The Enchanting Imperial Concubine (Book 2)

Chapter 385 - Imitation

When new people enter the palace, they must meet everyone before serving the Emperor, and the next time is after they serve and officially become concubines to pay their respects again.

These arrangements should ideally be managed by the Empress, but since Ning Chen currently does not have an Empress, it is not easy to decide how to proceed.

In the end, it was Yuan Jiu who suggested that the Empress Dowager make an appearance.

After all, the Empress Dowager has been recovering from an illness for some time, so meeting an outsider shouldn't be a big deal.

When the Empress Dowager received the news, she indeed did not decline.

It was a trivial matter.

Thus, after a long hiatus, a collective greeting took place when the third batch of newcomers entered the palace. In Cining Palace, the concubines all gathered to pay their respects.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces of the women, the Empress Dowager felt a bit dazed.

After a long time, she finally called for them to rise.

"Which two are Ying Cairen and Xu Cairen? Step forward so I can have a look," the Empress Dowager said softly.

As soon as she finished speaking, two young women stepped forward from the back of the concubine line, both appearing to be around sixteen years old—young and beautiful.

"Your servant, Ying Cairen, pays respects to the Empress Dowager!"

"Your servant, Xu Cairen, pays respects to the Empress Dowager!"

The two of them bowed in unison.

"Rise. Look up and let everyone recognize you," the Empress Dowager waved her hand.

Both complied and slowly raised their heads.

Ying Cairen had the standard appearance of a Jiangnan lady, soft and gentle, her eyes radiating a spring-like charm, and because she came from a scholarly family, she carried a scholarly air about her.

She certainly gave off an impression of being well-read and refined.

As for Xu Cairen, she momentarily took everyone by surprise.

She was beautiful, too, but her features bore an uncanny resemblance to someone.

And that someone was none other than Ye Yun.

Since Xu Cairen was still young, just turned sixteen, and Ye Yun had also entered the palace at the age of sixteen, Xu Cairen looked strikingly similar to Ye Yun when she first arrived in the palace.

In terms of appearance, they were only about thirty percent similar, but her makeup seemed to have been applied with some care, making her look around forty to fifty percent like Ye Yun. Upon closer inspection of her expressions, there was indeed a strong resemblance.

Overall, it could be evaluated that she was about sixty percent similar to Ye Yun.

For a moment, everyone's expressions became subtle.

Was this resemblance genuine, or had someone deliberately cultivated it?

In any case, Ye Yun was more inclined to believe in the latter.

This truly disgusted her to no end.

She, the original and authentic version, had not even exited the stage, yet a cheap imitation had come in, merely adding to her annoyance.

"Oh, Ming Zhaoyi, I've heard that Xu Cairen is a cousin of Princess Consort Kang, but how come when I see her today, she looks more like your cousin? Look at that little face; oh my, I might just think they're sisters!"