Chapter 59

"Prince Xing, you are here."

The queen's voice became a little quieter, and no fluctuations could be heard in it.

"You're not feeling well, so you should take a good rest. There's no need to rush."

"That's what the Queen Mother taught me."

After this conversation, all the noble ladies held their breath and dared not speak.

Prince Xing was punished by being made to kneel on Xue Tian's knees, and within half an hour everyone inside and outside the palace knew about it.

Everyone said that it was Prince Xing who pleaded for Prince Geng, which angered the emperor.

Some even believe that it was King Xing’s hypocrisy that led him to this situation by plotting to frame King Geng.

In short, the situation is so confusing that no one dares to create unnecessary trouble at this critical juncture.

This is especially true for Jian Xinyi.

Another cold wind blew across the lake, and the sudden cold wind caused Qian Yuan to cough a few times.

"Ahem."

Jian Xinyi inadvertently looked in the direction of Qian Yuan and saw that his face was still pale and bloodless.

Qian Yuan seemed to feel that she was looking at him. He raised his eyes and nodded gently at her, indicating that he was fine.

But when he turned around, he saw the queen's slightly angry expression.

Qian Yuan stood up slowly and said, "Mother, the wind seems to be getting stronger. I am not fully recovered yet, so I will go to the pavilion in the center of the lake first."

In fact, he didn't plan to stay long, he came here just to help her.

He thought that if he could come forward, his mother would at least spare Zhui Yu for his sake.

But it seemed that the Queen Mother not only failed to calm down, but seemed even more annoyed.

Since this was the case, he didn't want to stay any longer to avoid any further trouble.

When Jian Xinyi saw that he left after just a short while, she felt that he was still not feeling well and couldn't help feeling a little guilty for a moment.

However, the noble ladies were very reluctant to see His Highness leave.

But I could only watch him leave.

The bolder ones even whispered to those around them.

The Queen Mother naturally did not want to see this scene, so she stood up and gave instructions to everyone.

"Let's go to the pavilion in the lake."

The lady also quickly stood up and continued forward.

Because Jian Xinyi was sitting in the corner, she stood up a little slowly and was at the end of the line.

The person in front was the brave lady from before. She quietly approached Jian Xinyi and asked, "Sister, why haven't I seen you before?"

Jian Xinyi knew that she was trying to trick her, but she couldn't refuse, so she just glossed over it.

"My father has just arrived in Beijing to report on his work and has not yet met with you sisters."

Before he could finish his words, he heard the sharp rebuke from his aunt in front of him.

"Who is speaking?"

The whole team stopped.

Jian Xinyi knew that this moment had finally arrived.

Even if she didn't make the mistake on her own initiative, they would probably find her fault.

Otherwise, she would not be invited to this Qionghua Banquet.

Jian Xinyi stood out from the side of the team and saluted respectfully.

"I know my mistake."

Immediately afterwards, the noble lady in front also stood up.

"Aunt, I've never met this sister before, so I asked her questions. If you want to punish me, punish me."

Some curious girls turned around to look at the two of them, and found it very interesting.

"What are you looking at? Keep moving forward." Aunt Rong scolded them, and also scolded Jian Xinyi and the others, "Okay, then you two will be punished together."

The noble lady was also very annoyed when she heard her aunt say this, but unfortunately she could not react at all because she was in the palace.

Jian Xinyi naturally expected this to happen, and knelt down respectfully on the spot.

Seeing that auntie walking away, the noble lady whispered again: "Get up quickly, there is no one here."

Jian Xinyi shook her head.

"No, if they come back later, they will be discovered."

"Then put this on."

The lady rummaged in her sleeves and pulled out two cotton pads. "My mother gave them to me. She said if I tied these pads around my knees, kneeling wouldn't hurt."

Jian Xinyi chuckled.

"I've already put it on."

She tried hard to suppress her laughter and pushed the two cotton pads back.

When she came, she was thinking that based on her experience of watching palace fighting dramas over the years, the only punishment in the palace was kneeling or slapping in the face.

The remaining more insidious tricks should not be used on her.

The slap in the face trick will leave the scar too visible, so I guess it won't be used.

Then the only option left is kneeling as punishment.

Thinking of this, she drew the general shape of this thing and described it to her cousin.

My cousin knew it as soon as she saw it, and before leaving, she used the old quilt core from her childhood to make one according to the same pattern.

It’s a pity that when she thought about this, she didn’t expect Qian Yuan to be punished to kneel. If she had known earlier, she should have made two sets and given one to him.

"Then I'll put it on quickly too."

The lady took advantage of the fact that no one was around and quickly tied the two cotton pads around her knees.

When my aunt came back, she saw the two of them kneeling on the corridor like two sculptures.

"Miss Lin, Miss Sun, the Queen is calling you in."

When the two met, they were both quite worried.

By the time the two men reached the pavilion in the middle of the lake, the courtyard was already filled with noble ladies watching.

Qian Yuan was sitting on a high place, and his expression showed that something was wrong.

"My Lady, I am absolutely not mistaken. It was this Miss Lin who broke my jade pendant before."

