Pheasant also wants to be phoenix

Inside the Prince Duan's residence.

"Brother, do you really like Miss Fu?" Xie Huaiwei asked slyly.

Xie Zhuo frowned slightly: "How do you know about her?"

I won't tell you!

Xie Zhuo warned, "You are not allowed to disturb her."

Back then, my mother went to see Fu Zhi Qiao behind my back and I don't know what she said to her, which almost caused the relationship between the two to break down.

The relationship is broken... Xie Zhuo covered his forehead, as if his relationship with Fu Zhi Qiao had already broken down on the very day the news of his engagement was released.

Faced with Xie Zhuo's warning, Xie Huaiwei pouted and muttered, "You've forgotten your own sister now that you have someone you like."

“Brother, I have already met Miss Fu. She is indeed a rare beauty. No wonder you can’t forget her.” Xie Huaiwei commented in a knowledgeable tone.

Xie Zhuo frowned deeply. "Where have you seen her before?"

"Of course it's Fuyun Pavilion! Not only is Miss Fu beautiful, but the food she researches is also delicious."

Xie Zhuo knew that Fu Zhi Qiao was good at researching food, but he hadn't eaten anything she made in a long time.

Xie Zhuo waved Xie Huaiwei away and sat alone in a daze.

The two parted on bad terms that day. Actually, he secretly went to see her later and saw that Fu Zhi Qiao's face was rosy and she didn't look sad at all. Xie Zhuo felt unbalanced. Didn't she feel sad at all after the breakup? Was he the only one who was heartbroken?

Xie Zhuo went full of expectations, but returned disappointed.

Regardless of Xie Zhuo's resistance to the marriage, the engagement banquets of the Prince's Mansion and the Minister's Mansion were held as scheduled. The entire Prince Duan's Mansion was filled with laughter and joy, and everyone's face was beaming with happiness, except for Xie Zhuo, whose face was gloomy.

"Your Highness is a man of great talent and appearance. I am completely at ease marrying my daughter to the Prince's mansion," Yu Haoying said excitedly after a few rounds of drinks.

"It is our royal family's blessing to be able to marry your daughter." Xie Chi and Yu Haoying toasted each other.

Unable to join in the lively atmosphere, Xie Zhuo made an excuse to get some fresh air. He walked into the courtyard, sat in the pavilion, and looked at the calm water. His heart finally relaxed a little.

Not far away, Yu Yadan saw a glint in Xie Zhuo's eyes in the pavilion. She walked up to Xie Zhuo, a blush rising on her pretty face, and greeted him softly, "Young Master."

Xie Zhuo stood up, took a half step back to create some distance between himself and her, and nodded in response.

Yu Yadan didn't want to miss this great opportunity to spend time alone with him, so she racked her brains to come up with topics to talk about.

Yu Yadan made no attempt to hide her feelings for him, and Xie Zhuo naturally knew this, but he already had Fu Zhiqiao in his heart, and no other woman could catch his eye.

Xie Zhuo tentatively asked, "Miss Yu, what are your thoughts on this marriage?"

"Your Highness, what do you mean by that?" Yu Yadan didn't understand for a moment. Why was she suddenly asking this question?

What was she thinking? Of course she'd be happy to marry the man she loved!

Xie Zhuo had a serious expression, with a pair of cold eyes beneath his handsome features.

A sense of foreboding welled up in Yu Yadan's heart.

"Miss Yu, I have no romantic feelings for you."

Yu Yadan's eyes widened, and the smile on her face vanished instantly. She quickly composed herself and tried to speak in a light tone, "I believe that feelings are built through spending time together."

"I can't give you anything except a title. So, do you still want to marry me?"

The air seemed to freeze instantly.

Yu Yadan stared at Xie Zhuo in disbelief, her face turning red and then white, then red again, frozen in place, at a loss for what to do.

Xie Zhuo's merciless words deeply stung her. Yu Yadan's mind went blank, and she forced back the tears in her eyes: "Yes, even so, I am willing to marry you."

This time, Xie Zhuo was at a loss for words.

