Chapter 154 Entering the Palace
Chapter 154 Entering the Palace
Yu Guiwan combed her hair and put on her clothes. Furong then brought out a thin moon-white brocade cloak for her to cover herself with. "The weather has gotten cooler recently. Princess, you should take care of yourself."
Yu Guiwan glanced at her outfit today, which was low-key yet still presentable. Suddenly, she noticed a cloak of the same color lying next to her. "Is that the prince's cloak?"
As soon as she asked, Xie Sui came over and said with a smile, "Madam, you are really smart."
Yu Guiwan looked at Xie Sui's outfit and asked, "Are you going to the palace too?" Unless he was going to the palace or doing something, Xie Sui usually dressed very simply in the mansion.
"I'm worried about you going into the palace alone. I haven't been to the palace for a long time, so I'm going to talk to my royal brother. We'll go back home together after the banquet is over." As he spoke, Xie Sui had already picked up another cloak and handed it to Yu Guiwan.
Yu Guiwan didn't say anything, but immediately understood Xie Sui's intention and took the cloak and put it on Xie Sui.
……
Marquis Weide's Mansion.
Pei Zhiyuan was chasing Pei Jin with a cane, but he couldn't catch up with her. He was so angry that his face turned red and he shouted behind her: "Are you going or not? Are you going or not?"
"I said I won't go! Why is father forcing me?"
Pei Jin looked back and said loudly.
"You have to go today even if you don't want to!"
When the Queen sent someone to deliver the invitation, she implied that she intended to match Pei Jin and Princess Yong'an. Although she didn't say it explicitly, if Pei Jin didn't even go, wouldn't they be charged with a heinous crime of treason?
Originally, their mansion had made some achievements in front of His Majesty, and the people in the capital were all eyeing them covetously. Now they cannot make any mistakes. They moved out of the capital in the first place to avoid disaster, otherwise they would not have moved out of the capital.
……
After arriving at the palace, Yu Guiwan and Xie Sui separated. Yu Guiwan went to the imperial garden, and Xie Sui went to the imperial study.
"Princess Chen has arrived."
The palace maid sang.
When Yu Guiwan arrived, many people were already there. This time, the queen was choosing a husband for Xie Zhiyi, so she chose to have men and women sit at the same table, but with a screen separating them. Everyone knelt down.
"Be flat."
Yu Guiwan raised her hand and then walked towards Xie Zhiyi. If it was the old Xie Zhiyi, she would never be so respectful when she met Yu Guiwan. But after being taught a lesson by Xie Sui last time, and the incident of forcing the emperor to abdicate, she had a slightly different opinion of Yu Guiwan.
"Aunt Imperial." Xie Zhiyi called out in a neither cold nor indifferent tone.
"Long time no see, Princess Yong'an."
Yu Guiwan also greeted him and then sat down.
After sitting down, Yu Guiwan realized that Pei Jin had also come this time. Although there was a screen between them, she still noticed his reluctant character from his various small movements.
She thought that a young man like Pei Jin would naturally be reluctant to attend such an occasion. However, today she noticed that Xie Zhiyi was not in a good mood either. If it were usual, she would definitely not sit in her seat as obediently as she did now.
"Princess, my queen invites you over."
A maid came up to Yu Guiwan and reported.
Yu Guiwan followed the maid to another courtyard. Only then did she realize that the Queen had also held a banquet here. It seemed that all the people here were married women.
No wonder she was so surprised just now. It turned out that the Queen had deliberately arranged those young girls and boys to be alone together. She walked over and saw her mother and Aunt Ji.
"See the Queen."
Yu Guiwan walked over and bowed first, then asked the others to stand up.
The Queen greeted her warmly, "Gui Wan is here, come to me quickly."
Yu Guiwan then walked up to her and said, "Empress." Yu Guiwan naturally knew that she had something against him, so he had never called the Empress "sister-in-law".
She chatted with the queen for a long time before she found an opportunity to slip away and go to her mother.
"Mom." Yu Guiwan called out. Yang Nian was chatting with Madam Ji and Madam Su, and they were also talking about topics such as the character of the young man from which family. After she passed by, the three of them stopped talking about this topic and looked at Yu Guiwan.
Madam Ji looked at Yu Guiwan with some hesitation. Yu Guiwan smiled knowingly, took her hand, and comforted her: "Don't worry, Auntie, Minghui will be fine. Besides, Qingyu is over there and will take care of her."
Yu Guiwan knew that her aunt must be worried about Minghui. After all, it was their first time to enter the palace to attend such a banquet. Now that she was not with Minghui, she must be worried.
*
Xie Zhiyi sat in her original seat when she suddenly saw a woman she had never seen before. However, her eyes and eyebrows looked familiar. She waved to the maid and asked, "Whose family is the lady next to Su Qingyu?"
The maid followed Xie Zhiyi's gaze and replied respectfully, "Princess, that is the second young lady of the Ji family."
Ji family?
"The Ji family of Ji Mingchuan?"
"Yes."
Xie Zhiyi adjusted her hair bun and said, "Call her over to me."
The maid quickly went to Su Qingyu and said to Ji Minghui, "Miss Ji, our princess invites you." After saying that, Ji Minghui lowered her eyes, trying to hide the timidity in her eyes.
Su Qingyu glanced at Ji Minghui and comforted her, "I'll go with you. I haven't greeted the princess yet."
Xie Zhiyi saw the two of them coming together and asked, "Didn't I say I only saw her?" As she spoke, she pointed at Ji Minghui and her eyes fell on Ji Minghui.
"I thought I hadn't paid my respects to the princess yet, so I came here with Miss Ji." Su Qingyu's answer was flawless and there was no room for error.
Xie Zhiyi didn't mind it. Her temper had calmed down a lot now. "Miss Ji, is this your first time in the palace?"
"In reply to the princess, this is my first time entering the palace."
Ji Minghui bent down and spoke respectfully.
Xie Zhiyi looked at her nervous expression and originally wanted to embarrass her, but gave up the idea after seeing this. "Well, go down. If you have any instructions, just tell the maid."
Xie Zhiyi waved his hand, thinking to himself, the two siblings have such different personalities. The brother is bold and cowardly, while the sister is like a timid little white rabbit.
At this time, the senior palace maid beside the queen came over.
The originally lively scene quieted down considerably. "Greetings, young ladies and gentlemen. The Queen said that whoever wins the first prize in today's game of passing the flower will have a prize, but I will keep it a secret for now."
As soon as she finished speaking, several maids came up with several exquisite boxes in their hands. However, they could not see what was inside, which made some people present curious.
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