Su Yi felt a headache coming on when he thought about how Su Muxue was already 22 and still hadn't gotten engaged.
"He's 20 years old, probably has something wrong with his head, nobody wants him anymore."
Upon hearing Su Yi's words, Mu Jin covered her mouth with her fan and laughed.
Su Yi continued, "What woman her age hasn't been engaged yet? She relies on the old man's favor in the palace and acts lawlessly all day long, running wild everywhere. She should find a man to marry and keep her in check."
Mu Jin disagreed, saying, "You're not married either, so why does she have to get married at this age?"
Su Yi said, "How can you compare them? Can men and women be the same?"
Mu Jin rolled her eyes at Su Yi.
"So what if she's a woman? Besides, Mu Xue's father is the emperor of Dongyue Kingdom, and she herself is a princess. She has power and influence. If she can't find someone she likes, she won't marry. Why make things difficult for herself? At worst, she can keep some male concubines and still be happy. A woman has more than one path to marriage. If she has such a noble status and can't do what she wants, wouldn't that be a waste of the noble status that God gave her?"
Su Muxue listened to Mu Jin's words under the tea table and nodded vigorously in approval of Mu Jin.
Su Yi didn't expect Mu Jin to say such a thing, but considering Su Muxue's unruly personality, he still didn't want to let her off the hook, so he deliberately spoke loudly.
"Heh~ Is that so? But it's a pity, she has no choice this time. That old man is planning to agree to the marriage alliance with the Western Liang Kingdom."
"What did you say? Ouch~~~"
When Su Muxue heard that the emperor of her Eastern Yue Kingdom had agreed to a marriage alliance with the Western Liang Kingdom, she angrily pulled away the maid's hand that was covering her mouth and was about to stand up, forgetting that she was still huddled under the low tea table.
Su Muxue slammed her head against the table, and her head started to throb with pain.
Hearing Su Muxue gasp as she hit her head, Su Yi lifted the tea tablecloth and looked at Su Muxue coldly.
"Finally decided to come out?"
With the help of a palace maid, Su Muxue crawled out from under the table. She suddenly tugged at Su Yi's sleeve.
"Fifth Brother, I won't marry him! Please plead with Father for me. He'll definitely listen to you. I'm not going anywhere; I want to stay in Dongmu Kingdom!"
Su Yi retorted bluntly, "What are you doing staying in Dongmu Kingdom? Staying in Dongmu Kingdom just to dress like an androgynous person and act all haphazardly every day?"
Su Muxue retorted, "What nonsense did I spout? I was just feeling cooped up in the palace, so I came out to listen to some music and stroll around!"
"Is this a place for a girl like you? You don't even have a single guard with you!"
Su Yi then looked at Chunyun, the palace maid beside Su Muxue.
"As the princess's personal maid, you did not dissuade her from leaving the palace to mingle with her. Go back to the palace and receive your punishment from Granny Li!"
The palace maid Chunyun knelt down tremblingly and said yes.
Su Muxue was very dissatisfied with Su Yi's punishment of her palace maid.
"Fifth Brother! Don't be like this. What can she do to stop me, a princess? Stop talking nonsense and go help her. I don't want to go on this marriage alliance."
Su Yi glanced at her impatiently: "If you don't return to the palace, I'll personally escort you to the Western Liang Kingdom. You won't have to wait for someone else to come and ask for your hand in marriage."
Su Muxue immediately grabbed Su Yi's arm and shook it: "Fifth Brother, don't be angry. I'll go back to the palace right now. Remember to plead with Father for me. If he really sends me to Xiliang, I'd rather die!"
"Heh~ You've gotten bold, daring to threaten your brother now?"
Seeing that Su Yi seemed genuinely angry, Su Muxue quickly decided to back down, saying, "Alright, alright, I'll go back to the palace now, calm down."
Seeing that Su Yi remained silent, Su Muxue winked at Mu Jin.
"Third Sister-in-law, remember our agreement." Then, glancing at Yi's cold face, she pulled the palace maid Chunyun out of Mu Jin's private room.
