It has been said that when two nations are at war, there would be no good wine nor good banquets. Yet, when had this applied to fights between women? Mo Xuetong was speechless.
When she had been summoned by the Fifth Princess, the princess was already seated inside. She was dressed in luxurious clothing that was vibrantly colored and was embroidered with gold threads. It made the princess look like a fairy in legends. She appeared before Mo Xuetong and Mo Xuetong was in awe of the royal family’s nobleness and elegance. The price of the princess’ outfit was completely beyond estimation.
It befitted the Fifth Princess’ status as the Emperor’s legitimate daughter.
“Anping greets the Fifth Princess.” Mo Xuetong curtsied. She was also a princess now and did not have to address herself as a subordinate’s daughter. Even though she was not as noble as the Fifth Princess, she did not have to appear too humble.
The Fifth Princess’ sharp eyes landed on Mo Xuetong’s beautiful face. There was a hint of disdain on her proud expression. Her head was lifted up high and she said without any hesitation, “I want you to ask to be married to the Yan Kingdom.”
The Fifth Princess was trying to use her status to force Mo Xuetong to marry to Yan so she did not have to. Mo Xuetong wondered if it was the Fifth Princess who did not take the situation seriously enough or if the princess was being wishful.
Mo Xuetong rose. She looked up lightly and said without any signs of acceptance, “I wonder what Your Highness’ status is to order Anping.”
“I am a princess of the royal family and the daughter of the Empress. Is this status not enough to ask you to do something? You are just a fake royal. Isn’t your status just so you can take over the place of a true royal daughter like me to be married off far away! If you are married to the Yan Kingdom, you would at least be a consort. That’s already not too bad considering your status.” The Fifth Princess lifted her chin and said proudly. She sat up straight. She thought that she was extremely noble. She was the legitimate daughter of the Empress and there was no one else in the Great Qin who was as noble as her. She usually did not speak with the other princesses.
She had also taught other princesses a lesson, much less a mere princess of the commandery!
“Since Anping’s status is befitting of this, why don’t Fifth Princess go to the Emperor and tell His Majesty that?” Mo Xuetong replied. Her eyes were sharp and her expression was calm and composed.
“I’m allowing you to go tell His Majesty yourself because I have a good opinion of you and I am allowing you dignity. You might end up not being able to marry to Yan even if you want to and end up with a poor man.” The Fifth Princess threatened. She was very angry and her heart was filled with hatred. She had not only failed to poison Mo Xuetong’s wine in time, but she had also fallen into the river for no reason. In the end, she had even been saved by the First Prince of Yan Kingdom.
After she regained consciousness and returned to the palace, she was told that she would be married off to the Yan Kingdom. How could the Fifth Princess, who was certain she was going to marry Bai Yihao, accept that? She made a fuss. However, she did not expect that her father, who had always doted on her, had been enraged and locked her up. He had warned her that if she did not marry the man, she would never be able to leave the palace again.
After much consideration, the Fifth Princess blamed Mo Xuetong for everything.
She would not have attended the Qin gathering if not to poison Mo Xuetong. If she had not attended the Qin gathering, she would not have fallen into the river. If she had not fallen into the river, she would not have been saved by the First Prince of Yan. If he had not saved her, she would not have to marry him. She looked at Mo Xuetong hatefully, as if she would tear her apart if Mo Xuetong dared to not agree.
“Fifth Princess, forgive Anping for not being able to agree. My father and mother will decide about my marriage. We are children, how would we dare to talk about marriage?” Mo Xuetong said with a light smile. One could not tell how she was feeling by her expression. However, she seemed cold. Her eyes were calm and she did not seem afraid at all.
“You!…” The Fifth Princess was so angry she almost hit the table. Mo Xuetong had not only disobeyed her, but she had also implied that the princess was not a gentlewoman to dare to plot her own marriage. If they were not in a temporary shelter and the wind-proofing was not done well, she would have thrown a tantrum.
Fortunately, she recalled then that Bai Yihao was out there not far away. She managed to reign in her temper.
“Do you like my cousin?” The Fifth Princess forced herself to calm down as she stared at Mo Xuetong coldly.
