Zhilhao Shuz spent the rest of the day and night sleeping lightly in the carriage, which, true to his maid servant/handler's words, whose name he'd learned was Jiane Bia, didn't stop once, nor was he given any food making when he woke up the following morning, making it 72 hours sense hed last eaten. Zhilhao Shuz woke up to Jiane Bia roughly retouching his makeup and making sure his hair pins were in place before yelling at him to sit up straight as they were about to enter the capital, warning him sternly that if he didnt preform perfectly for this first impression that she would make sure he didn't eat this day either. This threat, it turned out, was very effective as, under threat of his stomach hurting any more than it already did, he turned perfectly docile and sat straight as a rod for the entire rest of the ride to the imperial palace. As Zhilhao Shuz's carriage neared the palace, he attempted to look out the window, hoping to get a glimpse of the city he'd only ever heard about in stories or books,s only for Jiane Bia to roughly yank him back by the wrist with bruising force. She continued to hold his wrist in this fashion up until the carriage slowed slightly as they passed through what Zhilhao Shuz assumed was the outer gates, after which Zhilhao Shuz was quickly unloaded from the carriage,e only to be ushered into a litter which was carried by four muscled guards. This final stretch of his jurney which lasted over an hour in the trek to the inner palace, was Zhilhao Shuz's favorite stretch of the journey by far, as Jiane Bia wasnt aloud into the litter with him and was forced to walk the whole distance with everyone else, much to her distress and Zhilhao Shuz's delight.
—------
Zhilhao Shuz shaded his eyes as he stepped out of the litter onto a beautiful courtyard, where he was introduced to two young girls who he was told would be his handmaidens for the remainder of his stay. He was then gently lead to a pavilion know as the beautiful spring palace which he would stay with the other candidates up until the top ten was reached where in they would each be given their own smaller pavilion for the remainder of their stay with the expectation that the first five out of the fifteen contestants would be removed from the palace and banished back to their respective provinces and that the remaining ten would even after being disqualified stay in the palace up until the end of the contest when the prince would chose out of the remaining nine (as one would have won and become crown princes) he would like to keep as his concorts and concubines and who he would send back to their respective provinces in disgrace. As Zhilhao Shuz entered the beautiful spring palace, he relized much to his dismay, that he appeared to be the final one to arrive. Zhilhao Shuz stepped through the door, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light. When he opened his eyes once again, he found himself standing right in front of a circle of beautiful women who seemed to have been in the midst of a conversation before he arrived, but were now just staring at him.