The Empress didn’t even think about it. She directly said: “Naturally, she should be a woman who is both magnificent and virtuous, having both integrity and talent, and has the ability to contribute.”
Xiao Ting smiled lightly, “Is the woman the Empress thinks who has both integrity and talent Fourth Miss Xiao?”
Without waiting for the Empress to speak, she continued: “Since the Emperor respects Xiao Ting so much that he asked me to be the judge this time, then Xiao Ting will be responsible for the Third Prince. His concubine must be a woman who has both integrity and talent, otherwise, this consort will fail your trust.”
“Fourth Elder sister is indeed magnificent and she’s naturally virtuous. As for talents!”
Xiao Ting didn’t finish her words, but everyone knew what she meant.
Things such as music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were all learned by these noble ladies since childhood, so it’s natural that Xiao Mei could do it.
But when it comes to talent, it took real skill.
The Emperor probably also thought it was interesting, so he arbitrarily ordered a scholar from the Academy to ask a question.
Don’t know if this scholar had any grudges with the Xiao family or Xiao Mei, but he asked a problem that even Xiao Ting didn’t understand.
The final result was that even half after a quarter of an hour passed, Xiao Mei had to modestly retreat then fainted.
The Emperor didn’t blame her, but glanced at the Empress. The Empress became aware of her mistake. This time, the test items were all questions from her.
In these so-called tests, the questions were naturally revealed long ago, and those who aspired to become the Third Prince’ concubine had already set up everything and got the questions just to go through the process.
Because of Xiao Ting’s disturbance, the banquet didn’t select a concubine for the Third Prince.
The Emperor was disappointed and left early, only asking the Empress to take care of it. The Empress could see what the Emperor meant, so she had to choose no one at the moment.
After the contest was over, when the two little ones were about to go to sleep, Xiao Ting asked Hong Shao to take the two of them, while she waited by the lotus pond.
A quarter of an hour passed. The Ministers and noble wives quietly glanced at Xiao Ting with weird eyes before hurriedly leaving the Palace with their dressed up girls. The crowd became scarce at that point.
In the summer, the pavilions were built in a patchwork pattern, so the layout was very good. The breeze was very comfortable. Xiao Ting sat on the edge of the lotus pond, looking down, and resisting the urge to doze off.
Just when she was in a half-dazed state, Hong Shao hurriedly ran over. So much so that when she went up the steps, she fell over in her eagerness.
Before Xiao Ting could ask her, Hong Shao shouted: “Wangfei, go and have a look. The little prince is fighting with someone else.”
Xiao Ting was surprised and instantly jumped off the platform. She then said happily: “What? Fighting is so fun. Go, go, let’s go and see.”
When she finished speaking, she ran down first. When she saw that Hong Shao was still in a daze, she turned back and pulled her back.
When the two hurriedly bypassed the Imperial garden and came to a rockery, Xiao Ting was confused by the situation in front of her.
Didn’t you say that the two little ones are fighting with others?
Then, why is her cheap husband, Jiu wangye, here?
At this moment, Chu Yun stood behind Jiu wangye with a grievance on her face, but she held her head high with a stubborn expression.
Xiao Xin stretched out her hand to block in front of her and confronted the boy opposite. He stared at the other child angrily, then looked up at the Jiu wangye and stopped talking.
Opposite Jiu wangye was a beautiful and unparalleled woman, who looked to be in her early twenties.
What a delicate beauty. In Xiao Ting’s eyes, she had the image of a beautiful sister.
The embroidered handkerchief wiped the corner of her eyes lightly, her beautiful eyes filled with endless grievances and anxiety.
Jiu wangye had his back turned to Xiao Ting, so she couldn’t see his expression.
“Father, it’s not this prince’s fault, why should I apologize?”
When Xiao Ting approached, she heard Chu Yun say this.
Her voice was a little choked as if she suffered endless grievances.
With sharp eyes, Xiao Xin, who was next to her, saw Xiao Ting coming, and immediately turned. He ran over angrily, raised his face and said, “Sister, don’t blame us. He’s the one bullying us.”
“Hey, tell your sister what happened?” Xiao Ting knelt down, picked him up and walked forward.
Xiao Xin’s language organization skills are good, and Xiao Ting soon straightened out what happened here.
It turned out that Hong Shao took the two of them to go to the toilet, but when they came out, they saw the little boy on the opposite side burning a rabbit’s fur with fire.
Chu Yun became anxious and pushed the little boy to the ground, while she picked up the little rabbit and coaxed it.
How could the little boy take it? He was older than Chu Yun and the others, so it was very embarrassing to be overthrown by the other younger boy. As if he would let it be, so he immediately fought with Chu Yun.
The little boy was followed by guards. If it weren’t for Hong Shao reporting their family name in time, the guards would probably start acting.
Nevertheless, the two sides fought.
Originally, it was Chu Yun fighting with the little boy. Later, Xiao Xin saw that Chu Yun was not his opponent, so he went up to help. After the two put the other child down, they pushed him to the ground and beat him.
Xiao Ting had come forward at this moment and ignored Jiu wangye and the obviously problematic woman opposite him.
Instead, she looked at the child opposite, who was seven or eight years old. There was no injury on his body. The marks on his face looked like nail marks, either from Chu Yun or Xiao Xin.
Looking at Chu Yun’s body, there were a lot of footprints. Her clothes were messy, her white and tender face dirty, and there were bloodstains on her neck. She looked a bit pitiful. No wonder Xiao Xin, this good baby, went to help.
Xiao Xin was fine himself.
“This is?” Seeing that Xiao Ting was closely related to these two children, the beautiful woman looked at Jiu wangye and asked.
Jiu wangye frowned slightly, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by Xiao Ting.
“This consort is their sister and mother. What is your relationship with that child?”
Xiao Ting pushed the two children to Hong Shao’s side and forced her to walk away. The smile on her face remained undiminished, but her eyes went colder.
The woman looked at Jiu wangye when she saw her imposing manner. It was obvious that Jiu wangye didn’t want to respond, so she had to look at Xiao Ting again.
“I am his mother.” She replied pitifully, as if Xiao Ting was bullying her.
“I see!” Xiao Ting raised her eyebrows and smiled, then sternly said: “In that case, apologize!”