The other party involved seemed completely unaware of the matter, leisurely sipping their tea.
Qu Qingxi was certainly aware that the people around her were glancing at her, but she didn't pay any attention to it.
At this moment, a clear voice rang out, "Your Highness, the bracelet on the wrist of this maid beside you is quite nice." Ren Nuanyun looked at Qu Qingxi with a hint of curiosity.
As soon as Ren Nuanyun said this, it was clear that she wanted to stir up conflict between Qu Qingxi and Xu Yanyan, and everyone's eyes fell on the two of them.
Ren Nuanyun was of course aware of the Treasure Pavilion's affairs. She was now eager for someone to confront Qu Qingxi. Although she didn't know Xu Yanyan's strength and cunning, the fact that she was sent to marry a foreign ruler and was safely returned by the Zhou Kingdom's prince showed that Xu Yanyan was definitely not a simple character.
Ren Nuanyun also asked the system about Xu Yanyan. The system only said that Xu Yanyan should not have come back, but it didn't know why. Xu Yanyan was sent to marry a foreign ruler, but she came back.
Ren Nuanyun didn't notice anything unusual in the system's message, and she didn't care about the truth of the matter. As long as Qu Qingxi was unhappy, she was happy.
Hearing Ren Nuanyun's words, Qu Qingxi glanced down at Qingdai's wrist, then chuckled, "Is Princess Mingxiu referring to the bamboo-shaped jade bracelet on Qingdai's wrist?"
Seeing Ren Nuanyun staring at her with a half-smile, Qu Qingxi spoke slowly, "This is a new jade bracelet design from the Treasure Pavilion. My maid liked it, so I bought it for her."
Qu Qingxi's words clearly implied that if her maid liked something, even if Princess Anping liked it, she would snatch it and give it to her maid.
Upon hearing Qu Qingxi's words, everyone's gaze drifted back to Xu Yanyan, noticing that Xu Yanyan's expression had become even more unpleasant.
"What's wrong? Does Princess Mingxiu also like this style of jade bracelet?" Qu Qingxi raised her eyebrows slightly.
"No, it's not that. I just thought this jade bracelet looked nice, so I asked about it casually." Seeing that Qu Qingxi had drawn everyone's attention back to her, Ren Nuanyun felt a little embarrassed.
Qu Qingxi has already bought this bracelet for her maid. If she were to say she likes it too, wouldn't that mean her taste is the same as a lowly maid's?
"Oh, I see. I thought it was the princess who liked it. I asked the people at the Treasure Pavilion, and they only have one bracelet of this style. If the princess really likes it, I will have Qingdai take it off, clean it, and give it to Princess Mingxiu."
Qu Qingxi stared at Ren Nuanyun and said meaningfully, "If Ren Nuanyun wants to cause trouble, she should be prepared to be dealt with."
Upon hearing this, Ren Nuanyun's expression grew even more unpleasant. She forced a smile and said, "Your Highness is joking. I was just a little curious. This bracelet is nice, but it looks more suitable for your maid. She looks good wearing it."
Ren Nuanyun was so focused on dealing with Qu Qingxi that she completely forgot her original purpose in bringing up the bracelet. She had intended to use the bracelet to stir up conflict between Qu Qingxi and Xu Yanyan.
However, she was completely unaware that she had just said the wrong thing again. Now everyone knows that Xu Yanyan failed to snatch Qu Qingxi's bracelet, and now she says that the bracelet is suitable for a maid to wear. Isn't that implying that Xu Yanyan is like a maid?
As soon as Ren Nuanyun spoke, the expressions of the people around her changed immediately. They clearly hadn't expected Ren Nuanyun to speak so thoughtlessly this time.
Yongchang glanced at Ren Nuanyun with disdain. Is this what the Crown Prince called intelligence? She can't even speak properly. She's offended two people and doesn't even realize it, yet she's still smug. She's utterly stupid.
Xu Yanyan was clearly surprised by Ren Nuanyun's words. She lowered her eyes, concealing a deep thought, and then smiled lightly to help Ren Nuanyun out of the predicament, saying, "It has been snowing these past two days, and the weather is gradually getting colder. I specially invited a professional ice sculptor to make some ice sculptures in the mansion. Everyone may wish to go and take a look, just for fun."
Everyone looked at Xu Yanyan again, and seeing that her face was even paler, they understood what was going on. Their eyes showed even more pity for her.
The princess's return after the marriage should have been a moment of glory, but instead, she was openly and subtly mocked by the Princess Consort of Nanqing and Princess Mingxiu. It was truly pitiful.
"Okay, let's go quickly. I haven't seen many ice sculptures before."
"I was fortunate enough to see it once, but it was only about the size of a hand warmer, exquisite and beautiful, and the carving was very lifelike."
"I've never seen it before either, and I'm really curious about it."
"What kinds of shapes can you carve? Small animals?"
"Not only that, I've heard that anything is possible, as long as the craftsman is highly skilled, even everyday objects can be carved."
"Princess Anping is indeed worthy of living in the Zhou Kingdom; she was able to find such a craftsman."
"Yes, I've heard that there are a lot of ice sculptors in the Zhou Kingdom."
Upon hearing these words, Xu Yanyan's expression finally softened.
Compared to Ling, Zhou had a longer winter, and it snowed a lot there, which led to the emergence of many ice sculptors. People in the royal palace and other high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital all loved ice sculptures.
The ice sculptor in Princess Anping's residence was also brought back by Xu Yanyan. This time, they just happened to have a good opportunity, so they made ice sculptures here.
The ice sculpture was in the garden of the princess's mansion. The weather was already gloomy, and as everyone walked towards the garden, it happened to start snowing.
The atmosphere instantly improved, and everyone walked along happily, chatting in twos and threes.
When everyone arrived at the garden, they were immediately shocked by what they saw.
Two deer stood at the entrance to the garden. The deer were the same size as real deer and were carved so lifelike that even their eyes were carved out. If they weren't made of translucent ice, people would probably really think they were real.
After their initial amazement, everyone continued walking inside.
Further inside, there are ice-sculpted flower pots, ice-sculpted flowers, chrysanthemums, plum blossoms, peonies, and so on, about a dozen kinds of flowers, each of which is arranged in pairs.
Everyone stopped and stood in front of a pot of ice-sculpted flowers, examining them carefully. Qu Qingxi also stopped in front of a pot of camellias with Qingdai.
The collision of flowers and ice and snow made Qu Qingxi marvel at the wisdom and exquisite craftsmanship of the ancients. Apart from the colors, these things were almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Qingdai originally wanted to praise the exquisite ice sculptures, but when she turned her head and saw Qu Qingxi, she swallowed the praise that was about to come out. The princess and Xu Yanyan were not on good terms, so she should not praise them.
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