Chapter 144

He was asking the other three heirs-apparent, including Lu Yeli. Although his handsome eyes did not look at anyone, the other three heirs-apparent readily took Yan Huaijing’s hint. Their expressions became solemn as they looked at the Third Princess and the Fourth Princess who were sitting beside the Crown Prince. Their brows wrinkled slightly as they each made their own calculation.

“I saw Heir-apparent of Yan and the Third Princess accompanying the Crown Prince on that day.” Lu Yeli raised his eyebrows and said, apparently referring to something.

“Isn’t Heir-apparent of Lu also acquainted with the Fourth Princess? Besides, Heir-apparent of Chu was also there. I was just keeping the Crown Prince company. Heir-apparent of Qi was the one who kept the Third Princess company and they happened to meet us.” Yan Huaijing stretched out his slender fingers and flicked the corner of his clothes smilingly.

Everyone turned their gaze towards Qi Yunhao. Seeing that the other three heirs-apparent were all looking at him, Qi Yunhao’s heart panicked. He hurriedly explained with a smile, “Actually, there was nothing. It was just a coincidence, just a coincidence!”

Of course, he couldn’t say that he had specifically been there to meet the Third Princess by chance, so he naturally changed the topic and said to Lu Yeli, “Heir-apparent of Lu, next time you take the Fourth Princess out on a walk, don’t go to places where there are few people. We’ve only just arrived in the capital, who knows when another assassin will jump out? Although we don’t have to worry about assassinations, it would be bad if noble ladies are scared, such as the Fourth Princess!”

A trace of malice flashed through Lu Yeli’s eyes when he heard Qi Yunhao mentioning assassination, but his face did not reveal anything. He chuckled and said, “I will take care. Thank you for your concern, Heir-apparent of Qi. But I wonder if I have the chance to meet the Third Princess by chance.”

The three of them were busy with verbal attack and defense, completely forgetting about Yan Huaijing, the initiator of the trouble. Yan Huaijing leisurely picked up a cup of tea and took a sip. With a faint smile, he calmly listened to the other three engaging each other verbally while still having time to look at Wei Yuewu.

At this moment, the situation over there had changed. It was no longer the gentle and polite scene in the beginning.

Wei Yuewu was surrounded by a crowd. Her small face showed both anger and grievance. Her small jade-like face was slightly red with anger. People could tell at a glance that she had been wronged. His long and narrow phoenix eyes narrowed slightly and a faint smile appeared at the bottom of his eyes. His slender fingers lightly tapped on the table and he leaned lazily against the chair!

Sure enough, when his little fox reached out its sharp claws to grab someone, it was the time that pleased him the most…

“Stolen? How could that happen? The young ladies attending the banquet here were all listed by the two princesses. Everyone should be wearing their own palace flower now. It’s impossible for them to steal others’ palace flowers. Besides, a stolen palace flower is of no use.” Wei Qiufu shook her head and dismissed Miss Qin’s words, but her gaze fell on the beautiful hair of each of the young ladies.

The other young ladies who heard this also subconsciously looked at others.

Each of them had a palace flower on their head, either bright red or rose red.

Indeed, stealing such a palace flower was actually of no use. Although palace flowers would also be conferred at the next banquet, the style of the palace flowers would definitely be somewhat different. For example, this banquet was named after the plum blossom, and therefore, the palace flower was in the shape of plum blossom. If the next banquet was named after another flower, the palace flower would definitely be different.

Ming Yan seemed to have thought of something. She pulled Wei Qiufu’s sleeve and said in a low voice, “Miss, Sixth Young Lady…”

Wei Qiufu’s attention was not on this side, so she made no response when her sleeve was pulled. Instead, she continued to look at the other young ladies.

“Miss, Sixth Young Lady’s palace flower…” Ming Yan pulled her again, her voice slightly louder.

Such a loud voice was enough to be heard clearly by Miss Qin and the few other young ladies who had gathered to watch the fun.

All of a sudden, everyone turned to look at Wei Yuewu’s hair.

A rose red plum blossom could be vaguely seen in her dense black hair, which made her hair even brighter and darker. But other than that, there was nothing unusual.