Back at the Minister's residence, Yu Yadan lowered her eyes and turned to walk towards her room. She knew the reason Xie Zhuo had said those words today was simply that he had found someone he liked and was dissatisfied with the marriage.

Guo Sulan noticed that Yu Yadan spoke very little during the meal, and her eyes were filled with a faint sadness. She went to Yu Yadan's room.

"Mother, does the young master not like me?" Yu Yadan had nowhere to vent her grievances, and she couldn't hold back when she saw her mother.

Guo Sulan grabbed Yu Yadan's hand and said seriously, "What's wrong? Tell your mother what happened!"

Yu Yadan paused, unable to relay Xie Zhuo's words to Guo Sulan. She only said that she felt the prince's attitude was cold and wondered if he disliked her.

Guo Sulan took it as just a girl's little thoughts and comforted her, "You and the Crown Prince haven't seen each other for many years, so it's normal for your relationship to become distant. However, feelings can be cultivated, and I believe that in time the Crown Prince will definitely fall for you."

Yu Yadan recalled seeing the Crown Prince and a woman riding in the same carriage at Yong'an Temple a few days ago. "Does the Crown Prince have another woman in his heart?"

"As a future princess, you need to have a long-term vision."

“But…” Yu Yadan wanted to say something more.

"Alright!" Guo Sulan interrupted her, smiling as she tapped her forehead, "Marriage is a major life event decided by parents. Your marriage to the Prince is a done deal, so you can rest assured!"

In wealthy families like theirs, if a wife didn't have several concubines, she would be branded with the stigma of being a "jealous woman." Therefore, Guo Sulan didn't care whether Xie Zhuo liked other women.

She warned Yu Yadan: "What man in the world doesn't take concubines? The Prince's Mansion is an extremely wealthy family. Do you really expect the Prince to stay with you for the rest of his life? Yadan, my good daughter, you just need to remember that you are a bride brought into the Prince's Mansion with great pomp and circumstance. No one else can threaten your position."

Yu Yadan nodded repeatedly, but after Guo Sulan left, the smile on her face vanished completely.

At the tender age of sixteen, in the prime of a young woman's heart, how could she bear to know that her future husband had another woman in his heart?

Yu Yadan beckoned to her personal maid and whispered a few words to her, instructing her: "Remember not to alert the enemy."

*

Inside Fuyun Pavilion.

Recently, there has been a sudden increase in people asking her when she is free to teach at Fuyun Pavilion. Fu Zhi Qiao rubbed her temples; she had been so busy lately that she had almost forgotten about this.

Fuyun Pavilion operates on a membership system, where high-spending customers can receive personal makeup guidance from Fu Zhi Qiao.

Many noble ladies came specifically for this reason. Fu Zhi Qiao's makeup transformations of Zhou Miao Si and Qin Xi Yu were very successful, quick, and effortless, so many noble ladies hoped to receive her guidance.

In other words, there are only two ways to receive personal instruction from Fu Zhi Qiao: one is to spend lavishly at Fu Yun Ge, which regularly offers one-on-one guidance to its members. The other is to rely on luck; if you're lucky, you might run into Fu Zhi Qiao during a store visit, where she might occasionally offer makeup advice to the customers.

"How's the makeup brushes coming along?"

Ginkgo: "It's ready. We can pick it up tomorrow."

Fu Zhi Qiao nodded. Based on her memory, she drew up blueprints and had the craftsmen make a batch of makeup brushes. Due to limited resources, only three types were made so far: eyeshadow brushes, blush brushes, and contour brushes. Combined with the powder puffs she had made earlier, these should be sufficient as tools for makeup demonstrations.

After receiving Fu Zhiqiao's affirmative reply, Fuyun Pavilion released the news that Fu Zhiqiao would personally instruct the ladies on makeup. However, in order to give the ladies who came to learn a good experience, Fu Zhiqiao only opened up ten spots this time.

Qin Xiyu's recent outfits and appearances have been very eye-catching, and her transformation is obvious. It is known that she has been learning makeup techniques from Fu Zhiqiao, which is why she is becoming more and more beautiful every day. The other noble ladies are also very envious. The opportunity to become more beautiful is right in front of them, and they can't miss it!

