青春期撞上更年期第1部

Chapter 395 The Most Hateful Thing

Actually, it was not a secret in the imperial palace for many people had known that before but later they just seldom mentioned it.

It was said that Prince Cheng had been infatuated with his deceased fiancee who had grown up with him. When his fiancee died, Prince Cheng even clamored for becoming a monk. Later, it was the deceased emperor who finally quelled his agitation.

From then on, he had no interest in woman!

To avoid Prince Cheng really becoming a monk once he took things too hard, Empress Dowager and the Empress had repeatedly said that he should choose a consort. However, they would not expect that since they had tried in vain for a few years, Prince Cheng would suddenly determine to choose consorts for himself, which surprised everyone.

Compared with the other princes, Prince Cheng was the one who should choose his consort most.

“Nanny Zheng, what do you think of the whole event that Prince Cheng decided to hold the consort selection at this time and even put it in practice?” Hearing Nanny Zheng’s answer, Qin Wanru asked in surprise.

No matter whether Prince Cheng wanted to inherit the throne, it was better for him to act inconspicuously. However, what on earth was Prince Cheng thinking when he decided to pick up brides in such a high-profile way?

“I have no idea about the reason why Prince Cheng determines to select a consort at this time. It may be Empress Dowager’s plan?” Hesitant for a while, Nanny Zheng replied in a low voice.

Qin Wanru was not familiar with things in the imperial palace so she didn’t understand Nanny Zheng’s words. “Empress Dowager has always wanted him to pick up brides, hasn’t she?”

“Yes but Prince Cheng has always disagreed. However, since this event happened, well, well, it may be a major turning point for him and thus he decided to select his consort!” As Nanny Zheng couldn’t figure it out, she had to answer Qin Wanru vaguely.

Qin Wanru was very quiet for a while and then suddenly asked, “Nanny Zheng, can I refuse to attend?”

The whole thing anyway seemed to be so unusual that Qin Wanru didn’t want to be in the crosshairs of this trouble. Even though many unmarried ladies were invited to the consort selection, not everyone would attend the banquet. Besides, Qin Wanru was only an eleven-year-old lady who was too young to be eligible to get married.

“Since First Miss has to attend, I am afraid Second Miss you also have to!” Thinking for a while, Nanny Zheng answered as she frowned tightly. Everything seemed to be weird.

An idea suddenly occurred to Qin Wanru. Since Qin Yuru had been engaged with Di Yan, not to mention those troubles she had caused in the capital city, it was improper and impossible for Prince Cheng to choose her. However, why did she also receive the invitation? When the other princes picked up their consorts, ladies like Qin Yuru who had been engaged with others were ineligible for the selection.

As regards Qin Wanru, she was too young for Prince Cheng who now should marry a lady who was about fifteen or sixteen. Qin Wanru now was only eleven! Even if she attended, she was just to balance the numbers or to join in the fun. So why did he even invite her?

“Nothing will be changed even if Big sister and I attend the selection, right?” Since Qin Wanru was totally confused, she blurted out.

Yujie and Qing Yue looked at each other questioningly and didn’t understand Qin Wanru’s words, except Nanny Zheng. Her eyes shone suddenly.

“Miss, I got you. First Miss and you were to balance the numbers so Prince Cheng would not choose you. In other words, someone might have been selected by Prince Cheng. If he doesn’t hold a consort selection, everyone will consider that Prince Cheng thinks little of his marriage. Therefore, he then decided to hold a consort selection in such an ostentatious way.”

Her answer sounded mostly right as Qin Wanru had once lived in the imperial palace and thus she knew some thoughts of people in the palace were sometimes different from that views of people lived outside the palace.

Sometimes people of the imperial palace would choose a tortured way to explain a thing which could have been elucidated simply because of many worries. As regards the so-called tortured way, it was because they had no other choice in the end that they just went round and round until they found another way out.

Nanny Zheng added, “I suppose that this lady selected is not good enough or in other words, Prince Cheng is not satisfied with her and that is why a consort selection is going to be held.”

As Qin Wanru understood her words, she quickly began to think with her hand grabbing her handkerchief involuntarily. Her eyes looked darker.

According to her own opinion, it would be better not to attend as the whole thing looked strange. Even if she was to amuse herself by watching other people, she would also be laughed at by others.

As regards the performance held by the imperial palace, nobody could know who the hero was or who the one behind the scene was until the last minute.

However, she just could not figure out an appropriate excuse to refuse the invitation in that she had to attend when Qin Yuru also had to do.

“What will become of me if I insist not to go?” Hesitant for a while, Qin Wanru still asked.

“It will be alright for you not to attend the selection if you have a good reason but if not, you must offend those aristocrats in the imperial palace!”

People never knew which aristocrats they might offend for these people might include the Empress, Empress Dowager or even the Emperor!

Nanny Zheng even mentioned several royal members, which silenced Qin Wanru.

It would be inappropriate to pretend to be sick for if an imperial physician was asked to check, it would be hard to cover up the truth. Moreover, Qin Wanru didn’t want to pretend to be ill because it would make her inconvenient to go out when Qi Tianyu and Qin Yuru conducted any abnormal behavior, which might let them seize the initiative!

But it would be more improper to claim that she was preoccupied by other things because there was no other thing could be much more important than that of the imperial palace!

