Xinmei stepped forward, placing herself in front of Yan Zhen, and said coldly, “What do you mean? Don’t tell me, you’re reprimanding our Princess?”

A mere palace maid, even if she was the personal attendant of the most favored Honored Consort Xia, had no right to reprimand Princess Yi. Honored Consort Xia didn’t have a high status. She wasn’t one of the four main consorts, so she was much lower-ranked than Honored Consort Shu and Honored Consort Ya. At most, she was the Emperor’s beloved consort.

No matter how loved she was, she was still a consort. More importantly, her maid was going against Princess Yi. Prince Yi was the sort who wouldn’t give in even out of respect for the Emperor, and the offender was just the Emperor’s consort. Honored Consort Xia had no right to reprimand Princess Yi, never mind her maid.

Facing Xinmei’s stern expression, Yan Zhen’s face turned red and white from anger and shame.

She had been putting on airs ever since following Honored Consort Xia into the palace. The other consorts had been warned to stay away from them, so they would be polite to her whenever they met. This made her arrogant. Yet, a tactless maid dared to go against her. She wouldn’t have said anything had these words come from someone in Prince Yi’s Manor; even if she was furious, she would endure it.

But, the speaker was merely one of Princess Yi’s maids. Since when did a maid have the nerve to reprimand her? Yan Zhen was so furious that she nearly lost her temper. She looked coldly at Xinmei. “Does a maid like you have the right to speak here?”

“I’m a maid who serves the Princess, which is why I can’t stand a palace maid reprimanding her. Or are you saying that a mere palace maid has the right to reprimand Her Highness in the palace? What do you take Prince Yi’s Manor for?” Xinmei wasn’t a real maid, so she didn’t hold back in front of the furious Yan Zhen.

Noticing more and more people around them, Yan Zhen knew that this wasn’t the time to argue. She suppressed her anger, took a deep breath, and respectfully saluted Ning Xueyan once again. “Princess Yi, I’m sorry. I was a little harsh with my tone because I was worried about Her Highness. I ask that you don’t spread stories about Her Highness everywhere.”

Her words sounded like an apology but were in actuality an accusation that Ning Xueyan was in the wrong. Everyone knew that Honored Consort Xia was the most mysterious consort in the palace and no one should be discussing her so casually.

It wasn’t a direct rebuke, but it was no different than one. Ning Xueyan smiled, unperturbed. She pulled Xinmei behind her and said softly, with a hint of apology in her voice, “I wasn’t the one who wanted to discuss Honored Consort Xia. The ladies asked me about it, so I told them that Honored Consort Xia wanted to see me. I didn’t mention anything else.”

The married women on the side kept quiet but their expressions were unpleasant.

Yan Zhen could barely hold in her anger. She stared at Ning Xueyan but couldn’t say anything in return. The group of married women was now involved in this, and something serious might happen. Honored Consort Xia instructed her to quietly lead Princess Yi to her. Little did she expect that not only did she fail to do so, but she also attracted so many people’s attention.

If she refused to let things be, even more people would witness their argument. There were a few people nearby that had noticed the commotion. From the looks of it, they seemed to be making their way over.

“Princess Yi, Her Highness sincerely thinks that she’s fated with you, but forget it if you’re unwilling. I’ll return and relay your answer to her.” Yan Zhen seemed sad as if Ning Xueyan had disappointed Honored Consort Xia. Right now, she didn’t want to continue this conversation with Ning Xueyan anymore. She used this excuse to turn around and leave.

Besides, Honored Consort Xia still had another trick up her sleeve. They didn’t necessarily have to invite Princess Yi.

“Yan Zhen, wait a minute. If, if that’s the case, I’ll go! I’ll apologize to Her Highness in person. This is a misunderstanding. These ladies only asked about Her Highness out of admiration. They didn’t intend to offend Her Highness.”

Ning Xueyan smiled. Naturally, she wouldn’t let Yan Zhen return just like that.

Hearing her words, the married women nodded and expressed that they admired Honored Consort Xia and didn’t have the intention to offend her. A few of them even suggested that they would send apology gifts. This was the Emperor’s beloved consort, after all! They couldn’t possibly offend her. Out of everyone here, Princess Yi was perhaps the only one who could afford to offend Honored Consort Xia. When they saw that Honored Consort Xia’s maid was angry, they immediately sought forgiveness. They were so sincere that they sounded like maids themselves, all simply out of fear of Honored Consort Xia.

No matter how upset Yan Zhen was, she couldn’t harp about it anymore, not with so many ladies apologizing to her. These married women weren’t necessarily prominent but put in a group, they were quite the commendable force. Honored Consort Xia had been keeping a low-profile and enduring for so many years. She couldn’t let bad rumors about Honored Consort Xia spread at such a critical point!

“It’s all right. Her Highness is gentle and magnanimous. She won’t care about this. Please come with me, Princess Yi!” Since Yan Zhen couldn’t argue with these married women, there was all the more reason she couldn’t argue with Ning Xueyan. Moreover, more and more people were coming over. She wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible, so she had no choice but to smile at Ning Xueyan.

No matter what, she had completed her task of bringing Princess Yi over.

