Chapter 81: Frigid Irony and Scorching Satire
When Xiao Mi heard that Xiao Susu had been invited to partic.i.p.ate in the Hundred Flowers Gathering, a hint of worry appeared on her face, but there was nothing she could say. She could only silently pray that Xiao Susu wouldn"t encounter any trouble.
All the princesses in the palace truly tended to scheme a lot.
Furthermore, Hua Qianzi who had just returned to the imperial household from great Yan had lost to Xiao Susu at the Jasper Flower Banquet. That woman definitely wouldn"t take this defeat silently.
At the same time, she also wasn"t someone that would be easy to deal with. It wouldn"t be good to provoke her.
The Hundred Flowers Banquet was actually a new event. It was basically due to Hua Qianye"s boredom.
He invited young girls from various n.o.ble families to a flower viewing event.
Of course, people were aware that this was the prince, Hua Qianye, preparing to select a princess consort. This was a chance to make an impression. Although this was a nation of female superiority, entering the palace and becoming the nation"s princess consort still meant a higher status than that of normal women.
Almost all the n.o.bles were fighting over this chance.
At the same time, everyone was also aware that as long as Xiao Susu was present, their chances would be very slim.
Even so, they were willing to try.
After all, if you didn"t try, how would you know?
Hence, all of the invited women arrived right on time. There was no one late or absent.
Xiao Susu also came to the palace doors at the set time.
She didn"t walk into the palace and just waited quietly inside the carriage. She didn"t want to cause a sensation nor provoke any quarrels, most of all, she didn"t want to show her face.
She came only as a show of respect for the prince and to leave an escape route for the Xiao family.
The emperor Hua Ruxue had already announced in front of the aristocracy of the three nations that she had the right to decide her own marriage, the imperial household would not get involved. With this, she was much more confident.
There was nothing to be afraid of.
"Little Sis, this is a rare chance. Even though the prince won"t inherit the throne, he"s still subject under one and monarch over thousands. Furthermore, he"s very intelligent and has great influence in court. With him as support, you"ll be absolutely safe." Xiao En didn"t have anything to do, so he waited with Xiao Susu in the carriage.
Xiao Susu who was originally deep in thought with her head lowered abruptly looked up. "Big Brother, do you think… that life in the palace suits me?"
She didn"t want to discuss the deeper reasons with him and simply asked this.
This one sentence was enough to leave Xiao En stunned.
After a while he nodded slightly, then shook his head. "Indeed… It doesn"t really suit you."
He really hadn"t thought things through.
He was thinking that this younger sister of his was talented and good-looking and also came from an ill.u.s.trious family, so she"d definitely be the top choice for princess consort. He had completely overlooked the fact that his sister was different from normal people.
He couldn"t consider her life based on his own way of thinking.
The fact that she asked the emperor to grant her the right to decide her own marriage at the Jasper Flower Banquet was enough to show her personality.
Xiao Susu simply smiled.
She knew that the one person in the Xiao family that knew her the best was Xiao Mi. It was like Xiao Mi was aware of her past and was careful never to touch upon her hidden wounds.
The imperial household was the one place she never wanted to set foot in this lifetime.
One Mo Wenchen was already enough to make her never dared to touch any love ever again.
"Young Miss Xiao." The quiet of the carriage was interrupted as a well-mannered greeting came from outside.
There was no need to guess, it was Hua Qianye.
Although Hua Qianye had great power in court, he was well known as a virtuous person. All the people in court were very respectful towards him because he was well-mannered and very amiable.
It was clear that this Hua Qianye wasn"t an ordinary person. All these past years, although he had no opponents, he still did everything flawlessly, making it impossible for any official to say no to him.
This time, Hua Qianzi had abruptly returned to the imperial household, but it didn"t affect Hua Qianye"s position in court at all.
All the ministers continue to support Hua Qianye fully, their opinions didn"t change because of his gender.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was the emperor"s doing. If she didn"t want the situation to be like this, she could have changed it with a single wave of her hand.
