EES - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

An Lin had no idea how Ji Wanshuang actually got along with Minister Ji and his wife, so sticking to the principle of saying less to make fewer mistakes, she simply fleshed out the story of the young emperor and his sweetheart for them, then feigned a touch of weariness to signal she was tired, quietly ushering them out.

She still needed to hurry and master the technique of simultaneously controlling two alts before the selection began.

Once Minister Ji and his wife had left, An Lin ate something in this body, dismissed the maids who attended to Ji Wanshuang's daily routine, and began moving around the room, practicing tai chi and the Eight Pieces of Brocade, and doing some calligraphy. Meanwhile, the emperor's side took a short walk before heading back to the study to review memorials.

To be honest, she had initially worried that since Ji Wanshuang had died of illness, this body might also be frail and sickly, which would make adding another alt rather pointless. But once she started using it, she found no discomfort at all. On the contrary, her movements felt light and effortless, her vision was standard without myopia, and all other metrics matched the ideal baseline for a woman of her age.

This made An Lin suspect that this was no longer Ji Wanshuang's sickly body, but a fresh one the simulator had fashioned to match her appearance. The whole situation felt like a factory reset, very much like something a player would do.

What did very player-like mean?

It meant that the character played by the actual player didn't have the same stat limits as ordinary people. Some could only improve within a range of zero to fifty, while others were born with stats above ninety.

A player, however, could train their stats all the way from zero to one hundred.

In short, after An Lin practiced tai chi and the Eight Pieces of Brocade in Ji Wanshuang's body, followed by a few minutes of push-ups, the body stats for [Ji Wanshuang] subtly shifted from zero to one.

An Lin: Wow, so that's possible?

When only the Emperor Simulator was active, she could only see other people's stats and couldn't view her own at all; there wasn't even a character page displaying stats in the emulator. But the moment she opened the Empress Simulator, aside from the [Harem Authority Management] menu bar, the first thing she saw was a long list of body stats, precise down to vision metrics.

An Lin, who was reviewing memorials, paused her brushstroke and murmured, "Good heavens, this is basically a do-it-all tool..."

The kind you move wherever it's needed.

An Lin suddenly grasped the correct way to use the Empress Simulator.

That must be its purpose: to turn the Empress account into a well-rounded powerhouse! If they ran short of generals during a war, the Empress could step in. If the court needed someone to handle affairs but its officials lacked the ability, the Empress could step in. Even if the academy needed teachers... ah, that one truly wouldn't work.

Whether it was the emperor or the empress didn't matter; it depended on whether An Lin herself possessed the skill. But as a perfectly fine emperor, she didn't need to dabble in academia. Why waste time on that? With that free time, she'd be better off checking the minimap or taking a stroll outside to scout more useful talents.

After locking in the development path for the Empress account, An Lin swept away the fatigue from early morning state affairs, summoned Wang Xiuwen waiting outside the study, and ordered, "Xiuwen, pay a visit to the Ji residence. Bring an imperial physician over, and bring two martial artists as well. Arrange for them to stay by the side of the minister's daughter, Ji Wanshuang."

"To protect Miss Ji's safety, Your Majesty? This servant understands. Would you prefer they conceal their movements and guard her secretly?" Hearing such an order unexpectedly, Wang Xiuwen showed no surprise at who Ji Wanshuang was. His expression paused, then he accepted the task with quiet approval in his eyes.

In fact, Wang Xiuwen specialized in intelligence gathering. Since Junming was a child he had watched grow up, Wang Xiuwen had paid close attention to his movements after he left the palace years ago. That was how Wang Xiuwen learned of Ji Wanshuang's existence.

His Majesty has reached that age now, Wang Xiuwen thought fondly.

The next second, however, he heard the emperor say, "We want them to stay by Ji Wanshuang's side and teach her martial arts. In fact, We would prefer you as her instructor, but you cannot leave the palace just now. Wait until she enters the palace, and then you can teach her."

Wang Xiuwen: ???

At that moment, the image in Wang Xiuwen's mind of the emperor and the Ji girl swearing eternal vows and being all lovey-dovey shattered like a soap bubble. Pop. Just like that. Fast. After hearing the emperor and seeing her calmly lower her head back to the memorial, Wang Xiuwen could only ask, "Your Majesty, how oblivious are you?"

Wasn't this supposed to be a sweet, heart-fluttering moment? "I sent people to protect you because I worry about you." "So I'm that important to you? You're so kind!" How had it turned into the emperor teaching the future empress martial arts?

Was this the emperor's way of saying, "I'm so worried about you that I want you to be able to eliminate anyone who threatens you yourself"? Imperial love was truly hard to understand.

Wang Xiuwen didn't understand and assumed he was just growing old, unable to keep up with the younger generation.

