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One second to remember [Brushstroke Pavilion] [Free of charge, read the wonderful novel!]

The next morning, Yang Yingxue had already been waiting at Shen Ninghua's door, wearing a black silk dress.

Shen Ninghua looked at her with a hint of amazement in her eyes. The material of this dress was extremely eye-catching. Her skin was slightly darker, or her temperament was a little more mediocre, yet it was unable to suppress the beauty of this material, causing it to lose its luster.

Yang Yingxue's skin was snow-white, and although her expression was light, her bearing was ethereal. She wore a carefully cut dress, like a fairy descending from the sky, displaying 90% of her looks.

"Cousin looks really good in that outfit."

Yang Yingxue pursed her lips slightly. Originally, she didn't want to wear this outfit, but she felt that Shen Ninghua had just given her the cloth yesterday, so she couldn't wait to put it on the next day. However, once the clothes were on her upper body, she suppressed her desire to look at herself in the mirror.

At that time, Xia Jingqiu had been standing at the side. She had tied her hair and couldn't help but praise him, "Our Xue'er should be wearing such luxurious clothes."

In order to attract the attention of the Second Prince, she could disregard her shame …

"Thank you, cousin, for the cloth."

Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Yesterday, I felt that this material was very suitable for Cousin. Now that I look at it, my eyesight is still quite good. I have two of these pieces of cloth in my warehouse. I'll get someone to send them over to Cousin when we get back."

"This …" Yang Yingxue bit her lips, but she was still too greedy to refuse. "Then, thank you very much, Cousin."

After carefully dressing up, Bai Yu took the dress that was gifted to him by the Emperor yesterday and carefully helped Shen Ninghua change into it.

A quarter of an hour later, watching Shen Ninghua change her clothes, everyone present was flabbergasted. This set of clothes was way too extravagant …

In the palace, the palace maids checked the banquet over and over again before slowly exiting, waiting for the arrival of the guests.

Shen Ninghua and Yang Yingxue arrived at the palace gates and an attendant stopped them in their tracks. "Greetings, Princess Zhao Hua. Miss Yang greets you."

"May I know what is the matter with this eunuch?"

"Reporting to Princess, this servant was serving by the Empress's side. Under the Empress's orders, I've come to invite Princess to Ning Kun Palace."

Shen Ninghua's eyes flickered a little, "Then, my cousin …"

"This servant will send an attendant to escort Miss Yang to the banquet place."

His meaning was to invite her to be by herself. What would it be for the Empress Zhao Hui Ying to look for her?

"Thank you for your trouble, eunuch."

"I dare not, the princess is coming with me."

Shen Ninghua turned his head to give Yang Yingxue a comforting gaze, hinting her to follow the attendant at the side while he walked in the direction of Ning Kun Palace.

The empress had already finished dressing up, wearing a yellow phoenix dress with the same color silk ribbon tied around her waist. The phoenix crown on her head sparkled brilliantly, looking extremely dignified.

"Congee Hua greets Imperial Mother."

Zhao Hui Ying turned his head to look at Shen Ning Hua. The smile on his face froze and a ray of light flashed across his phoenix-like eyes extremely quickly. He was quickly suppressed by her: "Slow down, your outfit looks really good today. I almost didn't recognize you."

Shen Ninghua did not answer, but lowered her head even more. Her long eyelashes completely covered her eyes, making it hard for people to see her emotions. However, her expression was one of extreme shyness, not knowing how to respond.

Zhao Hui Ying looked from top to bottom at the dress she wore and the corner of his mouth slightly moved. The coldness in his eyes was extremely frightening and only after a long time did he suppress it: "Come with me to the banquet today."

Shen Ninghua moved her finger and respectfully replied, "Yes."

Most of the guests had already arrived. Chu Junyi sat at the table, looking at the empty seat beside Baili An. A trace of gentle joy appeared in her eyes.

When Xiao Huan Xi saw the expression on Chu Junyi's face, she raised her head and tore the handkerchief apart. She swallowed hard, as if she could swallow the pain that was stuck in her throat.

Bu Jinglan, the Second Prince, and the others were all holding teacups as they watched the entrance of the main hall, waiting for the arrival of the banquet's host.

The atmosphere in the hall seemed to be very lively. Everyone was beaming with smiles, but who knew how many different lines of thoughts were hidden behind those smiles?

"The emperor has arrived, the empress has arrived, the crown prince has arrived, and so has Princess Radiant."

What? Everyone bowed as they questioned their own ears.

The crown prince had come with the emperor to show off his authority as the crown prince. This had always been the case, so there was nothing strange about it. But why was it that Princess Radiant had come with the empress?

Shen Ninghua stood behind the empress, slightly behind the crown prince, and followed him into the main hall.

Baili Qing Cang brought Zhao Hui Ying onto the throne, turned around and said with dignity, "Rise."

The crowd stood up and saw Shen Ninghua standing beside the crown prince.

