Fifth Princess did not know that she had almost died just now.
“Greetings to Mother from Tong’er.” Seeing that Princess Royal had arrived, Mo Xuetong moved forth to pay her respects.
“What took Tong’er so long? I waited for quite a while already. Come, let me examine your foot.” Princess Royale moved her glance from the beautiful face of Mo Xuetong to Bai Yihao. She squinted her eyes as a simmer of light flashed across her eyes, so fast that Mo Xuetong could not even tell the emotion they concealed.
“Aunty, it’s rare for me to meet Anping. Perhaps we can visit your palace? I heard that your plum wine is ready for consumption. Is it possible to gift one cup to Xueyu?” Fifth Princess blinked repeatedly with a pleading smile, completely different from her malicious expression just now. She had transformed into a naive and cute girl again.
If Mo Xuetong did not see what had just happened, she would have been completely fooled by Fifth Princess.
“Alright, come together. Yihao, do you want to join?” Princess Royal asked, turning her head at Bai Yihao.
“Since Aunty invited me, I naturally have to oblige and have a taste of your plum wine.” Bai Yihao smiled. His face was as beautiful as flowers in spring, elegant yet profound. He was as pure as the moon but yet as delicate as a fairy. His long sleeves were slightly exposed, accentuating his gracefulness. It was almost inevitable for everyone to focus their glance on him. It wasn’t unnatural for Fifth Princess to like him.
Mo Xuetong thought to herself silently as she kept her gaze to herself. Supported by Mo Lan, she followed Princess Royal to Mingzhu Palace.
She did not believe that Princess Royale just happened to pass by the area. Even though everyone knew when she will be entering the palace, they would not be aware of when she would be leaving. Just when Feng Yuran left, Fifth Princess appeared, followed by Princess Royal coming over to help her. This meant that Feng Yuran had probably already negotiated with the Empress already. She was touched thinking about his help even though he wasn’t at her side.
Princess Royal’s Mingzhu Palace had always been a quiet place. A parrot in the garden shouted excited as it saw numerous guests approaching, “Guests here, guests here! Lanruo, come and welcome our guests!”
Everyone was slightly stunned by the words and chuckled. This place was not like the formal and proper palace, but the casual and elegant room of a beautiful woman.
“Oh my, how can my Eighth Brother teach the parrot such crude words. Aunty, let me find you a beautiful one tomorrow that can speak properly.” Fifth Princess chuckled and suggested.
“Don’t waste your effort. You know your Eighth Brother. If you send a different one here, he will train it again. I will make do with this. Anyways, it only knows these few crude sentences, it’s not that terrible.” Princess Royal followed her gaze onto the parrot and smiled gently, with her eyes and lips curved up in the shape of a crescent moon.
The door opened, and Princess Royal’s head servant Lanruo came out to bring everyone into the hall.
It was already dusk and the sun was setting, bringing its last bit of warmth into the hall. However, the wind was strong as well. Princess Royal asked the servants to bring up the newly brewed plum wine, and Lanruo followed her orders immediately. Before long, a jar of wine was brought in.
Placing a jade bowl in front of each guest, Lanruo poured a cup of wine for each of them.
Before even drinking the wine, a simmer of cool plum fragrance emerged from the clear wine.
A sip of the wine brings a taste of refreshing sweetness. The wine is not cloying and is extremely easy to enjoy. As it travels down the gullet, it warms the body, creating comfort.
“Indeed a good wine! Aunty, how many jars do you still have? Can you gift one to me for a party at my palace tomorrow? I will invite you over to drink as well.” Fifth Princess pleaded, “You cannot be stingy now that both my cousin and I are present!”
She mentioned Bai Yihao in her speech but he was busy playing with the chess pieces, not noticing her as well. Remembering her gentle glance towards Mo Xuetong just now, and his indifference towards her, she became annoyed. However, she dared not vent her anger on Bai Yihao, and could only stare at Mo Xuetong.