The noble lady turned around and saw that it was the man who had been pestering Jian Xinyi on Laba Festival that day.

The Queen Mother sat in the main seat, looking leisurely at the two people kneeling below.

"Miss Lin, is this true?"

"It happened before the New Year."

Jian Xinyi's answer was neither humble nor arrogant, but it inevitably aroused others' doubts.

"Your Majesty, she clearly broke my jade pendant that day, and she never apologized to me afterwards."

"My dear lady, I apologized at the time. I'm really confused as to what you meant by bringing up something that happened so long ago at the Qionghua Banquet."

"you."

Upon hearing this, the man's face was filled with rage. He even went so far as to denounce her at the Qionghua Banquet, just to vent his anger: "That day you were only wearing coarse linen clothes, how come today you've transformed yourself into a young lady from an official family? Could it be that some young lady repeatedly refused to let you come?"

Qian Yuan's face changed as soon as he heard this. He wanted to speak, but he saw the queen's serious expression out of the corner of his eye, so he had to sit back down.

If I speak now, I might end up hurting her.

Miss Sun, who had just been punished to kneel, could no longer bear the man's unreasonable talk and interrupted him.

"Ms. Peng, you can't say that casually."

Miss Peng's face darkened. She tilted her head and began questioning Jian Xinyi again, "Then tell me, how did you come to attend the Qionghua Banquet?"

Jian Xinyi looked respectful, but her tone did not allow for discussion, and she just passed it by.

"I came the same way you came."

"Shut up, everyone."

The Queen's face became more angry, and the palace maid beside her was trembling with fear. She had never seen the Queen so angry in the palace.

"What do you two think this palace's Qionghua Banquet is? A government office?"

Miss Peng seemed to be furious, determined to prove her innocence. "Your Majesty, I'm innocent. There must be something fishy about this man. Please, Your Majesty, investigate this matter thoroughly."

"My Qionghua Banquet will never tolerate anyone who impersonates someone else or has ill intentions."

The queen looked dignified and didn't want to even glance at the people below.

"The Queen is wise."

Since the queen has expressed her position, Jian Xinyi is naturally willing to flatter her.

The noble ladies also bowed and said, "The Queen is wise."

Once this incident became a hot topic, more people became curious about her.

Jian Xinyi lowered her eyes. This was a situation that she and Miss Qi had never expected.

Even Qian Yuan didn't understand what was going on for a moment and remained expressionless.

After that, nothing happened and the Qionghua Banquet continued as usual.

The queen ordered people to bring in several pots of excellent quality magnolia flowers, which were indeed as white as snow.

Only then did everyone relax and start talking.

"Ms. Lin, you are really amazing. Peng Ruoyun has always been domineering. This can be considered to dampen her arrogance."

"Miss Peng's father is powerful in flood control, but I didn't expect her to become even more arrogant and domineering, even daring to cause trouble at the Qionghua Banquet."

Jian Xinyi smiled. She didn't want to get involved in the intrigues of the noble ladies, so she said nothing more.

Seeing that she was unmoved, the noble ladies felt bored and went to chat with other people.

In an instant, there was nothing around Jian Xinyi except for a white magnolia.

She turned around and wanted to catch up with the others at the banquet, but she happened to see King Geng walking towards her from one end of the corridor.

The corridor was narrow and there was no escape for the two men.

"His Royal Highness King Geng."

"You are really impressive now."

He stopped and looked carefully at this ordinary woman.

"Your Highness is so kind."

Jian Xinyi didn't show it on her face, but she was very angry in her heart.

There are wolves in front and tigers behind, there is never a moment of peace.

"Peng Ruoyun, Sun Suzhao, Qi Lingwen, Wan Zhuohua." Prince Geng walked towards her step by step. "He doesn't want any of them, except you. Tell me, has he lost his mind?"

Jian Xinyi quickly glanced around and found that no one was present. She thought that he must have set up this plan long ago under the name of the Qionghua Banquet.

"What exactly does King Geng want to say?"

She couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Dan's incident was related to him.

Prince Geng's eyes darkened, his normally dull features suddenly taking on a fierce edge. "He's deeply in love with you, even kneeling in the snow for four hours. I wonder how far such a lovestruck man would go for you."

The long kneeling on that snowy night was indeed because of her.

She felt a chill in her heart, not knowing what to feel.

"This has nothing to do with you."

Jian Xinyi frowned and tried to pass by him.

When I looked up again, I happened to see a familiar face.

"Prince Geng." Qian Yuan walked in slowly and pushed Prince Geng to the corner of the corridor. "The Queen Mother missed the Jade Wine you brought last time. She wanted to ask you in person where you got it from."

King Geng snorted coldly, full of disdain.

"Okay, I'll go right away."

He had a half-smile on his face, which made Jian Xinyi feel a little uneasy.

"He's not a good person."

Qian Yuan was extremely serious at this time, and his tone was firm.

Jian Xinyi nodded, took a step back, and put some distance between them. "I know, let's go back first. Don't stay here too long."

"Zhui..."

Before he could finish, Jian Xinyi strode towards the crowded place.