Mustard Seed Garden of Mu Mansion.
Duan Ximu took a sip of wine and shook his head contentedly: "Your Highness, our spies who were sent to Xiao Ziyan's side reported that what the soldier said was not true. Xiao Ziyan was not seriously injured. He only had a cut on his waist, which is nothing serious."
Jiang Kun swung his arms wide and clinked his wine bowl against his, then laughed loudly, "Damn weakling, let's make it clear that he's seriously injured!"
Xiao Ziyan deserted the battlefield, cowardly avoiding battle. His courage and spirit were far too lacking, a world apart from the Third Prince!
After saying this, the two looked at Xiao Ziwu at the same time, waiting for his instructions.
Xiao Ziwu raised his wine bowl, and the three of them clashed their bowls together with a crisp "bang."
Under their gazes, Xiao Ziwu calmly opened his lips and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
Duan Ximu chuckled: "Since you two agree, I'll send someone to take care of it."
Before the troops to pick up Xiao Ziyan arrive, time it out and give him a real "severe injury experience".
He wasn't even given a chance to investigate the murderer; if he did, he would be committing the crime of deceiving the emperor.
Xiao Ziyan could only swallow this bitter pill in silence!
※※※※
After receiving the news, Mu Yaozhi didn't even want to participate in the Hundred Flowers Banquet anymore. She insisted on rushing to Mo Nan and wouldn't be satisfied until she saw Xiao Ziyan safe and sound with her own eyes.
However, her willfulness was quickly and severely suppressed by Mu Chengye.
What kind of behavior is it for a young woman to be so eager to give herself away!
Xie Wuyun cracked melon seeds and sighed listlessly, "Although many people attended the banquet this year, there were very few who were truly distinguished. I don't know why Princess Xinhui didn't attend, and now even Miss Mu wants to go on strike. Sigh..."
"This year's excitement is all about you. You're the biggest dark horse in my eyes!"
Tianyun played with the Buddhist amulet carved by Xiao Ziwu. The rose pattern on it was so exquisite that she couldn't put it down.
Tianyun was slightly taken aback, unsure how to respond. "I... you'd better not have too high expectations."
She hasn't decided whether or not to go up to the Tonghua Terrace.
She regarded Xiao Ziwu's words as gospel, and would ponder over even his unintentional remarks for a long time.
Moreover, his attitude yesterday was ambiguous, and she still needs to sort out her thoughts.
Fortunately, it's not her turn to perform tonight!
Yesterday, after dividing the teams, Granny Tong had all the members of that team come forward and draw lots to determine their order of appearance.
This is another drawback of being classified as having poor looks; one must first perform dance.
And often, the highlight is the final act.
These onlookers have all learned their lesson; they don't need the initial appetizers, so there haven't been many visitors in the past three days.
The girls received very few roses and silk flowers, and were simply not in a position to compete with the noble ladies behind them.
Some, disheartened, had already packed their bags and were ready to head home, no longer wanting to wait for the Hundred Flowers Ranking to be released.
She was vague in her answer, and Xie Wuyun didn't pay much attention, assuming that she simply lacked confidence in her dancing.
That's when I stopped having any expectations.
Xie Wuyun thought of pulling her out to watch Shangguan Jingyi's dance and find some confidence, so she enthusiastically grabbed her arm.
"Tonight is Shangguan Jingyi's performance. Come with me to take a look."
On the tung flower platform, glass lamps, suspended by transparent silk threads to provide supplemental lighting, were all covered with crystal-clear translucent paper. The silk threads swayed in the wind, and the lamps changed positions accordingly. There were over a hundred of them!
Each lantern has a different color of light, and the colorful lanterns sway gently, illuminating the entire flower stand.
The flower bed was surrounded by vines of roses, resembling a giant flower bud.
The lights were dazzling, the music was melodious, and on the flower terrace, elegantly dressed girls...
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a paradise on earth!
Shangguan Jingyi stood third from the left. Although her makeup was exquisite, you could still see that her eyes were red and swollen.
I cried all night yesterday.
She never imagined that attending a banquet would involve so much spending money. Bribing the registerer required money, bribing the musicians required money, and even cultivating relationships with the girls on stage to secure a central position required money!
With nothing to her name, acquiring jewelry was already difficult, so she had to return to her grandmother's residence to ask for money. She originally intended to bribe the musician so that he would play her piece at the appointed time.
But to my surprise, my grandmother said, "Your eldest uncle has become estranged from me, and I don't have much money on hand. I still need to save it to buy books for Jin-ge. You'd better figure out a way yourself."
The old lady had her own plans. No matter how well-behaved Shangguan Jingyi was, she was still a girl. Spending money on her was like throwing stones into the deep sea—it was a one-way street.
Therefore, I don't want to give her any more money.
These words chilled Shangguan Jingyi to the bone. Jin-ge'er was her own brother, Shangguan Jin-quan.
A good-for-nothing who is good for nothing but eating and sleeping all day long!
Buying books?
She gave a cold laugh. Even the best books would just end up being used by Shangguan Jinquan as a pillow to sleep on.
She couldn't get through to her grandmother, and her uncle wasn't kind to her either; she was truly desperate!
She could only take out the feather fan that Xiao Ziran had given her. She wanted to sell it for some money, but she didn't know how much to sell it for.
If they sell too little, they worry they won't have enough to bribe the musicians; if they sell too much, they worry no one will want it...
After much thought, she decided to give the feather fan to Miss Mu.
That's right, it's a gift.
Even the most expensive fan can't be that expensive, so it's better to just give it to Mu Yaozhi.
This is also a way of expressing my feelings and letting Mu Yaozhi know that there is such a person as Shangguan Jingyi.
Perhaps if she's in a good mood, she'll instruct the musicians to play her music?
In the back garden of Tonghua Terrace, Mu Yaozhi's demeanor was so arrogant that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she could control everything.
If we can get her protection, things will go smoothly.
She had high hopes, but she was unaware of the deep-seated grudge between Shangguan Tianyun and Mu Yaozhi.
She had just handed over her visiting card, claiming to be the eldest daughter of the Siye Mansion, and a maidservant had delivered it to her to convey her message.
However, less than fifteen minutes later, the invitation was thrown back by the maid!
With Xiao Ziyan's serious injury on her mind, Mu Yaozhi still mistook the eldest daughter of the Siye Mansion for Shangguan Tianyun and had no time to pay attention to her fawning.
Shangguan Jingyi was frustrated after hitting a wall again, and just then he bumped into Tianyun and Xie Wuyun, who were out for a walk.
The narrow road was completely blocked by the two men, and no one knew what had just happened to her. Had they seen her?
Tianyun saw her standing in front of Mu Yaozhi's small, secluded room, holding a wooden box inlaid with agate in her hands.
He knew perfectly well why she had come.
But they didn't understand.
Tianyun looked at her and shook his head helplessly. She still hadn't made any progress.
Either he's in cahoots with Yu Shanlai, or he's trying to curry favor with Mu Yaozhi. Judging from his attitude, he's determined to fight me to the end.
Otherwise, why would they cling to people who have grudges against them?
Xie Wuyun laughed gleefully, "The gift presentation failed?"
Right now, Miss Mu is on a hunger strike with the Prime Minister and is too busy taking care of herself to care about you.
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