Xiao En pushed aside the curtain and got off the carriage to salute Hua Qianye.
Hua Qianye was taken aback for a moment when he saw Xiao En, but he soon recovered and said with a smile, "You may rise. Young Miss Xiao, could it be that you actually need a personal bodyguard?"
His amused remark broke the awkwardness in the air.
Xiao Susu had also lifted the curtain in preparation to get down. She smiled towards Hua Qianye faintly, as appropriate for the occasion.
It made it so that Hua Qianye couldn"t make any additional remarks.
Hua Qianzi was standing behind Hua Qianye with an arrogant expression.
Upon seeing this, Xiao Susu pulled Xiao En over with her to bow in greeting. "Greetings, Princess."
She didn"t want to provoke this woman right now. If she did want to though, she would definitely make it so that this woman would never be able to turn the situation around, so that this woman would suffer worse than she had back then.
She lifted her brows and hooked her lips into a smile.
Hua Qianzi shot Xiao Susu a glower, but she couldn"t really say anything. Even though she wanted to make things difficult for Xiao Susu, she couldn"t really find a valid reason.
Hence she simply lifted her hand. "Today is the Hundred Flowers Gathering that Imperial Older Brother is hosting in order to have everyone spend time together and relax, so there"s no need to worry so much about etiquette. You can just address me as sister."
Xiao Susu wasn"t moved by Hua Qianzi"s polite tone.
This woman"s personality was always different in public versus in private. She had no desire to be sisters with someone like this.
Otherwise, one day she wouldn"t even realize how she got killed.
After that tragic outcome her last lifetime, Xiao Susu had already learned her lesson.
"Many thanks Princess, for such an honor." Xiao Susu"s voice was calm as always, showing no signs of excitement at this honor. Her indifferent expression was also unchanged.
This aura of arrogance seemed to come naturally from her very bones. It wasn"t something anyone else could compare to.
It somewhat captivated Hua Qianye.
However, he had always been good at controlling his emotions, so he didn"t forget himself.
All the other young ladies were glowering at Xiao Susu hastily since Hua Qianye was clearly treating her specially.
Towards these people, Xiao Susu also reacted with indifference. It was as if all of this had nothing to do with her.
"Young Miss Xiao, you"re so skilled in all four arts. How did you learn them so well?" On the boat, Hua Qianye had pulled Xiao En over to the side to talk, so Xiao Susu was sitting with Hua Qianye and a bunch of other girls around a table. As they enjoyed the view of the lotus flowers in full bloom, a woman dressed in purple looked towards Xiao Susu with a smile to ask this.
Although she was smiling, her tone contained hints of harshness.
Everyone was aware that Xiao Susu had spent these past fifteen years deep asleep. She had been a fool that had been ignorant of everything.
"I didn"t learn them." Xiao Susu knew that this girl was purposefully trying to make things difficult for her, but she also wasn"t willing to act submissive to smooth the situation, so she just replied tersely.
"Haha… Did you guys hear that? Young Miss Xiao said that she never learned them, yet she was able to win the Jasper Flower Banquet," said the girl loudly with a laugh.
She lifted her brows meaningfully towards the girls next to her.
"That"s right. Haven"t you heard? She"s a celestial that"s descended to this world. It"s just that as she was descending, she hit her head too hard," said another girl.
"However, a celestial is a celestial after all. She managed to make such an extraordinary show at the Jasper Flower Banquet."
"Right, right…"
Every single one of the women sitting here were aloof figures, from the most influential families, so they naturally would not care about the Xiao family"s power.
Due to Xiao Susu"s initial att.i.tude, there was no way they would let her off.
Xiao Susu didn"t respond to these words and just continued to sit there quietly.
Hua Qianye was sitting two seats down. From start to finish, she hadn"t said a word and simply sat there to watch the show.
Meanwhile, a distance away, although Hua Qianye was still talking with Xiao En about something, his attention had been on this side the entire time. He wanted to see how Xiao Susu would deal with these women.
He didn"t want to be disappointed.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira"s Corner]
Enjoy~