Chapter 76: Revenge is a dish best served cold 1

Prince Ye's mansion.

Summer was one of the busiest seasons in the capital, there was no rain or snow so it was the best time for outdoor activities and banquets. Every day was filled with one event after the other. However, even during the banquet filled summer, there were still a few notable summer parties.

One of which was the poetry and art appreciation hosted by the only daughter of Prince Ye, Commandery Princess Meirong. Princes Ye also called Junwang Ye was the youngest son of the former Emperor. He was a notable figure in the government and the current Emperor's youngest brother.

(*sidebar- Junwang is a title given to a second-ranked prince. It is usually given to the son of an Imperial concubine or consort. Junwang is also the title given to the son of a first ranked prince, that is a Qinwang.)

The art and poetry appreciation was hosted annually by his only daughter commandery Princess Meirong. During this banquet, the young mistresses of high ranked lords were invited to the Junwang's mansion for the banquet. An invitation to this banquet was well sort after because of how exclusive it was.

Only the daughters of 1st to 3rd rank officials were injured by the Commandery Princess Meirong. The commandery's Princess's banquet was the most important banquets for the unmarried ladies of the capital.

Since the banquet was hosted by the Princess, without any close supervision from Junwang Fei (Princess consort Ye, the wife of a Junwang). The young ladies were free to talk without their mothers or an adult watching them. During this era when young noblewomen were guided by proprietory, the young ladies appreciated these few hours of no supervision.

Minister Zhu was a first ranked marquis so every year an invitation written in beautiful calligraphy was sent over to their mansion for the two Di daughters of minister Zhu. ( * Di daughters refer to the daughters born by the main wives). 

Junwang Ye's was a stickler for tradition, he did not appreciate inviting concubine born children (Shu children) to his banquets.

Zhu Fenfang was never invited to this banquet until this year and she had only gotten the invitation because of Lu Yiling's close relationship with Princess Meirong. Zhu Fenfang was ecstatic as she was led to her seat by a maid but pretended otherwise to keep up with appearances.

If there was one thing Zhu Fenfang was best at, It was putting herself, in a good light. She was a Shu daughter from a declining maternal family, if she wished to make a good impression on these high ranked young ladies, she needed to be low key.

These young ladies were all daughters of the principal wife's of the family, they would never appreciate a concubine daughter overshadowing them. Throughout the banquet, Zhu Fenfang was silent and acted timidly. Apart from saying a few words to Lu Yiling or answering a question directed to her, She remained silent.

After some time the women grew comfortable with her since they saw that this Shu daughter unlike the rest knew her place and didn't try to cause waves. Among the guest was Yuan Liqin the eldest daughter of the Yuan family.

Yuan Liqin was a lot like her mother and liked to act smart and faulty so it was no surprise that she wasn't well-liked. She liked to criticise other young ladies and boast about her achievements. Most of the young ladies were victims of her sharp words.

The events of the garden party at the commander's mansion had already spread around the capital. The Yuan family were made fun of for having foolish daughters-in-law, who fought like fishwives. All the gossip going around put the Yuan family in a bad light. 

Yuan Liqin wasn't saved from the criticism since her mother was among the daughter-in-law that caused that mess. Yuan Liqin tried to keep a low profile during the banquet, however that proved to be difficult since the young ladies she had criticized before brought up the mess.

One of the young ladies who was the second daughter of a third-ranked duke was first to drag her out and draw everyone's attention. "Liqin Mei Mei, why are you so quiet today?"

(This means younger sister Liqin. Mei neo means younger sister while jei jei means older sister. It is an endearment used between ladies to show respect.)

Everyone turned to look at the usually arrogant Yuan Liqin, with mocking smiles. There was no loyalty or real friendship between these ladies. They were all highly competitive and liked to kick someone when they are down.

Another young Lady who had been a victim of one of Yuan Liqin's insults stepped in to fan the flames.

