Chapter 146
Although she still had a smile on her face, her smile was stiff and lifeless, completely lacking her usual brilliance. “Sixth Younger Sister, I… I took your palace flower by mistake!”
Wei Yuewu saw that Wei Qiufu had no choice but to make an apology to her. She tilted her body slightly to the side as a sign of modesty. She said indifferently, “Fourth Elder Sister, if you were wrong, just admit it. Why did you say that the palace flower was not given to me by you? That simply made me a suspect in the eyes of others!”
“You are right. I was wrong. Please forgive me, Sixth Younger Sister. After returning home, I will ask grandmother to punish me.” Wei Qiufu almost couldn’t hide the hatred in her eyes and she lowered her head even more.
“Fourth Elder Sister, please stand up. Don’t worry, I don’t really blame you!” Wei Yuewu said coldly.
Sure enough, she didn’t blame her. How would she blame her! To the vicious Wei Qiufu, this was by no means the result.
That was good. She would like to see how Wei Qiufu, who had been removed from the list of candidates for the Crown Princess, would be able to attract the attention and favor of the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao. Her eyes swept across the qin that Ming Yan had placed on the side.
It seemed that this qin was really going to play a role very soon!
“The Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince have arrived!” The voice of a eunuch was heard from afar. All the onlookers immediately returned to their seats, lowered their heads and stood still.
Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, everyone knelt in unison. “Greetings, Your Highnesses!”
“As you were!” Wen Tianyao slowly walked over. The Fourth Prince born by Zhaoyi Tu followed respectfully one step behind him. On the other side of the Crown Prince, there was another young man walking elegantly.
Wei Yuewu stood up with the crowd and subconsciously raised her head. She was met by a pair of excited eyes of that young man whom she didn’t know. However, seeing that he was standing behind the Crown Prince and was even closer to the Crown Prince than the Fourth Prince, she already had an answer. This should be the mysterious Third Prince!
However, she didn’t understand why he was so excited at the sight of her.
Her long eyelids flickered and she slowly lowered her head.
Because of the sudden appearance of the Third Prince, another chair was placed beside the Crown Prince. After greeting to each other, everyone sat down again.
“Your Highness, shall we begin now?” The Third Princess covered her nose with her handkerchief and asked Wen Tianyao with a delicate smile.
“Take your seats, and let’s begin!” Wen Tianyao smiled and nodded.
The Third Princess had already ordered palace maids to draw the sequence codes.
Wei Yuewu and Wei Qiufu also sat down again. However, in front of Wei Yuewu was a bright red palace flower, and in front of Wei Qiufu was that rose red palace flower. Neither of the two palace flowers was worn, indicating that Wei Qiufu had lost in the previous incident.
Wei Qiufu’s hands had kept trembling. At this moment, her face was pale as she reached out to draw a lot. Her cold gaze fell on Wei Yuewu’s face, and then she slowly retracted it.
She had planned for many years just for the position of the Crown Princess. She never thought that she would lose to Wei Yuewu. She hated Wei Yuewu so much that she even felt like taking revenge on her right now. However, when she withdrew her gaze and met another cold gaze, she regained her senses.
She clenched her fists tightly. It wasn’t a hopeless situation yet. She still had a chance!
When she became the Crown Princess, she would definitely step Wei Yuewu into the mud and make her roll and cry in hell forever…
Wei Yuewu didn’t seem to see Wei Qiufu’s cold gaze. She casually drew a lot and handed it to Jin Ling beside her without looking at the lot.
“Miss, it’s number ten, a perfect sequence!” Jin Ling whispered to Wei Yuewu with a smile. She also told the number to the palace maid who was responsible for registration. After the palace maid recorded the number, she walked towards the next young lady.
“What does the sequence matter?” Wei Yuewu smiled.
