Three days went by rather quickly. After Yun Qian Meng had her breakfast and read for a while, it was almost noon, so she brought Mu Chun along to attend the party.
But just when she stepped out of the xiangfu gate, she immediately saw Xi Lin, along with six guards, approaching her. Seeing Yun Qian Meng, they immediately addressed her, "Greetings to Yun xiaojie."
"Xi s.h.i.+wei, is something the matter?" seeing capable looking men a.s.sembled in front of her, Yun Qian Meng thought of Chu Fei Yang"s words from before; thus, she knew that these people would surely follow her in and out of xiangfu in the future.
"Xiaojie, these bodyguards are from xiangye. They are to ensure your safety. I have to trouble xiaojie to please bring them along when going out." Xi Lin said levely.
Yun Qian Meng carefully examined the six in front of her. She saw that all of them were rather young, but they all looked reliable. The look in all of the six"s eyes were also calm, but still had hidden brightness, so she knew that the people Chu Fei Yang had picked for her were all good ones. She then smiled and said, "Thanks xiangye for me."
Hearing Yun Qian Meng say so, Xi Lin knew that she had accepted the six guards. He then saluted Yun Qian Meng again, mounted his horse, and left the xiangfu.
The six people already had their own job a.s.signments. Two of them went up the carriage as drivers, another two had their own horses and followed behind the carriage, while the remaining two stayed in front to lead the way. Like that, Yun Qian Meng"s carriage was completely protected.
Seeing the quick and clean actions of the six guards, Yun Qian Meng was impressed. She also admired Chu Fei Yang for being able to train these people so well. She then went into the carriage with Mu Chun and felt the carriage slowly moving forward.
The trip was safe and peaceful. When Yun Qian Meng dismounted from the carriage, she heard someone lightly calling her name.
"Yun xiaojie!" looking to the side, she saw that Wu Guo Gongfu"s carriage had coincidentally stopped at the entrance of Chen w.a.n.gfu as well. While Wu Qin Qin did not even wait for the carriage to stop, she lifted the curtain and waved her hands at Yun Qian Meng.
Seeing her smiling face, Yun Qian Meng nodded in greeting. She turned back and told the guards to wait for her at the entrance then walked a few steps forward to wait for Wu Qin Qin to get down from her carriage.
Right after Wu Guo Gongfu"s carriage had come to a stop, Wu Qin Qin quickly went down the carriage with the help of her yatou and approached Yun Qian Meng, then enthusiastically held Yun Qian Meng"s and said, "It must be fate that we even picked the same time to attend the party!"
Yun Qian Meng just smiled in reply. Seeing Wu furen walking over to her direction, Yun Qian Meng un.o.btrusively pulled out her arm from Wu Qin Qin"s hands and slightly bowed to Wu furen, "Qian Meng greets furen."
"Yun xiaojie is being too polite." Wu furen was quite round and chubby; thus, she walked a bit slowly. But when Yun Qian Meng greeted her, she quickly replied with a soft and gentle voice that caused those who heard it to feel at ease.
"Meng"er!" suddenly, another voice called out.
Yun Qian Meng did not need to turn around to know that it was Qu Fei Qing"s voice. Accompanying her over was Qu Zhang Qing. Undoubtedly, laotaijun was rather cautious of Chen w.a.n.gfu.
Seeing them, a sincere smile appeared on Yun Qian Meng"s face, "It is so fortunate to meet the two of you at the entrance."
Qu Fei Qing went down the carriage smiling. When she saw Wu furen and Wu xiaojie, both parties greeted each other. Then, Qu Fei Qing approached Yun Qian Meng and said, "I originally wanted to pick you up and come with you, but brother said that there was no need to do so."
While speaking, Qu Fei Qing glanced at Qu Zhang Qing a little resentfully.
Yun Qian Meng guessed that Qu Zhang Qing might have already known about Chu Fei Yang sending over bodyguards to her and was thus, rest a.s.sured of her safety.
Seeing that Qu Zhang Qing"s seemed to look better than before, Yun Qian Meng"s worry lessened.
"How is uncle? Has he fully recovered? Now that there"s always a lot of visitors in the fu, I don"t have any time to visit anymore." Yun Qian Meng asked, as she had not been to Fu Guo Gongfu in quite a while.
