Chapter 97: Selecting the candidates
While Le Yao Yao was stressing, she lifted her head and angrily glared at the smirky Nangong Jun Xi.
Humph! You little thing! You dare to go against the Prince? This is merely a tiny punishment!
Actually, Nangong Jun Xi was looking forward to seeing Le Yao Yao dressed in female clothing. Currently, he was rubbing his smooth chin and imagining what he would look like as a girl.
He was so excited!
Leng Jun Yu thought about it and decided Nangong Jun Xi"s suggestion was the only possible solution at this time. So, he firmly made up his mind, "Alright. Gather all the eunuchs between the ages of 13-18 from this residence. Pick the ones that look somewhat frail and feminine. They have to be believable as women. And reward those who are selected with a silver tael each!"
Hearing Leng Jun Yu"s words, Le Yao Yao went from angry to perky.
Oh! So I can earn money from this!
Although it was only one silver tael, to someone like her who makes two taels a month, this was a great deal!
She was quite certain that many eunuchs who met the requirements will leap to partic.i.p.ate for the money.
Le Yao Yao"s mouth curved into a smile.
Unexpectedly, her eyes met Nangong Jun Xi"s peach blossom eyes.
"You money slave!"
Money slave? Was he implying she was greedy?
Hearing this, Le Yao Yao was a bit angry, but a second later, she appeared to have thought of something. Her pupils revealed a crafty glint. Those who knew her well would know that someone was about to suffer a tragedy.
As expected –
Le Yao Yao smiled at Nangong Jun Xi. However, in Nangong Jun Xi"s eyes, the smile was filled with mischief. Seeing this made his scalp felt numb.
But before he could react, Le Yao Yao suddenly acted as if it was the first time she had seen the 7th Prince. She walked a circle around him and immediately praised, "Woahhhh. Servant never noticed how great the 7th Prince"s skin is. It"s so white and tender. It"s flawless! Servant wonders how the 7th Prince takes care of his skin?!"
Everyone loved praises. Guys were no exception!
In addition, Nangong Jun Xi was the type of man who loved to show off his looks shamelessly. So although his heart was a bit confused, Le Yao Yao"s words totally worked on him.
Hence, Nangong Jun Xi quickly ignored his odd intuition and *pa* as he took out a white jade fan from his waist and proudly fanned himself.
"Haha! This Prince is a natural beauty. This Prince never has to do any maintenance!"
"Haha. That"s true. After all, the 7th Prince"s skin is soooo white and tender. Even a woman cannot compete! Plus, your five facial features…with a little bit of brow liner, lipstick, and a beautiful dress, it"s almost a guarantee -"
-I can stand next to a female lead!" The 7th Prince confidently completed Le Yao Yao"s sentence.
Suddenly, Nangong Jun Xi"s smile froze on his face. He realized that Le Yao Yao had an ulterior motive for praising him. "His" motive was –
"Based on the 7th Prince"s natural abilities, if the 7th Prince were to dress up as a young lady, it will definitely suppress all the other beauties! So now, servant will represent all the innocent maidens of the Heaven Yuan dynasty. Thank you for the 7th Prince"s great sacrifice! We will remember you even when our teeth falls out!"
Le Yao Yao looked very touched and dramatic. It was as if she was truly thankful to Nangong Jun Xi.
She even pretended to wipe the corners of her eyes with her sleeves. In addition, her shoulders were moving up and down. If one were to simply look, they would think she was shedding tears of joy because she was so moved. But in reality, she was snickering in secret.
Nangong Jun Xi was not an idiot, he could tell it was an act.
Actually, everyone around were intelligent enough to see through Le Yao Yao"s tactics. They couldn"t help but chuckle.
In this world, Le Yao Yao was probably the only servant who would be brave enough to scheme against a Prince! He was one of a kind!
Humph! You little thing. You want to fight with this sister?! You"re still too inexperienced!
You schemed me into dressing as a female. Well, you can take part too!
Plus, ever since Le Yao Yao had started working as a eunuch, she had came in contact with many different eunuchs.
The eunuchs who were sold into the Prince"s residence were all from very poor backgrounds. Hence, these servants were forced to do hard labour ever since they were little. As a result, most of their skin were rough and p.r.i.c.kly. Only a small minority had delicate features.
Even if one were to put heavy amounts of powder on the faces, it would not be enough to conceal the fact that they were men.
So, they truly lacked candidates. As a result, Nangong Jun Xi couldn"t say no.
Seeing Le Yao Yao"s proud face, Nangong Jun Xi gritted his teeth in frustration. He was already on the tiger (he can"t get off now). And technically, he was the one who moved the stone and placed it on his feet (idiom).
—–
After Leng Jun Yu had made his order, the chief manager gathered all the eunuchs and page boys that met the requirement within the time of burning one incense. Now, they were all waiting in the public square.
Since Prince Rui despised women, aside from the few elderly women in the kitchen, there were no other women in the Prince"s residence.
Furthermore, the Prince made a rule that no other women were allowed to enter his residence; even if it was someone"s relative or daughter, etc.
If someone broke the rule, in less serious cases, they will be kicked out. In more serious cases, they will be beaten and then kicked out.
At the moment, Le Yao Yao was behind Leng Jun Yu and the others as they watched the lineups of candidates.
After the chief manager made the announcement, there were a hundred candidates that met the requirement.
However, amongst the 100, the ones that could be pa.s.s as a female could be counted with fingers. Ultimately, after the selection process, they only selected thirty of the eunuchs.
Since the numbers were so low, Nangong Jun Xi had no choice but to take part.
He didn"t want to dress up as a woman. But knowing that someone else had to dress up as well made him felt much better.
After selecting the eunuchs, everyone had to get to work. After all, the annual talent show will take place in three days.
In addition, the chief manager was busy trying to help each eunuch pick their talents. They must make use of the next few days to practice!
But everyone came from poor background. What type of talents could they possibly have? Sigh. They must try to make use of what they have!
Xiao Mu Zi was also one of the chosen ones. After Xiao Mu Zi was chosen, he was very happy because of the silver tael. All the money he earned goes to his family. However, Xiao Mu Zi had too many siblings. So, it was never enough.
Hence, Xiao Mu Zi was delighted now that he had earned an extra silver tael. Seeing this, Le Yao Yao"s heart felt sour. After all, if this was the 21st century, Xiao Mu Zi would only be a High school student. Yet, in this era, he had to support his whole family. In addition, he was so easily satisfied. The silver tael wasn"t even for himself. It was for his family. Seeing how he tightly he was clutching the silver tael, Le Yao Yao decided she must succeed in the future. Even if she cannot be wealthy, she wants to be able to provide Xiao Mu Zi with a good life.
After all, Xiao Mu Zi was the closest person to her….
"Oh yeah, Xiao Yao Zi, the chief manager said those who are selected must perform a talent on the talent show. What will you be performing?"
"Hmmm, I have to think about it…"