Although Hua Qiyue wanted to cultivate herself, she couldn"t refuse the First Prince"s invitation since extended the invitation himself. More importantly, there might be good shows to see that night.
Since Hua Qiyue responded unhesitatingly, the First Prince realized that Hua Qiyue wasn"t arrogant though it was said that she was, supposedly difficult to get along with.
"As for the Eleventh Prince..." the First Prince thought insidiously, "This woman will definitely belong to me. She will be either my official wife or my concubine."
He wanted all the women liked by the Eleventh Prince!
Huangfu Changyu looked forward to seeing Huangfu Shenglin"s extremely grieved and despairing expression.
Hua Mengshi looked around secretly and found that Hua Xiaoyi was absent. Hua Mengshi asked her maidservant Surou about what happened to Hua Xiaoyi; Surou told her that Hua Xiaoyi was in bed because she had caught a slight cold.
When the maidservant Bingqing came to ask Hua Xiaoyi to meet the First Prince, Hua Xiaoyi was sleeping, so, Bingqing didn"t wake her up.
Knowing this, Hua Mengshi calmed down and her eyes gleamed with cunning.
"Thanks for Your Highness" appreciation of Qiyue, it"s also my great honor," Old Madame smiled and said. She had been keeping an eye on the First Prince"s behaviour and found that he wasn"t half as mature as Huangfu Shenglin.
"Thanks for your praise. Old Madame, you can also partic.i.p.ate in this fair with everybody, since n.o.body is forbidden to go. I"m just afraid that Princess Jinghua will be too busy to remember to attend the fair," First Prince smiled and said, "Actually, the fair"s other purpose is to offer a chance for those boys and girls who have feelings for each other. These boys and girls can exchange tokens of love, expressing their engagement. If the parents of one side disagree with it, they can request mediation from the Emperor or me. We"ll make lovers finally get married."
"It"s very thoughtful of Your Highness. Qiyue, accompany His Highness to the back hill for a walk. Mengshi, you go with them," Old Madame smiled and said.
During this period, Hua Mengshi hadn"t eaten well or nor slept fully because of Second Madame"s death. Her mother"s death gave her a heavy blow, which resulted in her emaciation; now, she was as thin as a bamboo. Perhaps, accompanying the First Prince might be a chance for her to cheer up.
But Hua Qiyue was very unwilling to do it. At this moment, Lv Xin rushed in hurriedly and said, "Miss, something bad happened, something bad happened! The Childe has disappeared again!"
"What?" Hua Qiyue said with her facial expression changing. While Huangfu Changyu knew how to behave properly in this situation, she said, "Princess Jinghua, you might as well go find Childe Hua. Second Miss will accompany me."
"Excuse me, Your Highness. I"ll leave now!"
Saying this, Hua Qiyue immediately disappeared in the hall, as quick as lightning, astonishing Huangfu Changyu a lot, who came back to reality after a long while. Then, Huangfu Changyu had to go to the back hill with Hua Mengshi and the others.
He didn"t like Hua Mengshi. However, a man would easily have tender feelings for a delicate woman like Hua Mengshi.
Of course, the purpose of his visit was to know more about Hua Qiyue. Besides, to know about a person from the people around her would be more real.
——————
Rushing out of the Hua"s Mansion, Hua Qiyue saw Tianci running southwards. So, she chased him with the fastest speed, only to see Tianci hiding himself in the corner and covering his mouth to t.i.tter.
Hua Qiyue was relieved when she saw that Tianci was safe. Besides, Caining and Caiqing were standing by Tianci"s side to protect him.
Hua Qiyue streched out her hands and fondled his head, saying, "Tianci, what happened to you?"
Tianci laughed mischievously and said, "Mom, you don"t like the First Prince, do you? So, I helped you get rid of him; now you don"t need to stay in the hall."
Hua Qiyue was relieved and realized that her son was increasingly crafty.
"Okay, your second aunt is accompanying him. So, don"t worry, let"s go home."
