“This is the Crown Prince’s consort candidate you’ve spent so long selecting?”

“Does Your Highness have any dissatisfaction?”

The three ministers exchanged glances, unsure of the Crown Prince’s meaning.

The women on the list were all from prestigious families in the capital, possessing both talent and virtue. Most had outstanding appearances and gentle temperaments, and more importantly, their maternal clans were powerful and could provide assistance to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince was impeccable in every aspect, except he lacked support from a maternal clan. Though this meant no worries about interference from imperial relatives, it wasn’t exactly a good thing for the current Crown Prince.

If his wife’s clan were strong, it could compensate for this shortcoming.

The three elderly ministers had also deliberated for a long time before selecting these candidates.

“It’s not dissatisfaction, I just feel these people are unworthy of being Crown Princess.”

Shen Qianyu said, “This palace knows the ministers have exhausted your efforts. The women you selected are all beauties of exceptional talent, with considerable reputations even while in their chambers, but…”

He nodded toward Wan Xiao, who stepped forward and handed several men a secret report from Dong Chang.

“The candidates the ministers proposed align almost entirely with this palace’s thoughts, so this palace already had Dong Chang secretly investigate whether these women truly possess the virtuous conduct claimed in rumors.”

The three ministers leaned forward, opening the secret report from Dong Chang to read carefully.

They saw that the women’s names had all been redacted, but what year, month, and day these women either openly or secretly cursed their clan elders, or acted arrogantly by beating and scolding household servants—all were recorded in the register.

The men even saw one entry where a woman placed baby mice inside a maid’s clothes, watching the maid roll on the ground begging for mercy and taking pleasure in the servant’s suffering, as well as records of women privately meeting men without elder accompaniment.

“This… this, this…”

Shen Qianyu waved his hand. “It’s not your fault. Without Dong Chang, who could know these women are two-faced, saying one thing but doing another?”

“These people are truly unworthy of being Crown Princess. Even as Crown Prince’s Consort or Crown Prince’s Concubine would be improper.”

Shen Qianyu’s body leaned slightly back, his imposing posture causing the three elderly ministers to unconsciously lower their heads to avoid his sharp presence.

One of the older ministers said, “Does Your Highness have a candidate for Crown Princess in mind?”

“That I don’t have…”

Seeing the elderly minister breathe a slight sigh of relief, Shen Qianyu smiled. “This palace feels that whatever the Crown Princess’s family background or appearance may be, we can set that aside for now, but her virtue must be foremost among all women in the realm.”

“Your Highness speaks reasonably.”

Minister Luo said, “May this old minister ask—in Your Highness’s heart, what kind of woman would be considered both talented and virtuous? Qualified to enter the Eastern Palace?”

“If this palace were to say, it would probably be…”

Shen Qianyu smiled. “Someone like Minister Shang Chong’s legitimate daughter.”

“Shang Chong, Minister Shang?”

Minister Shang was about the same age as them. His legitimate daughters were all over thirty years old. Where would there still be an unmarried legitimate daughter?

Minister Luo blinked, looking toward Minister Huang beside him. Minister Huang was momentarily stunned, then suddenly exclaimed, “Your Highness is referring to the young lady from the Shang family who in her early years was knocked down and bitten by a wolf while rescuing her grandmother at a temple?”

“Naturally.”

Shen Qianyu said, “This woman’s filial piety moved heaven itself. Rescuing someone from a wolf’s jaws can be called doubly outstanding in righteousness and courage. Such virtue can truly be called a model for women.”

Minister He, who had remained silent until now, frowned deeply. “After being bitten by the wolf, this woman was left disabled, and it’s unknown if she was overly frightened—reportedly she occasionally convulses and collapses. Because of this, she’s over thirty and still hasn’t married.”

“Though such a woman possesses great virtue, she truly cannot serve as Crown Princess!”

Ministers Luo and Huang knelt in unison to object. Shen Qianyu hurriedly stepped forward to help them up. “The ministers have misunderstood this palace. This palace has no intention of making that woman Crown Princess.”

The three ministers all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

If not for the fact that the Shang family’s daughter hadn’t been seen in a long time, they would have suspected whether the Crown Prince already had some secret relationship with her, which would explain bringing up such a candidate.

Unfortunately, the three hadn’t even caught their breath when Shen Qianyu added, “She would barely qualify as Crown Prince’s Consort.”

“This… this woman is many years older than Your Highness… in terms of age, they truly don’t match.”

