Chapter 307 Seven Needles

Shengjing on the night of Qixi Festival is lively and noisy.

Fireworks bloomed in the sky above Shengjing, the main streets were brightly lit, vendors were shouting loudly, girls were traveling together or spending the festival with their sweethearts, and the city square was packed.

The entire Prince An's mansion was decorated with lanterns and lights. Every woman dressed up carefully to attend the banquet held in the palace.

Shen Yuexi usually wears short clothes for riding convenience, and this time she also changed into a long skirt.

"Sister, please wear this hairpin. I chose it especially for you."

Chen Lan picked up a jade hairpin and inserted it into Shen Yuexi's bun. The end of the hairpin was shaped like an orchid, with three thin silver chains hanging down, and white pearls hanging at the end, swaying brightly under the light.

"There is also a phoenix hairpin, a gift from the Queen."

As Chen Lan spoke, she picked up another phoenix-head hairpin and inserted it into her bun from the other side. The phoenix-head hairpin also had several golden tassels hanging down from it, with red pearls at the end.

Shen Yuexi shook her head and pouted, "Sister, why don't you just stop wearing it? It keeps ringing on my head when I walk."

The pearls would constantly collide with each other as she walked, making a pleasant sound.

Chen Lan covered her mouth and laughed, "Buyao is supposed to make noise. Are you worried that it will make noise when you walk and it will be difficult to hide yourself? We all dressed up carefully, but you are the only one who is special. Isn't it a bit strange?"

Shen Yuexi thought about it and stopped insisting. She picked up the mirror and looked around.

Ever since she arrived in this world, she'd been primarily focused on escaping, rarely taking care of herself. She'd developed a dislike for wearing accessories. But tonight was Qixi Festival, and everyone was dressed up, so she couldn't be too casual.

The parrot Liuli landed on the dressing table in front of her, folded its wings, tilted its head to look at her, and said, "Yuexi, good luck."

Shen Yuexi reached out and touched Liuli, and said with a smile: "Tonight is Qixi Festival, you are a female, so go to the hall and join in the fun."

Chen Lan said: "Sister, it won't fly away, right?"

"Liuli is very well behaved," Shen Yuexi patted Liuli's head, "it never flies around."

Unlike the thrush that flew away earlier, the parrot Liuli wouldn't fly away even if it wasn't locked in a cage. Perhaps because Shen Yuexi scratched it and fed it diligently, it loved being with Shen Yuexi. When Shen Yuexi and Su Mo were making hot air balloons, Liuli would fly over to them, occasionally saying something, making even the tedious work more interesting.

After they finished dressing up, they came to the hall.

According to Chen Yuexi's idea, everyone should have a delicious meal on the night of Qixi Festival, and then fly to a high place in a hot air balloon to enjoy the scenery.

To achieve this goal, she asked Daxiong to make a killer food—ice cream balls. They were kept in the kitchen on ice and served to everyone after dinner.

When they arrived at the hall, Xiao Zhuo came up to her and led her to a seat. Looking at the ornaments on her head, he smiled and said, "You look very beautiful today."

Shen Yuexi smiled and said, "I've always looked good, but I'm always busy on weekdays and don't have the chance to dress up."

Su Mo urged from the side: "Sister-in-law, let's eat quickly. I want to ride a hot air balloon."

Before Shen Yuexi could answer, a servant ran into the hall and said:

"Prince Ping has arrived. I said I was reporting to Prince An, but he said no, and has already come in."

Xia Lan, sipping her bird's nest soup, dropped her spoon on the table in shock upon hearing this. Yang Cong and Feng Zhang, standing beside her, stood up. Ji Yunyan, who was talking to Mei Dai, also looked up at the entrance. The once bustling hall suddenly grew quieter. Everyone's eyes turned towards the entrance.

Xiao Beiheng, wearing a purple robe, walked quickly into the hall surrounded by a group of guards carrying gifts.

Xiao Zhuo and Shen Yuexi stood up, the former staring at Xiao Beiheng sharply.

Xiao Beiheng seemed to know that his arrival had caused a bit of a chill in the atmosphere, and he felt a bit uncomfortable. He straightened his collar with one hand. He coughed, and before he could speak, the parrot Liuli spread its wings and flew over, circling around him and calling:

"Bei Heng, you're sorry for me. Bei Heng, you're sorry for me."

