The drama version of this novel – the Story of Kunning Palace – releases tonight!! Extra chapter this week to celebrate 🙂
Chapter 11(1): Reverse Scale
“What, ran away?”
The Second Young Lady, You Yue, who was waiting for the guests in the reception pavilion was called to the corridor by her maid to talk. When she heard that You Fang Yin had escaped from the woodshed at this time, her pretty face darkened.
“Didn’t we ask the old maids to guard her? What are they doing!”
Seeing her angry, the maid didn’t dare speak.
You Yue snorted coldly, “She’s just going to see that concubine mother of her’s who has a cheap life. There are guests today so it won’t be good to make it public. Tell them not to bother anymore lest someone sees and spreads some unnecessary rumours. After a while, my sister and I will bring the guests out to the garden to appreciate the flowers. At that time, go directly to that bitch’s room then to catch her and give her a good lesson.
The maid softly agreed and went back to pass the message.
At this time, the guests had arrived one after another to the banquet.
Everyone gathered in the reception pavilion to talk.
There were many young ladies from noble families who didn’t originally intend to come but hearing that Yan Lin and Shen Jie would be at the Qing Yuan Earl Mansion, how could they sit still?
Who in the capital didn’t know of the Young Marquis’ Yan’s talents?
He was excellent in both martial arts and literature, his position as the heir had been decided long ago and in two more months, it would be his coming of age ceremony.
After the coming of age ceremony, it would be reasonable to start discussing marriage.
Even if one didn’t admire the noble Yong Yi Marquis Mansion, just Yan Lin alone was enough to make people flock over, not to mention, there was still the Prince of Linzi, Yan Lin, who was yet to take a main wife.
When Jiang Xue Ning walked into the reception pavilion, she took a quick glance and saw that the pavilion was filled with red scarves and emerald sleeves, powdered faces and scarlet lips. No matter what rank households they came from, everyone wore a smile that was extremely polite and appropriate to the situation.
There were only two people who had smiles that seemed genuine.
One was the You Residence’s Eldest Young Lady, You Shuang and the other was the You Residence’s Second Young Lady, You Yue.
No wonder.
The declining Qing Yuan Earl Mansion’s banquet which had collided with the Cheng Guo Duke Mansion’s yet so many people still came. If Jiang Xue Ning was them, she’d also be unable to hide the joy on her face.
As soon as the servant leading her entered into the pavilion, they smiled and announced, “The Second Young Lady from Assistant Minister Jiang’s Residence has arrived.”
The noble ladies who were chatting together in the pavilion didn’t pay much attention to the announcement and only raised their heads to glance at the entrance out of habit.
Who would’ve thought that the glance caused them to blink.
The moment Jiang Xue Ning walked into the pavilion, someone had quietened down, and the quietness spread so that all of a sudden, the entire pavilion turned silent.
After Jiang Xue Ning returned to the Capital, she rarely participated in such banquets.
Most of these ladies from the Capital were from great families and were raised to have the same bearing as Jiang Xue Hui. Jiang Xue Ning however, had been learning the rules for two years after she returned but Meng shi still had no way of bringing her out; after meeting Yan Lin, she simply couldn’t be bothered to learn those cumbersome rules, the fragrances that the ladies all liked, playing the piano, and naturally, she didn’t enjoy joining such events that didn’t suit her personality.
Not to mention, Jiang Xue Hui was pretty much always at these events.
With such a powerful sister in attendance, even though Jiang Xue Hui didn’t have any intention of overpowering her, but in the eyes of outsiders, Jiang Xue Ning this second Miss was inferior in every way. Hence, she didn’t bother to find trouble for herself.
Therefore even though many people had heard of her existence, but most had never seen her appearance and behaviour with their own eyes.
After first sight, everyone churned inside.
The Gods were a little too biased when creating her.
Even if she didn’t come all dressed up and her makeup was overly plain, but it made people feel that she was naturally beautiful. Her eyebrows were dark even without being drawn, her lips were red without being painted and her snow white skin was like the snow in the sky, making people have the sense that it was out of reach. However, those bright eyes were like spots of lacquer, when she gently moved her gaze, they pulled her down to the mortal word, bringing out a natural charm and intelligence. They kept people thousands of miles away but kept people fascinated til the end.
Her soft, black hair was tied up in a bun.
Although her teenage body was not fully developed, but she already had an exquisite form. Her slender waist gently swayed as she walked, making one reminisce willow branches swaying in the spring breeze, fresh and tender.
In the brief silence, someone snorted, “Why is she here?”
This made the ladies who were a little further away react.
There were those who whispered about seeing her before and there were also those who had never seen her before who asked others about her.
Although those voices were subtle, but Jiang Xue Ning could tell by casually scanning the expressions of those so-called ‘noble ladies’ that they may not have a great impression of her, and there were event a hint of jealous hostility radiating from them.
But very quickly, the hostility turned into disdain.
After all, it was a country bumpkin who had grown up in the countryside for the past fourteen years. Even if she returned to the Capital, but you can’t turn into royalty even if you dressed up in a dragon robe so how could she compare with the noble ladies who had been well pampered since young?
In her previous life, she really cared about these gazes.
However in this life, she was a lot more calm: she had already been the Empress, even if she wasn’t able to beat those shrewd people in the palace from the previous dynasty, she was still the winner who overcame all obstacles and climbed up to the throne as Empress. Looking at these ‘losers’ were no different to looking at clowns.
The atmosphere in the reception pavilion became a little awkward. Fortunately, the two hosts of the banquet were present.
When You Shuang heard the servant announce her arrival, she rushed up to welcome her. Her eyes flashed when she saw her and with a smile, she greeted Jiang Xue Ning, “It seems that I have only met Second Lady Jiang at the banquet at Zhang Shang Minister’s Residence in the past. I didn’t expect that Second Young Miss would actually come today, please come inside.”
You Yue hit Jiang Xue Ning on the nail twice.
Today, she was the host so she could be considered as splendidly dressed. Before she left the today, she took a look in the mirror and felt that her beauty can be considered as unsurpassed. In addition, the You Residence had not encountered such a reputable great situation for a long time so her eyes were filled with enthusiasm, just like those bright red flowers blooming on the branches. Even if they couldn’t overwhelm the crowd, they were still extremely radiant. She was like a dazzling pearl that could be spotted at a glance in the crowd.
However, when Jiang Xue Ning arrived, she beat her down.
Jiang Xue Ning was like a bright moon rising in the night sky, dimming the pearl.
Tofubyu 