Madam Yao stopped mid-sentence without saying further. But Ye was not taken aback by her words. Instead, she patted dearly on Madam Yao’s arm and said, “Princess Changning is a kind and gentle person.”
Madam Yao understood her underlying meaning immediately. So she smiled and echoed, “You’re absolutely right. Princess Changning is the kindest.”
Ye smiled faintly, while Madam Yao sensibly brought her daughter away to find a seat. When most of the attendees had arrived, Ye glanced at the empty main seat which was reserved for the Princess and then rested her hand on Aunt Zhang’s hand while speaking in an airy tone, “Alright, let’s go. It’s time to call the two girls out to meet the guests.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Aunt Zhang heeded the command at once and sent people to inform the Young Ladies. Both of the Young Ladies stayed a stone’s throw away from the banquet hall, so it did not take long for Gu Qiang and Gu Zhihua to come into everyone’s sight.
“Are those two the daughters of the Gu Family?”
At the banquet table, someone gasped with marvel, “Look, Young Lady Gu is wearing a floral peacock garment!”
“Floral peacock garment?”
Everyone looked in that direction at once, They could only make out two girls walking over from afar. One of them wore blazing red clothes, and although her features were indiscernible due to the distance, she looked extremely bright and beautiful. The costume seemed to reflect her fiery temperament. On the other hand, the girl beside her wore a water-like aquamarine dress. Although the color was a lot duller compared to the red dress, she had a slender figure, giving off an appealing charm.
“Good. Zhihua dressed up nicely today.”
Ye was also looking at the girls. When she saw that striking red figure, she sneered. She then diverted her sight to the aquamarine-dressed figure and nodded with satisfaction. “Zhihua did well this time. Even the peacock garment can’t steal her limelight.”
However, contrary to Ye’s admiration, Aunt Zhang’s face ashen as she trembled. “M-Madam.”
“What?”
Ye frowned in annoyance as she was interrupted. She then heard Aunt Zhang stuttering in a low pitch, “T-This aquamarine dress is newly made by Young Lady Gu Qiang a few days ago—”
“What?!”
Upon hearing Aunt Zhang’s words, Ye lost her cool and shrieked. Even the few madams and noble maidens around her were astounded by the sudden shout and stared at her. Not in the mind to care about them, Ye’s face turned even paler as her second daughter’s figure became clearer when she walked gracefully to her. Before her eyes, Gu Zhihua was in her floral peacock garment, smiling gracefully. As soon as Gu Zhihua approached Ye, she threw a scornful glance at Gu Qiang beside her who was smiling silently, and exclaimed complacently, “Mother! These clothes you gave me—”
“Take it off!” Ye cut off her sentence anxiously.
“What?”
Gu Zhihua was about to gloat about how her clothes were a hundred times fancier than Gu Qiang’s when she suddenly heard Ye’s command, so she did not hear her clearly.
“Take these clothes off now!” Ye grabbed Gu Zhihua’s hand and raised her voice uncontrollably.
At this moment, a servant announced with a dragging tone at the entrance of the banquet hall, “Princess Changning has arrived—”
Princess Changning had already arrived.
Upon hearing the announcement, Ye looked green. At this point, she could only glance furiously at Gu Zhihua before kneeling helplessly along with the others to salute the Princess, “Long live the Princess.”
“Rise,” Princess Changning said calmly with a poised manner.
Princess Changning was only in her thirties and was the biological younger sister of the reigning Emperor. As dignified as she was, her temper was incredibly eccentric.
In the early years, the father of the reigning Emperor chose a husband for Princess Changning, but she did not like him. After their marriage, she even chased him out ferociously with a whip. Only the elderly people in the palace knew that Princess Changning had a lover before her marriage with this husband.
However, that person was a lowly commoner. He was just a servant who cared for the peacock in the animal sanctuary. When their relationship was brought to light, the previous Emperor sentenced him to death. This was the reason Princess Changning’s had a peculiar temper for the rest of her life.
From that day onward, she detested everything that could remind her about that incident. And because of that, both the previous Emperor and the reigning Emperor felt guilty for her and doted on her even more. Therefore, all the favored consorts in the palace would secretly change their peacock hairpins and clothes whenever they hear Princess Changning would be coming to the palace.
Gu Qiang got to know this secret by chance, but her evil stepmother and stepsister thought she had no idea about this.
Now, Gu Qiang stood in the crowd and watched while Princess Changning scanned across everyone. Suddenly, her eyes rested on the most striking red dress among the crowd.
“Whose daughter are you?”
Princess Changning had the most dour expression anyone had seen. In extreme anger, she pointed abruptly at the baffled Gu Zhihua and asked testily, “What are you wearing?” Every word was enunciated with fury.
“I-It’s peacock clothes—”