Mo Xuetong quietly removed her gaze from Bai Yihao’s chess pieces before holding up her jade cup to sip on her wine.
She did not want to be involved in this matter and was only curious about what Bai Yihao was doing. It was not necessary to have invoked such a jealous response from Fifth Princess.
“I don’t have much wine anymore. I am running out after gifting Empress Dowager. If Xueyu wants any, you can come over and drink.” Princess Royal smiled politely.
She truly had only a few left after gifting Empress Dowager some. Furthermore, she had not gifted any to the Empress and thus would be inappropriate to gift any to Fifth Princess. That made Fifth Princess even more frustrated as she had always been in the center of attention, and was always pampered, never neglected or rejected. However, she dared not be angry at Princess Royal as well.
Although Princess Royal stayed alone in the palace, she was well trusted by Empress Dowager and Emperor Zongwen, and might not even listen to her mother. Thus, it was expected to be rejected. However, Fifth Princess got more furious at the thought of being rejected in front of Bai Yihao. She could only vent her anger on Mo Xuetong and disliked her more and more, more so that she wanted to destroy that seductive face.
Furthermore, she could promise to have seen that little bitch smile when Princess Royal rejected her.
Mo Xuetong, however, was extremely innocent. As she had offended Fifth Princess without even speaking much.
“Aunt, did you know that my father specially invited Princess Anping here today? It was because she did not participate in the feast today and so father did not see her. I didn’t expect Princess Anping to be so adored by Father, so much so that the palace agreed that she comes in a sedan chair.” Fifth Princess glanced at Mo Xuetong once before walking to Bai Yihao’s side to sit beside him.
She then tugged at his sleeves and whined, “Isn’t that true, cousin?”
Bai Yihao pulled his sleeve back quietly and smiled faintly as if he had not heard anything. Frowning, he focused on the chess pieces below and ignored her.
That sentence implied that Emperor Zongwen was having an affair with Mo Xuetong. If this rumor spread, Mo Xuetong would be ruined as no one would dare marry her. The malice of Fifth Princess was beyond just arguing, she wanted to frame Mo Xuetong as well.
Even if she defended herself, it would not work well. Of course, Fifth Princess did not know that Feng Yuran allowed Mo Xuetong into the palace or she would have kept her mouth shut for fear of offending the even more arrogant Feng Yuran. Feng Yuran was someone dominant in character, and was well-loved by Emperor Zongwen as well. Thus, no one dared to provoke him.
“Xueyu, watch your words! A princess should be careful with what she says!” Princess Royal’s expression changed and she chided Xueyu.
Fifth Princess was shocked and stared at the usually graceful Princess Royal in disbelief.
“Tong’er was invited into the palace by the Emperor for the matter concerning your Eight Brother. If Xueyu’s rumor spreads, are you not afraid that the Emperor be angry at you? Even your mother dared not misinterpret the meaning of the Emperor’s words.” Princess Royal smirked as she stared furiously with a cold gaze. The elegant and gentle Princess Royal had changed.
Fifth Princess was scared out of her wits after having understood what Princess Royal meant. A cold shiver ran up her spine as she stared at the cold unforgiving face of Princess Royal. Suddenly, she remembered that when she was young, she saw her mother being chided by her father when hiding in mother’s bedroom. Her father was furious while her elegant mother was on all fours, kneeling on the ground trembling, not daring to speak. She had been severely warned by her father.
Because of that, her mother almost lost her position as the Empress. Her crime was misinterpreting the Emperor’s words, and that scared even the proud Fifth Princess.
“Aunt, I didn’t…” Fifth Princess rushed to explain herself.
“Regardless of whether you meant it, you need to remember your status as the princess of the royal family. You need to maintain the decency of the royal family. If even a girl like you gossip about your father and your brothers, what will the others think about the royal family? What will others think about your father’s reputation?” Princess Royal explained calmly, disappointed.
