Chapter 15: Restraining her thorns while swallowing her anger(1)
"What Yan-er said is the truth!"
The one who spoke was the second princess of Qi Country, Feng Yuewei. The closer she came, the more lovely and charming she appeared. An Yan thought, This sister-in-law of mine is much more cunning and alluring than Concubine Lin. Although she only married into this manor a few months ago, she is already very difficult to deal with.
An Yan thought about that, but she revealed nothing on her face. To all those who looked, she just appeared to be an even-tempered aristocratic girl. Her thoughts were concealed deeply within her heart.
When Feng Yuewei came closer, those n.o.ble ladies who were still whispering all fell silent. An Yan's own eldest brother, An Shuo, also came in behind her, meticulously embracing and protecting her. He showed a doting appearance. When he saw An Yan who was standing nearby, he frowned and his hold on his wife tightened even more.
Seeing her eldest brother dote on his wife like that, An Yan's heart was filled with envy. Before, when he had still been unmarried, he would give her a small smile whenever he saw An Yan and, although he was not very talkative, he had not been like this, avoiding her and frowning whenever he saw her, like she was some big toxic stuff or a monster.
"Since you have come, take a seat and celebrate with your sisters."
Feng Yuewei leaned contentedly into An Shuo's embrace and casually swept a glance at all of the a.s.sembled aristocratic youth. Under her gaze, they felt a cold s.h.i.+ver run down their backs and lowered their heads in agreement.
With the present mood within the manor, who would dare to go and stir up more trouble?
Those who had come here were royals and n.o.bles, and they were unwilling to let the famous poison daughter of the prime minister come close to them. They had all gathered here to celebrate and make merry— not to get poisoned.
However, there were some of them who were secretly relis.h.i.+ng the scene playing out in front of them.
An Yan slowly exhaled. These words were not spoken with love — there was no good feeling behind that invitation. Instead, it was as if she was being pitied. A spurt of fiery emotions ran through her veins and, though this feeling was on the verge of erupting, she knew she could not rely on her status as the poison daughter and cause havoc here. It would only further ruin her reputation.
She could endure. A small grudge could be endured and would be relievable by shouting crazily, but a large grudge would be impossible to endure.
This is also something she had learned from her Aunt Ye's evening teachings all through her childhood.
An Yan prudently remained silent, nodding her acquiescence with a smile. All of her actions seemed natural and unforced. She knew that if she attempted to engage here, it would be a big mistake.
Zi Yi, the maid who was standing behind her, lowered her head and followed after her mistress. Inwardly, she was worried. Within the prime minister's manor, the one whom she was most afraid of was this young Madam who came from the royal household. Her imperial airs were intimidating and no ordinary person could stand up to her.
An Yan looked around, like Feng Yuewei had done earlier, to try and find a quiet corner to sit down. She had looked forward to today for so long, but now it was turning out to be the most insufferable day yet.
But she did not regret her decision. She had wanted to come here so there was nothing to be regretful about. Aunt Rong had agreed to her wish to allow her to come, but now, after this scene, she wondered if she had brought trouble upon her Aunt Rong.
As An Yan's eyes swept over each place, she felt the unwelcoming looks aimed her way that seemed to say, There is no seat vacant here, they are all occupied.
Little An Xi, who was standing behind An Yan, saw this scene and muttered angrily. Then she glared at Feng Yuewei who was standing behind her, before tugging on An Yan's sleeve and opening her mouth to say something.
But then, she caught the look Feng Yuewei was sending her, and she closed her mouth, staring ahead blankly without saying anything.