"Daddy can already sit up straight. He will surely recover after some more time. I know that you are busy right now and so we also have not gone and bothered you. After you are done with all that, let"s meet again soon. Only, why are you with this Wu xiaojie?" Qu Fei Qing frowned and whispered, after glancing at Wu Qin Qin, who had been sticking to Yun Qian Meng since a while ago.
Yun Qian Meng just smiled and entered the gate of Chen w.a.n.gfu while holding Qu Fei Qing"s arm.
Their impression of Chen w.a.n.gfu could only be that it was strict and forbidding. None of the servants were talkative people. Even the mama who led the way spoke only when reminding them to look for stairs or edges, and did not say anything otherwise.
And since there was a taifei living in Chen w.a.n.gfu, it was twice as large as other w.a.n.gfu. They had walked for around half an incense stick before crossing the front yard and arriving at the garden where the party would be held.
Although it was called a garden, there were very few flowers. Instead, the place was filled with numerous delicate and beautiful bonsai. The neatly trimmed plants were situtated at the right spots, unexpectedly complimenting the beauty of the whole garden by making it look rather unique.
After leading them to the garden, the mama bowed then turned around and left.
At this time, there were already a number of xiaojies and furens gathered in the garden. Everyone was surprised that Yun Qian Meng had also been invited. But then, after recalling her current status, each one of them expressed jealousy. And as if they it had been previously agreed upon,, they all continued on their conversations and clearly isolated Yun Qian Meng.
As opposed to Yun Qian Meng, Princess Qi Ling"er was warmly welcomed and was surrounded by everyone. Various xiaojie wanted to a.s.sociate with her, which made their group rather lively.
Wu Qin Qin was still stuck to Yun Qian Meng, so Qu Fei Qing then immediately pulled Yun Qian Meng to one side and asked her with a soft voice, "Since when did this Wu Qin Qin become so close with you?"
Looking at the trimmed plant in the shape of a ball, Yun Qian Meng smiled and replied, "I don"t know either. Three days ago, Wu furen brought Wu xiaojie to xiangfu to offer congratulations. Today is only the second time we"ve met. Her enthusiasm is really hard to take."
Although it was good to be enthusiastic, she was afraid that there might be other purposes behind this enthusiasm.
In Western Chu, aside from the Imperial Family and all the various w.a.n.gfu, the four big clans were the highest in rank.
Wu Guo Gongfu ranked behind the four clans, but although they were incomparable to the Qu, Yuan, Ruan, and Rong families, they were still extremely honorable.
Unfortunately, Wu Guo Gongfu only had male descendants, which lead to there being no concubines with the surname Wu in the Palace.
It was only until the current generation was there a daughter, Wu Qin Qin. From the rumors that the laotaijun treated her as a pearl in the palm, in order that her granddaughter would not suffer any grievances, she rarely allowed her to join parties.
But this was the thing that was the hardest to understand.
Since they already had this girl in the family, why did they not send her to the Palace? Based on the Wu family"s status, Wu Qin Qin would surely be able to receive the t.i.tle of an imperial concubine. But now, it was rather funny that Wu furen had brought her daughter to Yun xiangfu to deepen their relations.h.i.+p with Yun Qian Meng.
"I heard that Yuan de taifei loves taking care of plants. Presumably, these were all pruned by her!" Qu Fei Qing suddenly changed the topic when Yun Qian Meng felt that her arm was being held by someone. She mysteriously smiled at Qu Fei Qing then turned around.
"Why isn"t Wu xiaojie accompanying furen?" as expected, Wu Qin Qin was boringly holding onto her arm, and Yun Qian Meng felt somewhat irritated. She took the opportunity to point at Wu furen so that her arm might be free again.
But Wu Qin Qin seemed to not notice it at all. She only held onto Yun Qian Meng"s arm tighter and murmured, "I don"t like places with a lot of people. It"s more quieter here with Yun xiaojie."
Glancing at the overly lively situation at the other side, Yun Qian Meng smiled and said, "As long as you remain calm."
