Chapter 25: The Bizarre Banquet

  Hua Ruo Yiren smiled and said, "I didn't expect Seventh Sister to know about these things without leaving the house. It's really admirable." Later, when we arrive at Princess Chang's residence, we must be cautious and careful. After all, Princess Chang is so unfortunate. If we don't know our manners, I'm afraid we'll bring trouble upon ourselves.

  She smiled and nodded in agreement. But actually, if you think deeply about the matter of the eldest princess, things are probably not that simple.

  At present, apart from the descendants of the Chu royal family being enfeoffed as kings, there are also three non-Chu surname kings.

  One is the current Queen's maternal family, the Shoukang Wangfu Li family; one is the Helan family of Langling Wang, who now occupies Lingnan; and one is the already completely declined Anping Wang Li family.

  The Li family still holds considerable military power and has a daughter in the imperial palace, so they are still a respected and esteemed noble family.

  The Lanling He family, I heard that the descendants are very scarce, now there is only a marriageable princess left. Although she lives in Lingnan on her own, for the imperial court, it's already a declining image, and not worth worrying about.

  And the Anping Wangfu, due to the marriage of the eldest princess, seems to have accelerated the decline of the Anping Wangfu. Now there is only a foolish child left, completely not making any progress.

  So from the perspective of the Chu royal family's layout, Princess Dazhang was just a pawn for the imperial court to collect power and destroy the Anping Wangfu. At first, she hoped to marry into the Western Qi, probably also anticipating this point, making her a truly pitiful imperial princess.

  The carriage soon arrived at the Grand Duchess's mansion, where there were fine horses and carriages in front of the gate. A young servant led the carriage into the courtyard, and the steward escorted the master and servants along a shaded path lined with trees to the banquet location, Half Moon Lake.

  "Huh? Big sister is here too, how unusual." Halfway there, they saw a few girls chatting and laughing, one of them, a girl in blue clothes, turned her head and saw them, with a surprised expression.

  Hua Zhe swept a glance, this girl still had some impression in her mind, it was Gu Shizi's daughter Gu Hanyan. The pink-clothed girl beside her was her younger sister Gu Minzhen, and she didn't have any other impressions.

  Hua Ruo's face lit up with a smile as she walked towards them, "So it's both of my cousins who have arrived. Oh dear, aren't you Miss Sun and Miss Du? Long time no see, I didn't expect to run into you two..."

  Among the greetings from Hua Ruoyun, Hua Yu accidentally remembered these two ladies. The one wearing a thin tea-colored embroidered flower long skirt was Sun Shuyi, the daughter of the Minister of War, and the other wearing a light red flowing cloud dark tea cloud long skirt was Du Yuanzhen, the daughter of the Temple of Light and Honor.

  "Cousin sister, who is this..." After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Gu Han Yan turned around and stared at Hua Zhe Yu.

  Hua Ruoyun suddenly reacted, laughing and saying: "Look, my seventh sister hasn't gone out for many years, and she doesn't even recognize you, her cousin. If this gets out, wouldn't it be a joke?"

  "Qī Mèi? Isn't she the one who was jilted by the Fourth Prince and is now engaged to the Crown Prince of Běi Míng, Huā Zhù Yǔ?"

  "...How ridiculous! A person who is about to marry into a barbarian tribe, how dare you come to the Princess's residence?"

  "Who says it isn't? Maybe it was someone from Princess Chang's residence who delivered the wrong invitation?"

  "It's impossible, she must have seen that I'm about to get married and leave for a desolate place, so she deliberately clings to my face and won't let go, not even afraid of dirtying people's eyes..."

  Several young ladies exchanged contemptuous glances, whispering to each other with their heads together, although they spoke in low voices, they completely had the momentum to let Hua Zhe Yu hear clearly.

