Volume 1: Gathering Winds of Splendor Chapter 55: Discussion and Debate

  An Xin lifted the curtain and saw Ling Yi Hen, Yue Zheng Xi, and a stunning beauty sitting inside. An Xin's eyes lit up as he stepped over the two men and walked to the innermost part of the carriage, where he sat down unceremoniously beside the beauty, his gaze fixed on her gentle face like water, unmoving.

  "Xin'er's sister, she is Le Yixia's sister, Le Zhiwan." Ling Yiwen couldn't help but smile as he watched An Xin being unable to move his feet upon seeing the beautiful woman.

  "Xīn'ér jiějie." Lè zhǐ huāng xiǎo yí shēng, shēngyīn yì shì wēn wǔ róu měi.

  Translation: "Sister Xin'er." Le Zhi Hua smiled shyly, her voice was also warm and gentle.

  "Hey, hello." An Xin raised a big smile, her heart was extremely excited, she had never seen such a beautiful and gentle lovely woman.

  "Xin'er, you're not any less beautiful than Le Xiao Junzhu, why do you always stare at people?" Ling Yihen looked up and down An Xin, finding that she was wearing a stunning brocade today, dazzling to the point where one couldn't look directly at her, and he felt a sense of astonishment rising in his heart.

  "I'm tired of looking at my own face. May I call you Zhi Hua?"

  "Of course." Le Jie Wan looked at An Xin's bright and radiant smile, such a brilliant smile seemed to have the power to infect people's hearts, making her unconsciously want to get closer to her.

  "Alright." An Xin replied crisply, but in an instant, she suddenly realized something, the smile on her face disappeared. "Ling Yi Hen, is Ling Xi Yan one generation higher than me? Do I have to call her Auntie?"

  Ling Yi Hen strongly suppressed his smile and nodded, "Indeed it is."

  An Xin's expression changed, her complexion changing several times in an instant. After a moment, she murmured, "Ling Xian will probably not be happy if she hears me call her 'Little Auntie'. And I'm not pleased to address someone who is roughly the same age as me as an elder either. What should I do?"

  "Unfortunately, Princess is half a year younger than you." Le Yi Xi reminded.

  An Xin revealed a wry smile, deeply moved by the complicated relationships within the imperial family. Before she could recover from her surprise, Yue Yi Ye continued, "You've forgotten, you and Princess Xi Ran still have an unresolved grudge over a peony flower. I'm sure she won't be too fond of you."

  "Don't like it, just as well we don't get along, saves us from greeting each other. I knew I shouldn't have called her this time, no reason to make myself uncomfortable." Angrily said. Because of a broken flower from childhood, she must still be holding a grudge against Ling Xier.

  "Xin'er sister, unfortunately Princess is not easy to get along with, you have to be careful." Le Jiehuan said weakly.

  "I've never been afraid of anyone in my life." He hummed contentedly.

  "Xin'er, meimei, where's your mouse?" Ling Yihen looked at An Xin's shoulder and didn't see the little beast, so he asked.

  "It's at the prefecture." An said calmly.

  As they chatted, the horse carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the gate of Piao Yu Residence. The coachman's respectful voice entered the carriage, "Young Master Wang, we've arrived."

  A group of people got off the carriage, and Ling Yihen led a few people to enter the gate first. An Xin stopped in his tracks and took a look at the signboard of Piaomiaoju, but didn't comment on it. He turned his head and saw that there was a teahouse next door, with a crowd surging and bustling.

  "Have you heard? The Princess of Chang'an has returned to the city. You all saw that strange phenomenon on that day, didn't you?" a voice entered An Xin's ears.

  "I also heard that the national teacher predicted that nine out of ten women who returned to Beijing that day would be the phoenix star of the world, and the phoenix star descended upon our Dongyang. The future of Dongyang will definitely become even more prosperous." A somewhat rough male voice hastily followed up.

  With a frown, following the sound through the crowd to the speaker, only to see that in the center of the teahouse was placed a large table. The rough male voice belonged to a middle-aged man with a stubbly beard and mustache, wearing black clothes and a strong attire, dressed as a martial artist. The rest of the people were old and young, men and women, all with surprised and curious expressions.

