Shao Chen looked at his reflection in the mirror in awe. His short black hair was covered with a long brown half-braided wig and decorated with a simple hair tie. His beautiful face was even more enchanting with thin powder, rouge, and red lipstick. A blue-ish pink dress made from a little bit of coarse fabric but still had a beautiful design wrapped his body, perfectly added his gorgeousness.
The three Jiang sisters looked at their handiwork with pride. Now, as long as Shao Chen did not laugh stupidly or speak something unnecessary, he would be like an exquisite, expensive diamond.
"Haa … our hard work has paid off," Jiang Yue, the oldest girl, said, unable to stop admiring their handiwork.
Jiang Yang, the middle girl, and Jiang Mei, the youngest nodded happily.
They had to run around in search of wig and nice shoes for him. Not just that, they gave him some makeup tools and taught him how to use them. As for clothes, luckily his size was the same as Jiang Yang, so she sacrificed a few pieces of her dresses for Shao Chen.
In addition, they taught Shao Chen how to put on his wig and warned him repeatedly not to let the wig come off because he will be in danger. They also instructed him to speak in a high-pitched voice so he could sound like a woman and taught him how to walk gracefully.
After working hard for an entire week, finally, Shao Chen could be transformed perfectly into a woman, or so they hoped it was perfect.
The day for registration to the harem finally came.
Honestly, the village that these girls lived in was very far from the palace, almost two days trip. Fortunately, the palace didn't hold the registration only in the capital city but also in other small areas like this village.
"Hurry! The registration will start soon," Jiang Yue said when it was almost 8 o'clock in the morning.
Jiang Yang and Jiang Mei immediately packed the makeup tools and clothes into a bag made of tied fabric. Shao Chen accepted the bag with a broad smile.
"Thank you for helping me," he said sincerely with a high-soft voice which made the girls almost thought that Shao Chen was really a woman from the start.
Jiang Yue took three gold coins from her pocket and placed them in Shao Chen's hand. "Bring this! Just think of this as a farewell gift. I wish you good luck." Her eyes were slightly teary.
Jiang Yan and Jiang Mei almost cried too. Even if it was only for one week, Shao Chen was already like a family for them.
Shao Chen's eyes who saw the gold coin lit up. A broad, foolish smile crossed his face. "Thank you! You are so kind!" he exclaimed as he grasped Jiang Yue's hands then shook them up and down several times excitedly.
The girls who already knew Shao Chen's big love for money could only shake their heads and then drove him away to the registration area.
Shao Chen said goodbye and walked away with his bag. Without forgetting, he put the three gold coins into his money pouch and made sure the box from his mother was safe inside his long sleeve pocket.
*****
The harem registration area was already filled with a long queue when Shao Chen arrived. The girls who were still in the waiting line spoke excitedly to each other. Many of them wore thick makeup and very loud that made Shao Chen frowned. He never saw any of the women who gave him a ride wore this kind of thick makeup.
'They look like the meat bun I ate this morning,' he thought.
With the Jiang sisters, Shao Chen had remembered all the requirements he needed to enter the harem which were not complicated. The girls had to be around 16-20 years old and above all, they must be pretty!
Before today, the sisters had already prepared an answer for Shao Chen's age because he himself neither remembered his age nor the age of the owner of this body. Fortunately, in this world, there were no ID cards or birth certificates so no one could confirm the truth even if they were lying. The question about age was just a formality that did not really matter.
Shao Chen waited silently. Because the girls in front of him were making a lot of noise, he could hear their conversation clearly.
"Did you see the portrait of His Majesty?" the girl with a very thick white powder on her face asked. Even with that thickness, her cheeks still turned red when she talked.
The girl who wore many beautiful hair ornaments enthusiastically replied. Her face also turned bright red and her eyes beamed with awe. "I have seen it! His Majesty is so handsome!"
"I decided to sign up for the harem because of the portrait. His majesty is so charming!" another girl exclaimed and immediately joined the conversation because she was tired of waiting for the long queue.
"Hmm … do you also like that group?" A girl who was standing behind Shao Chen suddenly tapped his shoulder and asked.
Shao Chen who did not pay much attention immediately gasped in surprise. When he turned his head, a humble-looking pretty girl who was slightly taller than him smiled broadly at him.
"What?" Shao Chen asked, confused.
"Sign up to the harem because of the emperor's portrait." The girl's monolid eyes stared at the gossiping girls with raised eyebrows.
"No."
The girl was happy to hear that. "Me neither!"
She tapped Shao Chen on the shoulder once more then stepped closer to whisper. Her eyes still stared at the noisy girls. "Actually, I have already tired hearing that topic. Everyone near me was also crazy about His Majesty and almost all of the girls in this queue line are also signing up for the same reason."
She rolled her eyes and gave a small snort. She looked totally disgusted.
"You are not like them?" Shao Chen asked indifferently. His eyes were more attracted to the two middle-aged men in luxurious clothing standing next to a guard who was asking a question to the registrant.
His saliva almost dripped seeing that luxury. 'They must have a lot of money!' He thought.
He almost forgot his plan of revenge and was tempted to work hard (Note: stealing) to get money from those people. He immediately shook his head strongly to get rid of that evil intention. However, a second later, he was tempted again.
The girl had answered Shao Chen but realized Shao Chen's blank face and immediately tapped his shoulder. "Did you hear me?"