Chapter 210 Spring Banquet
"Why?" Ji Yingying looked at him warily, and if she was not satisfied with the topic of conversation, she would immediately start verbally attacking him.
"The Empress will be hosting a spring banquet tomorrow; you may attend as well."
[Host, you agree to his request. Let's go and enjoy the gossip. These kinds of banquets usually have the most gossip coming from the inner quarters. For example, a concubine's daughter framing a legitimate daughter, a concubine's son vying for the legitimate son's position, a legitimate son framing a concubine's son, a legitimate daughter framing a concubine's daughter, or a concubine framing the mistress, and the mistress banishing the concubine. How many lives have been taken on her hands? It all depends on these large banquets.]
[And there's something even funnier: you fall into the water and I save you, you take responsibility, I argue, you secretly pull my hair, I secretly trip you up, etc. The funniest one is the drugging trope. At any banquet, whether modern or ancient, they love to drug people to catch them in adultery. Throughout history, how many novels' love stories begin with a rapist?]
[By the way, there's also the matchmaking. How many people come to participate ostensibly to find a partner, and how many are truly serious? Aren't they all just blinded by lust?]
[Yeah, it's such a big event, I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't participate!]
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will attend the Spring Banquet at the palace tomorrow." Ji Yingying didn't laugh out loud, at least she gave the Emperor face.
Otherwise, that lewd laughter would probably start again.
"You may leave now. Remember to come to the palace tomorrow!"
"yes"
I originally thought Ji Yingying wouldn't attend the Spring Banquet, but I didn't expect her to attend.
Those with ulterior motives panicked. After all, with someone using magic here, how could they dare to act recklessly?
When she got home, Ji Yingying went to check on Fang Yulan first, since she had just upset someone.
Once she was sure Fang Yulan wasn't angry, she breathed a sigh of relief and returned to her Four Seasons Residence. Just as she finished washing up, Yanni came over.
I brought a set of clothes with me.
"Little sister, your second sister-in-law has prepared your outfit for the spring banquet tomorrow."
"Thank you, Second Sister-in-law. Has Mother put you in charge of the household?"
"Yes, I'm suddenly looking forward to my sister-in-law coming home. This housekeeper isn't as comfortable as having her myself."
In the past, she would have been willing to take the power of managing the household, but after spending a long time with Ji Yingying, she felt that it was really good to just let things slide, and besides, her dowry was generous, and her husband didn't need her money.
Then look at my younger sister, she gives up at the first opportunity, preferring to lie down rather than sit.
Looking at the mother-in-law, it's the same; once she controls her husband, nothing else matters.
"Does your older brother have someone he likes?"
Jenny shook her head: "I've never heard of it, but Mother isn't in a hurry."
“What’s the use of being anxious? There are people in my family who don’t have a throne to inherit. My brother can do whatever he wants. As long as he can bear the consequences of the path he chooses, that’s fine.”
"You're right, little sister, no one is as insightful as you!"
[Haha, she was still emo the day before yesterday. She's insightful? Insightful my foot!]
【Shut up. 】
After chatting for a while, seeing that she was sleepy, Yanni went back.
March is a time when grass grows and birds fly, and flowers bloom in profusion. Early in the morning, Ji Yingying was forced to get up and dress up. Today she was wearing palace attire, the clothes of the eldest princess.
After all, it was the day the Empress was hosting the Spring Banquet, and as the eldest princess, she could not wear official robes but rather palace attire.
However, this headdress, this dress... made Ji Yingying unable to help but complain: "Can you please not wear this jewelry? It's making it hard for me to breathe."
Apple shook her head, and Granny Xia said, "My lord, you are the Princess Protector of the Nation. Apple has already simplified your attire to the bare minimum. It cannot be any less."
Ji Yingying, at such a young age, let out a long sigh and, dressed in her finest attire, prepared to enter the palace for the banquet.
The Imperial Garden was a riot of color, with the gentle spring breeze carrying the fragrance of recently faded crabapple blossoms and the sweet scent of newly opened peonies. The warm breeze intoxicated visitors, and this was probably the perfect description of the scene.
A maid helped Ji Yingying into the Imperial Garden—the place where the Spring Banquet was held. At the entrance, a eunuch announced loudly, "The Princess Protector of the Nation has arrived!"
[Oops~ I'm so embarrassed. I've been in the palace for so long, and this is the first time someone has sung and cheered for me, and the first time someone has helped me up. These shoes... I can't even look at them!]
Ji Yingying wore a long black dress, and the pearl tassels on her golden hair ornament swayed gently with her movements. Despite her young age, she exuded the majesty of a princess in every gesture.
"Your humble servants pay their respects to the Protector-General Princess!"
Every time I come here like this, I'm always deeply moved, haha, this time it was even more moving because someone was supporting me. For a ten-year-old, I have the demeanor of an old lady!
【Host……】
The kneeling crowd: ... almost couldn't help but laugh.
"No need for formalities, please rise." After being helped to her seat, Ji Yingying complained, "Today, I'm absolutely not leaving this chair. I'm going to be glued to it. These shoes are so annoying, even more awful than those vase shoes."
[You've never worn those "vase shoes," so how do you know they're scary?]
"I have eyes!" Ji Yingying said after cracking open two melon seeds. "The Empress hasn't arrived yet. I'm so bored. Gouzi, find melons to pass the time."
[Alright, alright, you're bored and know how to gossip now? Mine is definitely a huge scoop, it'll dazzle you!]
The people sitting below started looking for sunflower seeds. Here we go! Who will be the unluckiest person today? Let's wait and see.
Ji Yingying rolled her eyes. Hadn't she eaten enough outrageous gossip already?
Tell me quickly, let me see how I went blind.
[Well... we have a lady here named Zhang Xuefan, the wife of a minor official. She has a secret crush on someone.]
So what? She only has one unrequited love, while I have a whole host of unrequited love.
[Haha, all of you combined can't compare to her alone; her ideal woman is a girl.]
Oh wow~ the lilies in my hometown are blooming again!
Moreover, Zhang Xuefan suffers from Stockholm Syndrome; the "white moonlight" she loves is the very person who abused her.
[Hiss~ He's definitely blind, tell me quickly.]
Before she married her current husband, she was imprisoned by another woman who beat her daily. After beating and raping her, the woman would call her "sister" and pity her. Not only that, the two almost had that kind of... relationship.
Anyway, there were kisses.
【Then what? 】
Then, Madam Zhang was in great pain, begging for mercy, pleading for this and that. Finally, she was rescued, but she let the man go.
[You fell in love in the end, right? Otherwise, why would it be called Stockholm Syndrome?]
Yes, sometimes she even missed that woman terribly, and even went so far as to send someone to find her.
She seemed like a perfectly normal woman; I never expected that kind of relationship to last so long.
Two years.
【That's enough!】 Ji Yingying doesn't understand people with Stockholm Syndrome, but she does understand yandere because she loves watching yandere stories.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
