C33

Xue Ronghua and Little Zhui walked around the imperial flower garden for a while and saw a bunch of colorful people surrounding a bright yellow figure.

She knelt down in front of the empress. "Your concubine is late. Please forgive me."

Empress Chen smiled and said, "It's alright. Prince Duan and quasi wangfei are on good terms, but why didn't Prince Duan come over?"

Xue Ronghua replied humbly: "Prince Duan is not feeling well, I can't come to pay respects to the empress. Please forgive me."

"Physical problems are human nature, what crimes does Prince Duan have?"

"The empress is merciful."

Empress Chen held onto Xue Liuhua's hand, and glanced at Xue Ronghua indifferently, "Princess Duan is dressed very cleanly today."

"Chenqie's looks are mediocre, she's not suitable for dressing up too elegantly."

Xue Liuhua smiled gently, "Little sister is dressed this way in the Palace, I never thought that her Hundred Blossom Banquet s would also be dressed so plainly."

Xue Ronghua clenched her teeth. Xue Liuhua emphasized on the word normally, to let the empress think that she didn't have any regard for today's Hundred Blossom Banquet, so she casually dressed up and came here.

Empress Chen smiled and said: "Prince Duan likes elegance, let's go."

Xue Ronghua slowly got up and suddenly saw a noble concubine standing beside her Prince Jin. She knew that she could no longer hide the matter regarding Young Master Mu of the Tingxue Building.

"This concubine greets the Noble Consort Empress."

Noble Consort Kang looked at her bland eyebrows and pale makeup and had a good impression of her. "You don't have to be so courteous, Princess Duan."

Xue Ronghua tidied up a proper expression and smiled towards Prince Jin.

Prince Jin was startled for a moment. Isn't this the Young Master Mu who was drinking Plum Blossom Wine with him at Tingxue Building?

In his heart, he was overjoyed. Prince Jin cupped his hands: "Good day, Princess Duan."

Xue Ronghua smiled gently, "I heard that Prince Jin is so charming and has attracted countless women from the capital to her.

"Princess Hua-Yang really knows how to joke. I feel embarrassed just from praising her."

Xue Ronghua felt the few ladies behind her stare at her with shining eyes. They did not want to talk to Prince Jin and ended up getting into trouble, so she retreated to the back of the group.

Little Zhui's face flushed red: Prince Jin sure is good-looking.

"Look at the looks of the Noble Consort Kang, you know how beautiful she is."

Little Zhui said softly: "Miss, do you think that Prince Duan is more handsome or is Prince Jin more handsome?"

Xue Ronghua looked at Prince Jin a few more times, "En, I think, Prince Jin is too feminine, he is more masculine."

Little Zhui smiled ambiguously: "Miss is indeed going to be the princess' man, you still know what's manly about it."

Xue Ronghua laughed and hit her on the head, "You really talk too much. Daring to marry you off early, I'll let you feel the masculinity too."

Little Zhui said in displeasure: "I must always stay by Miss's side to accompany her, so that I won't marry anyone else."

The figures of the Noble Consort Kang and the Prince Jin became further and further away as Xue Ronghua squeezed into a crowd of young misses. The young and beautiful girls talked back and forth, and while the Noble Consort and the others were not around, they all happily chatted about the Prince Jin.

"No matter how beautiful the Prince Jin is compared to Pan An, he is still just the son of the Noble Consort. He can't be compared to the crown prince who has a noble identity and is the direct descendant of the empress."

The others were displeased. "The empress only has a crown prince and a princess. Can it be that we're all hanging ourselves on a tree for the sake of our first son's reputation?"

The girl dressed in emerald green lifted her mouth, "A bastard is a concubine. No matter what, it is still a lower grade than a concubine."

Seeing that she was so stubborn, no one wanted to get involved with her anymore. National Duke’s daughter in front suddenly said, "Everyone here is a young miss, why are you worrying about this?"

