The wedding of Zheng Binghong and the eldest princess caused a sensation in the capital and was held with great fanfare. The emperor and the empress dowager each issued an imperial decree to bestow rewards.
In addition to the connections that the Yiyong Marquis's Mansion had accumulated in the court over the years, a white banquet was held on the wedding day.
Shangguan Wanning went to the Princess's residence with her parents to attend the wedding. She watched her mother's health improve day by day, especially this happy event, which made her mother look radiant.
But……
"Ning'er, go quickly and pay your respects to your uncle."
"ah?"
Faced with her mother's urging, Shangguan Wan Ning felt a little guilty. "Mom, I... I feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach. You and Dad go first, I'll come back later."
"Do you want to ask the court doctor to take a look?"
"No need," Shangguan Wanning waved her hands repeatedly, and took Lutong into the crowd and walked towards the secluded garden.
"Miss, are you planning to keep dragging it out like this? Sooner or later, your uncle will come looking for you."
Lu Tong knew what Shangguan Wan Ning was hiding from. After all, she was the one who lied to the princess.
"Forget it, I'll just hide for a day. My uncle will definitely be too busy to deal with me today. It'll be fine as long as I don't show up in front of him."
Shangguan Wanning took Lutong away from the crowd and strolled in the garden. She heard low conversations coming from behind the rockery.
Out of curiosity, she quietly moved closer.
"Xiaoyan, you know how I feel about you." Xiao Yujue held Mu Jingyan's hand and said softly, "Your brother is back now, so let me propose to him in person, okay?"
Shangguan Wanning looked at Mu Jingyan's shy appearance through the gap and couldn't help but sigh silently in her heart.
She remembered that in the previous life, Mu Jingyan and Xiao Yujue did get together, but Mu Jingyan was not good at all at the internal struggles.
When the passionate feelings between the two faded, Mu Jingyan was not happy at all.
"Go ask him yourself..." Mu Jingyan avoided Xiao Yujue's gaze and a blush appeared on his face.
The desire in Xiao Yujue's heart gradually spread, and she leaned over and kissed Mu Jingyan gently on the lips.
Shangguan Wanning's face turned red with shame and she stepped back cautiously.
At this time, footsteps were heard from the other side. She looked back at the back of the rockery, her heart tightened, and she immediately walked towards the footsteps.
I saw Concubine Shen from the palace, walking over with some young ladies and wives from official families, talking and laughing.
"Xiaoxiao, the place you recommended is really right. It turns out that the best scenery in the Princess's Mansion is here."
Shen Jieyu looked ahead and saw whole fields of flowers blooming, with the air filled with fragrance.
Shangguan Wanning saw Crown Princess You Zhenzhen at a glance.
This is a big trouble.
"Hey, Miss Shangguan is here too?" Concubine Shen said with a smile, "As expected of a half-young lady from the Princess's residence, she knows the most comfortable spot in her own home. But she enjoyed it all by herself and didn't invite us."
Shangguan Wanning stepped forward and bowed deeply without changing her expression.
"Wan Ning is very polite. You really wronged me. It's not that I'm hiding something, but the princess specifically told me not to let any guests enter this garden today."
"Why?"
"The princess said that she had purchased a batch of flowers and trees from other places a few days ago, and she originally wanted to enjoy them. However, every time she stayed in the garden, she would get small red bumps all over her body, and it was extremely itchy. The palace doctor said that she was allergic to pollen."
When everyone heard this, they subconsciously stepped back.
"Since pollen can cause allergies, why did you come here, sister?" Shangguan Xiaoxiao asked coldly.
After her mother's death, she and Shangguan Wanning had completely fallen out and no longer had any taboos.
Shangguan Wanning smiled sweetly.
"I just arrived as well, on the orders of the eldest princess, to close the garden."
"In that case, let's go." Concubine Shen didn't want anything to happen to her body.
Just as everyone was about to turn around and leave, Shangguan Xiaoxiao bumped into Concubine Shen without making a sound.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty," Shangguan Xiaoxiao immediately knelt down and apologized.
"It's okay." Although Concubine Shen was angry, she always maintained her composure in public.
"Jieyu, your shoes are stained with mud. It would be disgraceful to go out like this." Shangguan Xiaoxiao reminded, "There is clean water over there on the rockery. Why don't you go over and clean the soles of your shoes?"
Shangguan Wanning's heart skipped a beat.
She felt that Shangguan Xiaoxiao seemed to know that there was someone hiding behind the rockery. Could it be...
If anyone saw this, Mu Jingyan's reputation would be ruined.
"Let's go to the guest room and change into a pair." Shangguan Wanning stepped forward to support Concubine Shen and said with a smile, "The embroiderers in the Princess's Mansion are all carefully selected."
Concubine Shen was still more willing to get close to Shangguan Wanning, and was about to take everyone away when suddenly, a strange noise came from the rockery.
Two stones flew in from two directions, collided in mid-air, broke into pieces and fell to the ground.
In an instant, there was silence and the air seemed to freeze.
"There is someone behind the rockery..." Shangguan Xiaoxiao shouted loudly.
Everyone's eyes were on the rockery.
"Yes, there must be an assassin, everyone run."
Shangguan Wanning also shouted along the same lines as Shangguan Xiaoxiao. All those present were women, and when they heard that there was an assassin, they were frightened out of their wits and fled with the help of their maids.
Only Shangguan Xiaoxiao stood there for a moment and then rushed towards the rockery.
Shangguan Wanning immediately stood in front of her.
"What are you going to do?" Shangguan Xiaoxiao asked.
"I should be the one asking you this." Shangguan Wanning looked at her coldly and said, "I don't care what you want to do. Anyway, your audience has already left. If you don't want to get into trouble, you'd better leave immediately."
Shangguan Xiaoxiao looked around and realized that she was really alone.
Once again, her mission failed.
When she thought about what she would face after returning, she trembled all over and shouted angrily: "Shangguan Wanning, why do you always go against me?"
"Because I'm nice to you, you won't appreciate it. You're just an ungrateful person who can never be tamed."
Shangguan Xiaoxiao was so angry that she was shaking all over. She knew that she could not defeat Shangguan Wanning now, so she could only glare at her angrily and leave.
Shangguan Wanning guessed that the guards would arrive soon, so she left immediately, giving Xiao Yujue and Mu Jingyan time to escape gracefully.
She returned to the banquet in a depressed mood. Seeing this, Madam Shangguan asked softly, "Ning'er, what's wrong with you?"
"Mom, I'm fine."
Shangguan Wanning forced a smile and saw from the corner of her eye that Mu Jingyan also walked in and sat down at another table.
Until the end of the banquet, Shangguan Wanning did not find an opportunity to talk to Mu Jingyan alone.
At dawn the next day, the sleeping capital was awakened by a burst of rapid gong sounds.
An urgent document was delivered to the palace over a distance of eight hundred miles, and a gloom enveloped the entire court.
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