She had used golden threads to outline the petals and stamen of the flower, making the entire flower as if it was alive and lifelike. Her long sleeves were also hooked with golden threads, and a colorful butterfly was embroidered on the bottom of the dress. As long as a person moved, their sleeves would sway like butterflies dancing on a peony, beautiful and enchanting eyes.

Shen Ninghua was dressed in these clothes. On the top of her head, there was the sparkling Golden Eight Treasures Forging Steps. On the bottom, there were two exquisite flower butterflies. As she walked, they swayed up and down, captivating people's souls with her black, waterfall like hair.

Many people at the scene were stunned. They had seen Shen Ninghua's extremely simple attire before. At that time, they all sighed inwardly about how natural it was to carve. Who would have thought that under such extravagant attire, Shen Ninghua's beauty would become even more breathtaking.

The gorgeous decorations didn't steal away any of her elegance. On the contrary, it made her even more beautiful and stern, dazzling everyone's eyes. She replied, "It's always appropriate to put on thick makeup!"

After the salutation, Shen Ninghua wanted to sit beside Baili An, but Zhao Huiying suddenly said, "Servants, arrange a seat beside me. Ninghua, come up."

Shen Ninghua's pupils suddenly constricted, "Imperial Mother, this doesn't make sense." The seat next to Zhao Hui Ying wasn't a seat at all, it was clearly a living volcano!

"That's nothing. Today's banquet was originally held for your sake. You can also call me 'Imperial Father' or 'Imperial Mother'. Since that's the case, it doesn't make any sense for me to sit here."

Shen Ninghua was unable to refuse and could only sit beside Zhao Huiying. Immediately, she could feel everyone's gazes on her, ranging from hot or cold, to resentful or envious, in short, all sorts of things. Below the stage, Chu Junyi lowered his head to cover his cold eyes, his entire person filled with anger.

"Today's banquet is not purely for the purpose of celebrating. There are rewards and penalties. Too many things have happened in this period of time, and it just so happens that I can make a conclusion today. Alright, let the banquet begin."

The empress's actions just now did not inform Baili Qing Cang. Although he was a little uncomfortable in his heart, he did not say much due to his love for Shen Ning Hua.

When Baili Qingfeng said these words, the civil and military officials felt as if the wine in their mouths had turned into Huang Lian, causing their hearts to turn cold.

He was the one in charge of investigating everything that had happened in the recent days. Before the investigation into the matter of the snake horde meeting in the outskirts of the city even got into the picture, the matter of the chicken pox immediately followed. With great difficulty, he managed to turn the page, but he didn't expect that the emperor would gather everyone to settle the score.

"Prefecture Overseer Jing Wei, this matter is your responsibility. You should report to me first, let's start with the Garden Hunt."

He braced himself and stood up from his seat: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant found the evening grass pollen at the garden camp. This pollen has a unique aroma, and it has attracted the most attention from poisonous snakes and the like. That night's viper tent was probably related to this matter."

"Does that mean someone intentionally lured those poisonous snakes here?" Before Baili Qingfeng could say anything, Bu Jinglan opened his mouth first. First, he had been coerced into marriage with a cripple, then he had been bitten by a poisonous snake, and everything had been a great humiliation. Now that he had heard someone order him behind the scenes, how could he not be angry?

Cold sweat dripped down the forehead of the governor of the capital, "Your Highness the Sixth Prince, the matter has yet to be investigated. As for what exactly is still unknown."

Bu Jinglan would not let this topic go so easily. If this matter involved someone framing them, then he could use this reason to reasonably end the engagement:

"I remember that before we decided to go on a safari, the governor of the capital had told this prince that there were no large scale prey in the imperial garden. I don't know why we went but we were both venomous snakes and wolves, and if it weren't for the fact that we were lucky, we probably wouldn't have been able to return. The ones in danger this time aren't only this prince, there are also many young masters and mistresses from aristocratic families."

As he spoke, a sorrowful look appeared on his face, instantly gaining the approval of many people. Especially the ministers who had lost their lives during the expedition, they all got up and kneeled in the hall, "Please investigate carefully, Your Majesty. Let this humble subject and the others receive justice."

They had painstakingly nurtured their successors and daughters, but because they lost their lives in a single hunt, if something unexpected had happened, it would have been fine.

The governor was about to faint. He never would have thought that his words would be like a blow to a hornet's nest.

Baili Qing Cang's face darkened. He originally wanted to deal with the danger of the safari, but he didn't want to delay it because of the chicken pox. Now, after so long, it became even more difficult to investigate.

Xiao Jingran suddenly stood up and replied: "Reporting to your majesty, this humble subject has some knowledge of this matter."

"Well, you know?"

"Yes, at the time when I was leading my bodyguards to rescue him, I accidentally picked up an item. This item is related to His Highness, the Sixth Prince."

Bu Jinglan suddenly raised his head as a trace of gloom flashed past his eyes: "It has something to do with this prince, what could it be?"

Shen Ninghua sat high up in the air, looking at the stern Xiao Jingran. He couldn't help but laugh at the venomous snake that Xiao Hengxi had attracted. In order to help her get rid of the crime, the Xiao family had taken him seriously.