Xue Ronghua sneered in her heart. She knew that the trouble Xue Liuhua had deliberately brought about for her was about to come.

"Oh," National Duke’s daughter smiled proudly at her. "I forgot that Princess Duan was born as a concubine of Prime Minister Xue, I'm so sorry.

Miss Cui Lu looked at Xue Ronghua meaningfully, "No wonder you didn't speak just now, it turned out to be a poke at a sore spot. Princess Duan, don't worry, what I said before wasn't spoken with Princess Duan."

Xue Ronghua said calmly: "I naturally understand that young miss's words are spoken to Prince Jin, and whether or not young miss wants to say it again, I will immediately invite Prince Jin and Prince Jin over to listen."

"You …" Miss Cui Lu was momentarily at a loss for words. She was so angry that she was at a loss for words.

"If Miss doesn't want Prince Jin and the Noble Consort Kang to hear about it, keep your mouth shut and stop speaking nonsense," Xue Ronghua said as she looked at her coldly, "Whether it is the crown prince or the Prince Jin, I don't think anyone would be interested in a woman who doesn't know any scruples."

The National Duke’s daughter clapped his hands and laughed, "If it wasn't for me knowing a little about the Xue Residence, I would have thought you were the direct daughter of the Prime Minister, and that person beside the Empress was born from a concubine."

Xue Ronghua smiled sweetly, "Regardless of whether they are born from a concubine or from a concubine, they are both the daughters of the Prime Minister Xue.

National Duke’s daughter said coldly: "If my concubine dares to be like you, who doesn't know what's good for you, I'll definitely give her a few slaps."

The other young madams who were watching the show laughed: "How dare you compete with the direct relatives? You really don't know what's good for you."

Xue Ronghua laughed: "Just now, I am still here with my mouth full of Prince Jin, and now, I am born with a concubine. The identities of my sisters are truly more noble than the previous one, if Prince Jin knew what the hearts of my sisters are, I would definitely ache so much that I cannot reach them."

Xue Ronghua ignored the extremely awkward atmosphere as she walked out of the crowd with a cold expression.

Prince Jin looked at Xue Ronghua who was walking over with a smile on her face and said, "What, are you thinking that it's too noisy later on and you're back?"

Xue Ronghua said in a displeased tone, "Even the capital's ladies are thinking about Prince Jin, and Prince Jin isn't going to look at the back."

"Could it be that if I go, they won't think about me anymore?" Prince Jin smiled, "Then we might as well not go."

Xue Ronghua took out the string of Lv Ying from her sleeves and offered it to Noble Consort Kang with both hands. "This is Lv Ying whom my daughter took off during Xinyang Hall, and I hereby present it to the Noble Consort Empress."

Noble Consort Kang and Prince Jin looked at each other and laughed, "You and I have never known each other before, how would you send me to Lv Ying?"

"Prince Duan said that this Cherry Blossom Redbud Green Robe is extremely rare, and is a rare flower amongst flowers. My daughter immediately thought of the Empress, and thus decided to offer it to the Empress.

"How could that be?" The Noble Consort Kang laughed, "What I love the most is the cherry blossoms, Lv Ying is the best."

The Noble Consort Kang asked again: What happened after the commotion?

"A sister in emerald green clothes is very good at telling jokes, which makes everyone very happy."

Noble Consort Kang looked back, "That's … Whose daughter is that? "

Prince Jin indifferently curled his lips, "It's not really nice to look at, no need to pay attention."

Xue Ronghua secretly laughed: What kind of woman do Prince Jin think is beautiful?

Prince Jin muttered to himself as the image of the white-robed Young Master who leaned on the window and drank half a Plum Blossom Wine slowly surfaced in his mind.

"Me? I like heroic women, but, "he looked at Xue Ronghua half-jokingly and half-seriously," such a woman is hard to find.