The voice sounded too suddenly, everyone was stunned and looked at Xiao Beiheng in unison.

Su Mo was the first to burst out laughing, followed by Shen Yuexi, and then Yang Cong, Li Wan, and the others. The laughter finally broke the icy atmosphere in the hall.

Xiao Beiheng smiled, stepped forward and bowed to Xiao Zhuo and Shen Yuexi, saying, "Brother, sister-in-law. I was busy with something and came late. I have brought a small gift to show my respect."

After saying this, he turned around and said to the guards behind him, "Bring the gifts up."

The guards brought the gifts to the hall and showed them to Shen Yuexi one by one. After Shen Yuexi looked at them, she told someone to take them and greeted Xiao Beiheng warmly, "We are waiting for you. Let's eat first."

She was a little afraid of Xiao Beiheng, but she had dealt with him before because of the Hua Duoduo incident. Now when she looked at Xiao Beiheng again, she no longer felt the same fear as before. Besides, he came with gifts.

Xiao Zhuo came to Xiao Beiheng and stretched out his hand. Xiao Beiheng also stretched out his hand. The two hands were silently clasped together and shook.

During this time, the parrot Liuli kept flying around Xiao Beiheng, repeating the same sentence over and over again. With it livening up the atmosphere, everyone relaxed. Shen Yuexi suppressed her laughter and called Liuli, "Liuli, stop talking and come and eat some peanuts."

Liuli circled Xiao Beiheng and called out a few more times before finally flying to Shen Yuexi, still unsatisfied. She landed and combed her feathers with her beak. Servants streamed steaming dishes into the hall.

Su Mo said, "Beiheng, come sit here with me. My sister-in-law mentioned something we've never eaten before..."

Xiao Beiheng was a little skeptical, so he sat down and said to Su Mo, "Is there anything I haven't eaten yet?"

It was not until the servants brought the ice cream balls to him that he realized that he had never eaten this icy, sweet and sticky thing before.

Shen Yuexi's subtle tricks this time really caught everyone's attention. The majority of the people present were women, and they couldn't resist the sweet and cool ice cream. Everyone ate at least two scoops and praised it highly.

Everyone enjoyed the food first, then some ice cream, feeling quite satisfied. Then Su Mo mentioned riding a hot air balloon. Everyone was excited and wanted to go, so much so that it was hard to tell who would go first.

Shen Yuexi was in a dilemma. There was no way she could fit so many people in at once. But she didn't know how to arrange who would go in first and who would go in later. They were all close friends and relatives.

In the end, it was Mei Dai who rescued her.

"Today is Qixi Festival, also known as the Qiqiao Festival. According to custom, we should thread a needle tonight to pray for cleverness, right?"

"Yes, yes," Li Wan raised her hand in agreement. "In previous years, during the Qiqiao Festival, we would have a needle threading competition in our mansion."

Madam Li proudly put down her half-eaten pear and said, "Wan'er is always number one."

Shen Yuexi was stunned.

Threading a needle? Is it related to needle and thread?

She only knew about the Qixi Festival, but she didn't know what specific customs it had.

"So we're going to have a competition tonight," Mei Dai said, looking at Shen Yuexi with a smile. "The ranking will be based on the competition. The first place winner will ride the hot air balloon first, and the next place winner will sit back. How about that?"

Everyone raised their hands in agreement.

Mei Dai looked at Shen Yuexi, and Shen Yuexi said, "Sister Mei's idea is good, but how do we thread the needle?"

"Seven-needle puzzle," Mei Dai held up a red thread and needle. "We'll have a competition later. Everyone will go to the courtyard and thread the thread through the needle holes facing the moon. The one who threads through seven needles first wins."

When she heard that she had to thread a needle with silk thread, Shen Yuexi was immediately at a loss.

She remembered the embarrassing situation when she and Su Mo were making a hot air balloon together and couldn't thread the needle through the eye.

It turns out there's a needle threading competition on Qixi Festival. This is bad, because this is not her forte at all.

"A hot air balloon can hold four people at a time. Since there are many of us here, we will form groups of four and compete in groups." After Mei Dai explained the rules clearly, she turned to Shen Yuexi and said, "Sister, you are the host here, so you will be in charge of the grouping."

Shen Yuexi breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

Fortunately, it was a group match. If it was a one-on-one match, she would have had to feign illness to decline.