Chapter 116 Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road
A moment later, Meng Jinyao turned her gaze from the audience seats on the first floor to her two maids and asked, "Why aren't you crying?"
Qingqiu: "..."
Ningdong: "..."
They cried, they just finished crying, their eyes are probably still red, didn't you see that, Madam?
Seeing that they were silent, Meng Jinyao looked at them carefully again and then nodded gently: "Yes, you've been crying. Your eyes are red and your eyelashes are wet."
Ningdong asked, "Madam, there's another play coming up. Would you like to hear it?"
Meng Jinyao seemed to be thinking about something, then shook her head slightly: "No, let's see next time. Let's go for a walk."
The two maids responded, called the waiter to settle the bill, and then left.
The capital city is only so big; there will always be times when enemies meet on a narrow road.
When the three of them reached the top of the stairs, they encountered Meng Jinyu. At this time, Meng Jinyu was with a beautiful young girl. The girl was dressed in luxurious clothes and exuded nobility. It was clear that the girl came from a very high family, but Meng Jinyao did not recognize her.
It's no wonder she didn't recognize them. The Yongchang Marquis's Mansion was a fallen family. Upper-class families wouldn't invite them to their banquets, and middle-class families looked down on the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion, which was good for nothing but sponging off their ancestors' wealth.
She rarely attended banquets hosted by young ladies, and even when she did attend, she didn't run into this particular young lady. After all, she associated with daughters of lower- and middle-ranking officials, and upper-class families wouldn't look down on a down-on-her-luck person like her. There was no need for her to try to get close to them.
As for after her marriage, she did attend banquets, but they were all gatherings of officials' wives, and she was never seen attending with any of them.
Meng Jinyu naturally saw her too, and looked at her with feigned surprise: "Isn't this eldest sister? What a coincidence. I didn't expect you to come to watch the opera. In the past, when Grandmother celebrated her birthday, she would invite an opera troupe to perform, but eldest sister couldn't understand it and would fall asleep right away."
Meng Jinyao said calmly, "It is quite a coincidence."
After saying that, she didn't want to pay any more attention to Meng Jinyu and took a step to leave.
Just then, the girl beside Meng Jinyu shouted, "How dare you! You don't even bow to this princess?"
Meng Jinyao was taken aback. Was this young lady a princess?
Meng Jinyu watched Meng Jinyao's surprised expression with great interest, feeling quite pleased. It had been a long time since she had seen Meng Jinyao look so embarrassed. She gently introduced her, "Big sister, I forgot to introduce you. This is Princess Jingning of the Liang Prince's Mansion."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao was taken aback again. Prince Liang was the Emperor's younger brother from the same mother and was highly favored by the Emperor. Princess Jingning was the most noble among all the princesses. She was the Empress Dowager's own granddaughter. How did Meng Jinyu know Princess Jingning?
Meng Jinyao curtsied and said, "This concubine greets Princess Jingning. I was blind just now and did not know that it was the princess who had come. I hope the princess will not be offended."
Qingqiu and Ningdong also quickly followed suit and bowed.
Princess Jingning frowned and glared at the three of them with displeasure. She told them to keep their bowing posture and did not ask them to stand up. Instead, she started talking to Meng Jinyu, clearly intending to make things difficult for them.
She didn't tell them to get up, so naturally, Meng Jinyao and her two servants couldn't get up on their own.
Meng Jinyu looked at them, a sense of pleasure welling up inside her. She told Princess Jingning about the interesting things she had heard, pretending not to see the three of them.
Some people did see them when they passed by the stairwell, and they also saw the way Meng Jinyao and the other two bowed. Although they found it strange, they did not linger, lest they get into trouble. They could tell that the richly dressed girl was not someone to be trifled with.
About fifteen minutes later, Meng Jinyu feigned surprise and said, "Oh dear, Princess, my eldest sister is bowing to you."
Princess Jingning glanced at them and said in surprise, "So your ill-mannered sister actually knows how to bow to me? I thought she didn't. She didn't even give me a proper look when she saw me." After saying that, she said to the three of them indifferently, "Alright, get up."
"Thank you, Princess."
Meng Jinyao stood up, her expression unchanged, without the slightest displeasure, and said in a calm voice, "I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first and not disturb the princess's enjoyment."
After she finished speaking, she nodded slightly to Princess Jingning, and then led her maid to leave. She had only taken two steps when she saw a leg stretching out. She quickly turned to the left with lightning speed, thus avoiding rolling down the stairs.
However, Meng Jinyu was not so lucky. With a scream, she fell down the stairs.
Meng Jinyao reacted quickly, grabbing her wrist with one hand and the stair railing with the other. She pulled with all her might and then let go, causing Meng Jinyu to fall back to the flat ground behind the stairwell.
"ah!"
Meng Jinyu fell to the ground, cried out in pain, her face pale, staring at the stairwell in shock, her heart pounding.
Princess Jingning was also quite frightened by what she had just witnessed, her face turning pale.
Meng Jinyao looked down at Meng Jinyu with a cold gaze and a meaningful smile. She said slowly, "Second sister, don't stand at the top of the stairs again. It's very dangerous. If you accidentally stick your foot out again and fall, you'll be bleeding from your head. Luckily I was there just now, otherwise you would have had to be carried back to the manor."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyu's heart tightened, her pupils suddenly contracted, and the fear in her eyes was hard to conceal. She knew in her heart that if Meng Jinyao hadn't pulled her back at the critical moment, the consequences would have been unimaginable. At the same time, she also knew that Meng Jinyao must have seen her extend her foot.
Meng Jinyao nodded to Princess Jingning again, then said to her two maids, "Qingqiu, Ningdong, let's go."
Before long, the three of them, master and servants, left the theater.
Ning Dong said angrily, "Madam, Princess Jingning was deliberately making things difficult for you just now. You have no grudge against her. Her making things difficult for you must be because the Second Miss slandered you in front of her."
Meng Jinyao said calmly, "Yes, it's obvious. I just don't know how she managed to hook up with Princess Jingning."
Qingqiu seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "The second young lady has lofty ambitions and likes to scheme. I guess we met at some banquet."
Meng Jinyao nodded nonchalantly: "Probably."
Ning Dong recalled the terrifying scene just now and gritted her teeth in anger: "Madam, I saw it all just now. The second young lady secretly stretched out her foot to trip you. If you hadn't reacted quickly, you would have already rolled down the stairs."
As she spoke, she looked up at her master and asked, puzzled, "She's so vicious, why did you still save her?"
Meng Jinyao narrowed her eyes and slowly said, "I was so close to her from that spot just now. If she fell, I would become the prime suspect. Besides, Princess Jingning was there too. She couldn't see clearly from that angle. If she sympathizes with Meng Jinyu and insists that I was the one who pushed her, wouldn't I be unable to defend myself? And you are my maids. Even if you tell the truth, you will be seen as lying to protect your mistress."
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