Shangguan Yi suddenly raised her head, as if she was very dissatisfied with the decision. The Queen Mother winked at her, and she swallowed back the words she was about to say.
The truth was revealed, the empress dowager left with her people, Shangguan Yi was also driven out of the palace, leaving only Yuwen Ran and Gu Yanyue sitting face to face.
"Your Majesty is really observant. He found the person so quickly!" Gu Yanyue gave Yu Wenran a thumbs up and nodded.
Yuwen Ran walked down from the seat of honor and gently tapped Gu Yanyue's head with a doting look on his face. "If this matter has nothing to do with you, I won't rush to close the case!"
Hearing this, Gu Yanyue blushed, and the atmosphere between the two of them quickly became tense, with a taste of happiness.
But the good times did not last long. Before long, the palace was filled with rumors about the princess from the neighboring country. It was said that the princess was a rare beauty and her purpose of coming to the capital was to marry a foreign princess.
But these were just rumors. Three days later, the princess from the neighboring country came to the capital. The capital was filled with people who wanted to see the beauty of the princess. Unfortunately, the princess was always veiled, so people could not see her appearance.
The next day, during the homage, the princess from the neighboring country revealed her true face. Her eyes were surprisingly bright, as if they could speak, which made people like her very much. However, she was a little arrogant, just like a peacock.
"I am deeply honored that the princess has come from afar. From now on, Lord Fan and Lord Kong will take care of the princess's daily life!" Yuwen Ran just said a few polite words symbolically with a faint smile on his face.
But just this one smile directly captured the princess's soul. It was said that Yuwen Ran had the most outstanding appearance, and now it turned out that his reputation was well-deserved.
"Your Majesty is so polite. A Yue has been well taken care of along the way. I would like to thank Your Majesty for his grace!" Murong Yue smiled and was very friendly.
Yuwen Ran responded with a few words and then hurriedly left the court.
Gu Yanyue had heard that Murong Yue would meet Yuwen Ran today, and she was already very nervous. Although she believed in Yuwen Ran's character, she couldn't help feeling a little sad, after all, Yuwen Ran was so outstanding.
"What are you thinking about? Why are you so absorbed?" While Gu Yanyue was still thinking, Yuwen Ran had already arrived in front of her. Gu Yanyue finally came to her senses and said incoherently: "Why? Are you happy after meeting the princess of the neighboring country?"
"Ayue, are you jealous?" Yu Wenran came close to Gu Yanyue and looked at her carefully. He saw a thin layer of blush on Gu Yanyue's face.
Gu Yanyue pushed Yu Wenran lightly in annoyance, "Who's jealous? I'm not!"
"The princess from the neighboring country is just here to pay her respects. There are so many courtiers here! She won't do anything to me!" Yuwen Ran explained to Gu Yanyue with a smile.
Gu Yanyue didn't say anything, so Yuwen Ran hugged Gu Yanyue from behind and said, "Okay, okay, the Ministry of Rites has prepared a palace banquet tomorrow, Ayue will go with you!"
"Okay!" It's not Yu Wenran's fault that he is liked by others. Gu Yanyue secretly cursed herself for being pretentious and agreed softly.
The next day, at the palace banquet, the envoys from the neighboring countries showed great courtesy to Yuwen Ran. The ministers all felt that something was wrong and secretly looked at Yuwen Ran.
But Yu Wenran seemed to be not aware of it. He ate and drank as usual, and occasionally exchanged glances with Gu Yanyue, without any impact at all.
"Your Majesty, A Yue has heard your stories since childhood and has always admired you. This time, A Yue has come here for marriage. A Yue hopes to be with Your Majesty in the future!" Seeing that Yuwen Ran did not move, Murong Yue no longer cared about being reserved and expressed her feelings to Yuwen Ran in front of everyone.
The atmosphere around them suddenly grew cold, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Yu Wenran's cold voice pierced every word, "I already have three thousand beauties in my harem. Princess, you should find another good match for me, since you are such an outstanding woman. There are many talented men in the court for you to choose from!"
It was obvious that Murong Yue was rejected, but Murong Yue was unwilling to give in. There were three thousand beauties in the harem, so why couldn't I have one more princess? But this was not the place to argue, so Murong Yue had to swallow her anger.
She had long heard that Yuwen Ran favored Gu Yanyue, but she hadn't believed it at first, thinking that any man would be unfaithful. But Yuwen Ran chose to leave her, a beautiful woman, behind and favor that yellow-faced woman!
"I heard that there is a concubine in the Emperor's palace who is an excellent cook. Coincidentally, our princess is also an extraordinary cook. I wonder if the Emperor's concubine dares to compete with our princess in cooking?"
When the envoy saw that his princess was being ignored, he wanted to get back at her and vent his anger for her.
When talking about cooking, Murong Yue stiffened her neck, looking very arrogant. In contrast, Gu Yanyue sat in her seat with a calm expression, neither accepting nor refusing.
Instead, a dark light flashed in the Queen Mother's eyes. Isn't this an opportunity?
"Why not? Since it's a cooking competition, you might as well give it a try. Winning or losing is not important. What's important is having fun!" The Queen Mother agreed on behalf of Gu Yanyue without waiting for her to speak.
As soon as these words came out, Gu Yanyue could no longer refuse. If she refused, she would lose face for the Queen Mother. If family members had a conflict in front of others, they would probably become a laughing stock in the future.
Gu Yanyue could only agree calmly, "In that case, please enlighten me, Princess!"
Murong Yue snorted coldly and started to fight with Gu Yanyue. They both stood on the kitchen counter piled with ingredients. The ingredients were all the same, but it all depended on their own ability to decide what dish to cook.
Gu Yanyue was slowly clearing the ingredients on the table, looking unreliable.
On the contrary, on Murong Yue's side, the knife seemed to be alive and it moved with ease in Murong Yue's hands. In a short while, the radish was carved with patterns, which looked very beautiful. The people in the audience applauded when they saw this.
Even Gu Yanyue had to admit that Murong Yue was indeed an excellent knife-sharpist.
Murong Yue was even more proud of receiving everyone's recognition. She cooked several dishes in a row. However, although the dishes were delicious, they were too light and people had no desire to eat them.
Suddenly, bursts of fragrance came from Gu Yanyue's side, which made people feel itchy and drooling.
Both of them served out the dishes they had cooked. The dishes, which were originally nothing special, looked very appetizing after being arranged by Gu Yanyue.
The people who tasted the dishes couldn't help but want to take a second bite of Gu Yanyue's dishes, but only a few people took a few bites of Murong Yue's dishes out of curiosity, and then no one else ate any more.
"I think the result of this competition should be obvious!" Yu Wenran said this with a faint smile on his face, and it was obvious that he was in a good mood.
Murong Yue felt jealous. Why? She had trained so hard for so many years, yet she was still outshined by this woman.
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