Chapter 46: Forced to Perform on Stage

  Xu Mingjin saw the sympathetic expressions on everyone's faces and sneered in his heart: You've only seen a corner of Xu Furen's ruthlessness. If I were to tell you about how she poisoned my mother, burned my brother, and had people humiliate and kill me, what kind of expression would you have?

  However, Xu Mingjin knew that it was not the time to reveal the truth yet, but she would work hard for it. Mrs. Xu, this has just begun, do you feel relieved?

  Mrs. Xu is now a mixture of fear and shame, dying in agony.

  Xu Mingjin felt extremely relieved.

  Everyone looked at Xu Furen with eyes full of contempt and disdain.

  Princess Jinglin stood up and said to the crowd: "Everyone has also seen that Mrs. Xu was not pregnant at all, so there is no such thing as me making a pregnant woman kneel."

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and Princess Pingxi said: "She dares to frame the princess? Our saliva will drown her!"

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  Princess Jinglin ordered her servants to send Mrs. Xu back to the residence of the Minister, and everyone was puzzled: Mrs. Xu had done such a thing, wouldn't the princess punish her? Princess Jinglin saw that everyone was puzzled, so she explained: "The birthday banquet of Princess Pingxi was ruined by Mrs. Xu, besides, it's also a family matter of Minister Xu, let him handle it! I believe he will not be biased towards anyone and will be fair and just!"

  "Ladies, you are all here to attend Princess Pingxi's birthday banquet, don't get things backwards." Princess Jinglin said, and then she warmly took the hands of Princess Pingxi and Duchess Wushuang, leading them out first. As they passed by Xu Mingjin, she stopped and said: "Mrs. Xu, it's not good, it's not good at all, but you've finally raised a good daughter. Miss Xu Liu, come along with us!"

  Xu Mingjin faced the princess's invitation, and did not show any joy on her face. She lowered her head and responded faintly: "Yes, Princess." Then she lightly lifted her lotus steps and followed behind Princess Jinglin and Queen Pingxi at a distance of one step, walking outwards.

  Princess Jinglin's words made everyone suddenly turn their eyes to Xu Mingjin, and it was only then that they realized that this Miss Xu Liu had a stunning beauty, and what was even more precious was that in the face of Princess Jinglin's invitation, she could remain calm and composed, advancing and retreating with poise. Truly rare indeed.

  Many madams and misses were secretly discussing, and those with sons were frequently sizing up Xu Mingjin. Xu Mingjin himself had a outstanding appearance, was polite and courteous, his father was the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he had even caught the eye of Jinglin Princess, who was the most favored by the Emperor and Empress. He was indeed a very good candidate for marriage. Many madams were secretly planning to send someone to ask Xu Shangshu for his hand in marriage as soon as they returned home.

  All the ladies followed Xu Mingjin and walked towards the direction of Pingxi Wangfu's banquet.

  Mrs. Xü had already been sent to the Shàngshū Fǔ by Princess Jìnglín's people, and Xú Míngxiá followed her mother out as well. In the end, only Xú Míngyīng and others were left in the room. They looked at each other, unsure of whether they should follow Mrs. Xü back or stay to attend Princess Píngxī's birthday banquet. After all, they had come today to attend the banquet and snag a golden son-in-law. But now that the incident with Mrs. Xü had occurred, the Xú family had lost face in a big way, and Mrs. Xü had already been sent back. The princess hadn't invited them like she had Xú Míngjǐn, so they really didn't have any reason to stay for the banquet and could only leave. However, the four of them stood there for half the day, none of them taking a step. They were unwilling to give up - why should Xú Míngjǐn be favored by Princess Jìnglín while they weren't? Could it really end with them slinking away in defeat?

  It's hopeless, and there's no way out. Amidst the endless entanglement of the four people, Princess Punghee sent a butler to politely invite the Xu sisters to return home. Now that it's come to this, they had no choice but to leave. The few people walked out of the house, taking one last look at the direction where everyone was leaving before heading towards the main gate of Princess Punghee's mansion.

  Who would have thought that after leaving the Wang Mansion, several people couldn't find Xu's carriage anywhere. It turned out that Madam Xu and her daughter were extremely angry with Xu Mingjin, so they took back the carriage she had ridden in, and fearing she might ride in someone else's carriage, they simply took all of the Xu family's carriages back.

  Several people could not help but scold Mrs. Xu in their hearts. They had to rent two horse-drawn carriages before they could leave.

  Madam Xu returned to the mansion, and how Minister Xu would punish her is not mentioned for now. As for Xu Mingjin, he followed Princess Jinglin and Queen Pinglei to the grand hall of Prince Pinglei's mansion where a banquet was set up.

  Jinglin Princess was the most noble guest among all the guests, and she deserved to sit at the main table. Xuming Jin followed suit and also sat at the main table.

  After everyone sat down, since there was still a while before the banquet, one of the ladies proposed that the young lady present some programs to liven up the atmosphere. Princess Pingxi first looked at Princess Jinglin and saw that she didn't have any disapproving expression on her face, so she gladly agreed with the lady's proposal.

  Everyone at this time had a tacit understanding to keep their mouths shut and not mention Mrs. Xu's affairs, after all, no one dared to openly make Princess Pingxi lose face. After all, she was a princess, the daughter-in-law of the imperial family, and although those present were all wives of dukes and marquises, or at least third-rank madams, not a single person dared to confront the imperial family head-on.

  Xu Mingjin picked up the teacup in front of her and took a light sip. At this time, Wu Shuang, the county lord's daughter who was sitting directly across from her, suddenly asked: "What kind of artistic skills does Miss Xu have?"

