As the beloved daughter of the prefect, Cheng Caijie was like a princess in Lingchuan. She had been living in luxury since childhood, served by numerous maids. With her outstanding appearance, she was the center of attention among men, which made her extremely arrogant.
Although she was already eighteen, an age suitable for marriage, she still remained unwed. The main reason was that no man had ever caught her fancy.
Even though the prefect and his wife were quite worried about this and had searched almost all the young talents and noble sons in Lingchuan for her, Cheng Caijie was determined and refused to compromise.
Everything changed when she saw Qi Rong. She instantly fell head - over heels in love with him and couldn't extricate herself!
Qi Rong was different from the gentle and weak men in Lingchuan. He was tall and elegant, and every gesture of his exuded the noble aura of a royal family member. His extremely handsome face was hard to look away from, and his cold, black eyes were like deep pools, which made people afraid to disturb him easily.
As soon as he stood in a crowd, he stood out like a crane among chickens. He was the most ideal husband in Cheng Caijie's heart!
So, before she decided to lower her pride and perform for him voluntarily, she had already asked her father to find out about Qi Rong's marital status.
She learned that he was about to reach adulthood but was still unmarried. There were only two women in the Prince Xian's mansion. One of them was Wu Shuang, a famous dancer in the capital.
Although Cheng Caijie had never seen Wu Shuang, she was so confident in her own beauty that she had never met a more outstanding woman. Moreover, as the daughter of an official, she was of noble status and naturally didn't take a dancer seriously.
However, when she saw Yun Xi today, she was greatly shocked.
Not only was the other woman extremely beautiful, but her temperament was also noble and refined. She even outshone Cheng Caijie, the daughter of the prefect. As soon as she appeared, she captured everyone's attention!
Although Cheng Caijie was reluctant to admit defeat, she was not discouraged. She thought that there was a huge gap in their status. The other woman was just a plaything. As long as she won the favor of the Prince Xian and became his princess, a dancer would not be a threat!
So she did her best and was quite appreciated by the Prince Xian. Just when she was feeling extremely proud, unexpectedly, this dancer came out to steal her thunder again!!
Seeing Cheng Caijie looking tearful and aggrieved as if she had been bullied, Yun Xi's expression first froze, and then she glared at Qi Rong, the culprit.
She regretted it deeply in her heart: She should never have been so greedy for food and come to this banquet!
Not only did this meal taste like wax, but before it was even finished, the host started to act up!
"Miss Cheng, why do you say so? We've never met before, and today I'm really grateful for your family's generous hospitality. I'm so thankful that I couldn't possibly have offended you, could I?"
Yun Xi looked puzzled and said embarrassedly while looking at the plate of crispy pork in front of Qi Rong's table:
"Or does Miss Cheng think that I didn't taste the dish you made, so you misunderstand me as being ungrateful and disrespecting you?"
Yun Xi changed the subject as if she was at a loss.
"Actually, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I saw that you cooked the dish for the prince yourself, and I didn't want to be so ignorant as to let down your good intentions..."
Yun Xi stopped there, and everyone understood what she meant.
This extremely beautiful woman with an innocent expression instantly made people feel pity for her!
Some people even thought that Cheng Caijie was making a mountain out of a molehill. She shouldn't have generalized based on a few words from the prince. As the host, she shouldn't have blamed the guest!
Moreover, everyone had eyes and could see that the prefect and his daughter were extremely attentive to the prince. So Yun Xi's words were quite reasonable.
In the past, whenever Cheng Caijie showed the slightest sign of being wronged, there would immediately be people rushing to stand up for her. However, today, she found that this trick didn't work. Instead, with just a few words from the other side, she ended up shooting herself in the foot!
Her proud self - esteem felt humiliated immediately. Her previously gentle gaze instantly became aggressive!
"Maybe what I said just now was inappropriate, but it seems that you, miss, are insinuating something?"
Cheng Caijie didn't get angry. Instead, she maintained the grace of a noble lady. Her tone softened first, and then she counterattacked.
"The prince and all the gentlemen are our honored guests. For the sake of the people in Lingchuan, I, Caijie, should entertain them whole - heartedly. How could it become a matter of love in your mouth?"
"How can I, a young unmarried woman, explain this to others in the future!"
After saying that, Cheng Caijie looked sad and leaned on the prefect's shoulder. Her shoulders trembled slightly, looking extremely pitiful. But in a corner where no one could see, the corner of her lips twitched slightly, and she snorted coldly in her heart:
A low - class dancer actually dared to try to show off her power over her?
Today she would teach the other woman a lesson and set some rules for her in advance before she married into the Prince Xian's mansion!
As soon as Cheng Caijie finished speaking, even the prefect couldn't help but turn cold:
"Miss, what else do you have to say?"
Even if the other woman was the prince's woman, the evil act of ruining someone's reputation was enough to make people despise. Especially since the victim was his precious daughter. His questioning was not excessive!
Seeing the prefect like this, everyone's eyes naturally turned to Yun Xi, wanting to see how she would explain.
Qi Rong, the instigator, was lazily reclined in his seat, looking at Yun Xi leisurely with a mischievous look in his eyes.
Although he didn't like it when someone bullied his woman, he really liked the way Yun Xi was jealous for him. So, in this contradictory mood, he selfishly decided to have some fun first and then deal with these people!
Yun Xi could clearly see this guy's attitude of enjoying the show. She was so angry that her teeth itched. She even had the urge to leave a few fingernail marks on his teasingly handsome face!
But now, Miss Cheng had come to pick a fight. It seemed impolite if she didn't respond.
"I have nothing to say."
Yun Xi spread her hands and let out a soft sigh, which stunned everyone!
Even Cheng Caijie, who was mentally preparing to fight Yun Xi for hundreds of rounds, was dumbfounded: Was she giving up without a fight?
"So, you admit that you deliberately bullied my daughter?"
The prefect asked in a deep voice, but Yun Xi gently shook her head.
"If you want to frame someone, you'll surely find a pretext. If my silence can bring peace to this banquet, I'm willing to swallow this grievance."
Yun Xi smiled faintly, and her clear and open eyes almost made everyone present lose their senses. But they were scared back by a glare from Qi Rong.
So, arguing back and forth was meaningless. Yun Xi's consideration for the overall situation instantly "spoke louder than words" and made the Cheng family's hosts seem aggressive and out of line in front of the guests!
"Pfft! Hahaha!"
The faces of the Cheng family father and daughter turned green and then white. Before everyone could react, Qi Rong suddenly couldn't help but burst into wild laughter.
If he wasn't afraid of making Yun Xi angry, he would have immediately pulled this sharp - tongued girl into his arms and showed his affection for her!
Dare to argue with his little cutie? These people were just asking for trouble!!
Qi Rong's untimely laughter made everyone feel embarrassed. It also made Cheng Caijie resentful. Anger welled up in her heart, and she forgot her status and said:
"May I ask the prince, what's the relationship between this girl and you? Why did she follow you all the way to Lingchuan regardless of the long journey?"
Previously, she hadn't heard that the Prince Xian had brought a woman to Lingchuan. This dancer had only shamelessly followed a few days ago.
A mere plaything actually dared to be so arrogant? Did she really think that Cheng Caijie was easy to bully?!