"I……"
Tanaka watched as his two masters argued and bickered, unsure of whose side to listen to.
Until Su Wanyan glared at him and shouted, "Go back!"
Aside from feeling a little angry, it was also because Yu Nanqing had been away for quite a while, and it was perfect time for her to go back now.
Seeing that even his own prince was intimidated by Su Wanyan, Tanaka dared not disobey and hurriedly pushed Yu Nanqing out of the small kitchen.
On the first day of the ninth lunar month, the autumn farewell banquet has arrived.
Su Wanyan had something on her mind and wanted to resolve it as soon as possible, so she arrived at the Princess's residence half an hour earlier than the time on the invitation.
The maid who greeted Su Wanyan took the invitation from Qiu Ye and led Su Wanyan and the others into the mansion.
Su Wanyan thought she was early enough, but when she arrived at the banquet venue, people were already reciting poems, appreciating flowers and wine, and enjoying a lively atmosphere.
Su Wanyan frowned slightly. The invitation said the banquet would start at 9:00 AM, but there was still half an hour until then. Why was it starting so early?
She lowered her gaze and looked at the maid who had led the way for her; in her hand was the invitation that had just been handed over.
The banquet invitation was like an admission ticket; only those with an invitation could attend the banquet hosted by the Princess.
"Princess Gong has arrived!"
A loud singing voice pulled Su Wanyan back to reality.
As soon as they stepped into the banquet hall, the maid who had led the way had already retreated.
At that moment, Su Wanyan could only think that there was no way to check the time.
"Why is Princess Consort Gong so late? The banquet has already started. Isn't this a bit of a downer?" Su Wanyan's gaze was still on the maid who had left when an untimely sarcastic remark rang out at the banquet.
She turned around and looked up; the speaker was a petite woman with a very cute face.
Unfortunately, despite her petite and adorable appearance, the words she uttered were quite different from her image.
Su Wanyan ignored her and looked at the eldest princess in the main seat. She saw that the princess was dressed in luxurious clothes and the gold and silver hairpins on her head perfectly highlighted her imposing presence.
He exuded absolute power from head to toe.
Her beautiful lips, adorned with vermilion, curved slightly, as if she hadn't heard the woman's sarcasm.
Clearly, there was no intention to stop it.
She had barely arrived when the princess was already trying to intimidate her.
Su Wanyan composed herself, stepped forward and gave a slight curtsy: "Greetings, Princess."
"If Princess Gong truly respected the Eldest Princess, she wouldn't have arrived so late. If she didn't want to come, she might as well have simply refused the Eldest Princess's invitation, just like last time," the woman said sarcastically.
"..." The invitation was personally given to her by the eldest princess, and the time on the invitation was clearly 9:00 AM.
But now the invitation has already been taken by the maid, and even if she explains, it will only become an excuse for them to attack.
The eldest princess didn't speak, but just sat in the main seat with a casual smile on her lips.
Su Wanyan suddenly smiled and said, "What this young lady said is right. This morning, the prince suddenly felt unwell and thought of sending someone to inform the princess. However, the invitation was given by the princess herself, so it would be inappropriate to be perfunctory. Therefore, I made this special trip to apologize to the princess."
She looked at the eldest princess and said, "His Highness is unwell, so I'm afraid I can't attend this banquet. His Highness is waiting for me to go back and take care of him, so I'll take my leave now."
She thought she wanted to attend this banquet?
Since she's not welcome, she can just leave; this conveniently gives her an excuse.
After Su Wanyan finished speaking, she turned to leave.
The eldest princess lowered her eyes and said, "Since you're here, why not stay a little longer? Didn't I say that if Prince Gong feels unwell, he can tell me, and I will arrange for some capable people to take care of him?"
She couldn't let Su Wanyan go today.
Su Wanyan turned her head and said, "But I am late for the banquet and have spoiled everyone's fun. Just now someone said that I was disrespectful to the Princess. I would be better off going back."
The eldest princess raised her chin: "I haven't said a word, so who would dare to blame you?"
Upon hearing this, the lovely woman who had spoken earlier immediately shrank back, pursed her lips, and fell silent.
"That's good then." Su Wanyan smiled and said, "If the princess hadn't said anything, I would have really thought that the princess didn't like me."
"..." The eldest princess looked displeased.
I originally wanted to teach her a lesson first, but I didn't expect to gain any advantage at all.
Su Wanyan was a princess consort, and her seat was at the head of the banquet hall.
The banquet hall was very open, and in addition to women, there were also men at the Autumn Farewell Banquet.
However, men and women sat in separate places and in separate venues. All the people sitting in this area were women, while there was a banquet hall next to it, separated by a screen.
That's the men's area.
Although the venues were separated, men and women could still converse, and when reciting poems, the man would take turns quoting a line from the woman.
The woman's side doesn't know the man's name or family background, while the man's side doesn't know who the young lady is.
The main focus is on blind guessing.
Su Wanyan hadn't expected that the princess, who had a penchant for male lovers, would hold such a formal banquet.
Thinking about it later, it makes sense. After all, her status is what it is. Apart from keeping male favorites, the princess still has to consider the dignity and image of the royal family.
If she were to act recklessly, even without Emperor Yuanhe's intervention, the people of the capital and the civil and military officials of the court would already be condemning her from all sides.
Her late arrival did not cause much of an impact. After Su Wanyan took her seat, the men and women resumed their poetry recitations.
The banquet hall was filled with the sound of bamboo flutes. Warm wine and tea were brewing on the table, and delicate pastries were laid out beside it. Su Wanyan saw them, but she had no appetite.
Because Su Wanyan had never heard of the poems they were referring to.
It was as if they recited it offhand, fitting the occasion, the event, and the object, as if there was some kind of research involved.
Su Wanyan found the poems beautiful, but she didn't know how to write them.
She couldn't speak poetry like them, which is why it sounded good at first, but got boring after a while, because she didn't understand it.
Having studied for twenty years, she has read countless ancient poems, but she can't recite them as fluently as they do.
Moreover, she was completely focused on studying medicine.
Su Wanyan didn't recognize most of the people at the banquet. The only one she recognized was Su Muqing, who sat two seats below her.
Su Muqing was chatting with someone next to her, smiling sweetly.
The next second, the person next to her was able to immediately match the poems that the men at the banquet next door had recited.
Su Wanyan suppressed her boredom and reached out to pinch a piece of pastry, but then she heard the voice of the Eldest Princess: "What? Is Princess Gong unhappy?"
After the princess finished speaking, the entire banquet hall fell silent.
They all turned to look at Su Wanyan.
"..." Su Wanyan was speechless.
She looked at the eldest princess, pondered for a moment, and said frankly, "It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just that I'm extremely bored."
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