Xue Ronghua was startled, then immediately laughed: "Prince Jin is the only son of the Noble Consort's Empress, and is also blessed with the Empress' beauty. With such an esteemed status, like a jade tree in the wind, I'm afraid I won't be able to find the woman I want."

Prince Jin sighed and did not reply.

Empress Chen, who had been walking for a while, patted Xue Liuhua's hand and asked: "Liuhua, do you have a Prince Jin in your heart?"

Xue Liuhua shyly said in a low voice, "Empress."

The Empress Chen laughed: "There are a lot of people secretly admiring this group of people, you have to grasp the opportunity well."

Xue Liuhua bowed slightly. "Thank you, Empress."

"Right, I don't know much about Princess Hua-Yang. How does she look like?"

Xue Liuhua's eyes were tearful as she said, "Rong Hua, she … "Ronghua, she …"

Empress Chen asked doubtfully: "What, is she usually not good to you?"

Xue Liuhua nodded sadly.

The Empress Chen said angrily: "For a mere concubinage like her to dare to make things difficult for you in the palace, does Xue Longhu not care?"

Xue Liuhua hurriedly replied, "Father did his duty for the emperor and was always busy with matters. My daughter was afraid that father was too busy and did not report this matter to him, so she endured it."

Empress Chen touched her back considerately, "It's been hard on you, why would Prince Duan find such a domineering and arrogant woman?"

Xue Liuhua sighed: "Even though little sister is a little arrogant, but she's still extremely good at winning over men.

Empress Chen's face revealed displeasure, "Being able to please men is not a good thing, do you know that once upon a time, the Qi Nation's empress was also extremely pleasing to the emperor, and the result was that they secretly made friends with an outsider, dirtying the imperial harem?"

Xue Liuhua nodded foolishly.

"Eunuch Jiang, come over. You've been walking for so long, I'm sure all the young misses are tired. Send the message down, invite the young misses to the Tolling Hall to drink some tea."

Eunuch Jiang ordered, "Your servant obeys."

Empress Chen held Xue Liuhua's hand and said in a friendly manner: "Liuhua, don't worry, I definitely won't let you suffer grievances for nothing. Prince Duan can't stop you from marrying her, but I can still teach her the matters of etiquette."

Xue Liuhua was so excited that she almost started crying. "Thank you, esteemed empress."

Not only did the group of young ladies left behind by Xue Ronghua not quiet down, they became even noisier.

"Did you know, I heard that the quasi wangfei in Prince Duan is very tyrannical. When the young miss and empress of Prime Minister's Mansion talked about it, they all cried, probably because they relied on their identity as wangfei to give her a lot of grievances."

"A mere concubinage dares to offend a direct relative of a young miss. How could the Prime Minister not be able to teach his own concubinage well?"

"I still have some contacts with Miss Xue Liuhua. She treats me pretty well and often brings me gifts."

"Yes, yes, the Young Miss Xue treats others sincerely and is generous, unlike Xue Ronghua, who uses her identity as the future wangfei to look down on others, and did not even give us face just now."

"I also pity Little Sister Liuhua, but we are not people of the Xue Residence, so it would be inconvenient for us to interfere in this matter."

"It's not convenient normally, but now there's a chance," National Duke’s daughter said as a cold smile appeared on his face. "Since she has wronged Liuhua, then let's help Liuhua and make this wangfei suffer a little too."

Thinking about how Prince Duan had fallen into the hands of a lowly concubinage, she felt a pain in her heart. He didn't lose his family background, and he also didn't lose his looks, why did Prince Duan never look at her for a second, he only thought about concubinage.

National Duke’s daughter secretly grabbed her sleeves. She would like to see how powerful Xue Ronghua was today, to be able to make Prince Duan fall for him.

"Esteemed Empress invited us to the Tolling Hall for tea," she said with a charming smile towards the ladies behind her. "Why aren't you leaving yet? Don't let them wait in such a hurry."