Chapter 582 Everyone at the Banquet Has Their Schemes
When Princess Ning of Prince Yi’s Manor sent invitations to her banquet, news spread and caused a commotion.
Some were curious, some speculative, some intending to get on her good side… Many manors wanted to get their hands on the invitation.
But everyone knew that the banquet was Princess Ning’s first official event after being promoted and would thus be a relatively small affair. Priority would be given to young ladies and mistresses from aristocratic families as well as Princely Heirs. After all, Princess Ning was still young and this was the first official banquet thrown in her name.
Not many invitations would be sent. Having too many guests would make it hard for Princess Ning to manage the banquet.
After the invitations were sent, everyone who received one expressed that they would surely attend.
Who would dare to reject an invitation from Prince Yi’s Manor? Even if one was without curiosity, not attending might incur that demon’s wrath. Besides, everyone was quite curious about Princess Ning, a woman who was promoted from a consort to a princess in such a short amount of time.
She even pioneered the status of co-princesses! What capable was she that she could win the heart of the coldhearted, demonic prince on her own?
The hustle and bustle at Prince Yi’s Manor began early in the morning. The guests were all young ladies or young mistresses who had never visited the manor. They were so curious that they arrived early. Outside the manor, Ao Mingwan was receiving guests at his uncle’s behest while the latter played the idle host.
Still, the children of n.o.bility had all heard of Ao Chenyi’s “vicious reputation”, so it was most appropriate to have Ao Mingwan receive the guests. The guests were able to relax as well, chatting and laughing as they strolled the courtyard. It went without saying that Ao Chenyi’s Eunuch Zhu was currently serving the Fourth Prince. This was Prince Yi’s Manor and there were many things that Ao Mingwan was unclear about.
Numerous cushioned sedans were waiting near Chuihua Gate of the backyard; they were readied for the young lady and mistresses who were tired from walking. Not many took them, for they wanted to make use of this rare chance to tour Prince Yi’s Manor. It was said that even the late Emperor had praised the beauty of the manor. After all, this manor was once a second home to the Emperor of the previous dynasty. It was given that this place would be beautiful.
The maids that they saw on their way were very polite. They would retreat to one side when they saw the guests and make respectful salutes, a completely one-eighty from Prince Yi, who was reputed to be arrogant and unbridled. Many experienced mistresses nodded approvingly in secret. It seemed that Princess Ning was a capable one. It hadn’t been long but she was already able to command over the household.
Yun Luoluo came to the Pear Flower Garden first thing in the morning, with Heng Yuqing arriving shortly after. Then came Ning Qingshan and Ning Lingyun, followed by several mistresses. Ning Xueyan led them on a walk around the courtyard. Since this was a flower-viewing banquet, it went without saying that they would be walking around and admiring the flowers.
Prince Yi’s Manor was separated into four regions, named Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter respectively. The Spring region was decorated with mostly peonies with other flowers playing a supporting role. Lotus was central in the Summer region, osmanthus flowers in the Autumn region, and plum blossoms and springtime flowers in the Winter region.
The venue of the banquet this time was the Peony Pavilion, a building in the Spring region. Rather than housing anyone here, the building was used for banquets. Two reception pavilions divided the s.p.a.ce, with a peony flowerbed separating them from the courtyard outside.
People on both sides could see but not hear one another. It was the best place to separate the male and female guests at the banquet.
Numerous maids walked back and forth the venue, arranging the banquet calmly and neatly. Opposite the seats for the male and female guests sat a makeshift platform. The platform wasn’t big but was surrounded by flowers of all kinds at the bottom, making for a beautiful sight. Many who arrived at the venue guessed that it was the stage for the show later, but began to wonder which performance troupe was invited and if there would be an interesting show.
The platform was taller than most, so it was immediately visible from a distance.
Ning Qingshan raised her head and saw the tall platform from afar. She asked curiously, “Fifth Sister, are you putting on an opera?”
She dressed gorgeously in an autumn lotus-colored top and a peac.o.c.k-blue skirt today. The raindrop-like pearl hairpin hanging from the side of her temples added a touch of gentleness to her pretty face. Her beauty was already remarkable but dressed like this, she made Yun Luoluo and Ning Lingyun pale by comparison. This earned her several resentful glares from Yun Luoluo.
Her sister told her to befriend Third Young Lady Ning but the latter didn’t seem like a good woman judging by her vixen-like appearance. She threw the idea to the back of her mind because she herself was of the frail beauty kind.
On the contrary, Heng Yuqing was quite different and gave off a confident air. Even though she wasn’t quite as pretty, her unique charm made her not any worse than the ladies here.
“You’ll find out later,” Ning Xueyan said mysteriously.
“Yeah. Sister Ning has been preparing for this for a long time. How can she let you know just like that?” Yun Luoluo said, aiming her barb at Ning Qingshan. The more she looked at Ning Qingshan, the more she hated her. She felt that Ning Qingshan was competing with her. While speaking, she ran forward by a couple of steps and pointed to several people in front. Her eyes were gleaming.
