returning to her own courtyard, she had Shuang Hong put all the gifts into her private storage.

With Qin Shaojing's failure in this selection, her personal treasury had more than doubled since she married into the family.

With this sturdy support, her back is as straight as can be. Is there anything in this world better than a life of wealth and honor?

She looked at the three children, Bingan, Binghao, and Sù Yīng, who were all over three months old. They were all chubby, especially Bingan, who had grown rapidly and was much bigger than the others. Now, he could even roll over on the bed.

She happily played with the children who were awake, watching them grow, and a smile gradually appeared on her lips.

No matter how big the storms were outside, she remained calm and composed.

After Cui Tonghua’s visit today, Qin Shaojing seemed much better and decided to move out of Caitang Pavilion on her own.

No one knew what Cui Tonghua had told her, but Qin Shaojing requested to move back to the East Courtyard.

Lu Lingyun gave a few instructions and agreed.

She had a lot of things this time, including the clothes and jewelry prepared for the imperial selection, all of which she wanted to take to the East Courtyard.

Lu Lingyun simply nodded. “Alright, I’ll have someone move everything for you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, sister-in-law.”

Qin Shaojing left the Marquis’s Mansion first.

After she left, when Lu Lingyun was arranging for people to move Qin Shaojing’s things from Caitang Pavilion, someone arrived.

“Is Miss Qin moving out?” Cheng Qi’s voice came.

Lu Lingyun turned around and saw Cheng Qi approaching.

The old Marquis had mentioned arranging a position for Cheng Qi, and they were still waiting for the paperwork to be processed. He was expected to be on duty at the city defense department.

“These are Shaojing’s personal items that she wants to take with her,” Lu Lingyun said with a smile.

At this, Cheng Qi frowned. “Was she selected?”

Cheng Qi didn’t know that Qin Shaojing had been eliminated from the imperial selection. Since learning that she would participate, he had been preoccupied with his own affairs and rarely visited the inner quarters.

Noticing his tense and disappointed expression, Lu Lingyun said, “No, she’s moving back to the East Courtyard. She wasn’t selected.”

Hearing this, Cheng Qi’s face lit up instantly.

At that moment, the butler said, “Young mistress, everything is packed. Who should we send to deliver it?”

Before Lu Lingyun could reply, a loud voice came from behind.

“I’ll take care of delivering it for her.”