Chapter 142 Slap in the face!
Shen Qingci's gaze, like a sharp arrow tempered with ice, landed directly on Liu Ruolan's hair bun.
Liu Ruolan noticed the cold gaze almost immediately. She turned her head sharply and met Shen Qingci's eyes. Her beautiful eyes instantly flashed with undisguised malice and provocation.
Liu Ruolan also came with a purpose today.
"Why is the Regent's wife looking at me like that?" she spoke first, her voice sharp and full of malice: "I'm not trying to cause you any trouble."
Shen Qingci ignored her provocation, merely raising an eyebrow slightly and curving her lips into a half-smile: "This princess is just a little curious."
Her voice was clear and melodious, not loud, but loud enough for the ladies at the surrounding tables to hear clearly: "If I remember correctly, at the last birthday banquet of Princess Gong, the Lady of the Marquis was ordered to stay at home by Prime Minister Liu because she spoke rudely to the Regent and threatened to beat or kill him."
"How come you've managed to appear at this banquet again today?"
As if she had been waiting for these words, Liu Ruolan immediately raised her chin triumphantly and raised her voice a few decibels, as if afraid that others would not hear her: "My husband and I are deeply in love, and we only had a little quarrel. Now we have made up as before, so naturally I no longer need to be under my father's control."
"I am still the rightful wife of the Marquis of Yongning, but I am only temporarily staying at my parents' home for a few days. My own father has no right to interfere with me, a married woman!"
As soon as she said that, a murmur arose from the surrounding crowd.
"They've made up? Did I hear that right? That Marquis of Yongning... wasn't he already impotent? Under these circumstances, she's still willing to go back?"
"Who knows? Maybe the Marquis of Yongning's mansion offered some benefits again..."
Liu Ruolan heard all the whispers clearly, and her pretty face instantly turned a deep purplish-red!
She stood up angrily and shouted at the crowd, "What do you know?! The Marquis is only temporarily weak because of excessive indulgence! The imperial physician said long ago that as long as he takes good care of himself, he will definitely recover!"
"Now, he's fully recovered! I... have personally tested it!"
She held her head high, her face full of pride and smugness. "Perhaps, I'll be pregnant soon! Then, let's see if you gossipy women still dare to talk behind my back!"
After saying that, she suddenly turned her head and looked at Shen Qingci with a vicious sneer: "However, Huo Yunting's incompetence is different from the Regent's incompetence."
"One can be cured, but the other... is a completely incurable cripple! Your Highness, you'll probably never experience the joys of motherhood in this lifetime!"
The smile on Shen Qingci's face vanished instantly.
She slowly stood up, her expression indifferent, but her voice was icy cold and devoid of any warmth.
"Yunlan".
“Yes, Your Highness.” Yunlan, who had been standing quietly behind her, stepped forward in response.
"Liu, for speaking recklessly about the royal family and slandering the regent, your words are vulgar. Slap her in the face."
"You dare?!" Liu Ruolan's eyes widened, and without thinking, she stood up and raised her hand to strike Yunlan!
Shen Qingci merely sneered, his voice filled with disdain and authority: "Liu Ruolan, have you forgotten that I am no longer the sister-in-law you can bully at will?"
"I am the Regent Princess, personally appointed by His Majesty and recorded in the Imperial Genealogy! How dare you, an insubordinate, defy me?!"
“Besides,” a hint of mockery flashed in her eyes, “this princess has done slapping before… before.”
Before the words were even finished, Yunlan had already moved!
With a swift movement, she easily seized Liu Ruolan's wrist, which was the first to strike.
Liu Ruolan felt a sharp pain in her wrist. Before she could even cry out, another slap, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, landed squarely on her face!
"Smack—!"
Yunlan was a martial artist, so the force of that slap was immense!
Liu Ruolan's cheeks swelled up visibly in an instant, and her mouth was even broken open, with a trickle of blood slowly flowing down her lips. She looked extremely disheveled!
"stop!"
Old Madam Huo, who had been observing coldly, finally couldn't sit still any longer.
She slammed her hand on the table and shouted sharply, "Enough!"
She stood up, staring intently at Shen Qingci with her cloudy old eyes, her tone filled with the unyielding authority of an elder: "Shen Qingci! Even though you are now the Regent's Consort, you were once my Huo family's daughter-in-law, and you once called me Mother! You must listen to me!"
"Stop making a scene in this kind of situation and embarrassing yourself!"
"Oh?" Shen Qingci smiled upon hearing this.
She slowly turned around to meet Old Madam Huo's sanctimonious face, and retorted in a cold voice, "Old Madam, you really can't distinguish right from wrong."
"Who exactly is being unreasonable? And who started this trouble first?"
After she finished speaking, she was too lazy to waste any more words with the old hag, ignoring her face which was distorted with anger, and simply waved to Yunlan.
Yunlan understood, released her grip on Liu Ruolan, and retreated behind Shen Qingci.
Shen Qingci's icy gaze swept over Liu Ruolan, who was covering her face and whose eyes were filled with resentment. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for everyone present to hear clearly:
"Today is the flower-viewing banquet for the wife of the Minister of War. I, as the Princess Consort, will give the Minister's wife this face and do not wish to make a big fuss on such an occasion."
"This slap should be considered... a small warning to the Lady of the Marquis."
"If Lady Hou dares to come forward again and show the slightest disrespect to me or the Regent, then don't blame me for... not showing any mercy."
As everyone was engrossed in the play, a sense of regret arose in their hearts when they heard that Shen Qingci had let Liu Ruolan off so easily.
Just when everyone thought the show was over, Shen Qingci's gaze, seemingly unintentionally, slowly fell on Liu Ruolan's phoenix hairpin, which had been slightly askew from the beating.
She slightly furrowed her brows, a hint of just the right amount of doubt and nostalgia flashing in her eyes: "Speaking of which... this hair ornament on the Lady of the Marquis's head looks... very familiar to me."
Upon hearing this, Wan Qing, who had been quietly standing behind Shen Qingci, immediately stepped forward, her eyes instantly filling with tears, and her voice choked with sobs:
"Your Highness! How...how could you not look familiar?!"
"This phoenix hairpin, adorned with kingfisher feathers and rubies, is clearly... clearly the very same relic that the late Empress Dowager personally bestowed upon our Lady! She... she cherished this most of all, only wearing it when attending banquets in the palace! This servant... this servant would never mistake it!"
The moment Wan Qing uttered these words, the entire room erupted in uproar!
Among the ladies present were quite a few older women, and after Wanqing's reminder, upon closer inspection, their expressions instantly became subtle!
Shen Qingci's face also turned deathly pale in an instant!
She took a step forward abruptly, staring intently at the hair ornament on Liu Ruolan's head, her eyes filled with disbelief, grief, and rage!
She demanded sharply, "Liu Ruolan! Where did you get this hairpin?!"
"When the Shen family got into trouble, it was the Jingzhao Prefecture and the Imperial Guards who were responsible for confiscating their property! It had absolutely nothing to do with your Liu family!"
"Why...why are my mother's personal belongings on your head?!"
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