“Sister Ning, come on! Let’s go over there and have a look! Isn’t that Third Young Lady Hua?” She then leaned in and whispered into Ning Xueyan’s ear, “I heard that she has feelings for Prince Yi. You have to watch out for her.”
Ning Xueyan was quite speechless to hear Yun Luoluo repeatedly calling her sister. Yun Luoluo was clearly the older one, but she kept pretending to be an innocent child and calling her sister at every turn. It wasn’t entirely wrong because of Commandery Princess Xianyun’s existence, but it was still strange to be called sister by a girl one or two years older than herself.
This was especially since there used to be a “grudge” between them. Watching that girl put on that innocent look made her feel helpless.
“Sister Ning, quick, let’s go over and have a look.” Yun Luoluo tugged onto Ning Xueyan’s hand with force, forcing the latter to take two steps forward. Seeing this, Heng Yuqing immediately followed after them. Ning Lingyun wanted to follow suit, but Ning Qingshan pulled her sleeve to stop her.
“Fourth Sister, let’s slow down. It’s so beautiful here that we should enjoy ourselves while we walk. Why should we go after them and make them annoyed?” She was referring to Yun Luoluo but her eyes were on Ning Xueyan. It was obvious that she meant that Ning Xueyan was so close with Yun Luoluo because she was annoyed with them.
Ning Lingyun stopped walking and said, in a conflicted tone, “It’s… not good, is it!” She looked at Ning Qingshan’s feet. Everyone in the Lord Protector’s Manor knew that Ning Qingshan had a problem with her foot and couldn’t walk quickly. She would become lame whenever she walked quickly, and obviously at that.
Ning Qingshan’s face turned dark when she noticed Ning Lingyun’s gaze on her foot and a sinister glint gleamed in her eyes. But she immediately smiled as if she didn’t care about Ning Lingyun’s gaze. She even put out her foot and said, “Fourth Sister, you know my foot doesn’t work too well and I can’t walk too much. Can you sit with me over there?”
She couldn’t think of an excuse to take Ning Lingyun away, but this gave her the perfect chance. Since Ning Lingyun stared at her foot, she would use it as an excuse.
She then leaned in and said with a bashful expression, “The Third Prince’s eunuch sent me a message saying that the prince would come and see us later. It’ll be inconvenient if we stay with Fifth Sister and the other young ladies.”
“His Highness is coming to see us?” As expected, a trace of joy appeared on Ning Lingyun’s face.
“Of course. His Highness said he hasn’t seen us in a while and quite misses us. He’s about to get married soon, so he won’t be able to see us for some time. Who knows? He may have something private to tell us.” Ning Qingshan cursed Ning Lingyun for being shameless in her head but maintained an affectionate smile on her face, looking like a closer sister to Ning Lingyun.
“Should we tell Fifth Sister?” Ning Lingyun hesitated when she saw that Ning Xueyan and the others had reached the fork of the path.
“What’s the point? Do you think Fifth Sister is interested in entertaining us? She’s so busy fawning on Princess Yun that she has no time for us.” Ning Qingshan cast a sidelong glance at Ning Xueyan, her eyes filled with coldness and resentment. In her opinion, Ning Xueyan must have gotten her position by fawning on Commandery Princess Xianyun.
It was the same with Prince Yi marrying his princess and consort at the same time. It was all thanks to Commandery Princess Xianyun pleading with the Empress. The co-princesses incident probably happened the same way. Commandery Princess Xianyun’s illness had given Ning Xueyan a chance to show off. That woman was surely lucky. Seeing how Yun Luoluo kept calling Ning Xueyan her sister, the latter must have cajoled the sisters into being submissive.
She knew Ning Xueyan was cunning, but not this cunning.
The last time she met Commandery Princess Xianyun, the two of them were clearly at odds with each other. It hadn’t been that long but Commandery Princess Xianyun had already changed her mind. Ning Xueyan was indeed capable.
Unfortunately, she was not Commandery Princess Xianyun. Since she had schemed her way into coming here, she would definitely ruin this banquet. Once a scandal occurs at this banquet, no one would dare to attend banquets at Prince Yi’s Manor in the future.
Naturally, Ning Lingyun was the best candidate. It was her fault for daring to covet the Third Prince, daring to look at her foot, and exploiting the Third Prince. A s.l.u.t like this should die with her reputation ruined at Ning Xueyan’s banquet…
“Oh, all right then!” Ning Lingyun nodded, seemingly convinced by her words. She turned around and followed Ning Qingshan. But the moment she turned around, she winked at a maid standing at a corner as a hint. The maid nodded and quickly ran away.
Yun Luoluo was pleased when she noticed that Ning Qingshan and Ning Lingyun were gone. After running forward happily, she suddenly crouched down to clutch her leg and yelp in pain. “Ouch!”
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Ning Xueyan immediately asked.
“I… I sprained my ankle!” Yun Luoluo replied, tears welling in her eyes.
Ning Xueyan looked around before pointing at an octagonal pavilion in front. “Then, I’ll take you there for a rest. I’ll get the physician to examine you.”