The Fifth Princess’ cousin was Bai Yihao. Mo Xuetong could not wait to escape this man. She truly did not dare to like him.
“Rest assured, Fifth Princess, Anping will not like Sir Bai and Sir Bai will not like Anping. If he treats Anping differently, it is because Anping is now the daughter of the Princess Royal.” Mo Xuetong described the fact lightly. She felt very wronged. She did not know what the handsome Sir Bai wanted to do to make the Fifth Princess jealous from the very beginning.
It made the vicious princess “take care” of her time and time again! She would of course take the chance to let the princess know that there was nothing going on between the two of them.
“Bullshit. If you don’t like my cousin, why are you always following him? It was the same at my aunt’s banquet, at the Qin gathering, and this time as well. I heard you even came in with him. Do you still claim that you don’t like him!” The Fifth Princess asked Mo Xuetong angrily.
Mo Xuetong was speechless at the claim that she was following Bai Yihao around. The silly Fifth Princess really thought that Bai Yihao was a loving man who would stop to wait for someone if they went after him. There were so many young women in the capital of the Qin Kingdom, and a large half truly wanted to go after Bai Yihao. Should he just stand still and stop walking then?
“Fifth Princess, no matter whether you believe it or not, I do not like Sir Bai. Even if you want me to admit it, I can’t.” Mo Xuetong said, indifferently.
“If you dare to go close to my cousin again, I’ll get rid of you!” The Fifth Princess warned again. She could only find a different way if Mo Xuetong refused to tell her royal father that she wants to be married off to Yan. She had to find a way to marry off the woman to Yan. Mo Xuetong’s reputation would be in tatters then and she wanted to see if the girl could still marry her cousin or not.
Mo Xuetong was angered by her words. She thought of how she had almost been disfigured by the monkey and how Consort Yu and the others had worked together to frame her. Now, the Fifth Princess was telling her in her face that she was going to ruin her. Her eyes grew cold as she said, “Fifth Princess, it’s not the first time you’ve tried to ruin Anping. What’s another one or two times?!”
“Oh, so you are admitting that you like my cousin now!” The Fifth Princess stood up angrily. She was furious and her voice grew louder as she was unable to control her volume.
“So what if I admit it? Will you disfigure me? Or frame me for stealing? Of course, there are others…” Mo Xuetong did not wish to speak with the willful and vicious princess any longer. As such, she mocked her.
How was she going to ruin her? Was all that not enough?!
“If you dare to hang around my cousin again, I will definitely ruin you. Even if I can’t do that, he would not allow you to have him! If anyone dares to fight with me for someone I like, they will lose their lives.” The Fifth Princess was suddenly not angry anymore. She looked at Mo Xuetong coldly and spat out every word venomously.
Mo Xuetong did not wish to continue speaking with the Fifth Princess who could not have whom he loved. It was all because of Bai Yihao. She curtsied respectfully and ignored the vicious expression on the Fifth Princess’ face. She turned to walk out of the door. This was the Fifth Princess’ birthday banquet and the Emperor had personally ordered the banquet. The Fifth Princess would not dare to make trouble.
The Fifth Princess was really idealistic to want to marry Mo Xuetong into the Yan Kingdom.
The moment she left, someone appeared before her in a flash. Before Mo Xuetong could speak, someone wrapped an arm around her slender waist and brought her to the room beside.
It was a room meant for guests at the banquet to rest in. Other than the room for the Fifth Princess, which was the biggest, the other rooms were all about the same size. There were no doors for the rooms either, and they were only partitioned by a curtain. Mo Xuetong was about to say something but the person covered her mouth and pulled her in.
Mo Xuetong opened her eyes when the person steadied himself. She looked at the handsome face in front of her in shock and was speechless.
“Why aren’t you speaking? You were really glib earlier.” Bai Yihao released her hand and took two steps back. He stood by the side politely. He flicked his long sleeves and turned to the side to look at her leisurely with a smile.
It was as if he had not been the one who had grabbed her earlier.
