Su Muge suddenly paused and frowned slightly.
Infanta Ceylon, the daughter of King Dingxi, came to celebrate the birthday of a high-ranking official at court, which seemed quite inappropriate.
Outside An Mansion, Infanta Ceylon jumped off the carriage and walked over with a smile.
Minister An and others all stepped forward to salute.
âYour Grace, pay my respects to you.â
âToday is your birthday, Minister An. No need to be over-courteous.â
Seeing Infanta Ceylon, An Yingâer revealed a joyful look on her face. Madam An also asked An Yingâer and others to welcome Infanta Ceylon into the mansion.
âLong time no see. Youâre more and more beautiful, Your Grace.â An Yingâer walked to Infanta Ceylon and complimented her with a sincere look.
She was the second truth-born daughter of Minister Anâs son. She had spent some time with Infanta Ceylon in her childhood, so the two had a childhood friendship.
âI like your sweet mouth!â Infanta Ceylon accepted An Yingâerâs praise immodestly.
âAre you returning from Gucang prefecture to the capital? Are there many interesting things in Gurang prefecture that we donât have in the capital?â Su Jingwen also walked in with Infanta Ceylon. Seeing An Yingâer talking happily with Infanta Ceylon, she thought Infanta Ceylon easy-going and interposed them with a smile.
Interrupted by her, Infanta Ceylon kept silent. Seeing her expression, An Yingâer was frightened and annoyed at Su Jingwenâs silly behavior.
Infanta Ceylon had a hot temper since young. When she was angry, she wouldnât care anything. She couldnât irritate Infanta Ceylon due to Su Jingwenâs stupidity.
âDonât be mad, Your Grace. My cousin was ignorant that she had offended you. Please forgive her.â
Seeing An Yingâer and others putting on a terrified look, Su Jingwen had no idea what mistake she had made.
Seeing Su Jingwen standing still, An Yingâer hurriedly pulled her down to kneel and apologize to Infanta Ceylon.
There were plenty of pedestrians on the street. Seeing a Miss of the host family kneeling on the road, they all looked at them curiously.
Infanta Ceylon snorted. âWell, today is your fatherâs birthday. I wonât be hard on you.â
âYes, Your Grace, you are really generous.â
An Yingâer and others stood up. Seeing that Infanta Ceylon had no sign of anger, she finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
âYour Grace, this way, please.â
A group of people surrounded Infanta Ceylon and left, leaving Su Jingwen alone standing in embarrassment.
âJust an Infanta! How can she be so arrogant?!â
An Mansion was quite spacious. The banquet was held in the open-air garden inside the mansion. The banquets for men and women were separated by a row of screens.
After Su Muge and Zhao arrived in the garden, they found a quiet place with few people and sat down.
On one hand, Zhao disliked socializing; on the other hand, they couldnât be too cautious in An Mansion.
Hardly had Su Muge sat down when An Yingâer and others walked in with Infanta Ceylon.
âMiss, itâs, itâs ...â Obviously, Yueru had also recognized her.
âDonât be afraid. There are so many people at the banquet. She may not notice us. Be careful.â
âYes.â
As soon as Infanta Ceylon came in, she had been surrounded by plenty of people without any notice of the corner where Su Muge was.
âMiss Su, you are here too.â
As Su Muge was watching the flowers in the garden in a daze, she heard a voice behind her. It sounded a little strange, but she felt as if she had heard it before.
Only when she looked back did she smile, âMadam Lin, long time no see.â
After the hunting party, Su Muge had never seen Madam Lin again.
Madam Lin looked much better than before; she had become lively and energetic.
âIt seems that you have been much better lately, Madam.â
Only Madam Lin could understand Su Mugeâs words.
âThanks to Miss Su, last time ...â
Su Muge asked her to look after Zhao, but she left halfway. Although she didnât know what happened later, she always felt guilty for not living up to Su Mugeâs trust.
âJust let bygones be bygones. Madam, thereâs no need to mention it.â
Madam Lin smiled with clear eyes and changed the topic to chat with Zhao.
While they were talking, all the guests had almost arrived, and the maids were leading the guests to their designated seats.
The arrival of Infanta Ceylon seemed to be unexpected for An Mansion, so the maids were busy relocating the guests.
Infanta Ceylon was a distinguished guest, so her seat was quite far away from Su Muge. As a result, Su Muge secretly exhaled a sigh of relief.
She was not afraid of Infanta Ceylon but was unwilling to get into any unnecessary trouble.
âSecond Prince is here...â
Hearing this, all the seated guests stood up and knelt down to salute to him.
Separated by the screens, the female guests couldnât see him.
