The Emperor and Empress spent nearly an hour talking with Manbao, digging out Bai Cheng's background. They even found out about how he was carried into the classroom with his eyes closed by the servants when he was a child.
The Emperor listened with great interest and then said to the Empress, "Compared to our Mingda, he's far behind."
Despite saying this, after Zhou Man left, he still kept Bai Cheng on the list. He had only chosen two others besides him, both conveniently being residents of the capital.
First, the Emperor noticed they were interested in becoming a consort, and second, their families were in the capital, so in the future, Mingda would remain in the capital, making it easier for the palace to look after them.
When the Empress saw the list he made, she directly said, "Your Majesty, why don't you ask Mingda?"
She added, "The child just met them today, ask her what she thinks."
