Consort Yu was not angry after being rejected by Mo Xuetong. She looked at Mo Xuetong gently and smiled warmly, saying, “Anyway, it was my brother’s fault. I apologize to the Mo Manor on behalf of my younger brother.”
Then, she took a ruby hairpin from her hair and handed it to Mo Xuetong. She said, “I don’t have anything to express how sorry I am. I shall give this to Your Highness. Your Highness, please take this and let the Mo Manor forgive my useless younger brother.”
The hairpin was very beautiful and the rubies on it glittered brightly. One could tell from a single look that it was not an ordinary item. The style was new, as was the craftsmanship. It was indeed a precious item. If it had been any other time, Mo Xuetong would not take anything from Consort Yu. But this hairpin was really quite familiar. Mo Xuetong smiled and accepted it graciously.
“Many thanks, Your Highness. I thank you. This was just a misunderstanding and the Mo Manor knows that too. I thank my father on his behalf for your kind understanding.” Mo Xuetong smiled lightly and stood up. Then, she curtsied to Consort Yu again. She picked up the hairpin and looked at it under the sunlight as if she liked it very much. The glittering rubies shone brightly under the sunlight and blinded Consort Yu.
Consort Yu closed her eyes and laughed coldly to herself. Mo Xuetong was indeed uncultured. She could not hide her shabbiness even after she became a princess. She had only received the hairpin and already looked so pleased. She was making a fuss out of a molehill.
She was so pleased that she did not realize that the light cast off the shimmering precious stone onto a few young masters and ladies not far away. Their gazes followed the light and turned upon Consort Yu and Mo Xuetong.
They went up and said, “Your Highness, your clothes are a little plain today and match this perfectly. Put it on and try it!”
Then, she took the hairpin from Mo Xuetong and helped her to put it in her hair. She picked up a mirror that was left beside her and let Mo Xuetong take a look at her reflection. Mo Xuetong accepted the mirror and looked at it. She smiled and thanked Consort Yu, saying, “This is beautiful. Many thanks, Your Highness.”
A palace maid suddenly approached while they were speaking. She spoke with the palace maid standing outside and the maid entered hurriedly. She reported to Consort Yu, “Your Highness, Her Majesty is looking for you. She would like for you to reply to her immediately.”
“Alright.” Consort Yu nodded. She turned to smile at Mo Xuetong and said, “Princess, you look beautiful wearing this hairpin. Leave it on for today. This is a token for how guilty I feel. I am going to leave now and I will see you at the Princess’ banquet later.”
“Your Highness, this is a token of your affection. Of course, I will wear it. Please hurry!” Mo Xuetong smiled slightly and nodded.
Consort Yu laughed coldly to herself even more so when she saw how certain Mo Xuetong’s reply was. She did not say anything else but left hurriedly with her palace maid.
“Miss…” Mo Ye said uneasily when she saw the hairpin on Mo Xuetong’s head.
“Is it pretty?” Mo Xuetong removed the pin from her hair and looked at it in her hand as if she liked it very much so. She looked into the mirror at her reflection again. With the mirror and Mo Ye blocking her, she quickly slid the pin into her sleeve and took out a similar pin to put in her hair.
Mo Ye saw all of that and was delighted. She did not say anything else and went to help Mo Xuetong do her hair.
Mo Xuetong left with Mo Ye. After their short stop, there were a few other young ladies on the way who were late. They walked in together.
Mo Xuetong’s lips curled up slightly with laughter as she heard the other young ladies chatting and laughing. She did not speak. Instead, she seemed relaxed and amiable and left a good impression.
Suddenly, someone pointed up in front of them and called out in surprise, “I didn’t expect Sir Bai and the First Prince of Yan Kingdom to both be here.”
Mo Xuetong followed their gazes and saw a few formidable men on the path. The person in front was tall and slender and wore simple white robes. He wore a dark jade pendant at his waist and his black hair was tied up in a jade cap and flowed down his shoulders like a waterfall. His eyes were like stars and he was as handsome as a fairy. He glowed brightly and his aura was magnificent. He was incomparably handsome.