In a while, Xia Houkunâs voice came from the other side. âDonât be over-courteous. Get up.â
âThank you, Your Royal Highness.â
âLord An, do you mind my visit without an invitation?â Xia Houkun was wearing a blue-and-white embroidered robe today, with a white jade belt around his waist. His long hair was tied up with a purple gold jade crown, making him stand out in an extraordinary manner.
Minister An smiled happily, with his eyes narrowed into a line. âOf course not, Your Royal Highness. Itâs my honor to have your attendance. How will I mind?â
âThatâs good.â
As soon as Xia Houkun sat down, he asked his men to bring up his congratulatory gift. It was a decent work of calligraphy and painting, which was expensive but not overly eye-catching.
Following Xia Houkun, others also came to present their gifts.
Most things seemed normal but extraordinary.
After the gifts were presented, the banquet began.
The maids entered with dishes.
Knowing that she couldnât eat much at such a banquet, Su Muge had had a bowl of noodles before coming. At this time, she had no appetite for the served dishes.
A stage had been set up in the womenâs banquet. After the maids brought the dishes up, the performers went on stage and began to sing and dance.
Not interested in these things, Su Muge supported her face with her hands while watching the opera lazily.
Just as she was half asleep and awake in the sound of the opera, she opened her eyes and looked to her right. Suddenly, she met the angry eyes of Infanta Ceylon.
Su Muge was stunned first and immediately reacted. A few words suddenly appeared in her mind: she had been discovered.
Infanta Ceylon was within ten steps, and their distance was shortening.
âHere you are! Youâve made me so hard to find you!â Without saying anything, Infanta Ceylon directly took up a flagon on the table and threw it towards Su Muge.
Su Muge squinted and stood up to dodge away.
The movement of Infanta Ceylon was loud enough that everyone looked towards her curiously.
Although An Yingâer disliked Su Muge, it was her fatherâs birthday banquet after all. If the scene was too awkward, An Mansion would also lose face.
âYour Grace, whatâs wrong with you?â An Shuyue, the sister of An Yingâer, found An Yingâer standing still in a daze, so she could only bite the bullet to ask Infanta Ceylon.
Infanta Ceylon took out her horsewhip and pointed at Su Muge coldly.
âCatch her, and you can continue this banquet; otherwise, donât blame me!â
What an arrogant tone! Even if Madam An hated Su Muge so much, she felt Infanta Ceylon was humiliating An Mansion.
Fortunately, Zhao left with little Wenmo just now; otherwise, it would be more troublesome.
With so many people watching, Madam An wouldnât stand by. âYour Grace, I wonder how Miss Su made you unhappy.â
Infanta Ceylon sneered. âShe hurt me on the street last time, so she must be punished today!â
âMiss Su must have been unintentional. Your Grace, why not forgive her? Miss Su, what are you waiting for? Hurry to kowtow and confess to Your Grace!â
If she kowtowed and confessed to Infanta Ceylon in front of so many people, even if Infanta Ceylon really let her go, Su Muge would be humiliated!
Su Muge kept her countenance as if it had nothing to do with her. âAlthough my status is inferior and my words are of little effect, Iâm the daughter of an official at court after all. Itâs really improper to slander me like this, Your Graceâ
âDeny? Well, Iâll hit you until you admit it!â Infanta Ceylon raised her horsewhip and threw it towards Su Muge. She was really self-willed!
The movements had already disturbed the male guests. However, knowing that it was Infanta Ceylon, everyone kept sitting still and watching the show.
Hearing Su Mugeâs voice, Xia Houkun raised his eyebrows. He believed she must have known his presence.
If she was clever enough, she would drop her attitude and ask him for help, and he would also help her.
However, after a while, Xia Houkun hadnât received Su Mugeâs asking for help but a series of violent sounds from the womenâs area. He couldnât help but stand up.
At this time, Minister An could no longer pretend to be ignorant.
âMadam, what happened?â
Suddenly, Infanta Ceylon started the attack; the guests who were watching the show were all frightened and running around, making the banquet in a mess.
âHurry up! Go to stop the Infanta!â
Su Muge was dodging the attack from Infanta Ceylon. Because of so many people, it was also difficult for Infanta Ceylon to exercise her moves.
Fortunately, she hadnât brought the whip with the barb; otherwise, the ladies would be doomed if scratched by her whip.
Seeing the scene increasingly chaotic, Minister An could only push the screen away and come over.
No sooner had he raised his eyes than he saw Infanta Ceylon waving a whip towards him.
Just as the horsewhip was about to fall on Minister An, it was grabbed by a big hand in midair.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Xia Houkun glared at Infanta Ceylon with a sullen face.
âCeylon! Enough!â
Seeing Xia Houkun, Infanta Ceylon tightened the whip in her hands, but she had no intention to stop.
âBrother, how can you pity such an inferior and ugly woman? Youâd better mind your own business. Let me go!â