Three days passed quickly. He Liufeng did not say anything about Xu Yanyan's invitation to Qu Qingxi to attend the winter banquet. He only instructed Qingdai to protect Qu Qingxi well.
Qu Qingxi guessed that the princess's residence must be very lively today, at least Zhou Wenli's people must be monitoring the place. Qu Qingxi was not worried at all. She was absolutely capable of resisting anything.
Considering this was not a palace banquet, Qu Qingxi did not wear the uniform of a princess consort, but instead wore the same purple attire, which not only accentuated her temperament but also gave off an invisible sense of authority.
Qingdai tied a silver cloak around Qu Qingxi's neck and then helped her into the carriage.
When Qu Qingxi arrived, most of the other noble ladies had also arrived. Upon seeing Qu Qingxi, the others stood up and bowed to her.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
"Rise, everyone, there's no need for such formalities." Qu Qingxi smiled gently, gesturing for everyone to rise.
At this moment, Yongchang walked up to Qu Qingxi and said, "Yongchang greets Imperial Aunt."
"Yongchang, get up quickly." Qu Qingxi reached out and helped Princess Yongchang to her feet.
"Everyone, please don't be too reserved, just relax and make yourselves at home," Qu Qingxi said, glancing at everyone.
Xu Yanyan arrived at this moment as well. "Greetings, Your Highness. Anping encountered a little emergency and is a bit late. Please forgive me."
Xu Yanyan was dressed in a silver outfit, with a silver cloak over it. Her hair was styled in an elegant updo, adorned with a white jade hairpin. However, compared to when she was at the Treasure Pavilion, she now had two more rose-pink beaded flowers, adding a touch of liveliness to her.
"It's alright, Princess Anping, you're too kind."
"Your Highness, Princess, please come inside." Xu Yanyan gestured for Qu Qingxi and Yongchang to come inside.
Everyone else watched the scene unfold before them, exchanging glances but saying nothing. If they hadn't heard about what happened at the Treasure Pavilion that day, this scene would probably seem perfectly normal.
However, given what happened before, everyone's eyes held a deeper meaning as they watched this scene. Who knew if Princess Anping was genuinely delayed by something, or if she was deliberately being disrespectful to Qu Qingxi?
Seeing Qu Qingxi walking almost at the front, Xu Yanyan lowered her eyes, concealing the deep thought in them, hoping that she hadn't misjudged her this time.
It snowed on and off for two days, and the weather got even colder. The snowflakes on the ground did not melt, and the snow in Princess Anping's residence was not cleared on a large scale.
Apart from the usual paths, the snow was almost completely preserved in other areas, making it look very beautiful.
A fire was burning in the flower hall, making it very warm. The young ladies from various families sat down and chatted with each other, but their eyes kept glancing at Qu Qingxi and Xu Yanyan.
Even more observant people noticed that Qu Qingxi's maid was wearing a bamboo bracelet on her wrist, the style and color of which were almost exactly the same as what they had heard.
Everyone secretly thought to themselves, "This is going to be quite a show!" In front of everyone, Princess Nanqing and Princess Anping were fighting over a bamboo-shaped jade bracelet. Princess Anping lost to Princess Nanqing, but now, the bracelet had ended up in the hands of Princess Nanqing's maid.
Moreover, today is clearly Princess Anping's winter banquet, yet the Southern Qing Princess's maidservant is wearing that bracelet. Isn't this a blatant provocation against Princess Anping?
No one said anything, but they all understood that Princess Nanqing was deliberately giving the gift to the maid to embarrass Princess Anping.
Among today's guests was someone Qu Qingxi hadn't expected: Ren Nuanyun.
Ren Nuanyun was clearly secretly confined by the Emperor last time, yet she has reappeared here now. Qu Qingxi has no idea what Ren Nuanyun is thinking.
By openly defying the Emperor's decree, could it be that Ren Nuanyun thinks that just because she transmigrated here with a system, she's truly the leading lady, and everyone has to revolve around her, so she doesn't have to follow the rules here?
Ren Nuanyun didn't think anything of it. In fact, that's exactly what she thought. She was from another world, and she was the female lead here. She could follow the rules if she wanted, and what could anyone do to her if she didn't?
Although the system warned her that it was wrong to do this and that she should abide by the rules here, Ren Nuanyun felt that it was nothing. After all, the emperor had only said it verbally and had not issued an imperial edict, so it was not a formal confinement.
Not many people knew about this. At the time, the Crown Prince ordered the news to be kept secret. Everyone only knew that the Emperor had arranged for a governess to teach Princess Mingxiu manners at the Marquis of Dingguo's residence. As for other matters, no one knew anything. When they heard about the governess, they just assumed that the Emperor valued Ren Nuanyun and therefore asked someone to teach her manners in advance.
Although no one knew what everyone was thinking, on the surface, everyone was happy and seemed exceptionally harmonious. Qu Qingxi first glanced at Xu Yanyan, and when she saw Xu Yanyan nod almost imperceptibly at her, Qu Qingxi turned her head and gave Qingdai a wink.
"Qingdai, pour me a cup of hot tea." Qu Qingxi's voice wasn't loud, but because she was sitting in the main seat, almost everyone heard her command.
But no one took it to heart; after all, she had only instructed the maid to pour tea.
Qingdai nodded, reached for the teapot, and began to pour tea for Qu Qingxi. At this moment, the bracelet on Qingdai's wrist was inadvertently revealed.
Xu Yanyan was talking to Princess Yongchang when she glanced over in this direction and froze when she saw the bracelet on Qingdai's wrist.
Yongchang saw Xu Yanyan looking in that direction, and then froze, not knowing what she saw. Confused, he asked, "Sister Anping, what's wrong?"
Xu Yanyan immediately turned pale. After hearing Princess Yongchang's second call, she came to her senses. Seeing Princess Yongchang staring at her suspiciously, she forced a smile and said, "Princess, it's alright."
Those around Xu Yanyan noticed her unusual behavior and asked with concern, "Princess Anping, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I feel fine." Xu Yanyan turned her head to look at the bracelet on Qingdai's hand again and murmured.
Those around Xu Yanyan followed her gaze and immediately noticed the bracelet on Qingdai's hand, instantly understanding what was going on with Xu Yanyan.
After all, everyone knew what happened at the Treasure Pavilion a few days ago, and seeing Xu Yanyan's expression, they knew it was because of that bracelet.
Everyone's attention was already focused on the situation here, and they immediately noticed the change in Xu Yanyan's expression, making the atmosphere instantly subtle.
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