Chapter 53 I admitted my mistake, what else do you want?
The third day of March is Shangsi Festival.
Princess Cheng held a spring banquet, and the streets in the east of the city were crowded with carriages and people.
All the powerful and wealthy families in the capital had received invitations, and with so many people coming, Prince Cheng's palace became bustling from early in the morning.
Song Tangning wore a white gauze jacket with feather embroidery and a pomegranate skirt with a nipped waist. Princess Cheng carefully applied makeup on her face with rouge and powder. The bright red dot on her forehead outlined her eyebrows and eyes, making her look like a painting.
After she had arranged the shawl and waist pendant for her, Princess Cheng took the veil that was lying beside her and said, "There are many people here today. The wound on your face hasn't healed yet, so wear this to cover it up."
Tang Ning did not refuse. After letting Princess Cheng put the veil on her, she looked at the mysterious woman in the bronze mirror and murmured softly, "This seems to be more eye-catching."
Upon hearing this, Princess Cheng said, "It doesn't matter if you attract attention or not, in the end, everyone will be watching."
When the Song family affairs started to get out of hand, it was impossible for Tang Ning not to attract attention.
She glanced at Ling Yin who came with Song Tangning. Even though she had only met him once, she knew that this person was Xiao Yan's confidant and had excellent skills.
Princess Cheng said to her, "If there's a commotion at the banquet later, please ask Madam Ling to protect Tang Ning and make sure no one offends her."
Ling Yin replied coldly, "Before coming here, the governor has already instructed that Madam Song will be protected."
Princess Cheng felt a little relieved.
…
In the room, Tang Ning was almost dressed up, and Princess Cheng had also changed her dress. Outside, they could vaguely hear a bustling noise coming from the front. Nanny Jiang, who was standing in front of the door, seemed to have seen something, and she hurried in and whispered, "The prince is here."
Princess Cheng's face turned cold, and Tang Ning also restrained her smile. A moment later, Prince Cheng walked in with Xie Yin, who had dressed up specially for the occasion.
After the people in the room paid their respects, Xie Yin smiled and called out "Mother." When he turned to look at Tang Ning who was sitting beside him wearing a veil, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Cousin, you look so beautiful today."
Tang Ning ignored him and just said to King Cheng, "Uncle."
The surprise in Xie Yin's eyes was immediately replaced by anger.
Prince Cheng didn't notice Xie Yin's dissatisfaction. He just looked at Tang Ning's outfit with great satisfaction: "This dress is indeed beautiful. Tang Ning looks very good in this red."
He smiled and praised her, then said softly to Princess Cheng, "The guests from outside have already arrived, but you're just lazing around here with Tang Ning, making Yin'er and I run back and forth between the front and back yards."
"The female members of the family are being taken care of by my mother," Princess Cheng said calmly.
Prince Cheng was helpless when he heard this: "Mother is already so old, she would be exhausted after meeting a few people, how can she be the host to entertain guests? Besides, you are the princess of the mansion, how can you, as the host, not go to meet guests when they come?"
"The banquet is almost about to begin outside, but you're still nowhere to be seen. I don't know how many people have questioned me and even laughed at me for having a beautiful woman in my house and not wanting you to leave."
After he finished speaking in a very affectionate tone, he reached out his hand to hug Princess Cheng, but Princess Cheng suddenly took a half step back, causing his outstretched hand to fall into the air.
Before Prince Cheng could react after a moment of shock, Princess Cheng glared at him as if nothing had happened, and then took a gilded diamond-shaped hairpin and inserted it into her high bun.
"You also said that there are many guests today. If I don't dress up properly, it will bring shame to our palace."
She looked in the mirror, turned around and smiled.
"Okay, it's almost time, Tang Ning, we should go out."
Prince Cheng saw that his former close Princess Cheng had someone support Song Tangning as she walked out. As she stepped out of the room, her figure blended into the bright spring sun. She was smiling as usual, but he felt a sense of strangeness for no reason.
But before I could think about this feeling, Princess Cheng had already turned around.
"What are you still standing there for? Didn't you say the banquet is about to begin?"
Prince Cheng immediately put aside the strange feeling in his heart, sneered at his own wild thoughts, and strode to the side of Princess Cheng.
"Everyone from the Song and Lu families is here. I've already made an agreement with the Song family that Song Jinxiu will take the initiative to show goodwill to Tang Ning during the banquet. Have you made arrangements with Tang Ning?"
Princess Cheng paused for a moment and said, "Don't worry, Tang Ning knows her limits."
"That's good. She will be marrying into the Lu family next year. I just hope everything goes well for her after this incident."
The two men walked to the gate of the courtyard, and King Cheng reached out to support the person next to him.
"Watch your step."
After they passed the stairs, he did not let go, but said softly to Princess Cheng:
"You've been worried about Tang Ning's affairs for a while now, and you've become quite haggard. Once this matter is settled, I'll accompany you to stay at the hot spring resort outside the city for a few days, so you can relax and have a good rest."