Mu Jin laughed when she saw Su Muxue and her servant running faster than rabbits.
Seeing Mu Jin smile, Su Yi asked, "Sister-in-law, what are you laughing at?"
"Why are you scaring her? The Emperor has no intention of marrying her off to the Western Liang Kingdom, does he?"
Su Yi looked surprised: "How did you know, sister-in-law?"
“What’s so hard to guess? You saw her hiding under my table the moment you came in, and all those things you said were just to lure her out.”
"The fact that the Emperor allows her to remain unmarried at this age shows that he loves his daughter very much and doesn't want to force her to do something she doesn't like. Besides, even if the Emperor wanted to marry his daughter off, how could he allow his beloved daughter to marry into such a small country as Xiliang, which is far away and has a bad climate?"
Su Yi said, "Sister-in-law is so smart!"
After the two siblings made such a fuss, Mu Jin lost interest in watching the show and stood up.
"These dancers are truly excellent. King Yi, please stay and enjoy yourself. I'm tired after a long day, so I'll take my leave now."
Su Yi also stood up: "Then I'll see my sister-in-law off."
Su Yi saw Mu Jin off at the gate of Zuiyue Tower, and when he saw Mu Jin get into the carriage, he waved to her.
"Take care, sister-in-law."
Mu Jin waved to Su Yi with no expression, signaling Eleven to ride back to the mansion.
When they returned to the Yunwang Mansion, it was already dinner time. As soon as Mu Jin and Qing'er got off the carriage, they saw Shen Qianqian's maid come over to greet Mu Jin.
"Your Highness, our concubine has personally prepared a meal for you tonight and invites Your Highness and Your Highness to dine at Qiushui Garden."
Mu Jin glanced at Cui Xiang, then smiled at Qing'er and walked straight into the palace.
Cui Xiang assumed that Mu Jin had agreed to Shen Qianqian's invitation to the banquet, so she followed Mu Jin inside. However, as they walked, Cui Xiang noticed that Mu Jin was heading towards Cuizhu Courtyard, which was clearly the opposite direction from Qiushui Courtyard.
She quickly walked forward two steps to Mu Jin's side.
"Your Highness, you've taken the wrong path. Qiushui Garden is to the right."
Qing'er stepped forward and pushed Cuixiang aside: "You're the one who's gone the wrong way, your whole family has gone the wrong way! When did our young lady agree to go to your Qiushui Garden? Besides, when a concubine invites the principal wife, shouldn't she come to invite her in person? Sending a maid like you to deliver the message makes people think the concubine is more important than the principal wife! Go back and tell your mistress that if she wants to invite our princess, she should come and invite her in person." After saying that, she quickly caught up with Mu Jin.
Cuixiang stood there, her eyes red with anger, stomped her feet, and ran back to Qiushui Garden.
At this moment, Su Yuntian and Shen Qianqian were sitting in the dining hall of Qiushuiyuan. A large and sumptuous dinner was already laid out on the table. When Shen Qianqian saw Cuixiang return, she stood up.
"Has the Princess returned?"
With red eyes, Cui Xiang said, "The princess has returned, but she said that I, a mere maid, am not qualified to invite her; the concubine must go in person."
Shen Qianqian glanced at Su Yuntian and smiled awkwardly, "It was my oversight that I neglected the Princess. I will go and invite her right away."
Upon hearing Cui Xiang's reply, Su Yun's expression darkened.
"She's only just returned to the palace now; does she even have the demeanor of a princess anymore? Let's ignore her."
Shen Qianqian only wanted to spend some time alone with Su Yuntian, so she pretended to invite Mu Jin. After Su Yuntian denied it, she happily returned to the dining table and started eating with Su Yuntian.
Shen Qianqian put a piece of cashew venison, which was Su Yuntian's favorite food, into Su Yuntian's bowl. She watched Su Yuntian pick it up and eat it, and she didn't say anything good or bad. She just hummed in agreement and said, "Eat it quickly, it's getting cold."
Shen Qianqian noticed that Su Yuntian was eating his meal, but his brows were furrowed, indicating that he was thinking about something else.
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