It seemed like Qi Ling"er felt Yun Qian Meng"s gaze as her eyes went past the layers of people in the crowd and met with Yun Qian Meng"s eyes. Both of them politely nodded. Qi Ling"er then stood up and walked towards Yun Qian Meng with a group of brightly dressed ladies.
"Greetings to Yun xiaojie, Qu xiaojie, and Wu xiaojie." Qi Ling"er said with her clear and attractive voice that seemed to fit in very well in this garden filled with plants.
Qi Ling"er had come with a smile, and hearing after she had immediately recognized Wu Qin Qin, Yun Qian Meng knew that this princess was not someone who only had looks. She might have already carefully sorted out the relations.h.i.+ps between the families and clans before even coming to Western Chu. That was likely how she had been able to face all the situations, as well as gain the favor of all the other xiaojie in just a short while.
"Greetings, princess." The three of them immediately bowed to prevent people from thinking that they lacked manners.
"I didn"t expect Yun xiaojie to also be invited today. We all thought that Chen w.a.n.gfu wouldn"t send an invitation to Yun xiaojie. Now I"m curious, what status does Yun xiaojie come with?" Before Qi Ling"er had said anything, Su Qian Yue, who was part of the crowd, had been the one to speak up. The ridicule in her words caused most people in the crowd to secretly laugh.
Yun Qian Meng only smiled lightly all throughout. She patiently waited for Su Qian Yue to finish before she calmly said, "Since Su xiaojie could come, why couldn"t I? Does Su xiaojie have a higher status than me?"
With just one sentence, Yun Qian Meng reminded Su Qian Yue to be aware of her own rank, as well as reminding everyone of her current status. Although she was just the xiaojie of a xiangfu, but ever since Emperor Yu Qian granted the marriage, she would soon be the legal wife of Chu xiang. With this kind of status, even the old furen of the Su Family would avoid offending her.
Suppressed by someone of her status, Su Qian Yue was immediately shamed.
But remembering that it was all Yun Qian Meng"s fault that she could not enter the Palace as a consort, hatred sprang from her heart. She coldly and harshly said, "My status naturally couldn"t be compared to Yun xiaojie who, after being rejected by Chen w.a.n.g, now uses Chu xiang to oppress us. It"s so impressive that Yun xiaojie has been able to gain advantage from both."
Wu Qin Qin"s face turned red at Su Qian Yue"s words. She was immediately outraged by this injustice, "Su xiaojie, what are you saying? All of that has been out of Yun xiaojie"s will. How could you take pleasure in her misfortune? If it had been you, do you wish that other people would say the same things to you?"
Hearing that, Yun Qian Meng raised her eyebrow and glanced at Wu Qin Qin. She felt even more suspicious. She thought that her relations.h.i.+p with Wu Qin Qin so far was not enough for the other to speak up for her. Moreover, the Su Family now had ties with Chen w.a.n.g. With that statement, it seemed like she was only offending the Su Family, but she was actually speaking against Chen w.a.n.g.
Even Qu Fei Qing looked at Wu Qin Qin because of that. Seeing her red faced, eyes that showed anger, and her body shaking from Su Qian Yue"s words, it seemed like she was really angry with the injustice that had befallen Yun Qian Meng.
Yun Qian Meng lightly tapped Wu Qin Qin"s hand, then turned to Su Qian Yue. Cold rays reflected from her dark smiling eyes, making Su Qian Yue instantly nervous.
"Recently, Su xiaojie has been visiting Chen w.a.n.gfu quite often. I suppose your intentions are quite obvious now that Su xiaojie"s reason for treating Qian Meng as an enemy is likely because of the previous Emperor"s decree of marriage." Since she had already come to Chen w.a.n.gfu, Yun Qian Meng naturally would not be afraid of talking about the decree in the past.
Moreover, when they were given the marriage, Yun Qian Meng was just a mere baby. She had not had any relations with Chen w.a.n.g. It had all been based on the decision of their elders. Compared to Su Qian Yue, who wholeheartedly wanted to enter Chen w.a.n.gfu, Yun Qian Meng had not no control over the circ.u.mstances.
After the statement, the xiaojie who thought similarly glared at Su Qian Yue, immediately changing the atmosphere in this small s.p.a.ce. Su Qian Yue grew so angry that she wished she could just push and scratch Yun Qian Meng"s beautiful face.