  She smiled calmly, her face unchanged: "I've heard that Prince Anping is handsome and elegant, with a talent for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. At the upcoming Lotus Appreciation Banquet, I'm sure you ladies will have the opportunity to engage in witty repartee with him. You are all like red flowers, while I, an unmarried woman, can only serve as a green leaf to complement you."

  She deliberately made Anping Wang Shizi sound like a godsend, obviously reminding them of the purpose of their visit.

  Several women changed color upon hearing this, and the truth is that everyone knew what was going on with Princess Chang's lotus banquet. Some self-proclaimed noble ladies were unwilling to come. However, Princess Chang didn't care whether others were willing or not, directly naming names, daring them not to come, which would be equivalent to not giving her face.

  The current Baoxing Emperor is the elder brother of Princess Chang, and after her misfortune, she was even more loved by Emperor Baoxing. Not giving face to Princess Chang would be not giving face to the emperor, which would be a great sin, so no one dared to come uninvited.

  Seeing the girls' faces flush with excitement, they curtsied in unison, smiling demurely as they let the official lead them away first. The other girls stood there for half a day without making a sound, seething with anger.

  After walking on the jade stone road for a while, it's Half Moon Lake.

  At this time, the lake breeze is gentle and peaceful, the tree shadows are deep and secluded, the vast lake surface is like a huge mirror, faintly shining with golden light.

  On the emerald lake, there are buildings standing tall, with ancient red walls and green tiles on both sides, but several connected round-top houses have been built, with a style that is vastly different from that of the Great Marsh.

  The path to the center of the lake is a wooden bridge, and when Hua Yu and Yu Rong stepped onto it, they found that the houses on the lake were quite spacious, with many young men and women dressed in bright and beautiful clothes already seated inside.

  The first thing that caught her eye was a man in a dark blue robe, Chu Mingqiu, followed by Gu Zhitong.

  "Miss Qi, the Princess has specifically instructed that you sit here. Someone will come to find you later." The middle-aged attendant said respectfully as he led Hua Yu to a seat by the window on the left side.

  Hua Zhe Yu was taken aback, "Who's looking for me?" Isn't it the Eldest Princess?

  The governor smiled and said, "You'll know when the time comes. I'll let you withdraw for now."

  The official turned and left, and Peony couldn't help but whisper: "I was wondering, it wasn't the young master who wanted to see you, but someone else who wanted to see Miss. But does Miss have any idea who would specify such a specific place to meet you?"

  Hua Zhe Yu shook her head, "Even if I rack my brains, I still can't think of it."

  "It's too strange..." Peony was full of doubts. Just as the two were talking, Gu Zhi Zhong, who was chatting with someone, had already seen them and immediately waved his hand loudly, regardless of the occasion, calling out: "Seventh sister-in-law, you've arrived?"

  This sudden voice drew all eyes in the hall, and Hua Yu raised an eyebrow, "Something?"

  Gu Zong suddenly found Lezi, lifted his butt and walked over with a big laugh, "How can nothing be wrong? I heard you're going to marry Bei Ming, and in the future, you'll be the queen, so your uncle must come here to congratulate you first."

  This guy is really shameless!

  Hua Zhe Yu glanced at Chu Ming Qiu, who was only two tables away, and calmly said: "Unfortunately, she was hijacked halfway, fortunately the Fourth Prince came to her rescue, so this queen consort didn't become one for now."

  Everyone in the hall looked at Chu Mingqiu with strange expressions, wondering if he still had lingering feelings for Hua Qi's daughter despite having called off their engagement for the sake of the Empress Dowager.

  Chu Mingqiu, who had intended to stay out of the matter, turned cold with anger. She hadn't expected Hua Zheyu to be so cunning. Not wanting to be harassed by Gu Zhizhong, she came to harass him instead. All she wanted was to stop Gu Zhizhong from saying something lewd.

  In her heart, she felt uneasy about being threatened, and deep down, she still had feelings for him, not having given up yet. She was willing to help herself by relying on his shamelessness at any time.