As soon as the Emperor finished his sentence, the Imperial Guards open the doors of the Main Hall to reveal the esteemed guests.
Yuying feels like she's in a scene straight out of an ancient Chinese court romance drama.
Never had Yuying thought, not even in her wildest dreams, that she would be in the body of a prince, sitting beside the Emperor and the Empress, to choose her future wife.
Yuying feels like she's in some sort of online fic or fanfic so bizarre that it wouldn't even cross her mind.
/I can't believe this is actually happening.../
/I'm actually going to be watching these girls complete for my hand in marriage.../
/I kind of feel like Merida from Brave right now.../
Yuying's heart is beating so furiously under her beautifully designed robes that she fears that the Emperor and the Empress, who were sitting just a few metres away from her, might hear.
Yuying clutches the sides of her seat as though she's on a roller-coaster ride at a theme park as she wills herself to calm down.
The Imperial Guards start to trickle into the Main Hall, escorting the contenders and their parties who are accompanying them to tonight's banquet.
Yuying silently counts the number of contenders as she watches them make their way into the Main Hall.
/One, two, three.../
There are a total of ten contenders.
They were all dressed in beautiful robes and makeup that enhanced their delicate features, making all of them look extremely stunning.
Yuying didn't recognize any of them. Heck, she could barely tell them apart.
They all looked like they had the same eyes, same face, same lips, same everything...
/Maybe it's because they're all standing far away.../
/Or maybe I'm just overwhelmed./
/Calm down, Yuying.
/You got this.../
Each of the contender and their companions have been designated a place along the sides of the Main Hall.
After escorting the contenders' companions to their designated seats, the Imperial Guards rounded up the ten contenders and escorted them to the front of the Main Hall.
As soon as they reached the front of the Main Hall, the ten contenders got down onto their knees, bowed their heads, and put their hands together respectfully.
"Your Majesty," the contenders greet the Emperor and the Empress politely before turning to Yuying.
"Second Prince Zhao," they greet.
Yuying is still so stunned that she's actually in this situation that she falters slightly.
/Am I supposed to say something?/
"You may rise," the Emperor orders as he waves his hand. "Please take turns to introduce yourselves."
The contenders rise and align themselves into neat and straight line. The one on the leftmost end steps forward and bows again.
"Your Majesty, Second Prince Zhao," the first contender greets.
"My name is Zheng Yimeng, and I'm nineteen years old this year," she introduces herself, "I graduated from Qilin Academy just a while back, where I was the Chairperson of the Qilin Cultivation Dance Team."
Yuying studies Yimeng.
/Oh, she was from Qilin Academy too./
/I didn't know they have club activities too./
/What even is Cultivation Dance, anyway?/
Her long, black hair was tied back neatly into a bun, which was held together by a long and lovely lilac ribbon.
There were also some matching purple flower pins in her hair. They looked so real that it was almost as though Yimeng had been dancing in a flower garden, delicate petals falling onto the crown of her head as she moved gracefully.
Yimeng was dressed in an elegant violet robe that not only matched her hair accessories, but also her general aura. She seemed to exude elegance and grace.
Yimeng definitely seems like someone that Yuying would be intimidated by, but also someone that she would admire and want to be friends with.
/I wonder what Ming'er would think of her.../
Since Yuying realizes that she wouldn't know for sure as the real Ming'er is obviously not the present, she decides to look at her brothers to see if she could see what they thought from their reactions.
Mingwu looks incredibly excited by everything and everyone that's around him. He's watching on with wide eyes, his mouth shaped like an 'O' in amazement.
Mingsan looks pretty neutral. He's simply paying attention while trying his best to calm the clearly overly-excited Mingwu down, who seemed to be trying to point at the contenders to ask him about them.
It's Mingyi's reaction that catches Yuying's eye.
Even from where she was seated, Yuying could see Mingyi gripping the side of his wheelchair even harder than he usually would.
He's gripping onto the sides so tightly that even though they were being slightly concealed by his long sleeves, Yuying could see that his knuckles were turning white.
Yuying furrows internally.
/Interesting./
/Why is Mingyi reacting like that?/
/Is there something about this Zheng Yimeng...?/
However, before Yuying can even process her thoughts, Yimeng bows and ends her introduction before stepping back to allow for the next contender to introduce herself.
"Your Majesty, Second Prince Zhao," the second contender greets.