"At the last Imperial Banquet, it was really the fault of my lack of deliberation. I hope for of Yun xiaojie"s forgiveness." Qi Ling"er slowly said. Her expression was filled with kind smile. She seemed totally unaffected by Su Qian Yue"s words a while ago and was just sincerely apologizing to Yun Qian Meng.
Since she apologized in front of everyone, Yun Qian Meng knew that she was waiting for her to say words of forgiveness; otherwise, she would end up rather unreasonable and petty-minded in front of everyone.
Thus, she also smiled and said generously, "Princess is being too serious, Qian Meng did not take it seriously. I hope that Princess would not take offense."
"Even if you say so, I still feel rather sorry. If it wasn"t because of my curiosity, Chu xiang wouldn"t have asked the Emperor for the decree. How about this? I can ask the Emperor to ask Western Chu"s Emperor for a favor, and let him take back the order." Qi Ling"er slightly frowned. Her eyes seemed to be filled with remorse and suggested this solution after thinking for a while.
But after Yun Qian Meng heard it, she coldly laughed in her heart.
Qi Ling"er"s methods were really much more high-end than Su Qian Yue!
While making it clear to everyone that Yun Qian Meng had unwillingly accepted the marriage, she also implied that she would be willing to try to give Yun Qian Meng her freedom back.
If Yun Qian Meng agreed, then she would be granting everyone"s wish, but would then be hurting Chu Fei Yang"s kindness.
If she did not agree, then she would make more enemies for herself, and those daughters who were in love with Chu Fei Yang would hate her even more.
With a simple suggestion, the Princess was able to embody so many meanings. And each level of her words trapped Yun Qian Meng even more. She was really worthy of being a princess of the Imperial Family; her methods and arguments were a whole lot better than Su Qian Yue"s.
But the present Yun Qian Meng was not the same as the cowardly girl from before. How could she, who had fought almost a hundred battles and had dealt with drug dealers, be unable to handle this kind of situation?
Yun Qian Meng smiled at Qi Ling"er, who was in high spirits, and said surely, "Princess is troubling herself too much. It"s just that the elders and the matchmaker"s arrangements have already been completed. Moreover, it was a marriage granted by the Emperor, Qian Meng would naturally accept it happily. I apologize for causing Princess to trouble herself so much for Qian Meng."
With just a statement, Yun Qian Meng not only answered Qi Ling"er, but also lowered the spirits of the xiaojie who were hoping for something.
"Oh! There"s a colorful b.u.t.terfly there! Yun xiaojie, let"s go and catch the b.u.t.terfly!" Wu Qin Qin suddenly spoke. She did not wait for anyone to react before she pulled Yun Qian Meng out of the garden and towards the rocky little road along the pond.
The view along way was really appealing. The pond was glowed with the rays of sunlight, various flowers were planted beside the rocky road, and a rock garden surrounded them. Undoubtedly, Chen w.a.n.gfu was rather beautiful and peculiar. But if one was not familiar with Chen w.a.n.gfu, they might have already lost their way in the rockery.
Wu Qin Qin forcefully pulled Yun Qian Meng and ran forward. Only until she was really tired did she stop running. Bent over and gasping for breath, she shook her hands toward Yun Qian Meng and said, "I can"t take it anymore. I"m too tired to run, that b.u.t.terfly flew too fast."
Yun Qian Meng suspiciously looked at Wu Qin Qin. If Wu Qin Qin had intentionally fabricated catching a b.u.t.terfly to free her from the situation, why would she still continue the charade when there was no one else here?
At that moment, a seven colored b.u.t.terfly flew past them.
"Haha! It flew back! Just see how I"m gonna catch you!" Wu Qin Qin had not expected that she would be able to catch it without any effort. She happily straightened her body to try to go catch the b.u.t.terfly. But after moving her hands in the air for a while, she realized that she had not brought her fan with her. Looking at her empty hands, Wu Qin Qin was rather impatient and did not know what to do.
"How would I catch the b.u.t.terfly without a fan? I think I"ll go back and get it. Yun xiaojie, could you please stay here and guard that b.u.t.terfly for me?" Wu Qin Qin quickly said and went back using their previous route.
