Chapter 69: Overbearing and Oppressive

  The girl walked up, bowed to the crowd, and then smiled at Yue Yao: "Lord Yue, the princess asked me to invite a few ladies to go to the backyard!" The girl was about ten years old, with willow eyebrows and apricot eyes, her skin white and delicate, and her appearance was quite elegant.

  Yue Yao responded faintly and didn't say much, then walked around the woman and left. Xiao Chengye and others followed closely behind. The woman seemed to have known Yue Yao's temperament beforehand and wasn't angry, but instead came over to greet Xiao Chengyan with a smile: "Miss Xiao, it's been a long time!" From her words and expression, she appeared to be very familiar with Xiao Chengyan.

  Xiao Cheng smiled and returned the courtesy, then pointed to Yuandai and said: "This is Miss Ling Jiu, named Yuandai!" He then turned to Yuandai and said: "This is a female official beside Princess Linchang, named Liangxing!"

  After everyone had paid their respects, Ling Xing finally slightly frowned and asked Xiao Chengyan: "I heard the prince say that both of the two young ladies from the Ling family and the young madam were in Miss's house in the other courtyard. Why did only one come this time?"

  Xiao Cheng smiled and said, "Miss Ling Shi caught a cold yesterday and can't come today. The madam is worried about her, and she also has two children to take care of, so I'm here to apologize on her behalf!"

  Ling Xing obviously just asked casually, after hearing this, he didn't ask again, but when he shifted his gaze, he seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Yuan Dai, and a hint of surprise flashed in his bright eyes, as if he hadn't expected Yuan Dai to be so ordinary.

  Led the two people straight to the inner courtyard, Lian Xing walked and said: "Earlier when the princess came over from another yard, as soon as she heard that Xiao was also there, she was so happy that she didn't know what to do. If it wasn't a bit late at the time, and snowflakes were falling outside, she would have sent an invitation card over that night!"

  Xiao Chengxian smiled upon hearing this and asked: "Did the princess arrive yesterday afternoon?"

  Ling Xing nodded and said: "Exactly! It's actually quite coincidental, but it didn't start snowing until after we arrived!"

  While speaking, the crowd had already turned to the back of the Weihua Gate. In front of the Weihua Gate, a palace maid was waiting and saw that everyone had arrived, so she hurriedly called out: "She's here! The princess!" Along with this shout, in just an instant, many people rushed out from the entrance of the Weihua Gate. The person who came first wore a large red cloak with silver fox fur trim and a hooded cape, because it was cold outside, she had put on a windbreaker hat, and her delicate pale face under the cover of the hat looked like it wasn't even as big as a palm, but her eyes were bright and shiny. Her cherry lips were pink and tender, and against the backdrop of the silver fox fur, they looked especially lovely and endearing.

  As soon as she saw Xiao Chengyan, she smiled and walked up to her, saying: "Sister Xiao, it's been a long time!"

  Xiao Chengyan didn't dare to be slow with her. She took a step back, and solemnly saluted: "Greetings, Your Highness!"

  Yuandai also followed with a bow, and the maids behind her were even more trembling with fear, not daring to make any mistakes.

  Princess Lin Chang saw this, and hastily waved her hand, saying: "This is not the palace, so don't keep bowing and scraping all the time. These rituals are really tiresome!" As she spoke, she couldn't help but complain again: "I don't know what Father Emperor was thinking, if I were to become emperor, I would have to abolish all these confusing and troublesome rituals!"

  Yuandai suddenly heard this, and her heart couldn't help but be shocked. She secretly glanced at Xiao Chengyan and the others. Seeing that everyone's expressions didn't change, Yuandai also understood. This princess had probably said such shocking words many times before, so everyone was already used to hearing them.

  Lin Chang Gongzhu muttered a couple of sentences, but suddenly remembered something and looked at the crowd with curiosity. She turned to Xiao Zhengyan and asked: "I heard that there is a temporary residence in your sister's house, Ling Jiu Miss? Why didn't she come today?"

  Xiao Chengyan's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily as soon as she heard this, she knew that the princess was always straightforward and never considered other people's faces, and the reason why she asked this question in front of Yuan Dai was because Yuan Dai's appearance was ordinary and not pleasing to the eye.

  She was hesitating about how to put it delicately when, from the other side, Yu Dai had already bowed slightly and said calmly: "If Your Highness is asking about Ling Jiu's Ninth Daughter, then that would be me!"

  As soon as she spoke, Xiao Cheng's heart secretly sighed, but things had come to this point, and if she said something else, it wouldn't be very appropriate either. She could only close her mouth silently. Meanwhile, Princess Linchang's pair of dark pupils naturally looked over.

  She looked him up and down, left and right, scrutinizing every detail. Only after she had finished did she let out a soft snort from her nose and said: "Earlier in the palace, I heard that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was going to arrange a marriage for you, introducing you to my second brother. I thought you must be quite a handsome person, thinking about meeting you every day... but unexpectedly, you look so ugly..."

  She said the two words "ugly", but still felt insufficient, after all, she added another sentence: "It's even uglier than the rough maidservants in my palace! I really don't know what the Empress is thinking! How dare she humiliate my second brother!" Her tone was full of indignation.

  As soon as these words came out, everyone involuntarily changed color, but because of the dignity of the opposing princess, they didn't dare to show it.

