Chapter 45: Entering the Palace for a Banquet
Liu Mingyue pinched her brows. In her previous life, she dressed up carefully, which made the guests pay more attention to the birthmark on her face. Sitting at the banquet, she was laughed at like a clown.
"Master..." Peanut's face was slightly stiff, thinking that he had said the wrong thing and made the master sad about his appearance.
Peanut's emotions were written all over her face. Liu Mingyue could tell what she was thinking at a glance and pinched her face with a smile.
"What are you thinking? I'm not sad about my ugly appearance, I just don't want to cause people to talk about it. It's noisy."
She spoke lightly and calmly, and her heart was at peace. She didn't feel inferior when others talked about her, but just felt it was noisy.
Three days later, Huasheng took back the clothes Liu Mingyue had ordered from the cloth shop. The clothes were a light yellow color, simple and elegant, suitable for her status but not too dazzling.
As a new bride, she naturally couldn't let the elders in the mansion wait for her. She would not fail to show some courtesy. Moreover, she didn't have the nerve to let the Marquis and the Marquise wait for her.
After standing in front of the mansion gate for a quarter of an hour, the Marquise and the Marquis walked out side by side, followed by Tan Zhuoyan. Liu Mingyue saluted them one by one, and her etiquette was impeccable.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get in the carriage." The Marquise looked unhappy and started scolding.
Liu Mingyue secretly rolled her eyes. As an elder, she hadn't gotten on the carriage yet, but a junior got on first. Wouldn't she be mad to death? Although she cursed in her heart, Liu Mingyue still responded and made way.
The Marquise walked past Liu Mingyue with her head held high, and Liu Mingyue followed her after she got into the carriage. The Marquise and Tan Zhuoyan got into the carriage beside her before her, and Tan Zhuoyan didn't even look at Liu Mingyue from beginning to end.
When female relatives from outside the palace entered the palace, whether to attend a banquet or for other matters, they had to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager first.
The female guests and male guests who wanted to pay a visit to the Empress did not go through the same palace gate, so Liu Mingyue and the Marquise rode in one carriage, and the Marquis and Tan Zhuoyan rode in another carriage.
"Behave yourself when you get to the palace. Don't embarrass yourself and offend the nobles in the palace!" The Marquise looked up and down at Liu Mingyue's outfit and felt that it was shabby.
But it’s better this way. As long as Liu Mingyue keeps her head down, this outfit won’t stand out in a crowd.
"My daughter-in-law must be careful with her words and actions and will not cause trouble for Madam and the Marquisate." Liu Mingyue sat aside, consciously sitting away from the Marquise.
In the carriage ahead of them, there was a person who was very dissatisfied with Liu Mingyue. That person was her good husband, Tan Zhuoyan.
The weather was clear today. When Qin Zhuoyan left the house, she saw the birthmark on Liu Mingyue's face at a glance.
He was born handsome and was a famous handsome man in the capital, but he married such an ugly woman. Tan Zhuoyan didn't want to invite Liu Mingyue to attend the palace banquet at all. This woman would only make him lose face and be ridiculed.
After being 'reminded' by the Marquise, Liu Mingyue responded without saying anything else. She sat quietly throughout the entire process, and after getting off the carriage, she followed the Marquise without saying a word.
"Marquise, please come this way. I am responsible for leading you to the Pepper Room today."
When the carriage of Marquis Dingbei arrived at the palace gate, the palace maid leading the way came forward to greet the Marquise.
"Crown Princess." The maid greeted Liu Mingyue who was standing behind the Marquise and was slightly surprised when she saw the large birthmark on her face.
After all, she was working in the palace. The maid only had a look of surprise in her eyes, and then her face returned to normal. She didn't say anything and gestured to the two of them to come in.
It is a long way from the palace gate to the Queen's Pepper Room. The palace road is long and the walls on both sides are high. It makes people feel surprised, as if they are walking on a road of no return.
After walking for a long time, the two finally arrived at the Queen's Palace. The Marquise brought Liu Mingyue into the palace and saluted the Queen: "Your Highness and I, along with my family, pay our respects to Her Majesty the Queen. I wish Her Majesty a long and healthy life."
The Marquise only called Liu Mingyue a family member instead of her daughter-in-law, which shows that she dislikes her new bride.
Liu Mingyue followed behind and kowtowed to the Queen, thinking that it would be really embarrassing for her to let the Marquise bring her in public.
"Stand up and take a seat. The prince has a new wife and I was just looking forward to meeting her. What a well-behaved child."
The queen was sitting on the phoenix throne, smiling, and her eyes sparkled when Liu Mingyue raised her head.
This was the first time she had seen Liu Mingyue. She had never expected that the prince's wife that Tan Zhuoyan married would look like this. Liu Mingyue and the Marquise took their seats. At this time, the women of the Zhou family and the women of several other officials' families came to the Pepper Room.
"Sister Rou, this dress of yours is made of the fashionable material in Beijing, right? The pattern is really beautiful."
After the group exchanged greetings and took their seats, they began to exchange pleasantries. Except for the younger young ladies from official families who were visiting the palace for the first time, most of the ladies who were granted imperial titles and those who had reached the age of marriage had been to the palace several times.
However, even those who had never been to the palace had met each other in private, so most of them knew each other. As a result, Liu Mingyue's unfamiliar face became somewhat conspicuous in the palace.
Almost all the female relatives who came to attend the palace banquet had arrived. They sat down and started talking to people they knew about jewelry, clothes, or interesting things that had happened recently. Among the group of people, only Liu Mingyue was left, and no one spoke to her.
"Hey, whose family is that woman over there?" a younger noble lady asked curiously.
The lady seemed to be only about eleven or twelve years old. She had no ill intentions and was just curious about the unfamiliar face.
Several noble ladies who knew her looked in the direction she pointed. The noble lady next to her who was a few years older than her and looked similar to her pressed her hand down and said, "Ayue, you must not be rude in front of the palace."
Having said that, some people in the hall still started talking about Liu Mingyue based on the opening words.
The birthmark on Liu Mingyue's face was indeed eye-catching. In addition, this was the first time in her life that she appeared in front of the officials' wives and nobles in the palace. For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Liu Mingyue.
Since she was sitting next to the Marquise and was a stranger who had never been seen at major banquets before, Liu Mingyue's identity was obvious. She was most likely the new wife of the Marquis Dingbei's son.
Apart from the people from the Marquis' Mansion and the Zhou Mansion, few people knew about the substitute marriage, so when they saw Liu Mingyue's face, they were somewhat surprised, and had different thoughts in private. However, this was in the palace, and no one dared to act rashly in front of the Queen.
"Sister, I don't mean anything else. Why haven't I seen her when we held banquets at our house before?" The little girl called A Yue was very innocent and cute. She was probably well protected by her family and she still spoke in a baby voice.
"The Queen is talking to the ladies. We have to listen quietly and ask your sister later, okay?" The noble lady who spoke was calm and had no contempt for Liu Mingyue. She was just worried that her sister would say something wrong.
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