Chapter 80: Hundred Flowers Gathering
The Jasper Flower Banquet was over, so the n.o.bility of the three nations left.
The Xiao family continued on as normal. Their lifestyle didn"t change from the Jasper Flower Banquet, but Xiao Mi"s position in court gradually changed.
It was obvious just from the way the emperor treated her.
Meanwhile, Lei Yufeng had also left after Hua Ruxue agreed to Xiao Susu"s request.
He was still not very worried about the south boundary. For the time being, this place wouldn"t threaten great Yan or the Lei Clan Stronghold.
In regards to Xiao Susu, he was only interested in her talent and intelligence. He felt no attraction to anything else.
Baili Mo and Xu Weiran originally wanted to use their nation"s power to fight for possession of Xiao Susu, but due to that sentence from Hua Ruxue—the imperial household won"t interfere in her marriage—they had no choice but to silently leave.
There was no choice but to think of another way.
Of course, it would take a lot more time and effort.
And they wouldn"t be able to involve Hundred Flowers Nation in this marriage either.
Hua Ruxue truly had some skill.
For the time being, Unyielding Clouds Nation and Serene Chaste Nation"s plan to drive a wedge between the other nations failed. And in the first place, Unyielding Clouds Nation and Serene Chaste Nation had some bad feelings between them so it"d take some time for them to reach an agreement to cooperate.
Hence, for the time being, the south boundary was at peace.
Fighting would soon begin, but it"d still take some time.
The reason why Hua Ruxue did this was because she needed time to build up Hundred Flowers Nation"s strength. The only way to take the south boundary in one swoop was with strength.
Her ambition didn"t stop at the boundaries of Hundred Flowers Nation.
Most days, Xiao Susu stayed at home and chatted with Xiao En. From time to time, other cousins would come to her courtyard and they would chat over wine.
It was because Xiao Susu"s performance at Jasper Flower Banquet was truly too shocking, and it clearly showed her amazing talent.
So now, Xiao Zhu and Xiao Yan who had nothing to do in the Xiao residence would often coax her into playing a song or they would gather everyone to match verses.
Of course, Xiao Susu was never included in the group that was punished.
After some time, the indifference and coldness that always hovered around Xiao Susu gradually disappeared and she truly became part of this large family. The events of the past also gradually fell deeper into her heart.
However, her cold personality wouldn"t change that quickly.
Even when she was laughing happily, she still sometimes felt alone. That transient feeling came from her very core.
After a performance of Ambush from the Ten Sides, unending applause rang out.
“Young Miss, your playing is too good!” Several servant cried out in agreement while clapping vigorously.
Xiao Susu smiled faintly and walked offstage to allow Xiao En to walk onstage.
Hundred Flowers Nation"s system of placing importance on women over men wouldn"t change for a while but Xiao Susu also couldn"t adjust that quickly.
Xiao Mi had been very busy lately. She was so busy that she was practically emitting smoke from the top of her head, so she hadn"t had time to deal with any of the matters at home. However, Xiao Zhu and Xiao Yan haven"t caused any trouble lately either.
“Young Miss, an invitation from the palace.”
Just as Xiao En was walking towards the guqin, the steward rushed in and respectfully offered Xiao Susu a red invitation.
The word ‘palace" immediately made everyone present fall silent.
They looked towards Xiao Susu with envy.
It had been a long time since someone from the Xiao family had been invited by the imperial household.
Xiao Susu had allowed the Xiao family to regain glory again. Although she was only talented in the arts, it was enough.
And now, she had even gotten an invitation from the palace. This honor was enough to make others envy.
However, this was just a heavy burden to Xiao Susu. She didn"t want to take the invitation, but she couldn"t very well refuse it.
Xiao En was happy for his younger sister. They had grown close over this past period of time, so he hadn"t thought much as he walked over to take the invitation for Xiao Susu.
He took out some pieces of broken silver from his sleeve and gave it to the steward. “Steward, just say that our young miss has already gotten the invitation. Tell those guards they can go.”
The originally harmonious atmosphere immediately got a little stiff. Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhu shared a glance without saying anything.
