Yu Xiang lied prone on Yu Pin Yanâs shoulder and looked at those noble girls standing there rigidly like puppets with ashen-faced. She flashed them a pleasing smile then pretending to be sad before burying herself into her elder brotherâs neck and immediately remembered the true identity of Little Qiuâer.
Yu Xiang knew the other partyâs background would absolutely not be simple the moment that gems filled pouch was handed over to her. Looking over at everyone in Xihe Garden, whose background would have been simple so she didnât give it much thought. She however wouldnât have expected the simple and plainly dressed Little Qiuâer who only brought along an old momo was the Ninth Princess of the reigning monarch. The Ninth Princess who was soundly protected by the Emperor, the Empress and the Crown Prince!
Qiuâer closely sounded to Jiuâer (number ninth child) and with her rounded physique, the selection of this pet name was extremely appropriate.
She turned to look at the siblings who were walking in front of them and saw Little Qiuâer was still choking with sobs and looking truly pitiful. Did this child believe that she would jump into the river and get frightened?
Some remorseful feelings rose within Yu Xiang.
Yu Pin Yan mistakenly thought she was feeling scared as he lightly patted her back to reassure her, âDonât be afraid. Elder brother is here, nobody can bully you.â
âElder brother, did I cause you any trouble? Her father is Prince Yu.â This was the era that âGood dad within grasp, everythingâs within grabsâ.
Prince Yu was tenaciously defending the northwest fiefdom and refused returning to the Capital thus his ambitions were very obvious and well known. He had paid no heed to the three imperial edicts the Emperor had repeatedly issued and the Emperor had already propelled to eliminate him within a year or so. He on the other hand had long prepared to abandon the first wife and his Di daughter who he left in the Capital and till date they still werenât even aware how they were to die in the future.
The bottomless eyes of Yu Pin Yan faintly emitted hints of hostilities. He rubbed his younger sisterâs head as he whispered, âThatâs no harm. I, Marquis Yongle is not afraid of offending his Prince Yu manor.â
Yu Xiang smiled contentedly.
In Feng Qi Pavillion, the Empress was seated on the main seat and the Crown Princess was accompanying the guests. Both stood up to meet Little Qiuâer when they saw her sobbing and sniffling.
Yu Xiang was unable to perform the salutation, so she had no choice but just made a bow with her hands clasped without any haughtiness nor humbleness expression.
The Empress smilingly responded with a verse, âGood child.â She then took her daughter into her embrace, patted her before she gently asked, âQiuâer, whatâs wrong? Who has bullied you?â
Yu Xiang was mentally focused and calm yet looked nonchalantly.
âTheyâŠâŠthey snatched my lantern and wanted to hit me. Lotus seed cake protected me. They forced lotus seed cake to death and made lotus seed cake jump into the river.â Little Qiuâer sniffled as she recounted the event verse by verse.
Yu Xiang really wished she could rush over to give this chubby Qiuâer big kisses. In just a few words, she had tenaciously pushed that group of people into a pit. Indeed naively adorable with an in-depth black-bellied nature!
Frostiness instantly replaced the somewhat smile on the Empressâ face after she had heard those words.
Yu Xiang lowered her head slightly. She blinked and tears at once were pooled within the rims of her eyes which seemingly longed to spill down which made her look particularly enthralling the tender affections of the others. She merely sat there without saying a word yet the onlookers could just feel the great grievances she must have suffered.
âDonât cry. Queen Mother will make the decision for you. Momo said you wanted to eat sweet and sour carp? The imperial kitchen had already prepared it. Wash your face and go eat together with YuâŠ. with lotus seed cake.â The Empress gently wiped her daughterâs tears and patted her chubby little butt.
Hearing about food, Little Qiuâer instantly beamed with smiles and straight-away waved at Yu Xiang with tears still pooling in her eyes.
Yu Xiang turned to face her elder brother and only followed after she saw him faintly nodded his head. Just as they arrived outside the door, they saw the group of noble girls walking slowly led by a court lady. The once insufferably arrogant Qinghe Junzhu was now like a drenched quail, quivering and trembling in tears. Chang Ya Fu was calm but her steps were somewhat flighty while Yu Si Yu was following behind with her head hung low. When she heard the rumbling sound of the wheelchair, she promptly raised her head up with pleading eyes.
Yu Xiang lifted her lower jaw then lightly swept her index finger horizontally across her neck and grinned odiously when she saw the instantly twisted face of Yu Si Yu.
Qinghe Junzhu and Chang Ya Fu apparently also caught sight of her threatening action that both eyes opened wide. The character of this person was so nefarious that they had been driven into her scheme by her performance! Nothing would have happened if she had just told them the identity of the Ninth Princess! This was intentionally making them pay!
After this incident, the notoriety of the second young miss of Marquis Yongle manor spread out; shrewish, crafty and very good in feigning innocence. The general noble girls didnât dare to befriend her. They were afraid that she might just stab them and undoubtedly also darenât offend her simply because of the several extremely formidable backers.
While Yu Xiang and Little Qiuâer were enjoying the delicacies, that group of noble girls were kneeling in Feng Qi Pavilion listening to admonishment. Qinghe Junzhu was grounded for three months and the others were punished with copying one hundred copies of the scripture. These punishments were not regarded as harsh, but the words âlack of virtueâ from the Empress was good enough to overturn them for several years. Those who had marriage contracts would likely be withdrawn by the in-laws while those who hadnât might not get any marriage contract. They felt truly remorse that even their intestines had turned green.
Once the Empress had settled the matter, she strolled towards the side hall and peeked through the gap between the partition screen at the two little girls having their meals.