Pei Xuan was not surprised that the young people in the aristocratic circle had a lot of fun.
But what they were fantasizing about at the moment was Pei Qingyu, who had become their private property, and Pei Xuan felt a little unhappy.
Although he didn't show it clearly, Wei Jinping still noticed something strange.
"Master Pei, please don't misunderstand me. I'm truly sincere to your sister," Wei Jinping said. "You're a man too, so I'm sure you understand. Your sister is the fourth most beautiful of the 'Twelve Beauties of the Imperial Academy.' What man wouldn't want to be in her presence?"
Pei Xuan didn't bother to pay attention to Wei Jinping's explanation, but he became interested in a word he said: "The Twelve Beauties of the Imperial Academy? What are those?"
"Taixue is another name for the Imperial College," Du Xicheng replied. "The Twelve Beauties of the Imperial College are twelve beauties selected by the male students on the Imperial College forum."
Yuchi Lin added, "It's commonly known as the 'school beauty rankings'."
Pei Xuan was surprised: "The Imperial College also has a forum?"
Du Xicheng was also surprised: "You don't know this either?"
The Imperial College Forum is a software similar to Tieba, which can be logged in with student ID and campus pass password.
Pei Xuan opened the homepage and among the featured hot posts were the Twelve Beauties of the Imperial Academy selected this year.
He clicked on it, skipped the initial nonsense, and what came into his sight was a familiar face.
"Xiao Chi is only ranked twelfth?" Pei Xuan said in surprise.
"Do you know my sister?" Yuchi Lin asked in surprise.
Pei Xuan calmly explained: "Our sisters are best friends."
Although Pei Xuan had only met Yuchi Chi once, he was deeply impressed.
Yuchi Chi's appearance and figure are comparable to Pei Qingyu's, but he can only be ranked last. Pei Xuan can't help but look forward to this ranking more.
"Ms. Yuchi is too tall," Du Xicheng explained to Pei Xuan's surprise, "so some points were deducted."
"What's wrong with this height?" Pei Xuan didn't understand. "I can play with such long legs for a whole year!"
Before he finished speaking, Pei Xuan suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately looked at Yuchi Lin, who indeed looked embarrassed.
The other two laughed. Wei Jinping said, "Mr. Pei is indeed a hero of our generation. He's quick-witted and outspoken, unlike Pei Qingye who is so prudish. Now, our four young masters of the aristocratic families are finally complete."
"The fourth young master of an aristocratic family? Why not the eighth young master?" Pei Xuan asked, "Aren't there eight young masters in an aristocratic family?"
"There are indeed eight of us," Wei Jinping said meaningfully, "but we are the only ones who belong to the imperial party."
Pei Xuan's eyes were shocked, and then he realized belatedly: Pei, Wei, Du, and Yuchi, aren't these the current imperial party?
The current emperor of the Daliang Empire is named Xiao Yunzheng. He is the second son of the previous emperor and originally had no chance of becoming emperor.
His wife, Wei Junxian, is the younger sister of the current head of the Wei family and the aunt of Wei Jinping.
She was ambitious and good at using power, and she even defeated the crown prince at that time and helped her mediocre husband ascend to the throne.
Less than two years after Xiao Yunzheng ascended the throne, his health began to deteriorate and he needed to recuperate all year round. The power of the court then fell into the hands of Queen Wei Junxian.
She asked her ministers to give Xiao Yunzheng the title of "Emperor of Heaven" and herself the title of "Empress of Heaven", thus beginning her era of ruling from behind the curtain, which has lasted for ten years.
Xiao Yunzheng and Wei Junxian have five children in total. The ones who have grown up are the 24-year-old eldest daughter Xiao Yulan and the 20-year-old eldest son Xiao Yufeng.
According to convention, Xiao Yufeng, the eldest son, was named crown prince at the age of fifteen and was the future emperor of the Daliang Empire.
However, Xiao Yulan, the eldest princess, was becoming more and more powerful, and was already posing a threat to the position of the crown prince.
Although there is a tradition of male superiority and female inferiority in this world, the status of women is relatively not low, especially for upper-class women.
Because the royal power in this world is based on cultivation, and cultivation does not distinguish between men and women.
By the time Pei Xuan lived, monogamy had become a deeply rooted law, and even the emperor could only have four concubines at most.
Regarding the right of inheritance, from the eight great families onwards, the order of inheritance has been established as "regardless of gender, only seniority". Only the royal family still insists on the order of inheritance of men first and women later, but Xiao Yulan is obviously ready to challenge this convention.
Putting aside gender, Xiao Yulan is superior to her younger brother Xiao Yufeng in terms of ability, bearing and prestige. Therefore, she has many supporters. The Changsun and Yu families among the eight major families clearly stand behind her. These people are called the "Princess Party".
As the legitimate crown prince, Xiao Yufeng naturally had public supporters, such as the Chai and Duan families among the eight major families. These people were called the "Prince Party."
Apart from these four families, the Wei, Pei, Du and Yuchi families neither expressed support for the crown prince nor for the eldest princess.
They called themselves the "Emperor's Party" in order to remain neutral and not offend anyone, and in order to please the Queen Mother Wei Junxian, because the real ruler of the Daliang Empire had not yet made a choice between her own children.
The disputes among these important figures in the court were still far away from Pei Xuan for the time being. He stopped thinking about these things and started reading the post again.
The eleventh one is also from the Yuchi family.
"Yuchi Qingzhou?" Pei Xuan asked doubtfully, "Is this your sister again?"
Yuchi Lin replied: "She is the daughter of a branch family, so she is my cousin."
Tenth place, Changsun Xiu, this is the legitimate daughter of the Changsun family.
Ninth place------
"This..." Pei Xuan laughed out loud, "Can they be ranked on equal footing?"
The ninth place is the pretty twin lolita pair Pei Siqing and Pei Siyin.
"Of course." Wei Jinping smiled. "Your two sisters are twins. Can they be sorted separately?"
Eighth place, Duan Miaomiao, the legitimate daughter of the Duan family.
Seventh place, Changsun Qingluan. Although she is a concubine's daughter of a branch family, her ranking is higher than Changsun Xiu, the legitimate daughter of the main family.
Sixth place, Yu Zhichu, this is the legitimate daughter of the Yu family.
The fifth one is another face that Pei Xuan had met before - Chai Rongxu.
The fourth place is Pei Xuan's dear sister Pei Qingyu.
Third place, Wei Jinshu, this is Wei Jinping's biological sister.
Second place, Du Xining, this is the legitimate daughter of the Du family.
First place, Xiao Yuchen, the third princess of the current royal family, is only eleven years old and is in the first grade.
"Tsk tsk, even an eleven-year-old girl can make it to the list, and she ranks first." Pei Xuan didn't know how to comment for a moment.
"We're not trying to curry favor with the powerful. Her Highness the Third Princess is truly the most prestigious empress in the Imperial College," Yuchi Lin argued. "Every male student in the Imperial College voted fairly and impartially."
"Yes, Master Pei, don't underestimate her just because she's only eleven." Wei Jinping said with a smile, "She's known as the 'True Princess'!"