"No, Mom, we haven"t gone outside for a long time. I miss the tofu jelly made by that Grandpa so much!" the little guy started to become pettish.
"Okay, that"s enough. Let"s go, I"ll take you to have tofu jelly!" Hua Qiyue said, while in a good mood. After all, she really didn"t want to accopany Huangfu Changyu, so, she was totally satisfied with what her son had done.
Afterwards, they went to the street happily to hunt for delicious food.
Caining and Caiqing followed them and sighed inwardly, thinking that the man who would marry this woman and be this child"s stepfather, would be in constant torture because he would never know what they were thinking.
——————
After showing the First Prince around the back hill, there only left endless disappointment in Hua Mengshi"s heart because what attracted Huangfu Changyu was Hua Qiyue instead of her or the view of the back hill.
Everything that Huangfu Changyu asked about were things regarding Hua Qiyue. However, in order to make a good impression, she had to constantly praise Hua Qiyue, which, of course, satisfied the First Prince very much.
After the First Prince left, Hua Mengshi went back to her courtyard and heavily smashed everything in the hall. After that, her eyes gleamed with malice.
The new maidservant Xiao Jin stood aside in fright, while Surou had already gotten used to this and was poker-faced.
"Let"s go to the Ronghua Court!"
The Ronghua Court was where Hua Xiaoyi lived.
Hearing this, her two maidservants followed her in silence; they knew that something interesting was about to happen.
When Hua Mengshi went to the Ronghua Court, Hua Xiaoyi had just woken up. She was very angry when she was told by Bingqing that the First Prince had come to the mansion and then left. When Hua Xiaoyi was about to teach Bingqing a lesson, Chun Xiang came in and said that Hua Mengshi went to visit the Ronghua Court.
Hua Xiaoyi looked sickly and she frowned when she heard this. At this moment, Hua Mengshi"s concerned voice sounded outside the door.
"I heard that you"ve caught a cold, so, I came here to see how you were feeling," Hua Mengshi came in when she said this. Her maidservant Surou was holding a basket in which was the freshest brown sugar ginger soup.
"My sister, are you okay? You"d be better take some brown sugar ginger soup, since you"ve caught a cold; this way you"ll get better soon," Hua Mengshi said and served Hua Xiaoyi with the soup.
Hua Xiaoyi snorted and said, "Thanks for your kindness. I"ll take the ginger soup; you don"t need to be concerned about me any longer."
Hua Mengshi smiled embarra.s.sedly, then the look in her eyes became a little glum, saying, "I took the First Prince around, alas..."
When Hua Mengshi said that she had taken the First Prince around, Hua Xiaoyi really wanted to tear her into pieces.
She had a crush on the First Prince Huangfu Changyu lately, but she didn"t expect that Hua Mengshi would make a move before her.
Hua Mengshi blew on the ginger soup to cool it and said tenderly, "But I was very embarra.s.sed because the First Prince had no interest in me. I"ve been deep in despair since my mother died and I felt that there were few people who really cared about me. So, I thought that it would be better if I came here and visited you."
Hua Xiaoyi really wanted to know whom the First Prince was interested in, so, she hurriedly took the soup from Hua Mengshi, saying, "Thanks for your kindness. What did First Prince said to you that made you despair so?"
Hua Mengshi looked very embarra.s.sed and her eyes gleamed with grief, saying, "Perhaps, First Prince is interested in eldest sister. But it"s inevitable that First Prince likes eldest sister because we"re not as charming as her, so, we don"t need to be jealous of her."
Saying this, Hua Mengshi smiled tenderly and her eyes shined with tears as if she also liked the First Prince very much.
Hua Mengshi fed the ginger soup to Hua Xiaoyi"s mouth.
Hua Xiaoyi opened her mouth and had a spoonful of the soup, but she frowned unhappily.
"Sister, since the First Prince likes eldest sister, why not let her accompany him?"
