Volume 3, Chapter 373 – Why Won’t You Listen?

Cheng Zhuo continued. “Noble Consort Wei arrived in Lijiang City a few days ago and is staying at Huayue Court in the western part of the city.”

“The names for this selection will be gathered and screened by the local officials before being submitted to Noble Consort Wei for final approval.”

Lu Zhuxin and Chi Xiyan listened quietly.

They had already received a general overview of the selection from Huang Shangshang, but the detailed process was still unclear to them.

The criteria for this consort selection had been relaxed considerably and were not especially strict. The requirements on background were not as stringent as before, but participants still had to be daughters of families with clean lineage. Age between sixteen and twenty five. Cultivation of at least Second Realm. Beyond that, there were requirements on appearance and figure.

These, however, were only the minimum qualifications for being listed as a candidate.

Each family’s head had to personally vouch for and submit the names of their daughters to the local officials.

This was precisely why Lu Zhuxin and Chi Xiyan were here. Without the standing of a noble house, without a family head to verify and confirm their background, they would not even qualify to be listed.

Cheng Zhuo looked over his daughters, all of them as lovely as flowers, and smiled with pride. “The deadline to finalize the candidate list is tomorrow.”

“Lixia, Lixue, tomorrow I will submit your names and portraits to the Huayue Court officials. Our Cheng family’s main line will have three young ladies in the selection.”

Chi Xiyan’s brow furrowed immediately.

“Master, please hold on.”

“What is it?” Cheng Zhuo looked at Chi Xiyan with an amiable expression, stroking his beard with a smile. “Is Lixia worried I’m speaking too confidently?”

“Don’t worry. Being listed is only the first round of screening. As long as one’s appearance passes and one’s background is clean, the name will be accepted.”

“Your father has great faith in all of you.”

“Master…” Chi Xiyan’s expression grew serious. “Could you leave Lixue out of this selection for now?”

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“Lixue is still young. It is too soon for her to participate.”

“For this selection, let this daughter go alone.”

Cheng Zhuo was momentarily speechless.

His gaze drifted unconsciously toward Cheng Yinyin, who stood nearby with an equally baffled look on her face.

What nonsense was this woman talking about?

“Lixia.” Cheng Zhuo looked from Lu Zhuxin to Chi Xiyan.

Then, with the gravity of a man imparting wisdom, he said, “Lixue is only a year younger than you. In terms of age alone, she is already a young woman well past the time for marriage.”

“She only… looks a little young.”

“And in a consort selection, being young is not necessarily a disadvantage.”

“Besides…” Cheng Zhuo paused, his expression complicated. “Yinyin is even younger than Lixue, isn’t she.”

Cheng Yinyin, for her part, could not help rolling her eyes.

Chi Xiyan’s expression did not change. “Lixue has been frail since birth. Even if she participates, she would have little chance of standing out among so many accomplished young women across the entire commandery.”

“So for this selection, one of us is enough.”

Cheng Zhuo watched Chi Xiyan’s stubborn demeanor, and his face slowly soured.

He was the family head. He was Cheng Lixia’s father.

Children were to defer to their father.

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His daughter’s defiance made him feel his authority had been challenged.

“Cheng Lixia, what is the meaning of this?”

Chi Xiyan looked up at Cheng Zhuo, her eyes still unyielding. “Lixue is not suited for this selection. I ask Father to grant this.”

Madam Qian had been watching from the side for quite some time.

She noticed that while Chi Xiyan faced off against Cheng Zhuo, Lu Zhuxin beside her had been staring at the ground in silence, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Madam Qian’s eyes shifted, and something clicked quietly in her mind.

The corners of her mouth curved slightly. She rose and stepped over to Cheng Zhuo, patting him gently on the back.

“Please don’t be upset, Master. I’m sure the elder young miss doesn’t mean to defy you.”

“The selection places no limit on participants, but in the end, only a small number will pass the final round and be summoned by the Human Empress.”

“I imagine the elder young miss doesn’t want the second young miss to enter because they are sisters who care deeply for each other. She doesn’t want them to become rivals.”

Cheng Zhuo’s expression did ease at that. He looked toward Chi Xiyan. “Is that so?”

“…” Chi Xiyan lowered her head slightly.

She could not quite work out what Madam Qian was after, stepping in like this.

One fewer person from the Cheng family in the selection meant one fewer competitor for her own daughter.

Cheng Zhuo, seeing Chi Xiyan stay silent, took it as agreement.

He gave the table a light tap. “Cheng Lixia, you are not thinking clearly.”

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“Do you not understand what it would mean for this family if one of you were to become an imperial consort? The power and the honor it would bring?”

“Whichever of you passes the selection and enters the palace would become our Cheng family’s greatest backing, and would be far better positioned to protect the family and each other.”

“You care so much for your sister, and yet you cannot see even this?”

While Cheng Zhuo directed his words at Chi Xiyan, Madam Qian’s gaze had already moved away. It had only lingered on Chi Xiyan for a brief moment before sliding past her to rest on Lu Zhuxin, who stood just behind.

She saw the girl’s hands, clenched tight at her sides.

‘Just as I thought.’

The faintest smile touched the corner of Madam Qian’s mouth.

On the surface, Chi Xiyan was the one making decisions for both of them. But on the matter of the selection, these two had not reached the same conclusion at all.

With that thought, Madam Qian let out a quiet laugh and said, “I understand the elder young miss’s concern for her sister.”

“But, elder young miss, have you ever asked the second young miss what she herself wants?”

Chi Xiyan’s expression tightened slightly at that.

She understood now what Madam Qian was doing.

Driving a wedge between them.

This woman wanted to fracture her relationship with Lixue.

“I have already asked Lixue what she thinks,” Chi Xiyan said. “She has no interest in the selection either…”

Before Chi Xiyan could finish, the girl behind her suddenly spoke up.

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“Elder Sister, I want to participate in this selection too!”

Chi Xiyan went still.

She turned around and stared at Lu Zhuxin, astonishment plain on her face. “Lixue! We already agreed!”

“Elder Sister…” Lu Zhuxin’s voice caught in her throat. “This is what I have been trying to say. I want to join the selection with you.”

“You!” Chi Xiyan’s brow pulled tight.

Madam Qian looked on at the two girls facing off against each other, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

She had seen enough people in her life to know from the start that the second young miss was not the type to sit quietly in someone else’s shadow.

That these two would come to a head had been entirely within her expectations.

Cheng Zhuo had no patience for all these undercurrents. He said plainly, “Lixia. Lixue has agreed to participate. Do you have any further objections?”

Chi Xiyan looked at Lu Zhuxin’s equally stubborn expression and forced the words out with difficulty. “If it is Lixue’s own wish, then I have no objection…”

***

After the family dinner ended, Chi Xiyan walked back to the room with Lu Zhuxin, her face cold.

The door slammed shut behind them.

She looked at Lu Zhuxin, expression dark.

“Why?”