"Yo," a female voice came, "Isn't this the Princess of Yuyang? Acting so merrily is quite inappropriate. A girl should be quiet and ladylike. Although this is a chrysanthemum - viewing banquet, one should still maintain propriety."
Like a bucket of cold water being poured, Yi Zhici and Wei Xing stopped in their tracks, and the smiles on the faces of those present froze a bit.
They turned their heads and saw that the voice came from a jeweled - bedecked lady, the wife of the Left Prime Minister, Lady Li Yang.
Gu Jing looked at Yi Zhici with some concern. If these rather harsh words made Yi Zhici feel uncomfortable and she no longer talked to him, he would lose so much fun.
Just as he was about to speak, he heard Yi Zhici's clear and melodious voice, "Madam, by what authority do you presume to discipline me?"
The lady was taken aback for a moment and then said, "Do I need any special status to discipline a young girl? Offering you some advice as an elder, yet you don't even appreciate it."
Yi Zhici sneered contemptuously, "In terms of status, I am a princess, a member of the royal family. In terms of age, my parents are right here at the banquet. Who do you think you are? Do you look down on my mother, a titled lady, or my father, the Marquis Jing?"
These accusations were too heavy. Lady Li Yang's face gradually turned pale. In terms of status, she was not qualified to discipline a member of the royal family, and in terms of age, she was not Yi Zhici's elder. She was in a difficult situation now.
It was Gu Jing who smoothed things over, "Madam, why don't you take a stroll elsewhere and let this chrysanthemum - viewing banquet be what it should be?"
There was a well - dressed young man beside Lady Li Yang. He was good - looking, but his squinted eyes detracted from his beauty a bit. "Today is indeed a chrysanthemum - viewing banquet. In that case, a competition is quite reasonable, isn't it?"
Yi Zhici was still angry. "What do you want to compete in? Do you want to compete with me in needlework?"
Wei Xing, being childish, burst out laughing. Gu Jing also had a hard time suppressing his laughter.
The young man's face turned green and then white. "I want to compete in martial arts with Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan, do you dare?"
Lin Yuan just glanced at him. "As you wish."
The young man's face became even more unsightly. This was clearly not taking him seriously at all! As a天之骄子 (a favored son of heaven), he had never suffered such humiliation. His mother had also been put in an awkward situation. Was today just an unlucky day?
Yi Zhici looked at him for a while and finally remembered. Wasn't this Li Ye, the youngest son of the Left Prime Minister, whom her mother had asked her to get to know just now?
At that time, Yi Zhici was in no mood. He Wei Ning had pushed her beside Li Ye, but she hadn't even looked at him properly. She had only seen some noble ladies pulling their daughters towards Lin Yuan and had been so anxious that she was about to jump up.
She had quickly sent Zhong Qing to fetch Yi Junshi to save the day and had managed to get away.
But... had she offended him?
Li Ye stiffened his neck. "Come on, let's go to the training ground right now!"
Lin Yuan made a gesture of invitation and walked out calmly.
Wei Xing looked at Wu Ya with some hesitation. "Is he crazy? Brother Lin is a military general who grew up on the battlefields in the southern border. How dare he compete with Brother Lin in martial arts?"
"Maybe his self - esteem is too strong. He wants to regain face in the most prestigious martial arts in Chongjin," Wu Ya closed his folding fan. "Let's go. Let's go and watch the fun."
Since the competition was to be held in public, a respected person was needed to decide the winner. Gu Jing went directly to fetch Gu Weifeng, and Yi Zhici, afraid that Li Ye would play dirty, also dragged Yi Junshi over as a witness.
Many ministers who had been following Gu Weifeng also came along. The commotion was so great that almost everyone attending the chrysanthemum - viewing banquet gathered around.
Fortunately, the training ground was large enough for everyone on the sidelines to see clearly.
Yi Zhici craned her neck to look into the center of the training ground. Her eyes only fell on Lin Yuan, who was tall and upright, extraordinary.
Suddenly, Wei Xing's voice came from beside her. "Princess, do you have feelings for Brother Lin?"
Yi Zhici was startled and took three steps back from him. "What are you doing? You scared me."
Wei Xing looked at Yi Zhici curiously. "Just tell me if you do."
Yi Zhici nodded and then looked at him warily. "Keep it a secret."
Wei Xing grinned. "It depends on my mood."
Yi Zhici was about to go and hit him again. They played around for a while.
Suddenly, there was a burst of enthusiastic cheers around them. Yi Zhici was stunned and looked at the center of the training ground. She saw that Li Ye was lying on the ground with his nose in the air, having been thrown down.
Yi Zhici: "..."
"Wei Yuansi! You made me miss it! You really deserve a beating..." Before she could finish her words, she pounced on him and started hitting him.
Wei Yuansi: "I'm so wronged..."