CH 25

Chapter 25 - Grading

The young masters that failed to be elected soon packed up their bags and went home, while Su Yu, who somehow got selected, monopolized the Xunyang Palace.

In the next few days, he will receive training before entering the Imperial Palace, carefully studying the rules of the place, and after ten days the emperor will marry him.

Duke Lu’s Shizi happily led his QingCong horse away, and Marquis Changchun’s Shizi, who still worried about his sister, specially came to see Su Yu before leaving.

“What’s Shizi mean by this?” Su Yu looked at the small box on the table and frowned slightly.

“Brother Su felt like an old friend at our first meeting, I originally wanted to go to Xianmantang to pay a visit when I left the palace, but I didn’t expect brother Su to stay. This should be considered a parting gift, I hope brother Su will not dislike it.” Marquis Changchun’s Shizi said sincerely and pushed the box to Su Yu’s hand.

Su Yu opened the box and saw several silver banknotes in it. After a rough look, it was about one thousand taels. He immediately closed the lid and pushed the box back.

“I cannot accept it. If Shizi has anything to say, just say it, ba. ”

Marquis Changchun’s Shizi sighed: “To be honest, today is the Empress Dowager election, and my younger sister passed the secondary election. She is naughty and mischievous by nature and is ignorant of worldly affairs, I’m afraid that she will offend people in the palace. As a man I cannot ask other Imperial Concubines to look after her, so I can only ask Brother Su to take care of Yi’er. In the future, if you need the Cen family's help, we would absolutely do our best"

“I’m just a cook, I’m afraid I cannot do better than Young Lady Cen in the palace…” Su Yu was speechless, he himself knew nothing about court battles and house fights, and he was entrusted to take care of her.

“Brother Su, don’t belittle yourself. Since the State Teacher selected Brother Su, there must be something outstanding about you!” Marquis Changchun’s Shizi’s face was full of certainty.

You know, although the Da’an Dynasty can choose male Imperial Concubines, there were only a handful of male concubines who had really entered the palace in previous dynasties.

All those who can be selected are amazing figures without exception. After being released they rise in the official world and have boundless prospects.

In the end, Marquis Changchun’s Shizi still left the silver notes to Su Yu and said a lot of seemingly profound words, which gave Su Yu an headache。

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The chaotic day finally ended, and An Hongche flicked his drowsy younger brother with his finger.

“We are going to summon someone to bed tonight, you sleep in the side hall.”

The dazed little chubby ball instantly woke up in shock.

“Meow?”

Wang Gonggong, who was listening, immediately showed a relieved smile on his face. His Majesty has been crowned for so long, and today he is finally enlightened, and so he said right away.

“I’m ignorant, which one would Your Majesty like to summon?”

It’s important to know that before the age of twenty, these guys’ body shape was difficult to control.

Emotional excitement or accidental impact may turn the Emperor into a cat, therefore the Emperor has grown so big and has never summoned his Imperial Concubines even once.

An Hongche glanced at Wang Gonggong in a puzzled manner.

“Summon Su Yu, of course.” Who else can be summoned?

“This… Your Majesty, Young Master Su hasn’t joined the palace yet. I’m afraid it’s inappropriate.” Wang Gonggong looked embarrassed.

Although Su Yu had been selected, his rank was still to be determined and he had not been formally married. The Emperor summoned him to come to the bedroom now, which was obviously against the rules.

“Heng, then We’ll go to the Xunyang Palace to honor him!”[TL_Note: Here at the end the author used the characters 臨幸(lín xìng) which has the meaning of the emperor going in person to visit a concubine]

An Hongche snorted coldly, and conveniently threw away his brother who was sleeping in his lap, got up and left.

“Your Majesty…” Wang Gonggong couldn’t stop him, so he saw the Emperor turn into a golden light and rush out of the hall.

“Reporting to Gonggong, the Empress Dowager invites His Majesty to visit Ci’an Palace for a chat. ” As soon as the Emperor left, a small eunuch came to report.

Wang Fuhai turned his head to look at His Highness King Zhao, who pretended not to hear, and then looked at the empty throne.

