Her eye sockets were deeply sunken, and her eye bags were almost as big as her eyes. Fatigue was evident on her entire face.
It seemed that Feng Jingyang was seriously ill.
Bai Zheng sighed silently in her heart.
After Concubine Zhao led the little girl to take her seat, the princes and princesses present all stood up to pay their respects. Bai Zheng knelt on the ground with several official's daughters and said in unison,
"Greetings to Your Highness the Concubine and Princess Mingzhao."
"Get up," Concubine Zhao waved her hand.
"Thank you, Your Highness the Concubine."
Concubine Zhao looked around at the people below. Seeing even the always arrogant Crown Prince Feng Jingye was present, she immediately smiled. Her eyes swept over the princes and princesses, and she began to chatter in an elder's tone.
"Today is Mingzhao's birthday. Originally, I thought she's just a six - year - old child, and there's no need for a grand celebration. But she threw a tantrum when she heard there would be no birthday banquet. Fortunately, you elder siblings dote on her... Why are you here?"
Concubine Zhao's voice suddenly turned shrill. She looked at Su Muxiao sitting beside Bai Sheng, and her eyes instantly turned sharp. "Who allowed you to come!"
That day, after her son's illicit affair with Su Muxiao was exposed in the Marquis of Gaochang's mansion,
the Marquis of Gaochang and Princess Pingyang stood up for their daughter and went straight to Feng Linche to accuse Concubine Zhao of poor parenting, which made Feng Linche quite dissatisfied with her.
No matter how much Concubine Zhao interrogated her son afterwards, Feng Jingyang refused to say a word.
Naturally, Concubine Zhao thought it was Su Muxiao who had seduced her son.
In fact, even the incident of Su Muxiao being sent to the family temple to suffer was the result of Concubine Zhao's scheming.
Now that her son was seriously ill and on the verge of death because of Zheng Yan's ghostly entanglement, seeing the culprit who had ruined her son's marriage, Concubine Zhao was so angry that her chest heaved.
Su Muxiao hung her head and said nothing. It was Princess Yunxi who smiled and said,
"I brought her in.
Since Miss Su was the concubine that His Highness the Fourth Prince publicly declared he would marry, as the future sister - in - law of Princess Zhaoming, it's only natural for her to come and congratulate Princess Zhaoming on her birthday. Your Highness the Concubine won't blame me for being nosy, will you?"
"You!"
Concubine Zhao glared at Princess Yunxi, who was smiling, and couldn't say a word for a long time.
The other party was the Princess of Xiliang who was honored as a guest by Feng Linche. No matter how angry Concubine Zhao was, she had to give her some face on this occasion.
After glaring for a long time, she finally regained her composure, slowly sat down, and said,
"I've always heard that Princess Yunxi has been deeply loved by the Emperor of Xiliang since childhood, so it's inevitable that she's a bit unruly and careless.
Come to think of it, even if Princess Yunxi does something inappropriate, it's not the princess's fault. Naturally, I won't argue with the princess."
"Your Highness the Concubine means you blame my father for not teaching me well?" Princess Yunxi raised her voice.
Concubine Zhao curved her brightly painted red lips and said,
"In our Great Zhou, His Majesty has high expectations for his children. As soon as the princes and princesses are born, they are taught noble etiquette, so they all behave in a proper manner and would never do anything out of line.
I'm used to this and thought all royal families in the world were the same, so I couldn't adapt to the princess's personality for a while. If I offended the princess in my words just now, please forgive me."
Seeing that with just a few words, Concubine Zhao had subtly mocked Princess Yunxi and the entire royal family of Xiliang.
Everyone was so scared that they fell silent, and the hall became quiet for a moment.
Bai Di couldn't hide her schadenfreude. After glaring at Su Muxiao, she provocatively looked at Princess Yunxi.
Given Princess Yunxi's hot - tempered personality, she didn't believe that after Concubine Zhao's barbed words, Princess Yunxi wouldn't cause a scene on the spot.
At first, Princess Yunxi was extremely angry, her eyes almost popping out. But after a long while, she lowered her eyes, and a smile suddenly bloomed on her face.
In Bai Di's stunned gaze, Princess Yunxi picked up the wine cup in front of her and said loudly,
"Your Highness the Concubine, what are you saying? It was I who meant well but did something wrong and made Your Highness unhappy. So, I'll offer a toast to Your Highness the Concubine and everyone here."
When Princess Yunxi raised her cup, the others didn't dare to be negligent. They immediately raised their cups, saying "It's nothing" to Princess Yunxi, and drank the wine together.
Even Concubine Zhao was stunned. She had been waiting for Princess Yunxi to turn against her and cause a scene, but unexpectedly, she got an apology and a toast instead.
Since one should not strike a smiling face, Concubine Zhao had no choice but to drink a cup too.
Princess Yunxi's smile deepened. After finishing a cup, she showed the clean bottom of the cup to everyone, then picked up the wine pot and filled her cup again. She said to everyone again,
"Your Highness the Concubine's words just now really woke me up.
I've been spoiled by my father since childhood, and I'm straightforward. I don't understand the subtleties of your Eastern Zhou. If I've offended anyone on weekdays, please don't take it to heart.
I'll offer a toast to everyone here. Thank you all for your tolerance and care."
Then, in the sound of everyone gulping down the wine, she drained her cup in one go.
"What good wine, Your Highness the Concubine! I've never tasted such fragrant wine in all these years!" Princess Yunxi smacked her lips after drinking, and couldn't help but praise.
Bai Zheng lowered her head and drank the wine in her cup with a smile.
Of course, it was good wine.
It was the "Three - Cup Drunk" that Princess Yunxi had painstakingly found.
At first, it tasted sweet, so it was easy to drink too much. Once the after - effect kicked in, no one could wake you up.
Of course, this precious "Three - Cup Drunk" was not in everyone's cup here...
Bai Zheng smiled as she listened to Princess Yunxi continue,
"Today is the birthday of Princess Mingzhao, the Seventh Princess, and also the day when Your Highness the Concubine suffered in childbirth. Since the princess is young, I won't offer her a toast. This cup of wine is for Your Highness the Concubine. You've endured so much during pregnancy. I wish Your Highness good health and eternal youth."
Then she tilted her head back and drained the cup.
Led by Princess Yunxi, the princes and princesses all raised their cups and offered toasts to Concubine Zhao.
For a moment, everyone in the hall had drunk two or three cups of wine, and their craving for alcohol was immediately aroused.
Whether it was because the wine served today was too strong or because the atmosphere in the hall was too lively under Princess Yunxi's leadership, after that, everyone abandoned the tea they usually drank and toasted each other with wine.
Among them, the Third Prince Feng Jingxuan, who had just become engaged, was toasted the most.
Intentionally or not, Feng Jingye and Feng Jingyi also kept pouring wine on Feng Jingxuan.
Bai Di was extremely anxious. Finally, she couldn't sit still and stood up to help block the wine, but was stopped by Su Muxiao.
"Cousin, what do you mean?" Bai Di said impatiently.
Su Muxiao pulled Bai Di back to her seat with a smile, picked up a wine cup, and said, "Di'er, I haven't seen you for more than a month. Don't you have anything to say to me?"