CH 21

Chapter 21- Secondary Election

The two who were bitting each other excitedly suddenly stiffened. An Hongche stretched out his paws and pulled the silk sash not far away. The bell outside the door suddenly rang, which meant he agreed with the audience.

Just as he was about to change back, he was suddenly bitten by his younger brother on his hind paw.

His Majesty the Emperor was instantly angry, how dare you sneak attack Us!

He fought back decisively and the two kittens were once again fighting, completely ignoring the Royal Uncles who were still waiting outside the door.

So, when the two Qinwangs pushed open the door of the inner palace hall, they saw two furballs squeezed together, who had fallen from the cushion to the ground, and even struggling to climb back to the cushion they continued fighting.

Su Qinwang: “...”

Ling Qinwang: “...”

Wang Fuhai, the chief eunuch, sighed in his heart. Embarrassed he saluted the two Wangye's, and backed away.

Su Wangye widened his eyes and stared at the two furballs.

“Cough cough…”

Ling Wangye rubbed his hands, took a half-step back, and rushed towards the cushion like an arrow.

“Seventeenth Uncle is coming, la!”

A big black and yellow cat scurried onto the cushion, pounced on the two little furballs, holding them in his embrace, and rubbing them with all his strength.

The golden kitten was extremely dissatisfied. Shaking his tail, the pinch of white fur on the tip glowed slightly. He shook the big cat away, took advantage of the opportunity, and viciously pounced over, bitting the big cat’s ear.

The little fat cat rolled aside, seeing that his elder brother had the upper hand, he immediately followed and bit the other ear excitedly.

“Ow, thirteenth brother, help!” The big cat kicked its four paws and called out.

Looking at his younger brother being sorted out by his nephews, Su Wangye's serious and resolute face cracked, feeling his hands itching.

Finally, he couldn’t help but turn into a big cat and join the group battle.

“Meow---”

“Thirteenth Elder Brother, you’re pressing on my whiskers!”

…

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The secondary election was scheduled to begin in the afternoon, the royal clan members had already arrived, but the two Qinwangs had yet to arrive.

“The two Qinwangs truly are very pretentious.” Su Ying stood behind a rockery.

It was stated that the secondary election would be in the Imperial Garden. The royal clan members chose the men and the women were selected by the Empress Dowager.

The ladies stood in a rock garden, which was surrounding a small pavilion in the middle. The rockery was beautifully built with layers upon layers of peaks, it was extremely exquisite.

You could see the outside from the inside, but you couldn’t see the situation inside from the outside.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager still had not arrived. The ladies curiously gathered around the rock garden and looked at the men.

Su Ying saw that the young lady of the Marquis Changchun's family beside her was a little impatient and dared not to complain about the Empress Dowager, so she complained aloud about the two Qinwangs.

The young lady of the Marquis Changchun’s family glanced at Su Ying’s fawning smile.

“What do you know? Ten royal clan members are not worth a Qinwang.”

Su Ying smiled shyly and took the round fan in young lady Changchun's hand to fan for her. Su Ying had a pretty good time these two days because she fawned on the first young lady of the Marquis Changchun family.

She felt that this young lady would definitely be selected as a high-ranking Imperial Consort. She was not only beautiful but also very well-learned. When she followed her into the palace, she would have a backer, so naturally, she served her more and more attentively.

“I heard that your older cousin curried favor with Duke Lu’s Shizi. ” The young lady of the Marquis Changchun’s family sneered.

“The people of your Su family are truly virtuous.”

Su Ying suddenly broke into a cold sweat when she heard this, secretly scolding Su Yu for making trouble for her.

The young lady of the Marquis Changchun’s family always believed that her brother was better than Duke Lu’s Shizi and she always compared the two with each other.

Every day, she inquired about the situation on the men’s side, and when she heard that there were more people chasing after Duke Lu’s Shizi, she twisted her handkerchief in anger.

“He’s just a fish seller, he’ll certainly make a fool of himself later.” Su Ying didn’t choose what to say in her panic.

“Oh? Fish seller?” The young lady of the Marquis Changchun’s family giggled.

“A noble family has fish sellers?”

“Later, everyone will show their literary and military skills, what will he do?” The other ladies nearby heard this and also came to join the fun.

“So, will you sell fish?” Someone sneered at Su Ying.

“He’s just a concubine son of my second uncle’s family, it has nothing to do with me.” Su Ying’s face was red, it was as if she was a legitimate daughter and completely forgot that the dress she wore to the palace was bought by Su Yu.

Just as they were talking, the two Qinwangs who came late finally arrived.

The royal clan members and the two Qinwangs each had a booklet with the name, family background, and the circumstances of the primary election of each candidate written on it.

After one person performed, they could check under the name. The secondary election was divided into four grades, “lower, middle, upper and superior”.

Only after receiving more than half of the evaluations obtained were “upper” could you pass the secondary election and enter the final selection.