The young ladies looked at each other puzzledly, not understanding what Wei Qiufu’s maid meant.

Ming Yan’s pulling was finally noticed by Wei Qiufu, who looked at Ming Yan in displeasure and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Ming Yan pinched the corner of her clothes and lowered her head uneasily. “Sixth… Sixth Young Lady’s invitation was obtained only after you went to beg the Third Princess. It was a hasty invitation.”

Sixth Miss Wei’s invitation was obtained at the request of Fourth Miss Wei? The young ladies heard every word, but they still didn’t understand the meaning behind it. After glancing at each other, one of the ladies’ eyes suddenly lit up. She pointed at Wei Yuewu in shock and said, “Since Sixth Miss Wei wasn’t on the Third Princess’ original list, then this palace flower…”

Wei Yuewu watched Wei Qiufu setting fire on her, but she smiled coldly without saying anything. She knew that Wei Qiufu would definitely say something else to show her sisterhood.

Since Wei Qiufu was willing to act, she would let her enjoy her performance. She only hoped that Wei Qiufu’s crying face wasn’t too unsightly in a while!

She wanted to stage a play of sisterhood? The better she performed now, the more embarrassed she would be…

Last time, Wei Qiufu’s design was very good. Everyone only focused their attention on Yang Yuyan. Even if they felt that Wei Qiufu should not misunderstand Wei Yuewu, it was nevertheless only a misunderstanding. Although there were a series of other things that made them suspicious, they were unable to come to a clear understanding without face-to-face confrontation of the involved parties.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Sixth Younger Sister was invited by the Third Princess. Of course she has a palace flower.” Wei Qiufu seemed to have sensed that something was wrong as well, so she lowered her voice and scolded Ming Yan.

After hearing her reprimand, Ming Yan was tearful and she took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, causing the other young ladies who hadn’t noticed what was going on here to look at her.

The Third Princess and the Fourth Princess also stopped talking and looked over.

Seeing that Wei Qiufu was here, the Fourth Princess snorted coldly and a trace of coldness flashed in her eyes.

The Third Princess’s expression was as gentle as ever. However, when she looked at Wei Yuewu, there was a bit of deep meaning in her eyes. Then, she quietly looked at Yan Huaijing, who was seated opposite her.

“Sixth Miss Wei, where did you get your palace flower?” One of the young ladies launched an attack. She walked over and pointed at the palace flower on Wei Yuewu’s head, speaking in an overbearing manner.

“My palace flower?” Wei Yuewu stood up and asked in puzzlement. Then, she looked at Wei Qiufu and said, “Fourth Elder Sister… is there something wrong with my palace flower?”

“Miss Yu, my Sixth Younger Sister is wearing her own palace flower, of course. It’s impossible for her to take someone else’s. Don’t talk nonsense.” Wei Qiufu naturally stood up and stood in front of Wei Yuewu. However, no matter how people interpreted her words, they couldn’t be easily convinced. What was more, her slightly embarrassed expression further caused people to believe that there was something wrong with the palace flower on Wei Yuewu’s head.

“Fourth Elder Sister” Wei Yuewu was confused, but before she could finish her sentence, Wei Qiufu interrupted, “Sixth Younger Sister, it’s fine. Fourth Elder Sister will explain it to them for you.”

“I…”

“Sixth Younger Sister, your matter is also my concern. You’ve just returned to the capital, and Eldest Uncle is not in the capital now. I will definitely help you no matter what happens.” Wei Qiufu sounded more sincerely.

Sure enough, she was seizing the chance to remind everyone of the fact that Wei Yuewu had grown up in the countryside and wasn’t well-bred.

Wei Yuewu sneered in her heart. Not only did Wei Qiufu deny her the chance to speak, she even tried to make others believe that she was an uneducated wild girl from the countryside.

Actually, as long as the Third Princess said one sentence, there would be no more doubt concerning whether she had a palace flower or not. Otherwise, even if Wei Qiufu talked her head off, no one would believe that she was innocent. And this should be the result Wei Qiufu wanted!

