Noticing a shadow looming over the corridor, Princess Jia Hua looked up and saw the Seventh Prince with his ears flushed red. She stood up and said, "Your Highness."
The Seventh Prince cleared his throat with his fist clenched and said in a low voice, "Tonight is Consort Shu's birthday, and Father is hosting a banquet. You will come with me to the palace."
When the topic of entering the palace came up, Princess Jia Hua frowned and was about to decline when the Seventh Prince explained, "I will be going to war soon. Your identity is unclear, so there should be an explanation."
Princess Jia Hua nodded upon hearing this.
"I'll be waiting for you in the front hall in half an hour."
"good."
She asked Xiu Shu to redo her makeup, and after thinking for a moment, she didn't forget to ask Xiu Shu for a silver needle, which might come in handy if necessary.
"Prepare some more candied fruit," she said.
The embroidered letter conveys the meaning.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. She changed into the clothes of the people of southern Xinjiang, a delicate pale yellow long dress with two heavy gold hairpins around her temples. She wore heavy makeup, with long eyebrows reaching her temples and alluring red lips, which covered up half of her original complexion.
Princess Jia Hua nodded in satisfaction as she looked in the mirror: "Very good."
When they reached the hall, she couldn't see the astonishment in the Seventh Prince's eyes, which quickly turned into relief: "Let's go."
The two were riding in a horse-drawn carriage.
The Seventh Prince spoke of the rules in the Southern Frontier Palace, and Princess Jia Hua listened attentively: "Consort Shu came from the Wei Kingdom two years ago. She was once a general's wife. After the Wei Kingdom was defeated, she was personally sent here by the Wei general."
Princess Jia Hua frowned.
The seventh prince quickly explained, "It wasn't me who went to attack the Wei Kingdom."
“Your Highness, there’s no need to explain too much. You are just a prince, and there are some things you have no choice in.” Princess Jia Hua did not want to offend the Seventh Prince.
She wasn't kind-hearted; she just wanted to protect herself.
The carriage soon arrived at the palace gate. After getting off the carriage, countless people greeted the Seventh Prince with respectful and flattering attitudes.
The Seventh Prince, his face tense, rested one hand on his lower back as he walked forward in sync with Princess Jia Hua's steps.
“Your Highness, this is…” someone pointed to Princess Jia Hua.
Before the Seventh Prince could explain, someone said, "This is the princess from Northern Chu who came to marry him."
"I heard that the princess of Northern Chu is a great beauty, how come..." The man hesitated to speak because the Seventh Prince was present.
But everyone present could see that they thought Princess Jia Hua's appearance was too ordinary.
Especially among the many beauties in the imperial harem, her looks were indeed not up to par.
The Seventh Prince cast a sharp glance, and everyone fell silent.
Upon entering the palace, Princess Jiahua was astonished by the extravagance of the Southern Frontier's harem. The vast imperial garden was paved with white jade stones, and clusters of rare peonies were casually placed.
The table was laden with countless fine wines and delicacies.
What captivated her even more were the colorful and dazzling beauties.
Or charming, aloof, cute, lively...
They come in all shapes and sizes, each unique, dazzling the eye.
"Are these all your father's concubines?" Princess Jiahua asked.
The seventh prince coughed awkwardly twice, which was taken as tacit agreement.
Princess Jia Hua calmly took out a handkerchief and wiped her lips, concealing the disdain in her eyes. The Seventh Prince's voice came from above: "You don't need to worry about anything today. I never care about my reputation."
She didn't quite understand what she was listening to.
But I soon understood.
She sat beside the Seventh Prince. The food on the table was nauseating, with a fishy smell. In front of her was a bowl of soup, glistening with oil, the contents of which were unknown.
Everyone else's tables were laden with delicious food, fruits, and snacks, but hers was the only exception.
The Seventh Prince lowered his voice: "The three dishes on the left are edible, but this bowl contains only ordinary wild game soup."
After hearing his words, Princess Jia Hua remained calm and took small sips of the soup, her eyes crinkling with joy. Before long, she had finished the entire bowl of soup.
"Miss Zhao, this is monkey brain, you drank it all?" The lady beside her almost popped her eyes out.
Is this person some kind of savage?
How can you drink something so disgusting?
Princess Jia Hua looked satisfied: "This is a very nourishing food, would you like to try some, Madam?"
"No, no need." The lady avoided her like the plague, moving her body far away in disgust. She didn't touch her chopsticks all night, constantly drinking tea to suppress her nausea.
Gradually, everyone else also found out what Princess Jia Hua was eating.
Princess Jia Hua was eating large pieces of fatty intestine one after another, looking extremely greasy, which caused everyone to look away and start whispering among themselves: "Is Northern Chu some kind of barbaric wilderness? How come she eats everything like a savage?"
"That's disgusting."
Princess Jiahua was completely unaware that she had almost finished eating. She slowly put down her chopsticks, and when no one was watching, a silver needle was inserted into an acupoint. She barely managed to hold it in and not vomit on the spot.
They also had to pretend that it looked delicious.
All of this was observed by the Southern Emperor at the head of the table, who smiled and said, "Miss Zhao has quite the ingenuity. Bring the food in front of Miss Zhao here so I can have a taste."
The Seventh Prince's expression changed slightly: "Father, I'm worried you won't be used to eating these raw offal."
"Life is about trying new things," the Southern Emperor waved his hand.
The young eunuch immediately went over, picked out a plate, and took it away.
Seeing this, the Seventh Prince breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Everyone turned to look at the Southern Emperor.
After the eunuch tested it with a silver needle and confirmed that it was not poisonous, the Emperor of Southern Xinjiang picked up his chopsticks and took a small piece. Before he could even get close, the smell was pungent and unpleasant.
The Emperor of Southern Xinjiang couldn't bring himself to eat it, so he handed it to the birthday celebrant, Consort Shu, who was standing to the side.
Consort Shu's expression changed slightly.
"Eat!" the Southern Frontier Emperor commanded.
Consort Shu opened her red lips and took a small piece of the fat, oily intestine from the Southern Xinjiang Emperor's hand. The unpleasant smell hit her head, and Consort Shu frowned, almost unable to hold back. But when she met the Southern Xinjiang Emperor's cold, iron-like gaze, she forced herself to swallow it.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
