Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 227 Fraud

Let's set aside Hua Yan's thoughts for now and talk about Lü Liu.

After passing the first screening, she quietly lined up at the back of the queue, waiting for the palace servants to check the register of origin. The household registrations of all eleven of them had been prepared in advance by Madam Zheng, so Green Willow didn't need to worry.

However, she gradually noticed something unusual. Although the clerks and others questioned everyone, they asked some people in extremely detailed terms.

It details everything down to the parents' ages, siblings' marriages, the amount of land owned, whether family members have jobs or debts, and even other relatives—it's incredibly detailed.

The beautiful young woman standing in front of the green willows was from Banqiao Village in Ji County. The clerk had already finished questioning her and looked satisfied. Unexpectedly, before the young woman turned around, he suddenly seemed to think of something and exclaimed, "I have heard that Fushan Temple is located in the northwest of Ji County. The temple is full of chestnut trees, and the autumn scenery is extremely beautiful. It is truly a blessed place."

The beautiful young woman was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously nodded. "I've heard my mother mention it before, but I've been embroidering handkerchiefs at home since I was a child to supplement the family income, so I've never been there."

Green Willow tried her best to hide the surprise in her eyes. The young lady had a dowry estate that happened to be near Ji County. There was no Fushan Mountain or Fushan Temple in Ji County, but it was true that Ji County had many chestnut trees.

Upon hearing what the girl said, the clerk's expression darkened, and he crossed out her name with his pen.

Two palace maids immediately stepped forward and took the girl away without saying a word.

This scene made Green Willow exclaim that it was very familiar!

Back in Jinnan, Hua Yan instructed her and Huan Yun to take advantage of the situation and recruit refugees. She detailed over twenty specific rules, and anyone who didn't meet even one of them would be eliminated. Hua Yan had mentioned several similar "deceptive" methods, such as using a clerk position...

Thinking of this, Green Willow felt a chill in her heart, realizing that perhaps Flower Beauty was intentionally filtering out other people's "spies," so she immediately perked up and scrutinized the people around her.

When Green Willow first arrived in Lin'an, she spent a year with Granny Zhou. She actually discovered a few people with shifty eyes who seemed to have ulterior motives. Most of these people were removed from the roster by the clerk, which meant they were not selected.

However, some slipped through the net; some may have been overlooked by the clerk, while others did not appear to be.

Green Willow secretly memorized the other person's figure, appearance, and the clerk's name.

After the second round of selection, the original team of six or seven hundred people was reduced to less than one hundred and fifty people. All those who could be seen were people with well-proportioned figures and delicate features.

Green Willow also had time to notice that of the original eleven, only seven made it to the third round.

As the procession entered the palace gates, it finally stopped outside a side hall, where the third round of inspections began.

Twenty people were allowed to enter the side hall. This inspection consisted of three more rigorous items, and female physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy were also present to assist with the examination. However, failing to meet the requirements did not necessarily mean being rejected.

The first is the body.

Whether someone has a disease, whether there are birthmarks or marks on their skin, and further examination of the ears, eyes, mouth, nose, hair, and skin will be conducted to remove any abnormalities.

Secondly, it is about demeanor.

After walking several dozen steps, the female officials of the Shangyi Bureau would observe their "appearance" and whether their sitting and standing postures were appropriate, and those whose behavior was slightly frivolous would be eliminated.

Thirdly, listen to the sound.

Listen to whether the voice is pleasant to the ear, and cross out those that are deep, rough, unpleasant, muddy, or stuttering.

Those who failed to be selected at this stage were called out one by one by the clerk. Those skilled in needlework, embroidery, cooking, court music, gardening, and pet training were kept, while the rest were classified as low-ranking sweepers. Low-ranking sweepers were not qualified to participate in the teaching of the Bureau of Ceremonies, and palace servants immediately stepped forward to lead them away from the main hall.

Chun Tao had already entered the hall ahead of everyone else. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, when she saw that Chun Tao was not among the people who came out, Lü Liu knew that Chun Tao had been successfully selected. However, she did not know where she would be assigned. After two more teams passed by, Lü Liu entered the main hall.

As the dowry maidservant by Consort Chun's side, Aunt Mei was also present in the final round of selection, as was Granny Gui, who served the Empress.

When she saw Green Willow's figure, Aunt Mei's expression remained unchanged, and she only sighed softly in her heart.

She knew that Green Willow would definitely come, and she also knew that the Madam would not stop her. The Madam's initial suggestion to let Green Willow enter the palace was not a decision made after weighing the pros and cons. Rather, it was because the Madam knew how sincere the feelings that had gone through hardships would be. If Green Willow had the chance, she would definitely not give up returning to Hua Yan's side.

Green Willow also noticed Aunt Mei, but she naturally didn't show it at all, focusing all her attention on dealing with the palace servants' inspection.

"Granny Gui, as you look through the rows, I wonder if anyone catches your eye?" Aunt Mei said, sitting to Granny Gui's left with a half-smile.

Granny Gui was extremely anxious. She had seen that most of the selected candidates had already entered the main hall, but she hadn't seen a single person that the Madam and the Master had arranged in advance...

She cursed inwardly, then looked away and said in a deep voice, "What are you saying, Aunt Mei? Right now, Consort Chun is assisting in managing the six palaces. These selected palace maids, after being instructed by Consort Min, should be arranged by Huining Palace, shouldn't they?"

Aunt Mei smiled but did not answer. Chen Sibu of the Shanggong Bureau recorded the names of the selected people in Green Willow's group one by one, and instructed his servants to serve tea to Granny Gui and Aunt Mei. "Please wait a moment, Aunts. There will be only two batches left soon."

Granny Gui mustered her strength and finally caught a glimpse of a pretty woman in the last group of twenty. Unfortunately, to her surprise, the woman failed at the "demeanor" stage. Granny Gui wanted to help, but she couldn't let anyone notice, so she could only watch helplessly as the woman was led to the Shanggong Bureau, the last of the Six Bureaus...

This nearly made Granny Gui faint from anger.

The selection process didn't end until late afternoon. Everyone had been standing for almost four hours and was extremely exhausted, but they dared not relax in the slightest.

A total of 121 people were selected this time, 63 of whom were qualified to serve in front of nobles, and the rest were assigned to the six bureaus and 24 departments.

Before waiting for the arrival of the female officials from the Bureau of Ceremonies, Green Willow glanced around. Including herself and Chun Tao, seven of them had originally entered the third round, but in the end, five people remained standing in the center of the hall, belonging to the group of sixty-three.

The other two, skilled in embroidery, were assigned to the Imperial Clothing Bureau, and the results were pleasing.

Before Consort Min arrived, Granny Gui had already left with the palace servants of Renming Palace. Aunt Mei kept her eyes fixed on the two clerks, watching them compile the relevant files of the selected people one by one, and then have the brothers Xiao Yuanzi and Xiao Nianzi carry them back to Huining Palace.

Aunt Mei did not look at Green Willow before leaving, and she had no idea how many of her own people were selected.

Inside the Huining Palace, Hua Yan and Rui Zhu threw a stack of colorful Xuan paper from the table into the charcoal stove. When they saw Aunt Mei return, the two of them got up to greet her.

Xiao Yuanzi placed the file on the desk, bowed, and withdrew.

There was no one else in the study. Hua Yan stared at Aunt Mei's expression, and her heart sank.

"Aunt Mei, is Green Willow on the list of palace maids to be selected?"