Favored Empress Brings Chaos and Destruction (Book 2)

Page 275

A beauty like her is the scariest! She could kill and destroy without lifting a hand! Many will be willing to die or kill for her! The beauty she possessed is truly a blessing and a curse! Probably, it is for the best that she is already married to Minister Zander and will soon become a mother. I just hope that my two sons will act responsibly according to their status and will never cross the line...

Empress Alyna involuntarily winced when she saw her sons' excessive attraction to Lady Beatrix. It was very horrifying to watch her two children gripping the sharp table knife so tightly while looking at their friend... She could almost read the murderous intent in their expressions and actions! They seem so tempted to flay their friend alive and use the same knife to repeatedly and slowly slice his flesh until the poor minister died suffering! It was a very frightening sight for a mother to see her two children on the brink of losing their sanity! Suddenly, she became so desperate to show her husband and sons that Lady Beatrix may be extremely attractive and interesting but she is not perfect!

I need to show them that she is not perfect! But how do I do it without being obvious?

She thought carefully and finally, a brilliant idea flashed inside her mind!

"Your Majesty, the time has come for the traditional showcase of talent among the young noble ladies." The Empress gently reminded her husband, who is still busy solving the mystery cube.

Emperor Claudius stopped what he is doing and looked at the empress before saying, "Yes, you are right! I almost forgot about it!" He agreed and then he motioned for the entertainers to stop performing and wait in the side hall in the meantime. He was forced to put the cube inside his pocket when he declared the start of the talent showcase for the young ladies. It would be extremely disrespectful to the families of these noble ladies if he would not pay attention to the performances.

Beatrix smiled excitedly when she heard the declaration. She focused her attention in the middle of the hall. Aside from the delicious meals served in the banquet, the talent showcase is her favorite part of the emperor's birthday banquet because that is the part where she could observe pure talent or different sorts of fun...

For a long time, it has been a tradition for the emperor to draw lots at his birthday banquet. He would pick one of the folded papers inside a box and read the name of the household that will provide a performance. It will be up to the household to select a young talented lady who will represent the entire family. Five households will be selected and since it has been a tradition, every household prepares and looks forward to it... Well, at least most of the households! The goals of this event are to provide entertainment to the imperial family, to raise the family banner of the lucky households that will be selected, and finally, to gain the best marriage prospect for the lady performer because it was always young maidens are selected to perform.

To Beatrix, this talent showcase is like a double edge sword for the young maidens who will be chosen. It has advantages and disadvantages... The advantage is the opportunity to subtly encourage the man they secretly love into proposing a marriage! But the disadvantage is even greater! What if instead of the man they love, they aroused the attraction of the man they would never want to marry?!! If the man has the power and influence that could convince or force the lady's family into arranging the marriage... That will be truly unfortunate! Regardless of the unsavory possible outcome, most of these young ladies are still very determined to attract the man they love, to show their ability to the people, or to climb to a higher status, especially now that the two princes are available once again... The princess' position seems so bright and tempting!

In all her previous lifetimes, Beatrix was always exempted from the talent showcase because the two princes would always file their formal requests to the emperor to exclude Prime Minister Aaron's and General Ardor's households from the list of household participants. They insisted that she should be forbidden from participating in beauty contests, talent contests, intellectual contests, and other contests that may attract other men because she is the future princess! The emperor approved those requests so Beatrix always ends up being a spectator instead of a performer. Several young women are so happy while other young ladies viewed it as unfair! They complained about it and they did not end well... They were either married off to a very old official or became a concubine of a middle-aged official! At present, she thinks that she is also exempted in this lifetime because she is already married and also pregnant...

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