Chapter 387

Lin Feiran hurriedly walked over and gently massaged Noble Consort Li’s shoulders. “Your Grace, you have worked hard. I heard that during this period of time, His Majesty is also in an extremely bad mood. My father has been reprimanded many times in the court. Although Your Grace have nothing to do in the court, it must have been extremely hard for you in the harem as well.”

Noble Consort Li sighed and nodded. A trace of impatience flashed through her eyes. The reason why the Emperor was in a bad mood was mainly because of what had happened in her palace, and Lin Feiran’s words had directly stepped on her sore spot. “Yes, I feel so derelict because I can’t ease His Majesty’s mood although I live in the inner palace.”

Lin Feiran suddenly realized that she had said something wrong and quickly changed her words, “Your Grace have been busy by taking care of my affairs, so it is understandable that you can’t look out for all the things at once. Actually, I came today to discuss something with Your Grace.”

“Oh? What’s the matter?”

“Well, you know that Princess Yonghan was here to look for a potential husband…”

Noble Consort Li was a little intrigued by the topic. She was also very concerned and curious about this matter. “Yes, I do know. What good ideas do you have?”

“It is not really a good idea, but His Majesty also knows about this matter. At that time, when Princess Zhaohua, Anning, and Princess Anqing were selecting their husbands, His Majesty held two examinations for the gentlemen, to test their written and martial arts. This time, although Princess Yonghan is a Princess of another country, she is a distinguished Princess, so she must personally select her husband.”

Noble Consort Li’s eyes darted around slightly. “You’re right. However, I’m an imperial concubine in the harem. It’s inconvenient for me to invite sons of each family to the banquet. It is equivalent to meeting men in private.”

“You can ask His Majesty for an imperial decree for the meeting since you want to hold the flower-viewing banquet. If the idea comes from His Majesty himself, it will not be considered as a private affair. Also, although our kingdom emphasizes etiquette and manner, the contact between men and women will be slightly lenient as there will be so many people present. His Majesty is extremely concerned about the matter of Princess Yonghan choosing a husband. I’m sure that His Majesty will be over the moon if you take the initiative to share his worries.”

Noble Consort Li was full of smiles. She reached out and pulled Lin Feiran and shook her hands happily. “You are really thoughtful. I have been so busy these days that I can’t think straight.” With that, she took off a golden bracelet from her wrist and wore it on Lin Feiran’s wrist. “When you marry into the royal family of the Great Yue Kingdom, you will have to learn to manage the household. If you have free time, stay by my side and learn more things. The knowledge and experience will come in handy in the future.”

“Yes, thank you, Your Grace.” Lin Feiran was excited. After sitting down and talking to Noble Consort Li for a while, she suppressed her excitement and got up to leave.

It was only when she left the palace gates that she revealed a happy smile on her face. She wanted to suppress Shen Ninghua to take revenge for the humiliation she had suffered back then, but because she couldn’t get in touch with her, she couldn’t find an opportunity to retaliate. Now that she could enter the palace to help Noble Consort Li, she would have a chance to fulfill her wishes.

In Changqiu Palace, the Third Prince walked out from behind the screen. Seeing Lin Feiran leave, he couldn’t help but look at Noble Consort Li with some doubts and asked, “Mother, I suggested the very same idea earlier and asked you to invite the young and talented me to your flower-viewing banquet, but you scolded me. Why did you agree to Feiran’s suggestion?”

Noble Consort Li turned to glare at him. “I told you long ago that you must consider the matters in all aspects when you encounter problems and challenges. Can’t you see that both Lin Feiran and Bu Yonghan are not easy to deal with? It is obvious that they wanted to suppress Princess Zhaohua. I can propose the idea of holding the flower viewing banquet, but wouldn’t His Majesty hate me even more if something happened to them at my banquet?”

The Third Prince was befuddled for a moment and then immediately understood. “Yes, I’m sorry for not thinking things through properly. Now that Feiran suggests the idea, you can boldly ask Father Emperor for an imperial decree.”

“Yes. In this way, no matter what happens, it will be easy for us to find an excuse and get away with it. Jinyu, have you found out why and how you suddenly appeared in Lin Feiran’s room that rainy night?”

“No. I investigated very carefully, but I didn’t find any clues.”

Noble Consort Li frowned slightly. “Okay, you should stop the investigation now. Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi were involved in this matter too. Those two people are meticulous and sly. If they don’t want you to find out anything, you won’t be able to.”

“Mother, although Father Emperor is suspicious of them after what happened to Xia Jingxin last time, in the end, his trust in the two of them is still higher than his trust in me. I’m so annoyed and frustrated. I am a Prince who grew up by his side, but I lose to a lowly bastard who came out of nowhere and an adopted daughter. Mother, you must help me think of a way to solve this problem.”

“Shut up! You’re such a blabbermouth. When will you be able to get rid of this habit of yours?” If someone heard him saying the word “bastard” just now, they would be in a big problem.

The Third Prince was dumbstruck and lowered his head in annoyance. “I was too angry, that’s all.”

Noble Consort Li stood up and helped him tidy up his clothes while gently comforting him, “Yes, we have to think of a plan, but we must be patient. You have to know that there are not many people in the court who support Baili Junyi. His previous actions have offended all the officials. Since we do not have a plan to deal with him at the moment, we will take this opportunity to rope in those officials. You are known to be generous and forgiving. This is your greatest advantage.”