He had a headache.

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Su Yu was bored in the room counting chili peppers, thinking about how to live in the future.

Today, Yang Gonggong provided a lot of general knowledge of the palace to him, so he had a general understanding of the current situation in the Imperial Harem. Su Yu truly didn’t want to stay here at all.

The late Emperor left early, and the current Emperor ascended the throne as a young man, but he was weak and sickly. He often couldn’t go to court, so the throne was not stable.

The Prime Minister was the elder male cousin of the Empress Dowager, and over the years, his relatives have dominated the court. It has reached a very grave level and inside the Imperial Harem, when the Emperor just ascended the throne, he was forced to receive the daughter of the Lu family as the Gui Fei [TL_Note: highest ranking concubine].

As one can well imagine, in the previous dynasty Imperial Harem there were chickens flying and dogs jumping, and there was certainly not a day where it was peaceful.

As a cook, he just wanted to open his seafood chain store safely, ad he didn’t want to participate in these profound struggles at all. Not to mention serving a man he had never met!

He couldn't help shaking when thinking about it.

“Sauce, this is simply extremely ridiculous.” The traumatized Su Yu listlessly buried his face in the golden fur, seeking comfort from the kitten who had sneaked away to see him.

“Why should I, a man, marry the Emperor, ah!”

An Hongche, who was pushing Su Yu’s head hard, froze, he then angrily slapped him with his paw.

Stupid slave, who else can you marry if not Us?

“Forget it, just with my appearance, I guess the Emperor will release me in two days.” Su Yu comforted himself and buried his nose in his Maomao again, groaning.

“If only I was married off to you, I wouldn’t serve the Emperor, only you.”

Count yourself tactful!

The golden cat slightly raised his chin, and the long tail behind him swayed proudly.

We won’t give you the cold-shoulder.

A few days later, the Imperial Concubine Selection on the women’s side was also over, and a banquet was held in the Qingping Hall in the palace.

This was the last segment of the Imperial Concubine Selection. All those who were selected had to participate in the palace banquet on the last day, in which the Emperor will bestow them their titles.

The titles of male concubines and female concubines were different. The male ranks from low to high were ShiJun, ShangJun, Fei, GuiFei, and Empress;

And the women were CaiRen, ZhaoYi, Fei, GuiFei, and Empress.

Most people who just entered the palace start from the lowest rank, unless there was a special reason.

“Nowadays, there are very few concubines in the harem, but their ranks are not low. Aijia thinks that this time you can directly confer a Fei position.” In the Ci’an Palace, the Empress Dowager held a yellow and white chubby cat in her arms, while grooming it, she said to the absent-minded Emperor.

“En.” An Hongche sat on the main seat and looked contemptuously at his younger brother acting spoiled in his mother’s embrace.

“The first lady of the Marquis Changchun’s family has the highest background…” The Empress Dowager did not look like the Emperor.

Her pair of almond eyes were slightly round, precisely the same as King Zhao’s, and she spoke gently and slowly.

“Just Su Yu, ba.” His Majesty the Emperor said impatiently. What first lady, what does it have to do with him?

“He’s merely the son of a second-class general.” The Empress Dowager said helplessly.

“We have my own ways.” An Hongche said and got up.

Conveniently, he picked up the fat ball that was stretching its neck for his mother to scratch, then turned around and left.

The Empress Dowager sighed, and the palace maid waiting beside her came forward to carefully remove the cat’s fur from the Empress Dowager’s dress.

Seeing that Empress Dowager was in a bad mood, she said in a comforting tone.

“If Empress Dowager likes the kitten, why not ask His Majesty to play with it for a few days.” She remembered that the Emperor has a pure golden cat, but she had not seen this one before today.

“To raise a cat is to raise an ancestor, Aijia is getting old and can’t handle it anymore.” The Empress Dowager sighed softly.

The palace maid felt that the Empress Dowager's words carried an implicit meaning, and dared not to say more.

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Qingping Hall, the land under heaven is clear and bright[TL_Note: Qingming], safe[TL_Note:Pingan] and happy, it is the main hall commonly used for banquets in the Imperial Palace.