“Miss, you are wearing a bright red palace flower now. Your sequence has a lot to do with it!” Jin Ling whispered. Her voice was very low, but it was loud enough for Wei Qiufu who was sitting beside them to hear. The calmness which she had managed to put on her face almost disappeared when she heard Jin Ling’s words. Her hands tightly twisted the corners of her skirt, and she almost wanted to stretch out to disfigure Wei Yuewu by scratching her beautiful smile.
The previous humiliation seemed to have appeared again.
The contemptuous and mocking gazes of the young ladies, as well as their alienation from her showed how much they despised her now. She could even sense that she could no longer be respected by the young ladies of the aristocratic families from now on. All she would receive was disdain and humiliation.
Grandmother might even lock her up.
No, she couldn’t…
She must enter the Crown Prince’s Mansion, and she had to let the Crown Prince choose her. Otherwise, after returning, she would definitely suffer. Grandmother would definitely not spare her.
Moreover, there was also another reason that she must enter the Crown Prince’s Mansion…
Although Wei Yuewu chatted with Jin Ling, she had been paying attention to Wei Qiufu’s movements. She saw Wei Qiufu slowly calmed down from her embarrassment, showed a bit of determination and looked at the ancient qin. She knew that Wei Qiufu had made her decision. A faint cold smile appeared on her lips silently.
Since Wei Qiufu wanted the Crown Prince’s favor, then she would send her to the Crown Prince’s Mansion, but not as the Crown Princess. Then what about as a senior or junior concubine? Well, she probably didn’t deserve such an identity!
Wei Yuewu was sure that if Wei Qiufu became a senior or junior concubine of the Crown Prince, the first person Wei Qiufu dealt with would be her. Considering the status of Crown Prince Wen Tianyao, even his concubine could cause insurmountable trouble for her.
Therefore, Wei Qiufu’s status could actually be lower…
She was determined to provoke her into playing the Confession of Love! With Yan Huaijing’s scheming and cunning character, how could his aim be as simple as merely having Wei Qiufu play the Confession of Love?
After the palace maids registered the sequences of every young ladies, they returned and stood beside the Third Princess. The Third Princess smiled and waved at them as a signal for them to show the result to the Fourth Princess.
The Fourth Princess only took a glance and said impatiently, “Since the royal brothers are all here, let’s begin!”
Crown Prince Wen Tianyao turned to Yan Huaijing and the other heirs-apparent and smiled politely, “Shall we begin now?”
“It’s all up to Your Highness!” Yan Huaijing smiled warmly. The other heirs-apparent behind him made the same response, so the banquet officially began.
Two rows of palace maids dressed in colorful clothes entered in an orderly manner. Each of them carried plates containing melon and fruit in their hands. As they placed plates on the tables one by one, the first young lady over there had already gone up to perform.
This was a young lady wearing in a light green dress. She had a bright red palace flower on her head, indicating her dignified identity as a candidate for the Crown Princess.
She performed a lotus dance, which was quite popular in the capital recently and was loved by young ladies of aristocratic families.
The difficult part of the dance was that she had to spin several circles in a row. As she was spinning, her dress looked like lotus leaves, unfolding layer upon layer. It was extremely beautiful.
The young lady danced well, her dress fluttered beautifully like layers of lotus leaves dancing in the breeze. What was more, her pretty face added extra luster to her performance. At the end of the dance, she bowed towards Wen Tianyao from afar, and Wei Yuewu noticed with her sharp eyes a red lot landing on the tray carried by a eunuch beside Wen Tianyao.
The two eunuchs each held a tray in their hands. On the bright red tray, there was a lot. On the rose red tray, there was nothing.
Wei Yuewu’s eyes darkened. After thinking for a while, she understood that this should be used by Wen Tianyao to make his choice. Judging by the way he slightly nodded, the lot in the tray should represent the candidate he had chosen on the spot.
“Miss!” Jin Ling suddenly became nervous. She pulled Wei Yuewu’s sleeve and leaned her head over. Her voice was so low that it could be heard by only the two of them.
“Miss, the Crown Prince is really choosing brides!”