He spoke with heartache: "Look at how much weight you have lost these days. The people in the kitchen said that you have no appetite these days and even eat less. After the banquet, I will take you to Ding Tai Lou to try their new dishes. They are all your favorite flavors..."
Princess Cheng looked down at his hand supporting hers, listened to his gentle and caring words, and the corners of her mouth slightly curled up.
"Xie Tianyu."
Prince Cheng was stunned for a moment, then heard Princess Cheng whisper, "Do you know why I married you?"
Her voice was faint:
"I really care about you."
Prince Cheng laughed immediately: "It's rare for Yue Niang to say sweet words."
Princess Cheng looked at him and asked, "What do you want to tell me?"
Prince Cheng extended his arms and embraced the person in front of him, his voice tinged with a smile: "I also love Yue Niang, and I only want to grow old with you. But the banquet outside is really about to begin. If you like to hear it, I will tell you everything later."
Princess Cheng leaned on his shoulder and saw that he still hadn't mentioned the Song family, and didn't even show the slightest hesitation or guilt, so she murmured softly.
I really care about you, so you shouldn't lie to me.
"What did you say?"
"nothing."
Princess Cheng suppressed the bitterness in her eyes and stretched out her hand to push Prince Cheng away: "Let's go."
…
Although Song Tangning's leg injury had healed, she still let Lingyin support her as she walked behind her. Her hair was tied up to her waist, and her skirt fluttered as she walked, and the bells hanging around her waist tinkled softly.
"Cousin, your injury hasn't healed yet, I'll support you."
Seeing that she was walking slowly, Xie Yin thought that her leg injury had not healed yet, so he took the initiative to move forward and wanted to support Tang Ning.
Before he could get close, Tang Ning dodged to the side.
"Thank you, Prince, for your self-respect."
Tang Ning's gaze was clear, and her almond-shaped eyes were not as friendly as before.
Xie Yin immediately said embarrassedly: "Are you still angry with me?"
He just felt that Tang Ning was too angry, but his father had told him to coax Tang Ning today. Moreover, Song Tang Ning's face was covered with a white veil. She did not look as ferocious as when she questioned them aggressively that day. Instead, her eyes were full of water, and the little flower ornament between her eyebrows made her more eye-catching and beautiful.
Xie Yin patiently said in a gentle voice, "My cousin was wrong about the mountain incident. You've blamed me for so long. Mother has beaten me several times because of you. People all over the capital have seen me with slap marks on my face. I've been ridiculed and mocked for a long time. I know I was wrong, so please don't be angry."
He pulled Song Tangning's sleeve with a playful smile as usual.
"If you're still angry, then hit me. Otherwise, since you like my horse Chasing Shadow, I'll give it to you, and you can choose anything in my small storeroom."
"As long as you can vent your anger, cousin will do anything."
Xie Yin kept talking, feeling extremely humble.
Zhuiying was his favorite horse, and it was more than enough to compensate Song Tangning for the horse that fell to its death on the mountain. Moreover, he had already lowered his posture so much. If Song Tangning didn't forgive him, it would be unreasonable.
It’s a pity that no matter what he said, Song Tangning just looked at him expressionlessly, and the coldness in her eyes made Xie Yin a little overwhelmed.
"Don't look at me like that."
Xie Yin was a little annoyed: "I know I'm wrong, but that's not enough. You have to say what you want. Are you really going to ignore me for the rest of your life just for such a small matter?"
"We are cousins who grew up together, and you are so cold-hearted that you have to make things difficult for me over such a small matter..."
Song Tangning waved her sleeve and shook off Xie Yin's hand that was holding her sleeve.
"You asked me what I want?"
Xie Yin opened his mouth to speak when Song Tangning suddenly kicked him in the knee. He was caught off guard and fell to the ground with a bang.
"I want you to die, okay?"
"Song Tangning!!"
Xie Yin wanted to get up because of the pain.
Song Tangning kicked him on the shoulder again, sending him falling back.
"You keep saying you know you're wrong. Do you really know you're wrong, or are you just feeling wronged and enduring humiliation for the sake of compromise?"
"Since I came back from the accident, have you ever sincerely apologized to me once, admitting that you almost killed me?"
She looked down at the person on the ground, her eyes lowered. "You're questioning me about the brother-sister bond we've shared since childhood. Have you ever considered that if Xiao Yan hadn't found me in the mountains, I'd have been broken-legged and disfigured, or even a pile of bones, after falling off the cliff?"
Xie Yin's face was filled with anger and he stared blankly at Song Tangning with a cold expression.
Her eyes were no longer as gentle as before, but full of disgust.
"Tang Ning..."
He wanted to explain, but was stunned by her hands sliding out of her sleeves.
The newly grown flesh and blood looked so ferocious that his pupils shrank in fear.
Seeing his frightened look, Tang Ning couldn't help but sneer at him, without even saying anything harsh. She just let Lingyin support her and turned to walk towards the front yard of Prince Cheng's Mansion.
Her target was not Xie Yin; the Spring Banquet was her battlefield today.
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