"Ah!"
It was one thing to hear it and another to see it. Those n.o.ble ladies finally recovered from shock and started screaming. Immediately, shrill screams went up together. Ye Li had no choice but to rub her ears. Poor girls, go back and drink some soothing tea. Luckily, though the two that were inside were concentrated, they were able to perceive the movement of a person b.u.mping open the door and rushing in. Therefore, the moment that the door was crashed open, the two inside picked up the quilt in an instant and covered themselves. In fact, that didn"t matter since there was a gauze screen between the door and them, what happened behind which was faintly discernible. Ye Li thought to herself.
However, the maid who broke in had no intention to let her masters go with their reputations intact and let out an even more shrill shriek at once: "Your Highness! What have you done to the princess?"
Did he need a reason for that?
Her piercing scream had stopped the shrieks of those n.o.ble ladies who were standing outside. They all looked at each other blankly and wondered which prince and princess it was, while having a deep feeling that Prince Li"s Manor had not checked the almanac when it decided to hold weddings.
"What happened here?" Consort Xian Zhao finally arrived with some other ladies. She asked when she saw those people who crowded around the door. However, she knew that it wasn"t something good.
Most of those who came along seemed easy to deal with. But that made no difference to Ye Li.
"My Lady, here..." Ye Li hesitated before she spoke: "Better let those ladies take a rest outside."
Consort Xian Zhao"s eyes gleamed when she was looking at Ye Li and she nodded: "Princess, you are right. Sorry to startle you, ladies. Please go outside, have some tea and take a rest."
Those ladies naturally agreed to her arrangement. One after another, they left the strange atmosphere behind quickly.
Ye Li followed the ladies and prepared to leave after them when she was grabbed by Ye Ying, who was standing by Consort Xian Zhao"s side: "Third sister, can you stay? We... we don"t know what is happening inside..."
Consort Xian Zhao nodded as well: "Right. It will be better if you stay with us, Princess Ding. If something goes wrong, you can be our witness. Let"s go and have a look."
Ye Li didn"t know which face to put on. She forced a laugh and said: "Well... how about we ask those two inside to dress up and meet us here?"
Consort Xian Zhao"s face changed a bit and shouted in a deep voice towards that room: "Unbelievable, come out right now!"
A sob came from inside, along with it was a fit of fl.u.s.tered sound. Soon afterwards, a figure of a tall man came out behind the screen with a pet.i.te woman following him.
"Li-er, why are you here?" Consort Xian Zhao asked severely. The tall man wasn"t properly dressed and looked extremely gloomy. It was exactly Mo Jing Li who was supposed to receive guests in the front yard.
"Your Highness!" Ye Ying screamed. Delicate as she was, she was about to fall while pointing at the two.
The crowd turned from Mo Jing Li to the woman who was standing behind him, who was improperly dressed as he was, with her black hair in a mess, tears in her charming eyes and dubious light red marks from her neck all the way down under where her body was covered by her collar.
"Princess Qi Xia..." Standing beside the consort, Marquise Nan"s voice was quivering. Though His Majesty had not taken Princess Qi Xia as his consort formally, but a well-informed n.o.ble lady like her knew well that in the palace the ceremony for the new consort was underway and the t.i.tle for the new consort had already been decided.
Looking at Princess Ding who was supporting Ye Ying with her hands, Marquise Nan made a decision at once: "My Ladies. It"s too inconvenient here. Let"s head out and have a talk."
Ye Li nodded and said: "You are right. My Lady, Let"s talk outside."
Consort Xian Zhao glanced at Mo Jing Li and Princess Qi Xia with a dark mood and nodded: "Princess Ding is right. Let"s go out. You two tidy your things up and come out at once!"
Once they were back in the main hall, Consort Xian Zhao had sent all those other females in the manor to rest in another yard but clearly, Ye Li and those other ladies couldn"t leave for quite some time. Seeing the rigid and dark looks on Marquise Nan and those other ladies who came along with Consort Xian Zhao, Ye Li felt better and considered herself watching a show.
Ye Ying was crying while sitting next to Consort Xian Zhao, which added a few traces of gloominess and coldness to the already oppressive atmosphere in the reception room.
Consort Xian Zhao was driven impatient because of her cry. She glanced at her and said coldly: "Shut up! What else can you do except crying?"
Ye Ying didn"t care if the consort was in a sulk. This incident hit her the hardest. Nothing was worse than her beloved husband having s.e.x with another woman on the same day he was going to marry another consort. "Why am I the one being scolded while it"s His Highness who has done something wrong, My Lady? It"s not my fault..."
Consort Xian Zhao said: "Shut up and get away from me!"
Consort Xian Zhao couldn"t hold back what had happened even if she wanted to. Besides, there were too many people in the manor today. On her way here, she thought those females already knew what had happened just concluding from their looks. She wasn"t the kind of person to bury her head in the sand so she sent for several members of the royal family who were close to Prince Li"s Manor while sending men to report it to Empress dowager who was still in the palace at top speed.
When those members of the royal family arrived, Mo Jing Li and Princess Qi Xia had properly dressed and came out one after the other.
The moment Ye Ying saw Princess Qi Xia, who had washed and dressed carefully but her eyes were still full of tender feelings and looked shy like she had just made love, she wished she could throw herself at Princess Qi Xia and tear her apart. "You b.i.t.c.h!"
Looking at Ye Ying who was pouncing on her, Princess Qi Xia let out a scream of shock. She stepped back and fell right into Mo Jing Li"s arms.
Ye Ying was furious. "You adulterous couple... You b.i.t.c.h, I"ll kill you..." The crowd hurried held Ye Ying back, soothing and comforting her which made those members of the royal family who had just arrived frown.
Ye Li turned around and saw Mo Xiu Yao arrive. She smiled. Leaving the mess behind, she walked slowly towards him. "Why are you here?"
Mo Xiu Yao raised his brows and looked at the gloomy Consort Xian Zhao who was sitting on the host seat.
Consort Xian Zhao had invited a few of Mo Jing Li"s royal uncles and brothers, among whom there must be Prince Ding who held the highest t.i.tle. Besides, Princess Ding was already there so it was no difference if Prince Ding also came.
"Jing Li! What are you doing here?" An elder prince with white beard and an imposing manner was fuming with anger. He snorted and pointed at Ye Ying who was making a scene: "Is this the princess that you had to marry no matter what? Besides... today is your wedding, what do you want with this, having invited all those guests over? You"ve totally disgraced your father and brother!"
Mo Jing Li looked ghastly pale. He twitched his mouth but didn"t say anything in the end.
This elder prince was the only living brother of the late emperor and the only uncle of Mo Jing Qi and his younger brother so he was very powerful and influential. Even Mo Jing Li didn"t dare to disobey him easily.
Another younger prince held back the elder prince who was in a towering rage and said: "Second brother, please calm down. Let"s have a seat and hear what Jing Li has to say. Don"t frighten the kid." Obviously, this prince had a better disposition. However, he looked at Mo Jing Li with the same displeasure.
The other two princes were Mo Jing Li"s elder half brother. Their relationships with Mo Jing Qi and Mo Jing Li weren"t exactly good due to their fight over the throne in the early years. They didn"t say anything after hearing what their uncles had said and found themselves seats, acting as if they were here to watch the fun.