However, their facial color wasn"t pretty.
Xiao Susu didn"t reveal any of her unhappiness. She took the invitation and glanced at it. “Hundred Flowers Gathering… He truly has hundreds of flowery methods.”
Her tone contained a trace of disdain and her expression turned a little unwilling.
She didn"t like this sort of ‘honor."
She really didn"t like that sort of gathering. She had been forced to partic.i.p.ate in Jasper Flower Banquet because it was hard to go against the imperial decree, but now the prince, Hua Qianye, was hosting a Hundred Flowers Gathering? It was seriously a headache.
But was it possible to not go?
She knew that it wasn"t.
“The invitation said that the entire Xiao family is invited to attend the Hundred Flowers Gathering. Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt, if you guys are willing, then please accompany Susu. Susu hasn"t been awake for long and doesn"t know much about the imperial household, so Susu"s worried about accidentally making a mistake.” Xiao Susu was an expert in reading expressions since back then, Su Qiqi was only able to survive by improving this skill.
When the Xiao family members heard Xiao Susu put things this way, the atmosphere relaxed.
In reality, even if Xiao Susu didn"t do this, they still wouldn"t be able to do anything to her.
However, Xiao Susu didn"t want the family that was finally harmonious to start fighting each other again. She didn"t like that sort of life.
“Alright, alright.” The womenfolk in the Xiao family only consisted of Xiao Yan, Xiao Zhu, and Xiao Susu while the men naturally didn"t have the rights to partic.i.p.ate.
At this time, Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhu just felt that Xiao Susu was truly too kind-hearted and sweet.
Meanwhile, the other men had crying expressions. These young men had gotten used to their lifestyles of just enjoying the wine and flowers so they loved liveliness. The fact that they couldn"t partic.i.p.ate in the Hundred Flowers Gathering naturally made them sad.
However, they couldn"t do anything about it since they were men.
“Big Brother, go with me tomorrow,” said Xiao Susu mildly. Although she was a woman and naturally started with a higher status in Hundred Flowers Nation, she still wasn"t used to this idea and wanted Xiao En to go with her for moral support.
She wasn"t afraid of the people from the imperial family, but she didn"t like those status-based gathering filled with fake politeness.
Xiao En"s presence would help her fend off some of those fake expressions of goodwill.
Although Xiao En was a little feminine, overall, he still had some experience in society.
He was also the one secretly in charge of the Xiao family"s stores because Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhu only knew to play. Xiao Mi hadn"t dared to entrust those two with the family business.
This was also the reason why Xiao Susu trusted in Xiao En"s ability.
However, her casual sentence stunned everyone present.
Even Xiao En was taken aback and stared at Xiao Susu in shock.
Xiao Susu smiled uncomfortably. She knew that she had messed up in etiquette this time, but she had already spoken, so she couldn"t very well take it back. Furthermore, she didn"t want to take it back. “The prince is the one hosting this Hundred Flowers Gathering and he"s a man, so your attendance won"t affect anything.”
“But…” Xiao Yan was still a little worried.
Xiao Susu didn"t change her mind easily once she decided on something. She smiled again as she interrupted, “Eldest Aunt, don"t worry. If anything happens, I"ll take responsibility. I won"t let anything happen to Big Brother.”
Xiao En was Xiao Yan"s eldest son, so she was naturally happy that he could partic.i.p.ate in a gathering like this. However, it was risky.
For hundreds of years, men had not been allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the imperial household"s gatherings unless the emperor specifically gave a decree.
Would Xiao Susu really be able to break precedent?
Xiao Yan couldn"t really argue though because she saw the determination on Xiao Susu"s face.
Xiao En was of course willing to go with Xiao Susu. He was worried that Xiao Susu would be bullied by people from the imperial household. After all, none of the princesses were pushovers.
At the same time, Xiao Susu"s cold and aloof personality definitely didn"t make a good first impression and she had only woken up a little while ago so she wasn"t familiar with the workings of the high society.
If they tried to hurt her by manipulating her ignorance, his presence would be able to protect her somewhat.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira"s Corner]
Enjoy~