This time, Ning Xueyan didn’t give any excuses. She smiled and nodded at the married women before following Yan Zhen along with Xinmei.

A few married women didn’t arrive until they were gone and thus missed the show. All they saw was a palace maid leading Ning Xueyan away, so they asked curiously, “Where is Princess Yi going?”

“Honored Consort Xia has invited Princess Yi for a meeting,” one of the married women from earlier said.

“Honored Consort Xia? The… most favored consort in the palace?” another woman exclaimed in excitement. She wasn’t the only one interested in Honored Consort Xia. One reason was that Honored Consort Xia was rumored to be linked to the previous dynasty and the other reason was her many years of retaining the Emperor’s favor.

“Yes, her. I didn’t think she’d be so close to Princess Yi. She even sent someone to invite Princess Yi over,” another married woman said enviously.

“Honored Consort Xia! It’s her! I wish I could meet her. I heard she’s a real beauty,” another married woman couldn’t help but whisper.

There was no doubt that Honored Consort Xia was a stunning beauty, seeing as she was able to retain the Emperor’s favor for such a long time. However, there was never any lack of beautiful women in the palace. Just how gorgeous was Honored Consort Xia that she was able to keep the Emperor’s heart?

Following such words, the other married women and young ladies became excited. The crowd dispersed in groups of threes and twos. Honored Consort Xia, usually the least popular conversation topic, would be mentioned from time to time…

Ao Chenyi left the imperial study, having just discussed Annan with the Emperor, and was prepared to meet Ning Xueyan in the imperial garden. He had told her to wait for him there.

The imperial garden was so large that it still looked rather empty with so many guests scattered throughout. The area near the imperial study was even quieter, with few people on most days. It was deserted even on such a lively occasion today.

The banquet was quite far from where Ao Chenyi was and few would come all the way here.

Ao Chenyi and Eunuch Zhu entered the imperial garden from the entrance near the imperial study. To his surprise, he didn’t go very far before he heard a timid voice. “Brother Yi!”

He turned around and looked at a young woman in a purple dress standing at the bottom of the steps. Hua Qiuying, dressed in a purple palace maid costume, was standing at the bottom of the steps of a pavilion. Near the steps was a huge tree with most of its flowers fallen to the ground. Its branches were luxuriant but now and then, flowers would fall and land on her purple palace maid dress, lending her a bashful lovely aura.

The tension, anticipation, and panic on the young woman’s beautiful face were unmistakable.

“Brother Yi, do, do you not recognize me?” Hua Qiuying moved, looking as if she wanted to lean in but dared not to. She looked at him tenderly and timidly, with tears seemingly pooling in her eyes.

“Third Young Lady Hua.” Ao Chenyi looked at her. A trace of coldness flickered in his pupils.

“Brother Yi, I knew you’d remember me. I’m… I’m so happy…” Hua Qiuying’s face lit up. She took a few steps forward until she was in front of Ao Chenyi. She looked up at him and said, “Brother Yi, I’m Qiuying. I… I thought you didn’t recognize me anymore. That day at Prince Yi’s Manor… You, you ignored me.”

Hua Qiuying seemed overjoyed. She raised her beautiful eyes and looked at him with a loving expression. She called his name again, “Brother Yi…”

She seemed as if she had so many words to say but couldn’t bring herself to speak at the moment. Perhaps out of excitement, her body went limp and nearly fell on Ao Chenyi.

In front of such a charming woman, any other man would have subconsciously reached out and prevented her fall, especially when she had such clear affection in her gaze. They would have cherished such a beautiful woman. Few would be cruel enough to watch a harmless beauty fall.

Thus, a smug smile appeared on Hua Qiuying’s face when she felt someone hug her. She knew she would succeed! She knew it; Ao Chenyi did have feelings for her. Her father was right. Prince Yi wouldn’t reject her as long as she revealed her feelings for him.

“Your Highness, what should we do? Third Young Lady Hua has fainted.” A shrill voice rang next to Hua Qiuying’s ears. Such a high-pitched voice wasn’t uncommon in the palace. It was undoubtedly the voice of a eunuch in the palace, likely the one next to Prince Yi. Hua Qiuying analyzed this with her eyes closed.

Naturally, she couldn’t wake up now. She pretended to be unconscious and leaned into the man’s chest without opening her eyes.

“Let’s put her down somewhere so she could rest.” As expected, Ao Chenyi’s voice was close to her ears. Seeing as he was carrying her, it was only natural that his voice was close to her. Thinking about his enchantingly handsome face, Hua Qiuying’s breathing turned heavy before she even realized it and a slight redness filled her cheeks.

“Your Highness, let’s go up. Look, there’s a courtyard there. Why don’t we place Third Young Lady Hua there and I’ll summon a doctor to examine her?” said the eunuch.

The courtyard ahead? Great!

A strange and dangerous smile appeared on Ao Chenyi’s face as he stared at Hua Qiuying’s bashful expression. Hua Qiuying naturally missed this as she kept her eyes tightly shut; she didn’t at all realize that the one carrying her was Ao Chenyi’s eunuch. She thought that everything was going according to plan…