This palace banquet was for the Emperor to choose and see his concubines. The Empress Dowager did not participate, and it was inconvenient for the other royal clan members to show up.

Before the banquet, in addition to Su Yu and a bunch of beautiful women, only Yang Gonggong and Chen Gugu, who managed the young ladies, were there.

The hall was completely empty with two rows of low tables, Su Yu sat on the left side and the ladies sat on the right.

“I can’t believe a man was selected this year, ah!” Several ladies secretly whispered to one another.

“He looks quite handsome…”

“Certainly not as handsome as the His Majesty. According to my father, the Emperor is a rare beautiful man…”

“I need to dance well in a while, maybe the Emperor will directly appoint me as a GuiFei…”

“Don’t dare to talk nonsense about this, be careful Lu GuiFei may hear…”

Marquis Changchun’s young lady Cen looked coldly at Su Yu across the tables. Her family sent word that they have partnered with Su Yu.

The Su family had no foundation in court and could only rely upon their Houfu, in the future he had to listen to her in the palace. Thinking of this, Cen Xiaojie got up and walked to Su Yu, and said condescendingly.

“I heard that younger sister of yours say that you are a fish seller.”

Su Yu raised his head to look at the young lady he had never met, unsure of her intentions.

“My father is the Marquis Changchun.” Cen Xiaojie secretly gritted her teeth when she saw Su Yu’s unworthy appearance.

Why did her family find a fish seller to help her, she’s afraid that with this revolting character, he can’t even be conferred Shang Jun.

“I heard that CaiRen’s and ShiJun’s don’t have separate bedrooms, and they can’t walk around as one wishes. Let’s put off our discussion until you are conferred as ShangJun, ba.”

In other words, if you can’t make a name for yourself, don’t come to bother this young lady.

Only then did Su Yu understand, was he despised by his teammate?

“The imperial edict has arrived!” Just when he was responding, a loud voice came from outside the hall and Wang Fuhai, the chief manager of the palace, came in, but His Majesty still didn’t show himself.

Everyone hurriedly knelt down to receive the edict, and Wang Gonggong cleared his throat and said.

“Your Excellencies, His Majesty is busy with government affairs, and is unable to come to the palace banquet today, Zajia will deliver the decree on his behalf, I hope you’ll bear with me. ”

Hearing that the Emperor was not coming, the young ladies couldn’t help being greatly disappointed, and even Cen Xiaojie, who didn't want to dance, looked lost.

“By the will of heaven, the Emperor decrees, Our Imperial Concubine should be chosen by Our beloved cat.” Wang Gonggong solemnly put away this brief and powerful imperial edict and resisted the urge to look at the strange facial expressions of the ladies.

He then respectfully took the tray in the hands of the little eunuch, on which sat a golden kitten.

Sauce! Su Yu’s eyes widened, I didn’t expect this guy was raised by the Emperor! But to leave the selecting of imperial concubines to Sauce… Su Yu suddenly had a bad feeling.

“His Majesty has decreed that whichever one of you is chosen by the cat will be named Fei.” Wang Gonggong put the tray steadily on the ground, and the golden cat jumped out.

The ladies reacted, no matter how outrageous this matter was, it was an important opportunity for them to get the Fei position, naturally, they couldn’t let it slip by.

“Little darling, come here!” Someone clapped their hands to attract the kitten’s attention.

“Meow, meow, look at this!” Someone shook the silk sash around their waist in an attempt to attract his eye.

Only Su Yu’s face was twitching as he whispered.

“Sauce, don’t come over, don’t come over…”

The golden cat did not look twice, freely and unconstrained he walked up to Su Yu and threw himself straight into Su Yu’s arms.

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there were chickens flying and dogs jumping -> chaos

Maomao -> baby

Fei -> Imperial Concubine

GuiFei -> Senior Concubine/Imperial Consort

CaiRen -> Talented Person

Aijia -> self-referring by a widowed empress etc, used in historical novels and operas

Gugu -> A high-rank palace maid who was in charge of the younger maids

Houfu -> Marquis residence

Xiaojie -> Young lady

Zajia -> This one