Chapter 119 Beauty is the Original Sin

Mingchu felt a pang of heartache seeing Meng Yanzhi's cautious demeanor, and then said in a low voice, "Miss, when will this life of walking on thin ice ever end?"

Meng Yanzhi held Mingchu's hand, smiled gently, and said nothing.

They lived such precarious lives in their previous life, and until the moment she died, they never had a moment of peace.

Soon, Huan Yun finished combing Meng Yanzhi's hair. She said with a smile, "Miss, you are truly breathtakingly beautiful. Even in such a low-key manner, you are still captivating."

Meng Yanzhi's face is the biggest threat. During her time in the palace, she ate and slept well, and grew more and more dazzling. She even looked exactly like Madam Meng when she was young. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she is the most beautiful woman in the capital.

"Alright, let's go ahead."

Meng Yanzhi smiled gently, stood up, and walked gracefully forward.

She was a fifth-rank female official in the palace, but she was also the eldest daughter of the Meng family. In this situation, she naturally needed to sit next to Madam Meng.

Meng Yanzhi quietly walked towards Madam Meng, but when Meng Anxian saw Meng Yanzhi's face, her originally calm eyes rippled, her hands clenched into fists, and her face turned gloomy and ugly. What she hated most was Meng Yanzhi's face.

However, Xiao Ce's attitude towards her had finally softened somewhat during this period, so even though Meng Anxian hated Meng Yanzhi so much that she had to temporarily endure it.

Meng's mother looked at Meng Yanzhi with displeasure: "What's with the ostentation?"

Meng Yanzhi was no longer upset by such casual rebukes. She sat silently next to her mother, her expression indifferent.

Seeing this, Meng's mother felt her maternal authority had been challenged. She looked coldly at Meng Yanzhi and said, "You'd better behave yourself. If you ruin your sister's good marriage, I'll skin you alive!"

Meng Yanzhi merely glanced at her mother, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth revealing a hint of mockery, but she remained silent.

In such a situation, anything Meng Yanzhi said would be wrong, since filial piety is the most important virtue, and disobeying one's elders is a crime.

But her silence and disdain still enraged Meng's mother, who placed her hand on Meng Yanzhi's leg and pinched it hard.

This was a trick that Meng's mother used most often. No matter where she was, whenever she was angry, she would vent it on Meng Yanzhi.

This time, she seemed particularly angry, grabbing Meng Yanzhi's soft flesh and twisting it several times, her teeth clenched as if Meng Yanzhi were her enemy.

Seeing Meng Yanzhi gasping for breath in pain but forced to suppress her cries, Meng's mother finally felt much better and let Meng Yanzhi go. She sneered disdainfully, "As long as you are in the Meng family, you will always be my plaything. Don't think that just because you entered the palace and became a lady-in-waiting, you are any different."

Although it's harsh to say, it's the truth.

A daughter's fate is always in the hands of others. When she is a girl at home, her fate is in the hands of her parents. After she gets married, her fate is in the hands of her husband. For Meng Yanzhi, there is really no way to avoid it.

Meng Yanzhi had memorized her fate from her previous life, and she would never repeat the same path.

"The Crown Prince has arrived!"

With the eunuch's voice, Xiao Ce, dressed in a light purple robe, strode in, looking every bit the spirited young man!

Even Meng Yanzhi couldn't help but take a few more glances; Xiao Ce was indeed excessively handsome today.

Everyone rose and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Today is a family banquet, please don't be so polite! Get up, please rise!" Xiao Ce smiled slightly, his gaze sweeping over Meng Yanzhi.

He was looking at Meng Yanzhi, but he still smiled slightly at Meng Anxian.

Meng Anxian already liked Xiao Ce, so she didn't realize that he was looking at Meng Yanzhi. When she met Xiao Ce's smile, her heart fluttered even more, and she lowered her head shyly, her face flushed. It was obvious that she was a young girl in love.

Meng Yanzhi glanced at Meng Anxian, and seeing her reaction, she couldn't help but twitch her lips, secretly admiring Xiao Ce's charm.

Xiao Ce said no, but his actions betrayed him. Look at Meng Anxian, he's completely infatuated with her!

"His Majesty has arrived! The Imperial Concubine has arrived! Consort Liu has arrived!"

"Greetings to Your Majesty, Greetings to the Imperial Concubine, Greetings to Consort Liu!"

Everyone rose and bowed. Xiao Xingyuan took Consort Liu's hand and led her to the main seat. After sitting down, he raised his hand and said, "No need for formalities!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone then got up from the ground.

Meng Yanzhi's thighs were in excruciating pain, and she was already finding it difficult to continue bowing.

She stumbled as she stood up, almost falling. She glanced around cautiously to make sure no one was paying attention, then quietly breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in her seat.

After entering the room, Xiao Xingyuan's eyes were fixed on Meng Yanzhi. He naturally noticed that Meng Yanzhi was different. Her eyebrows were tightly furrowed. He couldn't understand why she was suddenly lame.

After everyone sat down, Meng Yanzhi quietly picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth, squinting her eyes and enjoying it very much.

These rose cakes were made by her personally, and they taste amazing. The moment you bite into one, the aroma of roses fills your entire mouth, sweet and fragrant.

"These pastries today are quite special; they don't seem like the work of the Imperial Kitchen." Consort Liu took a bite of the rose cake, then smiled at Xiao Xingyuan. "But isn't His Majesty allergic to roses?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Yanzhi almost spat out the rose cake in her mouth. She frowned slightly and looked at Xiao Xingyuan with some confusion. He was allergic to roses, how come she didn't know?

Even though Wang Huanhai had made rose cakes many times before, he never said that we couldn't eat roses!

"The servants below are so careless in their work. Your Highness should really discipline them!" Consort Liu snorted in dissatisfaction and threw the rose cake in her hand onto the table.

Meng Yanzhi immediately stood up, bowed to Consort Liu, and smiled slightly: "It's all my fault for upsetting Consort Liu. But His Majesty has eaten rose cakes before and didn't seem to have any allergic reaction, did he?"

"How dare you! Who do you think you are, talking back to Her Majesty!" Lingque, the head maid of Consort Liu, shouted angrily, her voice full of imposing manner.

Meng Yanzhi trembled slightly, but remained composed and dignified: "This humble woman dares not offend Your Majesty."