“My younger sister is no good and is not worthy of such praise from King Xuan. Furthermore, my younger sister is already promised to someone else. She came to accompany my mother today.” Even though You Yuecheng was unhappy, he still smiled as he answered.
“Oh, she’s already engaged! That’s a pity. I wonder if you renege on that?” Feng Yuran did not look away because she was engaged. Instead, he smiled and turned to look at You Yuecheng carelessly.
You Yuecheng’s expression changed drastically as he stuttered, lost for words. “This…”
“Eighth Brother, the reputation of noble ladies are very important. The lady of the Mingguo Manor is a famous talented lady in the capital and has a stellar reputation. Don’t joke around and ruin her reputation.” Feng Yuxuan smiled as he helped You Yuecheng. He made Feng Yuran’s discussion of You Yue’e sound like a joke in just a few words, calming the stirring storm that had been caused by Feng Yuran.
You Yuecheng heaved a gentle sigh of relief and looked at Feng Yuxuan gratefully.
“Miss You is a famous talented lady in the capital, and Elder Brother knows about it as well. I have only just returned not long ago and did not know about this. I thought that all the noble ladies are all the same. That they are kept in their homes and no one knows about them. That’s why I was so impressed by Miss You when I first saw her! So this is so, and everyone knows about it!
Feng Yuran did not grow angry because of Feng Yuxuan’s interruption. Instead, he laughed and leaned towards Feng Yuxuan, looking as if he had found someone who had the same interests as him. He even lowered his voice intentionally as he said, “Elder Brother, tell me, other than Miss You, who is the most beautiful amongst the noble ladies?”
Even though he spoke softly, it was loud enough for Feng Yulei, You Yuecheng and the other noblemen in front of him to hear clearly.
You Yuecheng’s face flushed red and Feng Yuxuan’s smile froze. The fan that he had been waving in his hand did not move as freely as it did. After a moment, he said to Feng Yuran softly and sternly, “Eighth Brother, Father put us three in charge of the banquet tonight. It is impolite to discuss the noble ladies here.”
This was especially since he did not look the slightest bit respectful when he talked about the ladies. He seemed more like he was talking about the girls in brothels. What did he mean by everyone knew? He was saying that these noble ladies had been going out and appearing in public and did not know any etiquette. He had mentioned You Yue’e especially, so how could You Yuecheng not flush with embarrassment?
Feng Yuran’s eyes shone like the stars in the night sky when he heard what Feng Yuxuan said. His eyes swept around him and then, he poured Feng Yuxuan a glass of wine and handed it to him. He winked at him and said softly, looking as if everyone knew exactly what they were saying, “Elder Brother, rest assured. I won’t say anything now. I will go over to yours later and you can tell me everything in detail about this most beautiful girl.”
Feng Yuxuan’s expression grew ugly while Feng Yulei’s expression grew even uglier. The green veins on his forehead throbbed. Even though he looked in front of him with a smile, he gripped the glass in his hand tightly.
Who was the most beautiful girl in the capital? It was of course, Ling Fengyan of the Ding General Manor. That was the Queen he had chosen. The two had grown up together and had liked each other since young. Furthermore, the Empress had hinted before, that as long as he ascended the throne, the Ling family will send him a suitable candidate as Empress. Who else could it be other than Ling Fengyan? As such, he had already treated Ling Fengyan as his woman.
But that day, he heard his men say that Feng Yuxuan had brought Ling Fengyan to the lantern festival at night. Then, the two had gone to a private booth in Fragrance House alone. How could Feng Yulei bear that? He walked around his house for a bit before charging to Fragrance House angrily with his men.
Fortunately, he was still rational and knew how to behave graciously when he got his men to knock down the door to the private booth in Fragrance House. Fortunately, they were just chatting inside as well and nothing inappropriate happened as he imagined. The three left, chatting happily, and returned to their own homes. Nothing inappropriate happened.
But, it was still a thorn in his heart!
Now that he heard that Feng Yuxuan still wanted to discuss Ling Fengyan with the playboy Feng Yuran, Feng Yulei felt anger rushing into his head. He was about to explode.
Feng Yulei was not the only one about to explode of anger. Feng Yuxuan’s forehead throbbed and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. Then, they turned gentle again and he accepted the wine that Feng Yuran held out to him. He took a sip and placed it on the table before pouring Feng Yuran another glass. He smiled and said, “Eighth Brother, Father was angry at the many dancers and singers in your manor a few days ago. He only agreed to let you out for the celebration tonight. You mustn’t make him angry again. It is better not to be so lusty.”
His handsome and elegant appearance, coupled with his sincere smile and the soft sigh as he patted Feng Yuran’s shoulder made him appeared to be a good elder brother who was trying to persuade a philandering younger brother.
“Eighth Brother, Elder Brother is right. You must not say something like this again when you see Father later. Your idea for tonight was good and Father intends to reward you. I heard that Father used 999 pearls to make the most beautiful lantern. We will see who will get it later.” Feng Yulei calmed down then and smiled at Feng Yuxuan, changing the topic.
