The Heiress’ Banquet was held in Boya Pavilion which was rather spacious and had an architectural style that retained the original layout of traditional houses. The courtyard was beautiful and there was a balcony, artificial lakes, mountains, and exquisite botany.
Although it was not as mysterious or posh as Shande Mansion, it was much more elegant and classy. It was also rather well known in Capital city. However, the backyard of Boya Pavilion was rarely accessible to the public even though it was open for business. Only the guests of the Heiress’ Gala, which was held once every three years, were allowed to appreciate the beauty of Boya Pavilion’s courtyard.
It had something to do with the owner of the Boya Pavilion.
The owner was a lady who was close to Old Mr. Mo’s wife, Ren Yuqian. The two of them were known as “The Beautiful Sisters”, not only because of their looks, but also because of their characters, virtues, and mannerisms. Hence, everyone approved of her idea to host the Heiress’ Gala.
Unfortunately, Ren Yuqian fell seriously ill after giving birth to their only daughter, Mo Yunyao. She soon passed away at a young age, leaving her other bosom sister all alone. As time passed, her beauty faded and she was no longer as attractive as she used to be.
Only those who knew of her in the past would sometimes sigh at how she turned out.
At about nine in the morning, the invited heiresses arrived one after another. In order to express their respect for the occasion, they all showed up dressed to the nines in exquisite clothing and jewelry that they rarely wore. They also had on full faces of makeup and competed with each other. They were all trying their best to be the most outstanding one.
The most outstanding ones were Lin Yingxin and Xia Ruya, without a doubt.
Lin Yingxin scanned Xia Ruya from head to toe and said with a tender smile, “Ruya, you’re really beautiful today. None of the beauties here can compare.”
Xia Ruya was dressed in a white floral dress that was cinched at the waist with a floral belt. The graceful hem trailed behind her back beautifully.
The weather in October had begun to turn cold. Hence, Xia Ruya put on a rose-red cardigan on which there were stacks of roses, which made her fair and tender face look like a rose that was blooming in the snow. The more vibrant she looked, the more graceful she was.
Even Lin Yingxin had no choice but to admit that Xia Ruya was beautiful and had great sartorial sense. Most importantly…
She could not stop staring at the complete set of ruby jewelry on Xia Ruya’s body, which was fiery red. She could not help but feel envious and inferior. Although she was dressed beautifully, she laked a presentable set of jewelry.
Xia Ruya smiled and said, “You’re the one who’s as beautiful as a fairy. Look, everyone’s secretly staring at you.”
Lin Yingxin was dressed in a harem-style ensemble with a reasonable amount of jewelry. The pink-colored bandeau dress accentuated her svelte figure and her thin, light-green-colored shawl that resembled the plants on the surface of the lake.
Her figure was slender and she looked just like a fairy on the clouds.
“We’re standing next to each other. How do you know that they’re looking at me and not you?” Lin Yingxin teased on purpose before subconsciously glancing in the direction of Xia Ruya’s gaze. Indeed, some girls glanced at her every now and then. Her discomfort slowly vanished as well.
Although Xia Ruya was pretty, Lin Yingxin was not too far behind.
Xia Ruya smiled and said, “Who else could they be looking at except you? You’re known as a talented girl in Capita City. Everyone here admires you. Besides, you’re one of the judges this time. Everyone is dying to suck up to you.”
No matter how lavishly she was dressed, she would only attract the attention of others for a while, unlike Lin Yingxin, who was attending the gala for the second time. She was known to be beautiful, virtuous and talented.
Pretending to be humble, Lin Yingxin said, “The heiresses who are here today are all hoping to stand out from the rest. Given how beautiful you are, they definitely see you as a threat and their strongest competitor. Hence, they’ll definitely pay attention to you. Be careful when they challenge you to a showdown later.”
However, Lin Yingxin did not mean what she said. I’m the talented beauty of Capital city and everyone knows how talented I am. Who does Xia Ruya think she is? She may be pretty and has a wealthy family, but she used to be called a vicious ingrate. She can’t be compared to me at all.
I am the limelight.
Xia Ruya frantically shook her head and said, “I can’t compete with them. I’m just here because I think that the gala is very interesting. I can’t be compared to these talented heiresses at all. Don’t harm me.”
She indeed did not plan to have a showdown with the heiresses, since it would make her look cheap. After all, she was the heiress of the Li Family from Harbor City. Only those women looking to marry into wealthy families would compete with each other.
Only a lowly person like Wen Xinya would do that, she thought.
Before Lin Yingxin could even say anything, Xia Ruya changed the subject. She craned her neck and looked around before saying, “It’s already half-past nine but Wen Xinya is not here yet.”
Since Wen Xinya was the star of the event, there wouldn’t be a good show if she were to be absent.
Lin Yingxin stopped thinking about how jealous she was of Xia Ruya and reminded herself that Wen Xinya was her enemy. “Could it be that she can’t make it? We may have plotted for her to attend the gala and she may have already accepted the invitation too, but if she doesn’t wish to show up, she can just say that she’s fallen ill!”
She had a hard time convincing Wen Xinya to attend the gala and was planning to defeat her during the gala so as to earn herself a better reputation. If Wen Xinya did not show up, Xia Ruya could easily attack Wen Xinya by accusing her of being too cowardly to show up. By then, Xia Ruya would still get to ruin Wen Xinya’s reputation and achieve her goals. However, Lin Yingxin would not be able to get what she wanted.
Xia Ruya guffawed and said, “Don’t worry, Wen Xinya will definitely show up. She may be ambitious and fixated on attaining more power and benefits, but she doesn’t have a competitive personality. People like her are hard to deal with, but she can easily be tackled once we find her weakness.”
Old Mr. Mo was Wen Xinya’s weakness.
Wen Xinya could not tolerate having anyone make use of her and implicate Old Mr. Mo. Although their actions would not exactly cause Old Mr. Mo any harm, Wen Xinya would not allow it.
Of course, the most important thing was that Wen Xinya was extremely conscientious would definitely suspect something since they had used Old Mr. Mo as an excuse. Hence, she wouldn’t ignore the Heiress’ Gala even if she just wanted to test Xia Ruya.