“Yes, Mother. Don’t worry. I have already made friends with the officials according to your instructions. There are already many people on my side.” The Third Prince smiled confidently, his eyes full of ambition.

Noble Consort Li smiled in satisfaction. “The Fourth Prince is a stubborn and mischievous person who only wants to enjoy the moment. I can’t put any hope on him anymore. You’re my only hope now. You have to work hard.”

The Third Prince knelt down in front of Noble Consort Li and reached out to pull her skirt, which was embroidered with colorful phoenixes. “Don’t worry, Mother. I will not let you down. Once I reach my goal, you will be the most respected woman in the world.”

Hearing this, Noble Consort Li smiled happily. “You have always been a good boy. I trust you the most.”

They exchanged glances and smiled happily. Changqiu Palace was in a harmonious mood.

Seven days later, the flower viewing banquet was held as scheduled. Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi entered the palace together. As soon as they arrived at the palace gate, they saw many young masters of aristocratic families entering the palace. Shen Ninghua could not help but chuckle. “It seems that Noble Consort Li really cares about Princess Yonghan’s selection of a husband. She is so diligent in this matter.”

Baili Junyi held a folding fan and gently tapped his palm with the fan frame. “She is not the only one who is anxious.”

It was inconvenient to hold the banquet at Changqiu Palace because of the participation of male guests. Hence, the Emperor specially allowed the usage of the imperial garden as the venue of the banquet. Because the banquet this time was to admire the flowers, other than the main seats that were covered with the curtain screen, small stools and floor mats were placed around the bushes and trees. The guests could sit on the floor and admire the flowers. The surrounding flowers were in full bloom. Sitting on the grass was like sitting in a sea of flowers. It was particularly elegant and interesting.

Just as Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi arrived, Bu Jinglan and Bu Yonghan also walked in.

Shen Ninghua was wearing a red dress. Her outer garment was covered with the embroidery of blue flowers. On her head was a gorgeous golden hairpin made of pure gold. It was decorated with pink hibiscus sculptures and flowers. Her face was beautiful and gentle. There were clearly many well-dressed misses of the aristocratic families around her, but she stood out in the crowd and attracted everyone’s attention.

A trace of jealousy flashed through Bu Yonghan’s eyes. She had heard Bu Jinglan praise her before. He said that if the women of aristocratic families were compared to a hundred flowers with different styles of beauty and scent, Shen Ninghua was the queen of the flowers and a flower fairy. Her beauty was unparalleled. At first, she did not believe it, but now it seemed that it was not an exaggeration.

She took the initiative to greet her, “Greetings, Princess Zhaohua. I have wanted to visit you in the mansion, but after much consideration, I feel that I will be a bother if I show up unannounced, so I didn’t dare to visit you. Thanks to Noble Consort Li’s effort in holding this banquet, I get to meet you in person, or I think I won’t be able to see you so soon.” Her underlying meaning was that even as a Princess, it was not easy for her to meet Shen Ninghua thanks to the pompousness of the Royal Prince Yi Mansion.

“Your Highness, if you want to meet me, you can just get someone to send me a message or an invitation. I don’t like to go out to have fun, and I rarely go out. I usually stay in the mansion. If I know that you want to meet me, I will gladly do so.” It was unreasonable for Princess Yonghan to portray her as a cocky person because they could naturally meet if Princess Yonghan really wanted to see her.

Bu Yonghan was smiling sweetly, but the emotions in her eyes suggested otherwise. “I’m new here, so I don’t understand the rules very well. Sixth Brother warned me many times because he was worried that I would be impulsive and act recklessly. Therefore, I don’t dare to make any rash movements, for fear that I will be laughed at.” Actually, she was worried that a single mistake from her would surrender her to Shen Ninghua. However, Shen Ninghua was too straightforward when responding to her hypocritical pleasantries.

“Although the Da’an Kingdom pays attention to etiquette, we are humane and considerate. We will understand since you are new here.” Hump! I wasn’t as petty as you claimed.

Bu Yonghan secretly gritted her teeth, and anger flashed through her eyes. Shen Ninghua really had a glib tongue and was sharp with her words.

“I’m so glad to hear you say this in person. In that case, I will definitely pay a visit in the future.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and nodded without responding to her words. She didn’t care about trifles, but Bu Yonghan was a little too aggressive and rude, wasn’t she? As the distinguished daughter of the Emperor of the Great Yue kingdom, she would embarrass herself even more if she didn’t think of the consequences before she did anything.

A gentle breeze blew. Several petals fell on Shen Ninghua’s hair. Baili Junyi couldn’t help but smile gently while picking up the petals from Shen Ninghua’s hair. He held them in his palm carefully, as if the petals became extremely precious after they were tainted with Shen Ninghua’s aura. “Ninghua, let’s sit at the side for a while. You will be exhausted if you stand for too long.”

Shen Ninghua turned her head and smiled. “Okay.”

The two of them walked hand in hand to a table and sat at the side. On the table, other than snacks and tea, there was also a chessboard. The two of them began to play chess, treating Bu Yonghan’s provocation as nothing.

Bu Jinglan looked coldly at Bu Yonghan’s defeat. With a sneer, he found a place to sit down. The anger in Bu Yonghan’s eyes slowly dissipated and was replaced by a clear and calm expression. Shen Ninghua was indeed a tough opponent. The queen of flowers? Baili Junyi loved that beautiful appearance, and so did the others at the banquet. There were so many young and talented men here. It was normal if someone yearned for her beauty. Hmph…