He was Bai Yihao and the person behind him looked a lot like him. Even though he was not as ethereal looking, he was also very handsome. Accompanying them was You Yuecheng. He glanced at Mo Xuetong indifferently with his beautiful eyes. His dark gaze settled on her for a few minutes before he turned to leave.
“It’s Sir Bai!”
“It really is Sir Bai!”
“I heard that he and the Fifth Princess were childhood sweethearts. It’s really true.” Someone sighed.
There were even more people who looked at the beautiful young man who was noble and elegant with admiration. They followed them subconsciously. Even though there wasn’t anyone who went up to speak with them, the soft voices of young ladies could be heard from time to time.
It seemed that there was more than one noble young lady who was interested in the Crown Prince of Yan.
Bai Yihao, who was walking in front, saw Mo Xuetong and slowed down. He turned to look at Mo Xuetong softly. When she approached, he smiled and said to her, “Your Highness, you must have come today to participate in the Fifth Princess’ banquet. We are headed the same way.”
Mo Xuetong took two steps back, wary of his behavior. However, she still appeared gracious on the surface. She said with a smile, “No wonder the Fifth Princess spoke of Sir Bai the day before. She said that you will definitely be here. I thought that Sir Bai would bail just like you do usually, but it seems like it is true.”
“You will definitely come for the Fifth Princess’ banquet, so I should come even more.” Bai Yihao turned to look at her with a smile. His intentions were not clear and his words seemed rather flirtatious.
Mo Xuetong was startled. She hid the anger in her eyes. This person was too much. He wanted to drag her into the cesspool of trouble from time to time and kept wanting to involve her in his matters in everything he said. She really did not know how she had caught his attention for him to keep getting her into trouble.
“Sir Bai, you are kidding. I would not dare to miss the Fifth Princess’ banquet. However, I heard that sir Bai has never cared about other banquets. Why are you paying so much care to the Fifth Princess’ banquet?” Mo Xuetong was furious and her words were not friendly. Even though she did not seem to be backing down, her expression was one of distaste. It was as if she had been very annoyed by how Bai Yihao tried to pretend that they were close.
Bai Yichen noticed everything and he grew even more interested. Judging by how Princess Anping was behaving, the two were not close at all and she did not seem to like Bai Yihao. He could not help the cold smirk that appeared on his lips. Bai Yihao was determined to draw his attention to Princess Anping. He had intentionally said those seemingly mushy words so that Bai Yichen would mistake Princess Anping for someone Bai Yihao was in love with. Then, Bai Yichen would ask to marry Princess Anping. This was such a good idea!
Bai Yichen recalled how he had always lost to Bai Yihao and decided that he was going to ruin Bai Yihao’s plan this time no matter what happened. He would not let Bai Yihao succeed again. Marrying the Fifth Princess was a conclusion that he had come to after a discussion with the Empress. It was the best solution no matter how they looked at it. He would not mess up just because of a few mushy words Bai Yihao said.
He had to marry the Fifth Princess.
He could not help but turn to look at Mo Xuetong. He could see her even more clearly now that she was so close. She was truly beautiful and looked like a picture. Her eyes were innocent and yet charming. Even in her anger, her beauty was startling.
Her beauty and her charm were something that all men would like to possess. Bai Yichen sighed to himself once more. Yet, compared to his nation, the beauty was just not as important.
You Yuecheng, who was standing on Bai Yihao’s other side, could not help but feel upset. One could even vaguely sense his anger.
Mo Xuetong looked at him in confusion. She did not understand why he was glaring at her viciously. Other than what happened to Mo Xuemin, she had no other interactions with the Ming Duke’s Son. How had she annoyed him?
Mo Xuetong looked away because the most important thing right now was to deal with Bai Yihao. She walked alongside them and they slowly moved forward. The young ladies all followed closely beside Mo Xuetong. It was an extremely lucky thing for them to be able to accompany the handsome men.