The chill from her spine made Fifth Princess recall that terrible moment of Emperor Zongwen’s anger. She grabbed Bai Yihao’s hand and explained, “Aunt, I wasn’t spreading rumors. Both my cousin and I saw Princess Anping come from my father’s palace. Am I right, cousin?”
She wanted Bai Yihao to help her.
“Fifth Princess, so what if you see Princess Anping come from the Emperor’s palace? Did you not hear that King Xuan came with her?” Bai Yihao smiled and went to pick up a chess piece, pulling his sleeve away from Fifth Princess naturally.
“I heard that the princess is well-versed in the skills of chess, will you have a game with me?” He pulled his sleeve with one hand, holding a chess piece on the other hand as he invited Mo Xuetong, ignoring the pale Fifth Princess and her resentful glance.
He had completely ignored the true princess of the royal family!
Hearing Bai Yihao, Fifth Princess was not staring at Mo Xuetong with a chilling poisonous glance. She held on the whip in her sleeves and resisted her urge to whip the beautiful face of Mo Xuetong. She had focused all her jealousy and malice on Mo Xuetong! Ever since she saw Bai Yihao, she loved him. However, he had always had a nonchalant attitude towards her, making her unable to comprehend him.
However, he came forth to invite another woman and was smiling at another woman. This was great shame and defeat to Fifth Princess. She ground her teeth and her fear of Princess Royal dissipated, replaced by hatred of the beautiful face in front of her.
How dare the daughter of a small third-grade official oppose her! How could she wink at cousin and seduce cousin! The only thing good about her was her seductive face. Fifth Princess swore to herself that she would make Mo Xuetong pay as a simmer of hatred ran across her eyes. However, she knew that it was not the right time and slowly changed her expression to one of embarrassment. When facing Princess Royal again, she was smiling.
“Aunt, I was wrong. I dare not do that again. Please keep this secret while I hurry back now and copy scriptures to pray for the health of father.” Before Princess Royal could reply, she turned back and left. However, when she was turning the corner, she glanced at Mo Xuetong with hatred and snickered.
“That little bitch used her seductive face to seduce all these men! I shall destroy her life! I don’t believe that cousin can ask to marry that little bitch.”
Mo Xuetong had been forcefully retained by Bai Yihao in the pretense of a chess match. She sighed silently as she knew that Fifth Princess now hated her. Looking at the handsome Bai Yihao, she became more and more frustrated. Without him, she could at least get Fifth Princess not to hate her, and might even become a good friend of Fifth Princess. The glance Fifth Princess threw at her when she left meant that she hated her.
This man wanted to utilize her to make the situation more confusing. He was extremely dangerous.
“I didn’t expect Your Highness to have good chess skills along with good dance and Qin skills.” As if he had not noticed her hidden frustration, Bai Yihao smiled as he placed a white piece onto the chessboard.
Collecting her thoughts, Mo Xuetong smiled. “Thank you for your compliment, Sir Bai. It is merely minor skills.”
Before her rebirth, she was always unwanted and had to focus on training her skills to find inner peace. After being reborn, she wanted herself to do better. Regardless of any weather conditions, she would trained her dance, Qin, writing and drawing every day. For revenge, she could do even more and better.
It had always been easier to be cruel to other than to yourself. She could be completely cruel to herself and thus practicing such minor skills meant nothing to her.
Bai Yihao’s forlorn eyes fall on her as he judged her silently before smiling handsomely, while his pupils seemed to be harboring a deep secret. He placed down his white pawn and asked quietly, “Princess Anping, did you remember the Qin arrangement that you gifted me that day. It was a unique piece and Empress Dowager was delighted to see that. She specially asked me for the origins of the arrangements as such a piece could not be found even within the palace.”
A simmer of light flashed across Mo Xuetong’s heart as she hastily placed down her black pawn, with a thousand thoughts racing across her mind. After a while, she explained, “It is rare to come across such a unique piece of Qin arrangement. In the previous dynasty, a few pieces of Qin arrangements were left outside the palace as these men refused to join the court as officials. What a pity.”