As for An Lin, she had absolutely no idea that a secret shipper standing right in front of her was having strange inner turmoil. After putting down a memorial, she noticed Wang Xiuwen was still standing there and looked at him with mild confusion. "Is there anything else?"

Wang Xiuwen shook his head and prepared to withdraw. An Lin's gaze swept past the golden stat value floating above his head, and she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, wait. One more thing."

His Majesty must have remembered something he wanted me to tell the Ji girl!

Wang Xiuwen turned back with quiet satisfaction.

But then he heard the emperor say, "The Top Scholar of the Palace Examination will likely return to his hometown in a few days to bring his mother to Qiong'an. Assign several skilled fighters to his entourage. Make sure Our Top Scholar comes to no harm."

"...Understood."

---

Fifteen days passed, and An Lin had more or less mastered the dual-operation technique. She could now control either alt freely without making the other one act. From then on, she kept dual mode active whether sleeping or attending court. The Emperor account reviewed memorials and handled state affairs in the palace, while the Empress account, accompanied by the imperial physicians An Lin had sent, pretended to receive treatment and recuperate at the minister's residence while beginning systematic martial arts training.

Generally, it was best to begin learning martial arts at a young age, but that restriction didn't apply to An Lin's alts.

In just ten short days, the Martial Strength column on the Empress Simulator panel had risen from one to ten points, reaching the level of an average person, and surpassing Minister Ji's mere five.

Feeling it was about time, An Lin officially announced the imperial selection during morning court.

The announcement caused quite a stir in court, but the conditions she announced right afterward completely baffled the ministers.

There were no restrictions on status, age, or marital status. The selection was limited to Qiong'an, since there weren't enough people or energy to shuttle candidates from other counties. Besides, they were only choosing ten.

"Does 'no restrictions on marital status' mean widows may be candidates too?" an official asked hesitantly. "Your Majesty, is this..."

No, it means your own wife can participate.

An Lin glanced at the minister but didn't say that aloud in front of all the assembled officials. Joking about it privately in the council chamber was one thing; saying it in earnest in the Hall of State was another. She simply asked, "What? Does the Court of Imperial Sacrifices now oversee not only rites, but also what sort of women We prefer?"

The minister hurriedly replied that he dared not.

After court adjourned, an official returned home and brought up the matter over dinner with his family. Upon hearing it, his wife covered her mouth in shock. "Can you believe this? The current ruler is truly shameless!"

The official recalled his increasingly heavy workload and his colleagues, who were pushing themselves harder and harder. He couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile.

In certain ways, the current sovereign was indeed rather unconventional.

Though the remark had been made casually, someone took it to heart. The minister's daughter, who had returned to her family after divorcing her former husband, heard the news and sat in thought for a long while at the dinner table. She barely touched the food in front of her. When the others had finished, she suddenly said, "Father, I want to participate in this selection."

"Lian Xun?" The minister looked at his daughter in surprise.

"Forget calling him shameless. For a woman like me, who was willing to go to court to divorce her husband, who would ever propose to me again?" said Lian Xun. "Perhaps only this emperor wouldn't mind. In that case, I might as well enter the palace and try my luck. Perhaps I can still salvage some dignity."

"But sister," a little girl of about ten or eleven sitting at the table munched on a rice cake and asked innocently, "I heard that only those who are extremely, extremely, extremely beautiful can become concubines. Sister isn't beautiful either?"

The madam pinched the little girl's chubby cheek in annoyance. "If you don't know how to speak properly, just stay silent!"

Lian Xun didn't even twitch an eyebrow. "Since that emperor doesn't even care about age, status, or marital status, how much would he care about beauty or plainness?"

Such conversations were not common, but they did occur throughout Qiong'an City.

By the day of the selection, quite a few eligible women from Qiong'an had arrived. There were ordinary unmarried women, women like Lian Xun who had divorced or been widowed, and daughters of official families. For instance, the Grand Secretaries who had originally suggested that the emperor hold a selection were ordered to send any daughters or granddaughters they had.

However, after entering the palace, these women unexpectedly found that the selection seemed rather different from what they had imagined, and from the records of previous dynasties.

What the girls expected from the selection: strict inspections, etiquette lessons from dedicated instructors, meeting the emperor only after mastering the rules, and then lengthy training in the skills expected of a concubine.

But the actual selection...

The emperor's eyes were going blurry from looking at all the stats. After comparing individual values and averages, he selected ten actors... ah, no, candidates for the first round. Everyone else could leave the same day they arrived.

They didn't even provide lunch that day!

When the rejected girls returned home, their parents and siblings stared at them in surprise and asked, "Why are you back so quickly?" For a moment, they didn't know how to describe this rather surreal selection experience. They could only speculate, "It seems His Majesty has some special criteria for choosing candidates? He only glanced at me before sending me home."

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