Perhaps because Mo Xuetong had spoken rather impolitely, Bai Yihao was rendered speechless for the moment. He touched his nose with a slight smile and did not speak. A cloud of silence fell among them.
They could hear the leisurely music after passing a fake mountain. The voice was gentle and clear. It sounded like the passing clouds and flowing water and was mesmerizing. A peach blossom forest appeared before them. There were already a few blossoms on the branches. They were partially bloomed and the place was beautiful, it was as if they had been in heaven. The wind blew and a woman sat before a Qin under the blossoms.
Her clothes fluttered in the wind. She wore a pink flowy dress with eight pleats. Her hair was adorned with a gold hairpin with dangling pearls. It complimented her beauty and her pale white skin. She was the most beautiful woman, Ling Fengyan and the girl standing beside her was her younger sister, Ling Rui’er.
Ling Rui’er saw that everyone was looking at her elder sister. She grew even more pleased and stood even taller. She looked at Mo Xuetong in an unfriendly manner.
Mo Xuetong was secretly surprised when she saw that they were all looking at her in such an unfriendly manner. However, she could only follow the crowd and approached the two.
Ling Fengyan stood up when she saw Bai Yihao approaching. She curtsied deeply to Bai Yihao and said, “Greetings, Sir Bai. Greetings, Your Highness.”
“Second Miss Ling, please, stand.” Bai Yihao reached out and waved his hand, gesturing for her to get up with a smile.
Ling Fengyan stood up and smiled at You Yuecheng and Mo Xuetong. She was very polite and elegant. She was indeed a good match for Feng Yuxuan, especially when one took note of the details.
“Second Miss Ling, you are indeed the most beautiful woman of Qin. Your beauty is ravishing and King Chu is really blessed to be able to marry such a beautiful woman.” Bai Yihao sized Ling Fengyan up and said with a smile.
The news of Ling Fengyan marrying Feng Yuxuan had already been announced. However, Ling Fengyan still blushed slightly when someone brought it up. She lowered her head and answered, “First Prince, you are too kind. I do not deserve such praise.”
“It is certainly my fault for interrupting Second Miss Ling’s playing the Qin. Please, continue. We will leave after we listen to you.” Bai Yihao said with a warm smile. His eyes grazed over Mo Xuetong as if he was seeking her opinion.
Mo Xuetong wanted to leave desperately. She did not know what was going on today. Bai Yihao kept trying to bring other’s attention to them. The Fifth Princess was not here either, who was he trying to aggravate into attacking her? Bai Yichen? Mo Xuetong’s heart skipped a beat. She felt that something was wrong. She took two steps backward subconsciously, increasing the distance between her and Bai Yihao. She could not hide the anger in her eyes.
“Sir Bai, I still have something on. I shall take my leave.” She did not even want to say anything else to him and she turned to leave.
She was telling everyone clearly that she did not like Bai Yihao at all!
It would save herself from being used as Bai Yihao’s chess piece!
Earlier, she had suddenly realized why Bai Yihao was doing so. The man was trying to use her to destroy the marriage between the First Prince of Yan and the Fifth Princess!
Mo Xuetong had received the sudden epiphany at that moment and her heart beat wildly. Her palms were filled with cold sweat! She could sense how unwell she felt as she held on to Mo Ye. She held on to Mo Ye tightly and managed to stop herself from falling due to her legs weakening.
“Princess Anping, please wait.” The voice of a girl sounded from behind her.
Mo Xuetong paused for a moment. After realizing it was not Bai Yihao, she heaved a sigh of relief and turned around to see Ling Rui’er speaking to her with an unhappy expression.
“Rui’er, what’s the matter?” Ling Fengyan asked softly. She looked at her younger sister in confusion.
“Second Sister, don’t worry. I have something to ask Princess Anping.” Ling Rui’er moved forward to stand in front of Mo Xuetong menacingly. She pointed at the hairpin in her hair and asked, “Princess Anping, where did you get this hairpin?”
Not far away around a corner, Consort Yu approached with a few palace maids and eunuchs with a smile on her face.