  Xu Mingjin hastily and respectfully replied: "In response to the young lady's question, I am not skilled in singing and dancing, and my knowledge of poetry and song lyrics is only superficial. In fact, there isn't a single thing that I can do exceptionally well."

  Wuduan County Master smiled and said: "Miss Xu Liu is also too modest. Among the ladies present, who dares to boast that they are proficient in a certain art? One must know that there are people outside of people, and heaven beyond heaven. Everyone is just gathered together, performing casually, just for everyone to have some fun. It's not like we're going to rank them or anything, Miss Xu Liu doesn't need to be so nervous."

  Xu Mingjin hesitated and wanted to refuse again, but the words were already blocked by Wushuang Junzhu, so she could only smile awkwardly.

  At this time, a young lady had already come on stage to perform. She was playing the piano and her performance was mediocre. The crowd didn't have much of a reaction.

  "Miss Xu Liu's talent can't be inferior to this young lady, can it?" The twin county lord looked at Xu Mingjin with suspicion.

  "In fact, I don't know how to play the piano." Xu Mingjin frankly admitted that she didn't know how, and didn't believe she could force herself to continue playing.

  This time, not only the Wu Shuang County Master, but also the Ping Xi Wang Fei and the Jing Lin County Master were staring at Xu Mingjin in surprise.

  "So, zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, you must be good at one of them, right?" Wudou Junzhu looked at Xu Mingjin with suspicion. She didn't believe it, if Xu Mingjin wasn't good at any of these things, she would definitely be laughed to death by the young ladies from the capital's noble families. Tomorrow, rumors would spread throughout the capital that the sixth Miss Xu from the Shangshu Mansion was a bumpkin.

  "It's just that my calligraphy skills are not good enough, so it's better not to take them out and embarrass myself." Xu Mingjin said. At this time, she had already felt the subtle hostility from Wusuo County's mistress towards herself, but she hadn't provoked her, had she? Was it because she was prettier than her? No wonder people say that beautiful women are the natural enemies of other women. Alas, why do women make things difficult for each other?

  Xu Mingjin couldn't help but feel more emotions, when Wú Shuāng Jùnzhǔ suddenly shouted out loud, the next performance is Miss Sixth of Xu Fu. At this time, the second performing miss had already gone off stage, because Xu Mingjin was either talking to Wú Shuāng Jùnzhǔ or thinking about his own thoughts, and didn't know what the second miss's performance was at all.

  Mrs. Xü had just framed Miss Xü Liù, but instead of resenting her, Miss Xü Liù knelt down and pleaded for Mrs. Xü with a bitter expression, leaving a deep impression on everyone present of her kindness and generosity. Xú Míngjǐn's humility and kind heart had already won over the hearts of many. Many of the ladies present were already thinking of marrying Xú Míngjǐ off to their own sons as daughters-in-law. The hall was extremely quiet, with all eyes on Xú Míngjǐ, eagerly awaiting her next move, wondering what brilliant performance she would put on next.

  Xu Mingjin never thought things would turn out like this, she's already in a situation where she can't back down, and not performing is no longer an option.

  Xu Mingjin took a deep breath, and slowly stood up under the gaze of everyone's anticipation. At this time, Wushuang Junzhu said again: "Miss Xu Liu, the young lady just now has already performed calligraphy on stage, why don't you change to another performance?"

  Damn it!

  Xu Mingjin really wanted to curse, she had just told Wu Shuang Junzhu that among the four arts of qin, qi, shu and hua, she only had a slight grasp of calligraphy. Now she was being asked to reperform another one, this was clearly intentional troublemaking, wanting to see her make a fool of herself! This Wu Shuang Junzhu was really too boring!

  "In response to your majesty's words, I used to practice a few brushstrokes with my father when I was young. Never mind, today I'll just have to make do! Saying that, she stood up and prepared to go on stage. At this moment, Princess Jinglin suddenly asked: 'Can you play the piano?'"

  Xu Mingjin was taken aback and said, "I haven't learned to play the piano, but I do know how to play the guqin." Madam Fan had a fondness for the guqin, and after she left, Xu Mingjin took it as a keepsake. In her free time, she slowly learned how to play the guqin. However, the songs she played were modern tunes that she often listened to, but due to limited time, she only managed to learn one piece, "Laughter by the Riverside".

  Princess Jinglin smiled and said: "I want to hear you play a tune, I don't know if this will be forcing someone to do something difficult?"

  Xu Mingjin shook her head and said: "It's not difficult, Princess wants to listen, I'll sing for you, but I'm afraid of polluting your noble ears."

  Princess Jinglin said: "I won't. I believe you."

  Xu Mingjin said: "So, the little girl has made a fool of herself."

  Originally, there were guqin, wenfang sibao, linglong qiyuan and other things on the table, but no guzheng. However, as soon as Xu Mingjin finished saying that he could play the guzheng, Princess Pingxi had someone fetch it in a hurry. When the guzheng was placed on the table, Xu Mingjin slowly walked from the main table to the platform under everyone's gaze and sat down steadily in the chair behind the guzheng. Xu Mingjin took a deep breath, stretched out his hands, and began to play slowly.

  Everyone originally thought she would play some very popular songs today, but unexpectedly, it was a song that had never been heard before, and they couldn't help but listen carefully.

  Xu Mingjin strummed the instrument while slowly chanting to the rhythm: "The vast ocean laughs, the tides on both shores rise and fall with the waves, remembering this morning. The blue sky laughs, the world's tides are numerous, who loses or wins is known by heaven..."