“Many thanks for your teachings, Elder Brothers. I will definitely not say that much. I have to make Father give me that lantern no matter what. Eldest Brother, Third Brother, you two mustn’t fight me for it. I need the lantern for something urgent.” Feng Yuran narrowed his handsome eyes, and his gaze flitted from a servant who hurried in.
“Alright, Eldest Brother won’t fight you for it since you have use for it.”
“Do you need Third Brother to help you?”
No one would fall behind if they could use such a toy to win Feng Yuran’s goodwill.
Speaking of the sea of lanterns at the lantern festival tonight, it was made of hundreds of thousands of lanterns that were of various shapes. Everyone spoke about it and they talked about the beautiful lanterns and how they were different from the ones outside. These lanterns were crafted by palace craftsmen. They were all different and were elegant and luxurious.
The ladies on the other island were ready to perform then. Because there were too many of them, not everyone can perform. The Empress picked a few ladies. Some of them were going to play on instruments, others were going to dance, recite poetry, and sing. Some of the ladies even passed them their poetry for them to critique.
In order to make it entertaining, Feng Yuxuan also asked the gentlemen on the island on the left to each write a poem to send to the ladies for their critique. The palace maids came and went, and one could see palace maids holding on to a stack of paper passing by each other.
The way of critiquing was simple. The names were hidden and the papers were passed around to all the ladies. If they liked the poem, they would put a tick on it. The poem with the most number of ticks would win. The ladies’ poems would be handled in the same manner. No one would know who had written the poem, but look at whether the poem was stellar or not. The poems were not judged by those on the main table like in the past and this seemed even fairer.
Because of the bustle, the Empress allowed the ladies who ere performing to continue while the other ladies prepared their poetry to be sent to the other island. This would save some from being able to perform while some won’t and feel bad about it.
Mo Xuemin felt uncomfortable. In fact, she felt extremely uncomfortable. She wrung the handkerchief in her hand and almost could not keep the gentle smile on her face. She had always thought that she was beautiful and intelligent, and could be considered one of the more outstanding noble girls in the capital. However, the Empress had not called on her today, so how could the smile on her face not stiffen?
Almost all the noble ladies standing with her earlier had all been picked except for her. She was still feeling rather mopey about it when she suddenly heard the Empress suggest that the noble ladies who had not been picked to write a poem or a phrase. This would be sent to the other island for the noblemen to critique. Mo Xuemin’s eyes brightened immediately.
She did not object and immediately wrote a poem to be shuffled in the pile of poems.
“Eldest Sister, what did you write? Can you show it to me?” Mo Xuetong sat beside Mo Xuemin with a small smile. Her eyes landed on Mo Xuemin’s poem, which she had not yet folded up. Her smiling gaze immediately deepened, and in just a moment, filled with hate and anger. Her fingers stabbed into her palms under her sleeve and her expression turned cold.
“Two butterflies on a splendid dress, red rouge was unevenly spread. Standing alone in a colorful dress, waiting for the swallow to come back in the mild rain.”
How could she not recognize that poem? It was just one word away. It was the exact same poem that Sima Lingyun had wrote for her in her past life when they first met. He said that even though she had been disfigured, she was still the most beautiful woman to him. She had been wearing a dress with two butterflies on it. Because she had just came out from the mourning period, Mother Xu had insisted that she wore a brightly colored dress. Mo Xueqiong had even mocked her because of that, saying that ugly people always liked to do extra things. She had almost been pushed by Mo Xueqiong into the lotus pond.
Sima Lingyun had entered her heart then. She remembered how he had appeared like a gentleman and helped her up after she was pushed onto the ground by Mo Xueqiong. He brought her to rest at the pavilion by the side and praised her lovingly. He had written that poem right there and then, and that was how she, who had been weak and helpless, had fallen for him at first sight. Then, because of Auntie Fang’s instigation, she insisted on marrying him despite the objections from her grandparents and her father.
She understood everything when she saw this poem in Mo Xuemin’s hands.
In her past life, she had only found out by accident that the poem in Sima Lingyun’s poetry book was not in fact authored by himself. He had used the fruits of someone else’s labor. Furthermore, this had happened many years ago. Sima Lingyun had claimed to have written it himself with the permission of the original author. It had been done just to make the Duke’s manor look better, so no one knew about it.
However, she did not know how Sima Lingyun would react when he finds out that Mo Xuemin had stolen his poem.
Furthermore, that person was at the banquet as well.
Mo Xuetong’s smile grew brilliant once more, like the flowers that had just bloomed in spring. Her smile was so stunning that Mo Xuemin, who had just turned around, could not actually pick on it.
“It’s just alright. I just thought about it and wrote it down.” Mo Xuemin smiled and answered humbly. She looked around her at the other noble ladies who were still thinking, and could not help but smile, pleased with herself. She had already gained the upper hand in terms of speed. Furthermore, she felt that the poem was really apt for right now. This scene and these feelings, the splendid dress and the beautiful girl were all present.
There would definitely be many noble ladies who agreed with her poem.
She covered the poem with her hand, blocking it from Mo Xuetong, and folded it. She handed the paper to a palace maid beside her and then went to the side to wash her hands. Most of the noble girls had already completed their poems by this time. Mo Xuetong also went to wash her hands and returned to her seat.
