Chapter 129 The Unloved Princess 4
Deathly silence gradually spread throughout the hall...
The nobles on both sides looked at the people gradually entering the palace from outside the gate, all of them were a little stunned...
Hundreds of years after the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, from noble ladies to prostitutes, there have been countless beauties as numerous as stars, each of them shining brightly and piqued the eyes of the upper class dignitaries of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
From the emperor down to the ministers, not only did they consider marrying wives and concubines, but even when recruiting talented individuals and selecting candidates for the imperial examinations, they considered not only talent but also appearance. Therefore, the ministers favored by the court were generally not ugly.
Now, Prime Minister Lin, the sixteen-year-old boy who had won the top spot in the imperial examination, was wearing a red robe and riding a white horse in a parade through the streets. His handsome posture had fascinated countless people.
After all, who doesn't like good-looking people?
It was summer, and it had been raining for several days. There were often breezes in the evenings. A woman in plain green gauze walked into the hall step by step, stepping on the swaying lights, appearing before people as if carrying a gust of fresh breeze.
Black hair, graceful eyebrows,
The eyes are like lacquer, and the lips are like vermilion.
Those who could sit in the hall were not illiterate, drunkards. Men and women alike stared blankly at the woman who gradually approached the hall. Suddenly, a few lines from a poem they had read in their childhood came to mind:
Three thousand threads of love are intoxicating, and the starry sky is visible under the eyebrows.
The envy of the beautiful nose, the white dew on the red lips
Even that cold and indifferent look was particularly attractive at this moment.
The beauty described in poetry, like the pure and beautiful beauty of the Luo River Goddess, has finally leaped onto paper and appeared before the eyes of these ordinary people...
The thumb of his right hand was cut by the celadon fragments again, and bright red blood even flowed out from the skin and flesh. However, at this time, the pain from the thumb was not enough to bring Lin Qinghuai back to his senses.
The pair of eyes that were familiar in his memory and that had shaken his heart suddenly and unexpectedly appeared before him.
...It turns out that she is Princess Lingqiao.
Lin Qinghuai slowly put down the broken celadon wine glass in his hand. His originally calm heart was like a pool of spring water stirred up, and the suspicion hidden in Lin Qinghuai's heart became active again.
She is Princess Lingqiao, the daughter of the old emperor. Was that stunning glimpse of her in Linxuan Tower a few days ago a deliberate arrangement?
...Perhaps the old emperor already knew about his daughter and deliberately sent her to confuse him?
Was it that he had guessed wrong?
The old emperor’s methods are actually quite sophisticated.
The old emperor was certain that he would be attracted to her, and would willingly fall into it even though he knew it was a trap.
His bleeding hand trembled, and he tried hard to maintain his composure on his face. Lin Qinghuai took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood stains, but in his heart he did not hesitate to use the greatest malice to guess the old emperor's thoughts.
But when his eyes met the woman in green who had approached the front of the hall and was only a few feet away from him, his eyes darkened a little, and his heart, which had tried hard to calm down, became turbulent again.
...How can I bear to do that?
...The chess pieces will all be discarded.
How could the old emperor be willing to use her as a pawn?
...But what if it’s true?
...If she really was a pawn used by the old emperor to deal with him, then wouldn't he...wouldn't he be able to take her into his arms...
This thought popped up in his mind in vain. The sudden secret desire hit his precarious rationality. Lin Qinghuai's eyes were deep, and several blue veins appeared on the back of his hand wrapped in a brocade handkerchief.
His eyes, filled with lust, lingered on the graceful figure in front of the hall again. Lin Qinghuai slowly shifted his gaze to the old emperor who was also obviously dazed at the top, and his brows twitched.
She didn't realize that some people were already excited by her appearance. Seeing so many people in vain, even if she was a cold-hearted person, Nan Qiao felt a little panicked.
She struggled to maintain a steady breathing, walked step by step to the front of the hall, and saluted respectfully. Looking directly at the emperor was a serious offense in front of the emperor, so she maintained the saluting posture with her head slightly lowered.
The surroundings were too quiet, and only the slightly rapid breathing could be heard. For a long time, she did not hear the oral instruction from the superiors to stand up. Her face turned pale, and Nan Qiao pursed her lips, and her drooping eyelashes lowered a little.
It was not until her calves began to shake slightly that she heard a voice from above asking her to stand up. The old voice was a little complicated, and Nan Qiao naturally could not hear it. She was just glad that she could finally stand up straight.
She is very weak and cannot stand for long periods of time.
The old emperor came to his senses and looked at the four grown-up girls below with a complicated expression.
Disbelief and regret swirled in those old eyes. After a moment, he glanced at Lin Qinghuai, whose expression remained unchanged and had already turned away, his expression obscure and difficult to interpret.
He called back his daughter whom he hadn't seen for more than ten years, not out of cheap fatherly love.
After all, he has nearly twenty children, both boys and girls. If he really wants to show his so-called fatherly love, there are plenty of people to help him. There is no need to recall his daughter whom he has not seen for more than ten years.