Shen Qianyu shook his head. “What does a woman’s age matter? This palace only values character and doesn’t care about a woman’s appearance. No matter how beautiful, if she has the heart of a tiger, leopard, jackal, or wolf, aside from bringing disaster to the country and chaos to the harem, what good is she?”

“As for the Crown Princess candidate, you should search according to this woman’s standard of virtue.”

The three ministers opened their mouths, opening and closing for a long time without being able to utter a single word.

Among the noble ladies in the capital who had just come of age, they probably couldn’t find another one who could rescue someone from a wolf’s jaws with unparalleled righteousness and courage!

With such standards, where were they to search? Even with another ten or eight years, they probably couldn’t find one…

Yet the three couldn’t refute it. They couldn’t very well say the Crown Princess—the future Empress—didn’t need virtue.

Minister He shook his head. “Such standards are truly too high. This humble minister will have difficulty managing this.”

“Are you saying there isn’t a single woman of excellent virtue in all of Dongning?”

“This humble minister doesn’t mean that, this humble minister…”

“Minister He.”

Shen Qianyu said gently, “This palace isn’t asking you to determine the Crown Princess candidate right now. You needn’t worry excessively. Since it concerns the realm, we can search for the Crown Princess slowly and carefully.”

Minister Luo frowned, just thinking whether the Crown Prince didn’t want to take a wife, when Shen Qianyu continued, “As for the Crown Prince’s Consort and Crown Prince’s Concubine positions, you should draft those first. Of course, their virtue should also reference the Shang family’s legitimate daughter.”

“Additionally, these women are all admirable. If candidates are drafted in the future, someone must be sent to these women’s households to inquire. If they’re unwilling to enter the palace, reward them with five hundred taels of gold and send them home.”

Minister Luo’s eyes reddened as he called out three times that the Crown Prince was wise and enlightened.

Ministers Huang and He weren’t to be outdone either, following by kneeling in worship, repeatedly calling the Crown Prince compassionate toward his people.

Wan Xiao’s eyelids twitched painfully as he watched. He couldn’t help but reach out to press the corner of his eye.

Which woman nowadays would dare say her virtue exceeded that of the Shang family’s legitimate daughter who sacrificed her own body to feed wolves to save her grandmother?

The position of Crown Princess would likely remain vacant for quite some time.

Moreover, women from high-ranking families would certainly be unwilling to serve merely as Crown Prince’s Consort or Concubine and would probably back out as well.

As for the consort candidate his master mentioned… Wan Xiao sighed deeply, truly not daring to imagine what kind of people would be selected.

Minister Huang, however, wept tears of old age, feeling that the Crown Prince wasn’t obsessed with beauty and emphasized virtue—truly possessing the bearing of an emperor through the ages.

His head heated up as he said, “Your Highness, this old minister boldly recommends my household’s daughter. This old minister’s daughter is well-versed in the classics, histories, philosophers, and collections. Her learning and character are both first-rate. This old minister doesn’t have a greedy heart for power—it’s truly that Your Highness is wise and enlightened. This old minister is willing to entrust his daughter to Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Upon hearing this, the other two ministers, He and Luo, immediately regretted being a step too slow.

“Minister Huang’s daughter must be a model among women. Wan Xiao…”

“This subject is here.”

“Record all of Minister Huang’s unmarried daughters in the register.”

Minister Huang was stunned. “All of them?”

Shen Qianyu nodded. “Just recording them in the register. This register still needs to be submitted to the Empress for review. How could we not consult Her Majesty the Empress about selecting the Crown Prince’s Consort and Concubine?”

Wan Xiao accepted the brush and ink handed to him by a palace maid. After lowering his eyes slightly, he lifted his brush and recorded all of Minister Huang’s household’s unmarried women in the register. This action sent a chill down the spines of the three elderly ministers.

It wasn’t just Minister Huang’s household that Dong Chang had thoroughly investigated. Even those concubine-born granddaughters whose ages and names they themselves couldn’t remember were now being written down one stroke at a time by Wan Xiao’s brush, truly causing panic in their hearts.

When he saw his most beloved legitimate granddaughter, who wasn’t yet ten years old, also recorded on the Crown Prince’s Consort candidate list, Minister Huang finally regretted his momentary loose tongue and hurriedly spoke to stop it. “That’s enough, that’s enough. This old minister’s legitimate granddaughter is still young, she’s still so young…”