Hua Xiaoyi"s heart was suddenly filled with resentment because she didn"t expect that the First Prince had a crush on Hua Qiyue!
It seemed that eldest sister would become the official wife of the First Prince. However, becoming the wife of the First Prince was what Hua Xiaoyi dreamt of.
"The Childe got lost, so, eldest sister went to find him. Right, three days later, the royal family will hold a Flower Fair for everyone in the country by the w.a.n.gyue River. The First Prince himself came to our mansion to invite eldest sister to partic.i.p.ate in the fair. I heard that there would be an activity like a blind date and all kinds of contests. As long as boys and girls fell in love with each other, they"ll definitely be allowed to get married after exchanging tokens of love. If the parents of one side disagree with their marriage, the Emperor or the First Prince will give a hand to these boys and girls."
Hua Mengshi said and smiled slightly, trying very hard to conceal the disappointment in her eyes.
From Hua Xiaoyi"s point of view, Hua Mengshi just wanted to distract herself from her mother"s death because she was too grieved over this.
Hua Xiaoyi was thinking about it and took the soup in silence.
"The First Prince will also take part in the fair, won"t he?" Hua Xiaoyi paused and said very unhappily.
Hua Xiaoyi had become very mature after being educated by Third Madame for a period of time. Although she hated Hua Qiyue very much, she didn"t show her hatred for Hua Qiyue in front of Hua Mengshi right then.
"Of course he will. The Flower Fair is held by the royal family, so, the Emperor, the First Prince and other royal members will attend it. You will come, won"t you? Please, I want you to accompany me; otherwise, It"ll feel very boring," Hua Mengshi said and looked at Hua Xiaoyi with imploring eyes.
Hua Xiaoyi noded and said, "Of course I will."
"Right, many people are preparing for this fair, such as eldest sister. I heard that she asked Qiuyun to make a sachet. It"s said that the sachets made by Qiuyun are very special. Those sachets are fragrant but not overpowering. However, Qiuyun let me give the sachet to eldest sister, or I would ask her to make one for me!" Hua Mengshi smiled and said.
Hua Xiaoyi pouted and said, "Qiuyun is just a maidservant. Whether you"re her master or not, you have a higher status than her. So, whatever you ask her to do, she"ll have to make it. Sister, you can order her about as you wish. I believe that eldest sister isn"t narrow-minded."
Hua Mengshi smiled slightly like a flower and said, "No need. It"s just a sachet whithout value. And eldest sister isn"t narrow-minded. It"s just improper to order other people"s maidservants about."
"Sister, you"re so courteous!" Hua Xiaoyi smiled tenderly. She looked better after having the ginger soup.
"Look, the ginger soup works. You look much better," Hua Mengshi said happily.
Bingqing and Chun Xiang looked at each other, seeming to agree with Hua Mengshi. But they still didn"t figure out what Hua Mengshi wanted to do.
Third Madame requested that they pay close attention to Hua Mengshi and report to her once Hua Mengshi visits.
However, the Third Madame went back to her parents home to deal with something the previous day.
"Really? I also feel very warm. Thank you, sister. It"s really nice of you to care about me," Hua Xiaoyi smiled and said. Then, she started to be mean and added, "People like eldest sister are extremely arrogant, just because they know something about Qi Art. Humph, she will be taught a lesson sooner or later."
"What do you mean? Don"t run your mouth. Grandmother now spoils eldest sister very much," Hua Mengshi hurriedly whispered.
"Humph, just as saying the goes, villains hold sway!" Hua Xiaoyi was resentful and angry, but she stopped speaking ill of Hua Qiyue at once, after seeing Bingqing"s look.
---------------
We have opened a discussion post on Facebook Group about this book , and you can post anything you want to say about this story, and we will invite the original author to unpuzzle all your questions. The post link is : so just shoot!
Besides, if you have found out any bug of TapRead, you can also find a post in Facebook group for you to complain.
If you want to get feedback quickly, please leave messages on our Facebook Group.