  "Could it be that the Chang'an Princess is actually Feng Xing? If so, that would be great." Another man asked in surprise.

  "It's not necessarily so, the young lady of the Chancellor's mansion wasn't praying for her ailing mother at Ci'an Temple, eating vegetarian food and reciting Buddhist scriptures for a year, didn't she return on the same day as Princess Chang'an? It could also be her." An elder spoke up.

  "You've forgotten one person!" A man who was about to leave overheard their conversation and hastily joined in the criticism.

  "Who is it? Is it him? Who is it...?" The crowd asked in a flurry of questions.

  "It's the young lady of the Yue Wang Fu, Yue Xiao Gong Zhu. She has been weak and sickly since childhood, and has always been recuperating in Yang City. That day she also returned, but when she left the capital, very few people knew, and this time she came back even more quietly, I only knew because one of my relatives works at the Yue Wang Fu."

  …。

  Suddenly, An Xin saw a familiar figure quickly get up from the crowd that was discussing and disappear in the blink of an eye.

  Closed her eyes contentedly, as if dazzled by the golden sunlight and feeling a bit uncomfortable, yet seemingly wanting to focus and get a clear look at that figure.

  A few people who had been walking forward on their own didn't realize that An Xin hadn't followed until they entered the Piao Yu Residence. Ling Yi Hen returned by the original route and indeed saw An Xin slowly stepping up onto the steps.

  "Xin'er, meimei, what's wrong?" Ling Yihen looked at An Xin with a puzzled expression and asked.

  An Xin shook her head and followed Ling Yihen into the wine house, her heart seething with anger. When did that palace's rumor spread out? It had actually reached the point where everyone knew about it.

  The capital is a place of gossip and rumors, it's best not to stay for long. Tomorrow, you'd better go to the Hanging Temple, and don't come back for three to five years. Let this rumor pass first.

  Even if she didn't understand the ancient times, she knew what Feng Xing represented. The ancients were superstitious and believed in unfounded astrological sayings, but she was an atheist and couldn't be dragged into this muddy water.

  That day, Wen Xian Emperor and the National Master had already decided that without confirmation of who it was, they would not make public the prophecy of Feng Xing Lin Shi. But why did everyone in the capital know about it now?

  Thought I had escaped a calamity, but things are getting more and more out of hand. Of the 36 stratagems, running away is the best one.

  "Has Yulan come?" Anxin asked.

  "He just sent someone to say that he might not come, something came up." Ling Yihen said quietly as he led An Xin upstairs.

  "If you're not coming, then don't come. If you are coming, then just come. Maybe it means something?" An Xin was unhappy, finally having something to ask him, but he's avoiding her instead, how infuriating.

  She looked around the interior of the floating residence, which was even more luxurious and elegant than it appeared from the outside. The atmosphere was high-end, and a glance downstairs showed that every seat was taken, with people packed in like sardines. She couldn't help but think to herself, "If she had the capital to open a place like this, it would be great! It would definitely rake in a fortune, and the amount of money earned in just one month would be staggering."

  "Sleeping until waking up naturally, counting money until hands cramp, beauties are numerous and lined up in rows," only one of the three dreams has come true, and I don't know when the other two will show any signs.

  Just as An Xin had gone up to the second floor, she heard hushed whispers coming from downstairs.

  "Is that Young Master Ning? And who's the one beside him? He looks really handsome, even more so than the two famous beauties of the capital, Music Princess Le and Carefree Princess!" an excited voice spoke up.

  "She looks just like General An, could she be Princess Chang'an?" an exclamation.

  "As soon as you mentioned it, I think so too. The Princess of Chang'an is indeed a national beauty." An Xin heard this and seemed to hear the sound of saliva flowing from his ears, hurriedly quickening his pace and walking forward.

  "I suppose the Painting Pavilion doesn't have a portrait of the Princess of Long'an yet, I must hurry and paint one. If it's the first one, I won't be able to sell it for anything less than a large sum of silver!" A loud and excited male voice faintly entered An Xin's ears.