The noble’s children and the literary official’s children were no longer separated this time, and the order of performance was decided by drawing lots.

Su Yu drew a very late lot and silently stood aside, glancing at the two solemn Qinwangs and wondering why His Highness King Zhao didn’t come.

Didn’t that guy always clamor that he will vote for him?

The royal clan members sat in a circle and the two Qinwangs sat in the middle. Yang Gonggong, holding yellow silk in his hand, sang the names of the people that appeared one by one.

Most of the noble’s children performed martial arts.

Duke Lu’s Shizi performed a set of spear skills, the silver spear in his hand was like it was alive. Flew as graceful as a startled goose and as gentle as a wandering dragon.

“Good! Worthy of being the tiger son of a general's family.” Su Wangye applauded, and the clan members also praised it one after another.

The performance of the literary official’s children was even more varied, including poetry, songs, zither, Go, calligraphy and painting. Several people also performed pairings and poems together, and some people even made a policy essay on the spot.

The members of the royal family sighed that there are talented people from generation to generation. Su Wangye was more interested in martial arts, while Ling Wangye was sleepy.

Su Yu watched for a long time and became more and more sure that the purpose of the Imperial Concubine Selection was not to choose an imperial concubine at all but rather to show their faces for an official career.

Imagine the Emperor marrying an Imperial Concubine who wielded spears and sticks every day or an Imperial Concubine who opened their mouth to talk about the national economy and the people’s livelihood, how annoying would that be!

“Next, Su Yu.” Yang Gonggong’s sharp voice called back the wandering Su Yu.

The eunuch in charge of moving props set a table in the middle of the empty stage, and everyone thought that Su Yu was going to exhibit his painting; Unexpectedly, the little eunuch put several knives on the table, and everyone guessed that this was to exhibit carving; After that, a cutting board was placed on the table and everyone…

Su Yu wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and stood behind the table under great pressure, he then silently fished out a lively fish from the wooden basin.

Zither, Go, calligraphy, painting, swords, spears, and halberds, he, Su Yu, really can’t do any of them!

He didn’t find any special skills even if he broke his head. The only thing he could perform was… fish-killing skills…

“Su Yu, the performance is… killing fish.” Yang Gonggong’s shrill voice spread far away, and the whole Imperial Garden was silent for a moment.

“Pffft---” The tea that Ling Wangye had just drank in his mouth suddenly spewed out, splashing Su Wangye’s face.

Su Wangye raised his hand and wiped the droplets from his face. Expressionless, he slapped Ling Wangye on the back of the head.

Bursts of suppressed laughter came from the crowd, Su Yu summoned up courage and picked up a knife.

Not far away, a golden kitten lightly ran up the rockery and squatted at the highest point, followed by a yellow and white chubby cat. The chubby cat had short legs so it took two tries before climbing up.

Taking a deep breath, Su Yu closed his eyes. This is it, I have to go on. Ignore everyone’s reaction and focus on the fish in your hand.

Knife skills focused on wrist strength, just like using a musical instrument. Some people used knifes techniques that seemed complicated and fancy.

In fact, they wasted their strength and the cuts were not very fine. Real masters returned to the basics. By adjusting the angle on their wrists, they can swing their knives easily and freely, and sometimes one couldn’t even see the movements of their hands at all.

Such are Su Yu’s fish-killing skills.

But since it’s a performance, it must be made to look good. Su Yu also participated in food competitions in his previous life.

In order to attract attention, he especially practiced some beautiful knife techniques, which could not only be flaunted to the spectator but also cleanly kill fish.

He opened the belly and the checks were descaled like moving clouds and moving water, without any hindrance. The knife in his hand was like a living creature.

His slender white fingers moved and the knife flipped flexibly between his fingers, like a small silver fish.

When the knife was retracted, Su Yu arranged the killed fish on the table, which still appeared like an intact fish. He pinched the fishtail with two fingers, shook it gently, and pulled quickly.

The whole fish bone and tail were pulled out and the fish body was still intact!

“Meow!” The chubby cat let out a cry of surprise.

The golden kitten’s paw patted his younger brother's head without looking back.

Su Yu heard the cat’s meow, looked up, and saw the golden kitten crouching up high, and he couldn’t help smiling. He raised his hand and threw the fish into the bucket full of water.

The white and tender fish meat instantly separated, piece by piece like flower petals, but the roots were still connected, like a peony in full bloom.

“Wonderful!” Ling Wangye exclaimed loudly.

With this technique, you didn’t have to worry about the fish bones anymore!

He couldn’t help poking his thirteenth brother beside him with his elbow.

Su Wangye nodded slightly, this was indeed a rare talent!

Su Yu looked at the twitching expressions of the clan members and wiped his sweat. He worked so hard, so he should not be guilty of having an improper attitude.

Of course, it was even more impossible to be selected to advance.