Volume 3, Chapter 388 – Bu Ruyan

The first round of testing for the selection lasted for half a day.

After one round of testing concluded, more than half of the young men and women who had come to participate in the selection were eliminated.

Huayue Court, once lively, now seemed to have become far emptier and quieter.

Following the Cheng sisters, a few other noble young ladies with outstanding talent had also appeared.

Among them were geniuses whose cultivation was close to entering the Fourth Realm.

But Wei Ziqing still felt that, in terms of strength and talent, these geniuses were nowhere close to Cheng Lixia and Bu Ruyan, who had hidden their true cultivation.

Wei Ziqing trusted his own judgment.

“Today’s testing ends here.” Wei Ziqing stood on the high platform, looking down over the young men and women who had come to participate in the selection.

“Shortly, Huayue Court will send word of who has passed the test to your respective residences.”

“Huayue Court has already prepared rooms and dinner for all of you. The second round of the selection will take place tomorrow!”

After saying a few brief words, Wei Ziqing descended from the high platform surrounded by his attendants.

He did not linger below the platform and left the courtyard immediately.

Lu Zhuxin kept watching Wei Ziqing’s movements until he disappeared from sight, only then letting out a breath of relief.

She chuckled softly and murmured under her breath, “I’m overthinking this.”

“How could the male lead of my own writing possibly be so impatient?”

This was only the first round of the selection. It didn’t prove much of anything yet.

“If he were to eagerly show his hand at this stage, it would only make people think less of him.”

Chi Xiyan looked at Lu Zhuxin, pressing her fingertips together, seeming to want to say something yet holding back.

Cheng Yinyin noticed Chi Xiyan’s expression and quickly stepped forward first to grab hold of Lu Zhuxin.

Reаⅾ οո ΚαtRеаdіոɡСаfe

“Second Sister! Let’s go rest together!”

“I happen to need to discuss tomorrow’s second round of the selection with you!”

As she spoke, she pulled Lu Zhuxin by the hand and headed outside.

Lu Zhuxin glanced at Chi Xiyan out of the corner of her eye, just catching sight of her standing there in a daze, seemingly lost in thought.

Lu Zhuxin withdrew her gaze and did not resist Cheng Yinyin’s pulling, leaving together with her.

Huayue Court was very large, large enough to hold several hundred selection candidates.

Wei Ziqing had prepared a separate room for every single participant in the selection.

The rooms of the Cheng family sisters were not far apart from each other.

After Cheng Yinyin led Lu Zhuxin to find her room, she pulled her along and briefly discussed tomorrow’s selection, then found an excuse to slip away.

Lu Zhuxin did not mind this at all.

She had never really believed Cheng Yinyin’s words in the first place, nor thought that she would actually help her pass the concubine selection.

Night fell, and Lu Zhuxin opened her eyes on the bed.

She heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from outside the window.

She smiled helplessly and gently pushed the window open.

A graceful figure nimbly flipped into the room.

She closed the window again, then looked at Lu Zhuxin with teary eyes.

“Xin’er.”

“Sit on the bed and talk.” Lu Zhuxin shifted over slightly, making space for Bu Lianshuang.

“Mm!” Bu Lianshuang obediently sat down on the bed.

Rеaⅾ οո КаtRеαⅾіոɡСаfе

She sat very close to Lu Zhuxin. With one light inhale, she could catch that familiar fox scent.

As she sat there, her thoughts suddenly began to wander.

But at that moment, Lu Zhuxin’s voice came through again.

“Are things better at the Beihe Commandery?”

Hearing this, Bu Lianshuang shook her head slightly, clearing away the wandering thoughts of a moment ago.

“By the time I left, Elder Huang had already arranged everything.”

Lu Zhuxin’s brow furrowed slightly. “Did you come here because Huang Huying arranged it, or because you wanted to come yourself?”

Hearing this, Bu Lianshuang pressed her lips together slightly. “I wanted to come myself.”

‘Just as I thought.’ Lu Zhuxin said inwardly.

Bu Lianshuang suddenly grew nervous again. She had a vague feeling that the fox lady did not like her getting involved in this.

She hurriedly said, “Xin’er, I came to help you!”

“What happened today was just an accident. I never expected that Wei Ziqing would actually let me pass the test.”

“Xin’er, I really didn’t mean to.”

Lu Zhuxin looked at her and smiled helplessly. “I don’t mean to blame you.”

“Seeing you brave the danger to come here and help me, I’m quite touched.”

Hearing this, a faint blush of pink spread across Bu Lianshuang’s pretty face.

Suddenly, she thought of something and took out a jade slip from inside her robe.

“Xin’er, I looked into all the noble family disciples who passed the test today.”

“I’ve organized their information here. I hope it can be of some help to you.”

Rеαԁ оn KatRеαԁіոgCаfе

Lu Zhuxin was surprised. She took the jade slip and sent her spiritual consciousness into it.

Sure enough, she found lists of names and information within.

Although Lu Zhuxin had never once placed these competitors in her eyes.

Still, it must have taken Bu Lianshuang quite some effort to investigate and compile information on so many people.

“Thank you.”

“This information is very useful.”

Lu Zhuxin put away the jade slip.

Hearing this, Bu Lianshuang’s face lit up with joy.

“Xin’er, I also found out what tomorrow’s selection round will specifically test.”

Lu Zhuxin asked, “What will it test?”

Bu Lianshuang said, “It’s a talent contest.”

“Talent?” Lu Zhuxin frowned.

That description was far too vague.

“Can you be more specific?”

Bu Lianshuang said, “It means everyone will perform whatever talent they’re best at.”

Lu Zhuxin understood at once, the corner of her mouth twitching. “So it’s a free performance segment.”

Talents from different fields and gifts in different directions were, in truth, very difficult to rank against one another on the same scale.

With Wei Ziqing setting up the selection this way, the subjective judgment of the chief examiner would make up a large part of the result.

In other words, who was strong and who was weak, who would pass and who would fail, all rested entirely in Wei Ziqing’s own hands.

Rеaԁ oո ΚatReαdіոɡСafе

Lu Zhuxin muttered under her breath, “Wei Ziqing, is he really selecting a consort for the Empress, or is he selecting one for himself?”

The answer was already obvious.

Lu Zhuxin’s gaze sharpened. She looked at Bu Lianshuang and asked, “Your Highness, did anyone strange come looking for you today?”

“Hm?” Bu Lianshuang looked at Lu Zhuxin with suspicion. “What do you mean by that, Xin’er?”

It seemed that indeed, no one had.

Seeing Bu Lianshuang’s expression, Lu Zhuxin let out a small breath of relief.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Just remember this, humans are cunning and treacherous. If anyone suddenly approaches you, don’t believe anything they say, no matter what it is!”

Hearing Lu Zhuxin’s warning, although she did not quite understand, Bu Lianshuang still nodded.

“Don’t worry, Xin’er.”

“I’m not a fool. It’s not that easy to fool me.”

“Besides.” Bu Lianshuang lowered her eyes slightly and said, “I’ve already suffered a great loss at the hands of humans once before. There’s no way I’d fall for a human’s trick again!”

Lu Zhuxin chuckled. “If that’s the case, then I can rest easy.”

Bu Lianshuang inhaled softly, greedily breathing in that familiar scent.

Suddenly, she seemed to catch a whiff of something. Her fine brows knit together, and she lowered her head to look at the clothes Lu Zhuxin was wearing.

“Xin’er, who prepared this outfit of yours?”

“Cheng Yinyin.” Lu Zhuxin asked. “She’s the Cheng family’s third daughter.”

“What’s wrong?”