The noble young ladies sitting in a circle sized up Cheng Xiran from head to toe as if she were a piece of merchandise.
The young lady sitting right across from Xiao Qi spoke softly, "I've heard of you for a long time, but I didn't expect it to be the same person." Then she looked at Cheng Xiran. "You were a complete fool who couldn't even read a single character in the early days. And suddenly you can write articles. Your scheming to hide your abilities is quite deep."
The visitor was clearly unfriendly.
These four words immediately popped into Cheng Xiran's mind. Who did she offend? She didn't even know this Princess Ziyun, so why was the princess so aggressive right from the start?
"Your Highness, Sister Cheng is my good friend. How could she be a fool? It was all just rumors spread by people in the capital before," Xiao Qi quickly tried to smooth things over.
Cheng Xiran caught the exchange of looks between the two of them. She instantly understood what Princess Ziyun was up to. It turned out that it was Xiao Qi using the princess to do her dirty work. Poor Princess Ziyun was being used as a pawn without even realizing it.
Cheng Xiran gave a charming smile and said, "It's all just hearsay. I hope Princess Ziyun won't laugh at me."
Princess Ziyun smiled again and said, "Since you've given up on the prince, don't try to get involved with him through other means. I heard from Xiao Qi that you're old enough to get married. Do you have a fiancé yet?"
Was she trying to force her into marriage so that Xiao Qi could be with Helian Duo? How ruthless!
The words were like a bomb going off among the noble young ladies. For a moment, they were all in an uproar, offering advice to Princess Ziyun and saying how good the young masters from various families were.
Cheng Xiran was too lazy to pay attention to them. They were really minding other people's business. There were plenty of ladies here older than her, but instead of worrying about their own marriages, they were worried about hers.
The young lady sitting at the innermost part of the pavilion tilted her head and sized up Cheng Zhiyue. She asked softly, "Which family's young lady are you? I've never seen you before."
Cheng Zhiyue wasn't familiar with these young ladies. But she was at least the second young lady of the prime minister's mansion, so her status wasn't that low. So she put on a smiling face and replied, "I'm Sister Cheng's younger sister. My name is Cheng Zhiyue."
"Huh? Younger sister? Then isn't she a concubine's daughter?" The inquiring young lady couldn't help but look a bit surprised. She turned to the young lady beside her and asked, "Yu Jing, have you heard that Prime Minister Cheng has another daughter?"
Yu Jing nodded and said, "He does have another daughter. It's said that she was born to a concubine."
The young lady couldn't help but size up Cheng Zhiyue again and said, "So she's really a concubine's daughter. No wonder I've never seen her before. How come a concubine's daughter can attend a flower banquet for legitimate daughters now?"
All the noble young ladies sitting in the pavilion were legitimate daughters of official families. On weekdays, even if there were other sisters in their mansions, they wouldn't bring them out. As legitimate daughters, they naturally preferred to play with other legitimate daughters. What would it look like to bring a concubine's daughter along?
The words were full of mockery and perhaps more of a look down on Cheng Zhiyue. After all, a concubine's daughter wasn't qualified to attend a banquet for legitimate daughters, so their words were really harsh.
Although the voices were soft, Cheng Xiran still heard them clearly. She glanced at Cheng Zhiyue, who was blushing and shrinking to one side, with tears welling up in her eyes.
She insisted on coming. Now she deserved to bear the humiliation.
Cheng Zhiyue wished she could leave right away. She had been spoiled all her life and had never suffered such humiliation before.
On the contrary, Cheng Xiran didn't care at all. She had expected this situation before coming. Xiao Qi had gone to great lengths to invite her to the prime minister's mansion. It was nothing more than taking advantage of Cheng Zhiyue's feelings and then inviting her here to humiliate her.