Chapter 163 - 162: An Arms Race for This Too?

Chapter 163: Chapter 162: An Arms Race for This Too?

The perimeter of the Fang Mansion was now completely enclosed by colorful curtains.

After the first round of selections, the number of qualified candidates still exceeded ten thousand. Every one of them was graceful in appearance and possessed a superior temperament.

Unlike in the modern world, everyone in this era practiced martial arts. The children of Martial Artists were all born with firm skin and vigorous qi and blood.

At the very least, you wouldn’t have parents strong enough to lift a cauldron give birth to a frail child.

As a result, even without makeup or beauty filters, the baseline for beauty in this world was much higher than in the modern one.

A single glance across the crowd of qualifying young women revealed it was hard to find any with obvious physical flaws.

However, the female examiners in charge of the auditions had their own scoring criteria.

Before this, these examiners had actually been the attendant palace maids responsible for selecting imperial consorts for the emperor.

They plunged into the sea of contestants like fish in water, their gazes hypercritical as they began to cull the group.

They started with the three basics: facial features, temperament, and skin. Then, they moved on to inspecting for any scars, body hair, or moles.

But the more they looked, the more astonished they became. The quality of this group was truly exceptional.

This was just a preliminary observation, of course. The full-body inspection—which included stripping—hadn’t happened yet. Their voices, teeth, and whether their primal yin was still intact had yet to be carefully examined.

But relying on their years of experience, they could tell there were at least a thousand candidates with the potential to become an Imperial Honored Consort.

’What in the world is going on?’

The examiners exchanged glances. ’Could a public audition really bring such a group together? This has to be a joke, right?’

They had assumed that with their exacting standards, they would personally eliminate ninety-nine percent of the candidates and be left with less than a hundred. But after a single pass through the crowd, they had only managed to weed out eighty percent.

There’s a ceiling to beauty, after all. Staring at the remaining two or three thousand women, the dozens of examiners broke out in a sweat, feeling the sheer gravity of the challenge ahead.

"Alright, follow me inside for the full inspection," an examiner announced with a cold snort as the second round began.

She gestured for the young women whose numbers were called to come inside, strip naked, and be meticulously inspected for any and all flaws.

"Number three hundred sixty-seven."

When her number was called, Lu Ziyi entered, holding her number card. The examiner in charge of the screening said in a gentle tone, "You may undress now, miss."

At the examiner’s words, her expression remained placid as she let her garments fall to the floor, one by one.

The next moment, the woman began to circle Lu Ziyi, appraising her as if she were a masterpiece.

But even with the most discerning eye, the examiner could not find a single flaw. From her features to the texture of her skin, she was of the utmost quality—utterly perfect.

"Open your mouth. Let me check your teeth."

"Raise your arms. Let me see your underarms."

"Lift one leg over your head. I’m observing your flexibility and primal yin... HSS! It’s... the Four Seasons Jade Eddy, from the ancient texts."

"Repeat after me. I want to check the timbre of your voice."

...

Despite the examiner’s successive gasps of astonishment, Lu Ziyi’s expression remained impassive. She was clearly quite confident in her own beauty.

She had been put through similar screenings and specially selected since she was a young girl.

From her appearance and physique to her skills in the four arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting—she had been specially cultivated. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

To make her skin even more supple, her family had even seen to it that she cultivated to the Profound Gate Second Layer. This developed her body to its maximum potential, preparing her for... certain special occasions.

That was why, today, she was confident she wouldn’t lose to a single rival.

’For my lord’s mission, I have to get close to Fang Can. This audition is a pointless formality; they might as well just declare me the winner already,’ Lu Ziyi thought faintly.

And there were over five hundred other contestants just as confident as Lu Ziyi. They had all been planted by various factions, each hoping to spy on Fang Can’s military affairs.

These five hundred-plus candidates, along with the hidden masters from the general populace, were all competing for a mere one hundred spots.

The intensity of the competition was palpable.