"That is true, usually at this point of the banquet, Liqin mei Mei would have said a few words" she looked to Zhu Fenfang and said "Fenfang Mei Mei, this is your first time attending this party so you may not be familiar with her but you see, Liqin is so smart. She always has her opinions and isn't afraid to air it"

Zhu Fenfeng understood that the ladies were attacking Yuan Liqin, the young lady wanted to use her as a stepping stone to take a hit at Yuan Liqin. In situations like this, it was best not to act like a hero. She didn't say anything and just faked a confused expression to avoid drawing bad attention to herself.

Yuan Liqin felt like glaring at the two ladies but because she was in public, she couldn't act out. Before coming here, her grandmother warned her to be low key and not cause a scene. Yuan Liqin wasn't about to join her mother to copy Buddhist tablets in the ancestral room.

She could only stay calm but mentally put the two ladies on her bad list. "Please don't make fun of me Jei Jei, I recently caught a cold of late's so I just want to stay quiet".

The first young lady chuckled and brought her hand to her mouth " oh is that how it is, I thought it was because of the scandal that broke out at your family's Garden party" she clicked her tongue several times and shook her head as if she couldn't stand the thought of it. "It was quite a mess everyone".

Although most of the ladies were thirsting for an opportunity to talk about the little scandal involving the Yuans, a few were too scared to bring it up for fear of retribution. However now that it was brought to light, everyone stepped out in full force.

" I heard about that. sister Liqin, your Yuan family has to keep watch of concubines like that".

"Yes, Yes see how she dragged her madam into this mess"

"Tsk tsk, It is such a pity, It must not be easy for your Yuan family. look how she even dragged the newly minced princess into that mess"

Yuan Liqin watched as these vultures took jabs at her while pretending to be concerned about her. She wasn't surprised to see them do this, Ste had done something similar to a few of them when they faced a situation similar to this. However, it was still painful to be at the receiving end of this. Especially for someone like her, that was used to being an onlooker.

The Ladies continued, finally dragging the Lu and Zhu family into this mess. Most of them were disgusted to see a Shu daughter in their midst and wanted to teach her a lesson. Since she seemed to be close to Lu Yiling, they decided to draw a wedge between them.

Everyone knew the true conditions behind the second young master's marriage, evens if the Lu family pretended to get along. It was easy to guess that Madam Lu was discounted in both of her daughters-in-law.

Lu Yiling's relationship with this Shu daughter could be described as shaky especially since there were rumours that madam Lu was considering this Shu daughter as a wife for the General before the imperial decree was announced.

"Speaking of that newly minted Princess, I must applaud her for being capable. Even with her shady background, she still got married to the second young master"

"Yes, she is full of schemes. I heard that she caused quite the sensation before her marriage among the young Masters. Even the Xu family Shizi Xu Jingting was also bent on marrying her"

(Shizi - refers to the heir of a noble title just like the Emperor's heir was called the crown prince)

"Wow, she has made rounds, Fenfang mei mei how did your Di sister end up with a maid like her?"

Zhu Fenfeng looked at the mocking smile on the last speaker's face and sneered. Did she deliberately call Zhu Fengyin a Di daughter to point out the fact that she was below them all since she was concubine born?

'Ha, see if I don't wipe that smile off your face. Once I marry the crown prince and become the second most powerful woman in Northern Wei, after the Empress. Nobody will dare make fun of my birth, you will have to bow to me' Zhu Fenfang thought curving up her lips and replied

"My eldest sister is vet kind and is a good judge of character. Plus we also grew up with her Highness, she has never been like that to us. I think that she was just misunderstood"

The previous young mistress smiled and said "Are you this naive. Ha, how pathetic. Who doesn't know that it was your precious sister that brought her in? You gave a lot of guys acting all nice with sister Yiling!"

Lu Yiling who following her brother's sudden marriage felt a little guilty stepped in "Don't make things hard for Fenfang Jei, ss us innocent"

"But she really innocent?" Another young mistress closer to commandery Princess Xia Yong said.