Now she called him back just to have another chess piece in her hand.
Princesses of the royal family have always been precious, and marrying noble ladies off to ministers is also a way to reward them. So even if this pawn can't deceive Lin Qinghuai, marrying her off at that time can still be regarded as a way to win over the ministers...
He naturally wouldn't feel bad about taking advantage of a daughter he hadn't seen for more than ten years and for whom he had no feelings at all.
What he didn't expect was that this daughter who had been raised outside the palace and whom he had never cared about would actually be so outstanding...
This made the old emperor feel regretful. The founding emperor of the Li family was born into poverty and his appearance was not particularly good. Even after hundreds of years of reproduction, the most outstanding of his descendants could only be described as handsome.
If Qiao Qiao had grown up in the imperial capital, she would probably have become the most dazzling jewel in his family...
The more he thought about it, the more regretful he felt. The old emperor's face softened. He stood up and said to the people in the hall, "This is my fourth princess, Princess Lingqiao!"
They were all people with sharp eyes and ears. After coming to their senses, they quickly stood up and bowed to the dazzling woman in the hall. The sound of kowtows resounded throughout the Xuande Hall.
"We are here to see Princess Ling Qiao!"
The jade-white slender fingers curled slightly, and the eyelashes like small fans trembled. The woman who looked like a green lotus slowly raised her eyes and said, "No need to be polite."
The woman was full of beauty, and even her voice was as clear and crisp as pearls falling on a plate, revealing a cold and indifferent air. There was also a slight... a slight tremor that was barely noticeable to others...
It's simply so attractive.
His eyes fell on the woman's hand, which had been slightly curled up at her side after she saluted. The distance was quite close, and a slightly trembling voice fell into his ear. Lin Qinghuai smiled.
The princess standing in the palace was like a lotus in a quiet pond, graceful and elegant. Even though she had not received any etiquette training in the palace for more than ten years, she was still outstanding.
The man who quietly looked up at Her Royal Highness Princess Lingqiao sighed inwardly.
The old emperor had not remembered his daughter in advance and had not prepared any seats, so he had to ask the palace maid to find a seat at the front among the women's seats and have someone lead Nan Qiao to sit down.
Because they were going to attend the birthday banquet, Nan Qiao did not bring Jintang with her. After sitting down at the seat, she was a little at a loss for a moment.
However, this sense of helplessness was not revealed in her cold expression, so in the eyes of the ladies sitting beside the women's seats, every move of the peerless Princess Lingqiao was filled with indescribable freedom.
Beautiful things always make people want to get close to them and touch them. Just like the elegant and graceful Prime Minister Lin, and the beautiful and graceful Princess Lingqiao before them.
But beautiful things always make people feel distant, like the moon in the sky, the flowers in the mirror, which are out of reach. They want to touch them on tiptoe, but are afraid of breaking them.
Therefore, even though the noble lady was a little excited because she was sitting at the same table with Her Royal Highness the Princess, she couldn't help but feel a little hesitant. Even though people kept looking at Her Royal Highness the Princess, no one dared to speak.
The women's section, which had been quite noisy, now fell into an unspeakable silence.
Her Royal Highness the Princess, who was the focus of attention, seemed to have noticed the strange atmosphere around her. She twirled her wine glass but said nothing.
In order to ease her discomfort, Nan Qiao raised her eyes, and her gaze slowly moved to the man sitting opposite her.
The seats for ministers and the seats for princes were not in the same place.
The emperor is old, and most of his adult princes have been crowned kings. They are at the age of youth. Even if they are not good-looking, they have developed a natural noble temperament after years of pampering.
As if they had noticed Nan Qiao's gaze, these princes, whom they had never met before, paused, smiled at her, and showed their kindness.
Nan Qiao was stunned for a moment, then smiled, not noticing the princes' stunned gaze. She quickly withdrew her gaze, but as she did so, she was suddenly attracted by a silhouette.
That was a figure sitting upright in front of the ministers' seats.
He wears a crimson robe, holds a high position, and has a handsome face. This... should be the one the host mentioned, Prime Minister Lin, who once stayed at Hanyun Temple.
Lin Qinghuai, who had already noticed her gaze, felt his heart tremble. The woman's gaze was shallow, but when it fell on him, it made him feel like fire.
He maintained the calmness of Lin Shoufu on the surface, but could not help but tighten his bandaged right hand again. Bright red blood oozed out of the wound again, and pain spread in his hand again.
She was looking at him.
Realizing this, Lin Qinghuai couldn't help but feel happy, but also a little distracted.
What was she looking at him for?
Are you examining something?
...Are you satisfied?
Even Lin Qinghuai didn't know what he wanted the princess to be satisfied with.
Nan Qiao suddenly recalled the gentle instructions given by the abbot before she left Hanyun Temple, and she felt a little uncomfortable. She quickly withdrew her gaze and lowered her eyes.
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Lin Qinghuai: She looked at me! Is she satisfied with me? Is she satisfied with me becoming her husband?
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