On the other hand, this Third Princess who had always been gentle in front of others actually turned around to talk to the Fourth Princess, pretending that she did not notice what was happening here. This was truly surprising and interesting…

“This palace flower is mine!” Wei Yuewu said grievously.

“You were not invited to the banquet in the first place. It was impossible for the Third Princess to prepare a palace flower for you. Furthermore, Fourth Young Lady already had a bright red palace flower on her head. How could there be a rose red flower on Sixth Miss Wei’s head?” Another young lady realized something was wrong and could not help but ask.

It was not allowed for one mansion to have a candidate for the senior concubine if it already had a candidate for the Crown Princess!

This was something that all the aristocratic young ladies knew.

Therefore, each of the aristocratic young ladies represented one mansion. In other words, one mansion could have only one candidate. The case with Yang Yuyan and Yang Yurou was a different story. At first, Yang Yuyan gave up the chance, so the candidate from her family was Yang Yurou. But then she asked her father to ask for a special favor, and she got the chance to attend the banquet.

But even though that was the case, the two princesses had to think carefully before deciding which of the two young ladies from the Yang Mansion would get the palace flower.

However, considering the Yang Mansion’s family background, it wasn’t a big issue if they were given two rose red palace flowers.

The mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, however, was a different case. As the undisputed legitimate first daughter of Marquis Hua Yang, Wei Yuewu’s status was higher than the other first daughters of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.

“Fourth Elder Sister, didn’t you give me this palace flower?” Wei Yuewu’s face was filled with grievance and anger. At this moment, she turned to Wei Qiufu, her small face flushing red with anger.

“I…” Wei Qiufu didn’t say anything, but she looked dumbfounded, indicating that she actually didn’t know anything.

“Sixth Young Lady, how can you question our Miss like that? It’s really a pity that our Miss tried so hard to protect you. She even had the intention of taking the responsibility by herself. But you…how can you really pass the buck to our Miss?” Ming Yan stood up and said angrily with a face full of grievance for Wei Qiufu.

Wei Yuewu didn’t want to degrade herself by talking back to a maid. She tilted her eyes to the side. Jin Ling immediately understood her meaning. She took a step forward and stood in front of Ming Yan.

She pointed at Ming Yan and bluntly responded, “You said your Miss wanted to protect our Miss? Coincidentally, wasn’t that palace flower sent by your Miss under the pretext of protecting our Miss?”

“How could our Miss get Miss Zhao’s palace flower?” Looking at the finger that was pointing at her face, Ming Yan couldn’t help but take a step back, and she immediately became less aggressive like a deflated balloon.

“If your Miss couldn’t get it, how could our Miss get it when she was still injured and lying on the bed?” Jin Ling retorted bluntly. After the two maids turned the play of sisterhood into a quarrel, the onlookers became more and more numerous.

However, the two princesses still didn’t seem to have heard anything. They chatted and laughed as if there was no one else present. They didn’t even shift their attention to what was going on in this direction.

“Is this… this…palace flower really the one lost by our Miss?” Zhao Ruo’e’s maid also squeezed over and asked.

“Sixth Miss Wei, why don’t you take down the palace flower on your head and let Miss Zhao have a look?” A young lady suggested.

“Sixth Miss Wei, if you didn’t steal it, then take it down and let us see. As for whether it was given to you by Fourth Miss Wei, I believe any young lady who has grown up in the capital knows that there are some things that cannot be stolen.” Another young lady said mockingly.

“Take it and have a look!” Wei Yuewu looked at Wei Qiufu who had an innocent expression and said coldly. She reached out and took down the palace flower, not even bothering to give another look at Wei Qiufu.

The maid of Fourth Miss Zhao came over and picked up the palace flower. Upon seeing it, she immediately became excited. “This… this is really our Miss’ palace flower. Look, there’s also our Miss’ mark. She dripped some wax oil on the palace flower for fear of losing it.”

Wei Qiufu looked as if she had suffered a blow and could hardly stand. If she weren’t supported by Ming Yan, she would almost fall to the ground.

All of a sudden, various expressions appeared on the onlookers’ faces.

A palace maid walked over and said, “The two princesses said that they did not confer a palace flower to Sixth Miss Wei.”

After saying that, she simply stayed to watch the fun…