With Fu Zhi Qiao personally teaching and limited spots available, the ladies went on a shopping spree at the store after hearing the news, only stopping when they were sure they were in the top ten.

The first batch of slots was given to the ten people who spent the most money at the store.

Two days later, the first makeup tutorial began at Fuyun Pavilion.

Early in the morning, several carriages were parked outside Fuyun Pavilion. Just by looking at the carriages, one could tell that the people inside were of noble status. The noble ladies, supported by their maids and wearing veils, entered Fuyun Pavilion.

Fu Zhiqiao chose one of the waitresses in the store as a model for the display.

"Look, everyone, the triangular area around the forehead and nose is prone to oil production. If there's too much oil on your face, your makeup will melt and look patchy and unsightly, so you must pay attention to cleansing on a daily basis..."

The preceding sections covered basic skincare, which Fu Zhi Qiao briefly explained. Her focus shifted to teaching these ladies makeup techniques.

"Next is the cheeks. After applying a layer of face powder, her skin became noticeably whiter and smoother, but her whole face looked a bit unnatural with all white. So next, we need to sweep some rouge on her cheeks to add some color."

"The blush applied between the cheekbones and cheeks is called blush. For long faces, apply it horizontally from below the eyes to both sides. For round faces, apply it from about two fingers below the eyes towards the temples."

Fu Zhiqiao placed her hand on the waitress's cheekbone: "Everyone must pay attention to my technique. Sweep it up in a triangular shape from bottom to top. Don't sweep it up forcefully; you have to blend it slowly to make it look natural."

As she swept her finger across the maid's face, her cheeks immediately flushed.

After the whole process, the waitress's originally only pretty appearance instantly transformed into a beauty, attracting attention wherever she went.

That's the power of makeup!

Apart from Qin Xiyu, everyone else present could not hide their excitement; they were determined to learn this trick!

After the explanation and teaching, the experiential stage began. Fu Zhi Qiao took out the matching face powder, rouge, and makeup brushes, allowing the ladies to try it out themselves.

"The trick to applying blush is to find the right spot on your cheeks. If you have high cheekbones, avoid applying blush over a large area below them. When applying blush, use a light hand, otherwise you'll easily end up with a monkey's bottom..."

The noble ladies were amused by her words.

Fu Zhi Qiao's graceful demeanor won the favor of all the noble ladies. When she first arrived, two of them maintained a haughty attitude, but when they left, they were all smiles at Fu Zhi Qiao.

The makeup techniques were superb, the course content was rich, and the language was humorous and easy to understand. This makeup class was very beneficial to them, and everyone felt very satisfied.

That's all for today. You can practice on your own when you get home.

After seeing everyone off, Fu Zhi Qiao sat down in a chair to catch her breath.

The maid at the door came over and reported, "Miss, a young lady who claims to be surnamed Yu is looking for you."

Surname Yu? Fu Zhi Qiao thought for a moment, but she didn't seem to know anyone with the surname Yu, so she assumed that the girl wanted to attend the class and replied, "Today's class is over, let her wait for next time!"

She had barely finished speaking when a commotion erupted outside, accompanied by a maid's shouts: "Hey! Hey! Miss, you can't go in!"

With a bang, the door was pushed open, and the person barged in.

Fu Zhi Qiao frowned as she looked at the newcomer. "Miss, is there something you need?"

Yu Yadan looked at Fu Zhiqiao and asked, "You are Fu Zhiqiao?"

"May I ask who you are, young lady?"

"You don't need to know who I am. I just hope you'll stop bothering the young master."

Fu Zhiqiao was surprised for a moment after hearing this, but then she regained her composure.

Yu Yadan was momentarily surprised by Fu Zhiqiao's appearance, but she quickly recovered.

What good is beauty? How long can one rely on looks to serve others? What qualifications does a merchant's daughter have to compete with her? Yu Yadan said with disdain, "A pheasant wants to be a phoenix? Doesn't she know her own limitations?"