So she could not refuse this invitation anyway. She didn’t want to watch the show for fear of getting herself involved but she just could not refuse to attend! It was too difficult for her!

“So I have no choice, right?” Qin Wanru’s eyes glistened with tears, making her look prettier. Her bright red lips curved into an innocent and enchanting smile. Her terrific pretty look made Nanny Zheng worried suddenly.

“Miss, you have to be careful anyway!”

Her warning was a little bit unexpected. Qin Wanru was stunned and asked in confusion, “Nanny Zheng, since I am still young, I should be fine, right?”

Given that Prince Cheng was about Qin Huaiyong’s age, she supposed that she would not get involved in this matter.

“Miss, you have to know that there are other ranks of consorts except the position of Princess Consort. If Prince Cheng does agree on this consort selection, he will not only choose one in consideration of his age, right? Even if the imperial palace has chosen the Princess Consort, they should let Prince Cheng himself select one or two ladies he likes!”

Nanny Zheng implied.

She sighed inwardly for her master who was exceedingly beautiful. It was only because she now was still very young that she was not outstanding enough, but everyone who had seen Qin Wanru’s appearance believed that when Second Miss of Qin’s Mansion was fully grown up her beauty would definitely amaze the whole city. Therefore, it was fully able to wait for her to grow up.

She had seen many beautiful and charming females as she had been in the imperial palace for some time. However, given Qin Wanru’s exceeding beauty, Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion itself might not be able to protect her who was destined for an extraordinary life because of her appearance.

It was glad for Nanny Zheng that one thing was for certain that because Second Miss was too young, seldom people would covet her.

Nanny Zheng thought that if Qin Wanru had been thirteen or fourteen years old, it would have been much more possible for her to be noticed by others. However, even if she now was only eleven and quite smaller than other ladies, it was hard to promise that she would not be selected.

Nanny Zheng thought it necessary for her to warn Qin Wanru to be careful. Even though her master had always been very discreet, she was only a kid anyway.

Qin Wanru said nothing when she totally didn’t take her appearance into consideration but merely thought Nanny Zheng’s worries were reasonable. Since Prince Cheng finally relented and now decided to pick up brides in a high-profile way, he would not choose only one bride. Besides, it seemed that only one person would be chosen as Princess consort when inviting Qin Yuru and Qin Wanru to balance the numbers, who seemed to be impossible to be selected.

If Prince Cheng wanted to choose others to be his concubines, this was not out of the question. Since he would not choose ladies like Qin Yuru who had been engaged, it was possible for him who might be sulking over the selection to select some very young ladies deliberately because there was no rule against picking up very young ladies.

Thinking in this way, Qin Wanru finally realized that it was risky for her to attend the selection.

“Nanny Zheng, then what should I do?” asked Qin Wanru.

As she had never seen Prince Cheng before, she knew nothing about his character, so she had to turn to Nanny Zheng.

When Nanny Zheng thought carefully, an idea occurred to her. Her eyes suddenly shone and she said, “Miss, I heard that Prince Cheng hates those girls who wear a sachet on which cerise peony pattern is stitched!”

“A sachet on which there is a cerise peony pattern?” Qin Wanru seemed confounded a moment for she didn’t understand what on earth Prince Cheng favored.

The blossoming peony which symbolized wealth and honor was very beautiful and attractive, which was very popular among ladies of aristocratic families who also preferred to decorate their sachets with peony embroidery. Even though Qin Wanru didn’t prefer peony as they did, she had several sachets with peony patterns. Although scarlet was too bright, it seemed to be elegant and poised.

Every official consort would dress in bright red clothes, while the Empress’ phoenix robe was also scarlet. The color was superb, but why did Prince Cheng hate those sachets with this pattern?

In addition, sachet was women’s thing and would Prince Cheng notice that?

“Miss, trust me. This statement sounds true. It is said that there was a palace maid who liked Prince Cheng and wanted to marry into the Prince Cheng’s Mansion. She tried her best to appear in front of him to attract his attention. Once, when Prince Cheng was drunk in the palace, she then seized the chance to be intimate with him. However, she didn’t realize that her sachet with red peony pattern at her waist sobered him up. He then kicked her out of the bed heavily.”

The story Nanny Zheng mentioned had been spread in the whole palace at that time. Somebody even claimed that they knew this palace maid and were clear that she liked Prince Cheng. However, it seemed that the palace maid was executed by the Emperor.

Nanny Zheng didn’t witness the whole process, but since these rumors sounded reasonable and real, she also thought this story was true.

Hearing Nanny Zheng’s words, Qin Wanru thought for a while and said to Qing Yue, “Do I have a sachet with red peony pattern?” Qing Yue had been responsible for tidying her accessories up.

“There are two and let me show you!” Qing Yue nodded and quickly took out two sachets to her.

Qin Wanru took them up and watched them carefully. One sachet was embroidered with pale blue peony which seemed graceful and elegant while the other one was decorated with a flaming red peony which looked delicate and tender. By comparison, the latter seemed to be much more beautiful and enchanting.

Besides, Qin Wanru was too young to hold this kind of gaudy color and she had no compatible dress to match this fiery red.

Qin Wanru didn’t own any dress with these gaudy colors.

Making a comparison between the two sachets, Qin Wanru finally took one of them and said thoughtfully, “I will take this one!”