Her words were not only telling the truth, but also reminding Wei Yuewu of something. Wei Yuewu understood in her heart and nodded slightly. A hint of deep thought flashed in the corner of her eyes as she replied in a low voice, “I’m injured! Besides, she is also among the candidates.”
She glanced sideways at Wei Qiufu with a smile on her lips.
She had never wanted to enter the Crown Prince’s Mansion, but since Wei Qiufu was in front, it was impossible for her to be chosen. She had seen Wei Qiufu’s sequence, which was number seven. She was scheduled to perform before her, and that was enough!
Moreover, the rose red palace flower actually had another meaning. But regardless of what this meaning was, at least on the surface, it designated a candidate senior or junior concubine for Wen Tianyao.
Wei Yuewu’s words reminded Jin Ling, who breathed a sigh of relief. She retreated behind Wei Yuewu and stood still again.
Their brief interaction did not affect Wei Qiufu. At this time, her attention was completely attracted to the young lady performing on the stage, so she completely ignored Wei Yuewu.
Several young ladies had finished performing. Some had their lots cast away, some retained. However, only a few were retained. When it was Wei Qiufu’s turn, there were two bright red ones on the tray, but none of the rose red ones was retained.
The young lady who had just finished performing wore a bright red palace flower, and her performance was clearly more outstanding than the first candidate. However, she was not selected. Even Wei Qiufu started to panic at this moment.
Could it be that the Crown Prince did not plan to choose any rose red palace flower today?
After the young lady before Wei Qiufu finished her performance, a palace maid came to invite Wei Qiufu over. Wei Qiufu looked at Wei Yuewu who had a leisurely expression on her face. Gritting her teeth, she picked up the qin and walked towards the center of the hall. No matter what, she must make an outstanding performance to impress the Crown Prince. Although the previous scheme was unsuccessful, it at least made the Crown Prince remember her.
She believed that with her talent, she would definitely amaze the Crown Prince.
As soon as the sound of qin was heard, everyone nodded their head. This Fourth Young Lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang indeed had a well-deserved reputation. Without years of practice and talent, it would be impossible to play the qin so beautifully.
But then, someone started to notice something unusual and they whispered. At first, it was nothing, but gradually, more and more people realized it.
“Confession of Love, she’s actually playing Confession of Love?”
“Crazy. Fourth Miss Wei has really gone mad. She actually played Confession of Love in front of the Crown Prince. Who does she think she is?”
“She really has no sense of shame. Is this the behavior of a young lady from a noble family? Which family’s daughter would do such an indecent thing?”
“This is really Confession of Love, and it’s the long-lost edition of Confession of Love. What does she want?”…
This was simply something that had never been done by any normal young aristocratic lady before. Although everyone knew that the Crown Prince was choosing brides at the banquet, on the surface, at least the young ladies pretended that they were performing for the Crown Prince.
How could she lift this veil in order to excel? This was too embarrassing for all the young ladies of the aristocratic families present.
The Third Princess’s expression also became gloomy.
“Eldest Brother, such a woman is really against the moral principles required for unmarried ladies!” The Fourth Princess sneered impatiently and suggested to Wen Tianyao, who was seated high up, “Just cast away the lot!”
Wen Tianyao raised his eyes but did not say anything. He then closed his eyes slightly and listened to the music carefully. He actually ignored the Fourth Princess’s suggestion.
He had never listened to such a qin tune before, but right now he was unsure about one thing. Was she the person he had been looking for?
The Third Princess thought about Wen Tianyao’s intention carefully. Then, she smiled calmly and suggested, “Eldest Brother, what do you think of Fourth Miss Wei? She was originally a candidate for the Crown Princess, but because of an incident involving Sixth Miss Wei, she is now a candidate for the senior or junior concubine. If Eldest Brother doesn’t like her, she can actually be sent out.”
“Just retain her lot!” Wen Tianyao opened his eyes and looked at Wei Qiufu expressionlessly who was performing. He took the lot on which Wei Qiufu’s name was written and threw it onto the rose red plate.
The first rose red lot fell under everyone’s gaze…