Ye Ai Ning solely paid attention to Jiang Yu. There was adoration in Ye Ai Ning"s eyes and her tone was sweet and melodic. She looked so happy that Wei Yi Yi suddenly thought she was seeing Lou Ai Ning instead.
Sharing the same face with her best friend, Wei Yi Yi would be lying if she said that Ye Ai Ning"s glares and harsh remarks don"t hurt her.
Truth is, she was fully aware of her. As long as her radar picks up her presence, Wei Yi Yi cannot help but take a glance and pay attention.
Ye Ai Ning spoke a bit more before she noticed that Jiang Yu"s attention no longer belong to her.
"Wait," the emperor commanded. Ye Ai Ning turned around just in time to see Wei Yi Yi pulling Su Mei Fan"s hand in an attempt to sneak away.
Su Mei Fan has a reluctant expression as she kept looking back and forth between them and Wei Yi Yi.
Impatience, Jiang Yu walks towards the two.
"Your majesty...?" Ye Ai Ning muttered before taking quick strides to keep up with Jiang Yu.
Once close enough, he asked, "What"s the matter here?"
Su Mei Fan uttered a weak, "emperor" and squirm to find a place to rest her eyes.
"Nothing," Wei Yi Yi replied immediately and step in front of Su Mei Fan.
Her stance, as she hides the concubine with her figure, is oozing out a sense of protectiveness. Wei Yi Yi also didn"t let go of their entwined hands and Jiang Yu, with his angle to the side, could clearly see it.
In reality, Wei Yi Yi was trying to signal Su Mei Fan by squeezing her hand lightly.
"Sister Ye, have you eaten yet?" The empress paid attention to Ye Ai Ning right away. Completely brus.h.i.+ng off Jiang Yu.
Important rules when your buddy have a girlfriend: interact more with the girl, pay more attention to the girl, and put her as the center of attention.
If she ever felt left out even once, she might not like to hang out with you and worse, might start feeling threaten with your closeness to her man.
Wei Yi Yi lived her life for a long time with these principles.
"Many thanks for the empress" concern," Ye Ai Ning replied politely. "Ning"er was just waiting for the servants to be done with the preparation before inviting the emperor to eat with this consort."
Ye Ai Ning was being truthful with her intentions. She was voicing, that regardless of the Empress" presence, she has no intention to separate with the emperor and at the same time, putting a show that she"s a consort that acts obediently within her boundaries and has no ill will to compete.
"Oh! We were just about to go and check with the servants about the preparation," with her words, Wei Yi Yi found a way to disappear. "Concubine Su and I will be on our way. Please excuse us."
Su Mei Fan wanted to say something but swallowed it down after Wei Yi Yi squeezed her hand.
"It"s the servants" job, no need to concern yourself," Jiang Yu said, completely blocking Wei Yi Yi"s shot of disappearing acts.
Eyes twitching, Wei Yi Yi insists, "That cannot be your majesty. Chenqie cannot be at ease unless she made sure on her own that everything is properly handled."
"Xiao Lin Xi," the emperor called. "Check on the servants preparing the food."
Eunuch Lin bowed before turning to do the task. The smile on Wei Yi Yi"s face cracked almost at the same time.
Dark clouds are brewing and the empress is ready to rain down curses.
"Since everyone is here, let"s all have lunch together," Jiang Yu ordered. It"s rare for the three of them to be together, Jiang Yu wanted to make use of that to deepen their bonds.
Wei Yi Yi is reasonable and Ye Ai Ning is understanding. Even if something came up, people wouldn"t slap a face smiling at them.
Small steps but a significant one to start on their attempt to live in harmony. If the two of them could support each other in the harem, how ideal that is?
If they sat on one table to eat, unless given special orders, Su Mei Fan would need to serve as she is merely a concubine.
Running her gears in action, a scenario form into her mind. If she could accidentally trip, the table would have plenty of things for her to knock over towards Ye Ai Ning.
The soup, the tea, or even just any bowl will do.
In her head, it doesn"t sound so bad. If she could also "accidentally" spill some on her self as well, she could perfectly leave the emperor and the empress alone while taking Ye Ai Ning with her.
Having the enlightenment, Su Mei Fan cheer and said eagerly, "Many thanks for the emperor"s grace. This concubine would shamelessly take his majesty"s offer."
Wei Yi Yi, with horror reflecting in her eyes, sharply snap her neck back to look at Su Mei Fan. With her bulging eyes, she"s tried to send a message across but the concubine properly curtseys to the emperor with her gaze to the ground.
Ye Ai Ning remained silent. Her expression is serene and one that shows tolerance towards other concubines.
The two of them have different demeanor but their minds are echoing each other.
"Traitor!"