“Can I ask what the matter is, Sir Bai? Why have you brought me here?” Mo Xuetong calmed down and took two steps back. However, she was standing against the wall earlier, and if she backed away even more, she would look afraid. She calmed herself down and did not look too stiff.
“Nothing, I just wanted to see you!” Bai Yihao said leisurely. Light shone through the curtain and into the room. His eyes were crystal clear and he looked at her deeply.
He sounded serious even when he was saying something so flirtatious.
Mo Xuetong looked up with a whoosh at Bai Yihao. Her eyes were filled with wariness and were distant as she said, “Sir Bai, since I have your deep affection, can you please let me go? I am just the daughter of a third-grade official and not true royalty. I do not dare to set my sights upon you as well.”
She looked up at Bai Yihao and did not blink. Her eyes did not hold any of the gentleness or love that was commonly found in the eyes of women. In fact, one could say that her eyes were filled with stubbornness and willfulness. She had gotten into trouble with the Fifth Princess all because of him. She had been warned by the Fifth Princess earlier and the anger she felt earlier was imbued in what she said.
If he had not appeared to look as if they were close around others and in private, would the ensuing troubles still occur?
“What’s the matter? Are you really angry?” Bai Yihao smiled slightly as if he had not seen how angry she was. She reached out as if he was going to tuck a loose curl behind her ear.
Mo Xuetong turned her head to avoid him. She looked up and said, “Sir Bai, please stop pretending to be gentle. There is no one else around to admire it and I do not wish to become your chess piece.”
“Can I only do this when there are others around?” Bai Yihao seemed not to understand what she was saying and he looked at her curiously.
“Sir Bai, you show me some attention because you want the First Prince of Yan to abandon the Fifth Princess and marry me. Sir Bai, you have put in a lot of effort just so you can marry the Fifth Princess. If the Fifth Princess finds out about this, she will definitely cry tears of joy.” Mo Xuetong said openly. She did not think that she needed to hide in front of Bai Yihao. He was very sharp so she did not need to beat around the bushes with him.
“Oh, you think I want my eldest brother to marry you?” Bai Yihao raised his brows. His smile was gentle.
“If not, why would you need to spend so much effort pretending?” Mo Xuetong breathed in, not backing off. Her long lashes fluttered and her gaze was even more certain.
Bai Yihao smiled, revealing his snowy white teeth and said, “What if I said I want my eldest brother to marry the Fifth Princess?”
“Sir Bai, don’t bother saying anything. I thank you for your affections and I hope that you will lavish less of this affection on me in the future. I still have something on, so I shall take my leave lest the Fifth Princess comes out and think that I am going after Sir Bai again.” Mo Xuetong walked past Bai Yihao and curtsied to him lightly before turning to leave.
She knew that the Fifth Princess would definitely be watching her when she left earlier. If she discovers that she and Bai Yihao were “together” again, the irritable Fifth Princess might throw a tantrum right there and then. If this matter were to blow up, it would not be to Mo Xuetong’s benefit at all. It might even be just what Bai Yihao wanted. The First Prince of Yan might take notice of her and the loss outweighed the gains.
Mo Xuetong hurried out. Then, she calmed down and paused. She turned around to look at Bai Yihao.
Bai Yihao stood there in his flowing white robes. The wind lifted his wide sleeves and it made him seem ethereal. There was a smile on his lips and he seemed carefree. He was like a fairy, perfect and flawless.
She looked at his gentle eyes with her clear ones and a smile slowly crept up on her lips. Her smile was brilliant and Bai Yihao looked at her in surprise. She looked at him and said, “Sir Bai, I might consider working with you if you do not use me as a chess piece! There are quite a few people watching in Yan Kingdom!”
Then, she smiled and flicked her sleeves, prepared to leave.
“Tong’er, you said you will work with me if I do not use you as a chess piece?” Bai Yihao’s gentle voice sounded from behind her.
Mo Xuetong paused but did not turn around. She nodded sharply, “Yes!”
“Alright!” Bai Yihao watched her back and revealed a row of shiny white teeth. He smiled and said gently and elegantly, “Then from now on, we are considered partners!”
