To the west outside the palace, in the Qionglin Garden—
Originally, this was a banquet for the successful candidates in the imperial examinations. With the addition of the candidates from the martial arts examinations, everyone was naturally beaming with joy. Whenever they met, they would congratulate each other and praise one another.
The most prominent were the top three on the list. The people crowding around them almost blocked the way. And second only to the top scholars was Shen Zhou.
There was no other reason than his extremely handsome appearance. Except for Yi Yuan, who was already "taken," almost no one could rival him.
And most of the people crowding around Shen Zhou were ladies.
Ye Xi followed Yi Yuan generously. As soon as they entered the venue, she felt Shen Zhou's gaze from afar.
Yi Yuan looked unpleasant. He stepped to the side and blocked Ye Xi behind him. His cold and fierce eyes met Shen Zhou's directly. From afar, Yi Yuan in his blue robe with a cold face and Shen Zhou in his red robe with a smile on his face showed no sign of emotion on their faces, but the undercurrents in their eyes were like towering waves.
"A Yuan,"
Ye Xi tugged at Yi Yuan's sleeve and whispered:
"Let's go. The banquet is about to start."
Ye Xi already knew that Shen Zhou was the one who attempted the assassination that day. Even if Shen Zhou was unaware at that time, and even if she had a deep bond with Shen Zhou in her childhood, now Shen Zhou was clearly on the opposite side of her. No matter how close they were in childhood, she couldn't regard Shen Zhou as an ordinary young master anymore, let alone betray Yi Yuan.
Yi Yuan withdrew his gaze, raised his arm exaggeratedly and took her hand, smiling faintly and responding:
"Okay."
After saying that, he ignored Shen Zhou behind him and walked straight to his seat with Ye Xi, his back straight.
He looked like a victorious rooster, which made Sai Xing and Mian Xiao beside them wink and laugh.
Soon the banquet began. Hun Yuan came out to offer a blessing, and Emperor Zhaohuan gave a speech as usual. After a series of complicated procedures, Ye Xi's stomach began to growl.
Recalling the last time she attended a banquet, she was still an ugly young lady in the corner who was ignored and trembling with fear because of the "fatal calamity" on her. But today when she came to the banquet again, she was already the prospective princess of Prince Yu'an. Sitting on the left side of the hall with Yi Yuan, she naturally attracted attention and was baptized by the jealous or sarcastic looks of many noble ladies. It really seemed like a lifetime ago.
Ignoring those malicious looks, Ye Xi quietly buried her head in her meal.
Qiao Yan couldn't sit still. Seeing that the atmosphere became more and more lively after three rounds of drinks, and those scholars were chatting and having a great time, she quietly slipped over to find Ye Xi and begged her to play with her.
There were special activities for the female guests at the Qionglin Banquet in the Great Yin Dynasty, such as arrow - throwing into a pot, painting, discussing poems and words, and "Flying Fortune" where the young ladies who liked martial arts could shoot red fruits with small knives and darts. There were also some bold young ladies. If the gentleman they admired was among the newly successful candidates, they would deliberately wear the same flower hairpin on their heads as the one their beloved wore, which was a very bold way of showing love.
Qiao Yan had no interest in those literary things. She pulled Ye Xi towards the places for arrow - throwing into a pot and "Flying Fortune".
Ye Xi had an injury on her hand and it was inconvenient for her to move. She came with Qiao Yan just to digest her food after a full meal.
Otherwise, if she just sat beside Yi Yuan boredly, from time to time there would be some ill - intentioned people who would take the opportunity of joking to mock her. Ye Xi was really too lazy to play along with them. Those self - important young ladies mostly liked elegant activities, which had little to do with what Qiao Yan liked.
So Ye Xi only thought for a moment and then slipped away with Qiao Yan.
It had to be said that although Qiao Yan's real martial arts skills were not as good as those of Ling Yan, a specially - trained guard, she was indeed outstanding among the young ladies from noble families.
Her skills in arrow - throwing into a pot and "Flying Fortune" almost crushed all the noble ladies. Only a young lady from the Wei family could slightly compete with her.
Coincidentally, both of them were unyielding. They were like a needle pointing at a wheat awn. For a while, this fun activity had become a competition field for them, attracting many noble ladies to watch.
Ye Xi sipped her tea slowly. She wasn't worried at all. In such an occasion, no matter how opposed they were, they wouldn't make too much of a scene. Moreover, in her opinion, Qiao Yan would most likely be the winner.
Sure enough, the young lady from the Wei family made a mistake. The knife she threw flew past the red fruit and was stuck obliquely on the wooden board behind. She lost by one point less than Qiao Yan's score of hitting the fruits.
There was a stir in the crowd. Some cheered for Qiao Yan, while some felt sorry for the young lady from the Wei family. The young lady from the Wei family was naturally a bit unhappy, but a loss was a loss. She had bet her jade hairpin on the game with Qiao Yan. So she reluctantly pulled it out and handed it over, saying:
"Fine. You can wear this hairpin for a while. But I won't be reconciled. You'd better keep it well. I will surely win it back."
As she said, she was about to hand it to Qiao Yan. But suddenly she rolled her eyes and stared at the hairpin reluctantly, saying:
"This hairpin was for my coming - of - age ceremony. Could you let me give it one last send - off and put it on you myself?"
Qiao Yan didn't suspect anything. She just laughed heartily:
"Of course. Go ahead and put it on."
The young lady from the Wei family smiled slyly. When no one was paying attention, she quietly broke off a slightly - opened hibiscus beside her. While putting on the hairpin, she quietly tucked the flower behind Qiao Yan's hair bun.
That hibiscus was worn by a scholar who was a rather distant relative of hers. Nominally, she called him cousin. Although that cousin was quite knowledgeable, he was really promiscuous and blindly filial. She deliberately chose a small flower and placed it in a hidden position so that except for a few people behind Qiao Yan, no one else noticed it for the moment.
The young ladies behind found it funny. They were eager to watch the show but none of them stepped forward to remind Qiao Yan. It was Ye Xi who felt that those young ladies' smiles were strange. She got up to check for Qiao Yan.
Who would have thought that as soon as she stood up, a tea - serving maid beside her exclaimed "Ouch". The warm tea in her hand spilled all over Ye Xi.
It was cold in late autumn. The warm tea spilled right on Ye Xi's chest. In a short time, it soaked through her clothes. As soon as the wind blew, it became freezing cold. It stuck to Ye Xi's skin and her still - unhealed wound, making her shiver.
The sudden situation attracted all the young ladies' attention.
"Oh, miss!"
Sai Xing hurriedly took out her handkerchief to wipe Ye Xi and glared angrily at the maid, complaining:
"What's wrong with you? You can't even carry a cup of tea properly. It's so cold. If our miss catches a cold... how can she get better..."
Qiao Yan also didn't care about showing off the hairpin she had won. She quickly ran over to cover Ye Xi's body.
The maid was also scared. She knelt on the ground and kowtowed, constantly admitting her mistakes.
This was the person that Prince Yu'an held in his palm. If something really went wrong, as a servant girl, she didn't even know if her life would be enough to atone for it.
"Sai Xing."
Ye Xi softly interrupted Sai Xing's endless scolding and reached out to help the terrified maid up:
"It's okay. Get up first. Did you stumble just now? I saw you seem to sway a bit."
"Yes, yes. It was just that this servant girl didn't stand firmly. Please forgive me, miss..."
How dare the maid really get up? She was extremely aggrieved in her heart:
[I don't know which damned person pushed me, and that's why I spilled the tea. But all these people here are noble ladies. I can't afford to offend any of them. Wuwu, being a servant is really hard... ]