  Yan Dai's expression remained unchanged, and she calmly glanced at Princess Linchang. She said peacefully: "A person's fate is determined by heaven; their body and skin are given by their parents. The princess is fortunate to have received heavenly blessings, born into the royal family with a beautiful appearance. As for the princess, I only feel respect, awe, and admiration in my heart!" This speech was a subtle praise and criticism, directly pointing out that Princess Linchang's superiority over others was merely due to her noble birth and the beauty given by her parents. The "respect, awe, and admiration" referred to respecting her superior status, admiring her beauty given by her parents, which was better than hers, but not for any other reason. There were also a few hints of disdain hidden in her words.

  Lin Chang princess grew up in the palace after all, what she saw and heard were all deceitful, how could she not hear this kind of counter speech? After hearing this, she looked at Yuande deeply again, then turned her mouth and said: "Good Lin Jiajiu Nang, although her appearance is ordinary, her tongue is quite good!" The tone had softened a lot, and the previous ugly face had changed to an ordinary appearance.

  Xiao Chengxian listened to the side, and her heart was greatly relieved. She smiled and said: "It's so cold outside, let's talk about it inside!" She mediated here, and Princess Linchang naturally understood in her heart, turned around and made a gesture, inviting everyone to enter.

  When they entered the house and sat down, after the palace maid had brought tea, Princess Linchang suddenly remembered that there should be two young ladies in the Ling family, so she asked again. Xiao Xian took out what he said before to respond for a while. Princess Linchang was not very concerned about others, so she asked only because of the host's courtesy, and after listening, she didn't say much, responded with a sound, and then chatted with Xiao Xian.

  At first, she ridiculed Yuandai's appearance outside the palace, but was calmly countered by Yuandai, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She intentionally or unintentionally ignored Yuandai and chatted with Xiao Xian about some palace matters that Yuandai couldn't join in on. Her intentions were clear to Yuandai, who remained silent, quietly sipping tea with a calm expression.

  As a result, the person who was most uncomfortable in the scene turned out to be Xiao Zhengyan. She didn't want to be too cold to Lin Chang, but she also couldn't take care of both of them at the same time. Sighing silently, Xiao Zhengyan took advantage of Lin Chang's pause in speaking and asked: "How many days does Qingyue plan to stay on Lvyuan Ridge this time?" She was the niece of Empress Xiao, who had no daughters of her own and loved her dearly, often summoning her to the palace for company. As a result, she was quite familiar with Princess Lin Chang, even addressing each other by their given names.

  Princess Linchang raised an eyebrow and said with a pleased tone, "Mother Empress originally said we could only stay for three days, but now that it's snowed, the snowy road is slippery, naturally we can't risk going down the mountain!" She said this, then turned to smile at the group of palace maids behind her, "You all say, isn't that right?"

  The palace maids heard this and all burst out laughing, with Lian Xing and a few others laughing even harder: "The princess is absolutely right! The snowy road is slippery, and the princess is a delicate flower, how can she take risks? Tomorrow we'll ask Qin Mama to write a letter back to the palace to tell her mother!"

  Lin Chang couldn't help but laugh and said, "Look at this snow, it's definitely not going to melt in the next few days. Why wait until tomorrow? Lian Xing, you go find Qin Mama now and tell her it's my idea. Let her write a letter back to the palace to tell Mother Empress!"

  Lian Xing nodded and smiled as she backed out. Apparently among the many palace maids, Lian Xing was the one Lin Chang trusted the most.

  Xiao Chengyan easily changed the subject, naturally not wanting her to mention returning to the palace again. She quickly smiled and said: "If Qingyue does this, I don't know if Prince Rui will be unhappy about it?" After all, the owner of Pusu Shadow Mountain Villa was none other than Prince Rui Ba Li Zhao. Now that he hadn't even invited guests to stay, Princess Linchang had already taken the initiative to linger on, which indeed had some meaning of usurping the host's role.

  Princess Linchang shrugged her fragrant shoulders and said, "In these few years, I haven't seen Second Brother happy! It's not like it makes a difference if he's not happy for just this little bit!" She had an air of taking it for granted, with not the slightest concern.

  Yuan Dai stood by and listened, but couldn't help feeling amused.

  On the other side, Lin Chang said to Baili Zhao, finally remembering that there was still something important to ask. He waved his hand and said: "You all retreat! I have some words to say to the two ladies!" The palace maids, along with the servant girls who had entered with Xiao Xian and Yuan Dai, heard this and quickly responded, retreating in a flurry.

  After everyone left, Lin Chang finally focused her attention on Yu Dai: "Ling Jiu, I heard that you sent two pots of flowers to the Empress Dowager, and only then did she agree to be your matchmaker. However, I still want to advise you, one must have self-awareness!"

  Yan Dai slightly raised an eyebrow, and only then slowly put down the teacup in her hand, saying lightly: "The princess's meaning, I'm afraid I don't quite understand!"

  Lin Chang was taken aback, but immediately became angry due to Yuande's lack of tact and coldly said: "Don't understand? This palace thinks you actually understand very well! Ling Jiu, this palace advises you again, if you want to climb high, you must also polish your eyes. The higher you climb carefully, the heavier you fall!"

  She was furious, but Yuandai remained calm and asked quietly, "I wonder if what you said today is your own idea or the Prince of Rui's?"

  She was so calm, yet somewhat beyond Lin Chang's expectations. After humming a soft tune, Lin Chang said: "What do I mean? What does my second brother mean?" Yan Dai's composure and calmness made her momentarily unable to grasp, and the originally overbearing words also became somewhat powerless to continue, even difficult to follow.