Inside the Taihe Hall, the scent of eaglewood curled in the air. The candidates for the imperial harem entered in turn to offer their salutations and exited one by one. Though over twenty pairs of embroidered slippers had already crossed the vermilion threshold, the gilded silk flower beside Consort Chen had yet to be lifted.
"Liu Ruxuan, daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue, age sixteen—"
The twenty-third candidate bowed gracefully, a faint fragrance lingering from the plain begonia tucked into her hair. Weimo’s fingers paused slightly. In her past life, this woman had been Su Wanzhao’s most trusted confidante, the very person who had "accidentally" spilled hot tea over Weimo’s frostbitten hands in the Imperial Garden.
Chapter 118