Yun Qian Meng frowned. She thought deeply after seeing Wu Qin Qin"s familiarity to the place.
But Yun Qian Meng feel that it was inappropriate for her to be alone in this place. She thus moved her feet and planned to go back to the garden, but right after the first a step, an arm stretched out from behind a rock. Before Yun Qian Meng could react, her thin wrist had already been grabbed, then the person forcefully pulled her behind a fake boulder.
Yun Qian Meng went out of balance and fell into the person"s arms. She hit a warm chest and seeing the four-clawed dragon figure on the robe, she immediately knew who the person was. She quickly stretched her arms to push the person away, and distance herself. She then raised her eyes and looked at the person coldly, "What has brought w.a.n.gye to hide in this place?"
Chen w.a.n.g had not expected that Yun Qian Meng would be so repulsed and could not help the tight knitting of his brows. But facing the cold yet beautiful face, he could not force himself to be cold. He followed her words and said, "This is Chen w.a.n.gfu, why shouldn"t benw.a.n.g be here?"
"Since that is so, then chennu asks for your leave to depart." Yun Qian Meng indifferently bowed towards Chen w.a.n.g and quickly moved back, fully intending to leave the first.
But Chen w.a.n.g had already foreseen her move and caught her wrist once again. He then pulled her towards his chest and instantly doing away with the gap Yun Qian Meng had put between them. The coldness in his heart had now been replaced by rage and he held her wrist even tighter.
Although Yun Qian Meng felt pain from her arm, but she still retained her cold expression. She raised her cold and calm eyes and looked at the somewhat angry Chen w.a.n.g, mocking him, "What is w.a.n.gye doing? Doesn"t w.a.n.gye know that I am already Chu xiang"s fiance? I would ask w.a.n.gye to please show some respect, so as to not complicate things."
But after hearing Yun Qian Meng"s words, Chen w.a.n.g exerted even greater force and pulled her into his arms more. He then held her waist with one hand to restrict her movements while his other pressed onto the back of Yun Qian Meng"s head, pressing her face to his chest, as he said, "Don"t marry him!"
Yun Qian Meng knew that she surely would not be able to escape from Chen w.a.n.g by herself. Thus, to prevent Chen w.a.n.g from doing any more extreme actions, she made concessions and stayed quietly in his arms and answered, "w.a.n.gye is funny. Why would I reject the good marriage the Emperor has granted to me?" while thinking of possible ways to get away.
"What do you know? Do you really know him? Do you know about his past? Do you know what kind of person that man really is? You dare marry him without even knowing anything? Yun Qian Meng, is your brain even functioning, or is it that you won"t let go of any man with high rank?" unexpectedly, Yun Qian Meng"s words caused Jiang Mu Chen to scream. The hands on her waist also tightened, making it diffucult for her to breathe, but she endured the difficulty because she did not want to show weakness in front of Chen w.a.n.g.
Chen w.a.n.g"s words made Yun Qian Meng look down upon him even more. The person who asked to break the engagement before was now pointing at another person and hurling abuse. This kind of man was really funny! Did he not know that doing this would only make her hate him more? What right did he have to criticize someone else?
Seeing that Yun Qian Meng was quietly staying in his arms, Chen w.a.n.g"s expression slightly relaxed, and his tone also calmed down, but his stubbornly biased mindset still showed hatred towards Chu Fei Yang. "If you cancel the engagement now, I can give you the same thing."
Hearing this, Yun Qian Meng felt her heart freeze and she could not help but coldly laugh in her mind.
"The same thing?" What an easy solution.
She really wanted to know what could be worth exchanging her for. Did Chen w.a.n.g not know how great a damage his self-opinionated idea could bring to a woman?
Yun Qian Meng pushed Chen w.a.n.g away with all the force she could muster, putting some distance between them and coldly laughed, "I"m afraid I can not do as you wish."
It seemed like Chen w.a.n.g had also expected this kind of reply from Yun Qian Meng. But this time, rather than getting angry, he laughed a very scary laugh. He then replied with gloomy expression, "Do you really think that I would let you marry him so easily?"