"My name is Hua Maque, and I'm eighteen years old this year," she introduces herself, "I'll be graduating from Shengxian Academy soon, where I'm one of the top martial artists on the Shengxian Martial Arts Team."
The first thing that catches Yuying's attention isn't Maque's appearance, but her name.
/Hua Maque...as in...flower sparrow?/
Yuying couldn't help but feel amused by the second contender's name.
/That's a pretty interesting name./
/I've never met anyone with that name before./
Maque's appearance was just as unique as her name, too.
Even in her gorgeous blue robes, which had befittingly been designed with the embroidery of flowers and sparrows on it, Maque just didn't give off the vibe of a typical demure and soft-spoken girl.
In fact, Maque didn't seem to be herself in the robes that she was currently wearing.
Her raven hair was tied neatly in two buns that sat atop her head. There were two short matching baby blue ribbons wrapped around each of them.
/She kind of reminds me of Chunli from Street Fighter. Oh, and Hua Mulan too./
Yuying muses.
/Yeah, that's right, she looks like a mix of Chunli and Hua Mulan. All of them do martial arts./
/She even has the same surname as Hua Mulan, for crying out loud./
/They're literally the same person, except that her name is Hua Maque./
Just then, Maque looks up and locks eyes with Yuying.
Maque sticks her tongue out at Yuying so subtly and swiftly that the latter wouldn't have caught it had she blinked.
Yuying furrows internally.
/Huh?/
/What was that?/
/Does Ming'er know her or something...?/
However, before Yuying can dwell any further, the next contender steps forward as soon as Maque returns to her place.
The third contender bows.
"Your Majesty, Second Prince Zhao," she greets.
She then lifts up her head.
Yuying immediately widens her eyes when she sees the third contender's face.
/What the fuck...?/
/Why does she.../
/Why does she look exactly like.../
"My name is Liu Yuqi, and I'm twenty years old this year," the third contender greets, "I graduated from Tuohua Academy, where I skipped two grades and emerged at the top of my cohort."
"I am currently known as the youngest and only female doctor in all of the Zhao Empire," Yuqi continues.
"Aside from that, I'm also known as a child prodigy in playing the guzheng." she concludes proudly.
Yuying gapes at Yuqi with wide eyes.
/I can't believe it./
/The resemblance is uncanny./
She gulps.
/Why does she look exactly like Yuqing...?/
/Not only that, their names sound extremely similar too, Liu Yuqing and Liu Yuqi.../
/Moreover, they're both doctors who play the guzheng.../
Yuqi notices Yuying's eyes on her. She takes the opportunity to tuck a loose strand of hair that had escaped from the clutches of one of her pins behind her ear as she gazes up at Yuying longingly.
She's flirting with Yuying.
Yuying resists the urge to puke in her mouth. Not because there's a girl flirting with her, but because the said girl looks exactly like her older sister.
/No way.../
/This can't all be just a coincidence.../
/They're way too similar to each other...!/
Even though Yuying had only just met Yuqi, she could tell that her mannerisms and from the way that she spoke were more or less like that of her older sister.
This was especially so from the way that she'd so boldly flirted with her, in front of the Emperor and the Empress, just a few seconds ago.
Even Yuqi's fashion sense was similar to Yuqing's. She was wearing a baby pink robe with intricate cherry blossom designs embroidered onto it.
Yuqi's long, slightly wavy dark hair had been carefully braided, a cherry blossom pin carefully weaved into each segment with a matching baby pink ribbon holding it together.
Yuying doesn't think it's merely a coincidence that Yuqing's favorite color was pink too. And the fact that she used 'Cherry' as her English name in the workplace.
/Is she the equivalent of Yuqing in this ancient Chinese universe...?/
Yet again, the next contender steps forward before Yuying can continue to dwell.
It's only the first three contenders, but Yuying already feels overwhelmed.
...
Aside from Zheng Yimeng, Hua Maque, and Liu Yuqi, Yuying honestly doesn't remember the rest of the contenders' names.
After all of the contenders have done their introductions, the Emperor gets up from his throne and claps his hands together.
"Now that all of the contenders have done their introductions," he says, "It's time for us to move on to the talent showcase segment."
"Ladies," the Emperor addresses the contenders, "You have five minutes each to prepare for your items."
"You shall go in the order that you've done your instructions in earlier." he elaborates.
The Emperor then sits back down on his throne and waves his hand.
"Your time starts now," he declares.
"All the best, ladies."