Chapter 9 Sisters-in-law compete with each other
With the prince's guards escorting her, Qingwu had a smooth journey. When she arrived in front of Xuanxiao Danque Palace, the guards stopped and went back to report.
Qingwu said goodbye to him kindly and asked Jiawei to express her gratitude on her behalf, but she couldn't help feeling a little funny.
Xi Qingtong sent eunuchs to escort her husband, but her husband sent armored guards to see her off. How could this not be considered a coincidence?
After the guards walked away, the two maids wanted to say something but stopped themselves. However, because there were so many people around, they suppressed their emotions and followed Qingwu to the back hall of Danque Palace.
Although all the female members of the family stayed in the same palace, the main hall was occupied by princes and princesses, and the side halls were also occupied by the wives of dukes. As for the wives of future Jinshi, they could only walk around in the back hall.
Qingwu could naturally squeeze into the main hall by relying on her status as the twin sister of a concubine, but when she thought about having to flatter those people, she felt it was boring, so she took the initiative to go to the back hall.
As soon as they entered the hall, everyone in the hall was amazed by Qingwu, but because of this, no one dared to come forward to talk to him.
They were all from ordinary families of tribute scholars. It was difficult for a beautiful woman to be born into a poor family. The most beautiful women were usually born into wealthy families. Seeing Qingwu so beautiful and dressed in brocade clothes, they secretly speculated about her identity. There was a bit of vigilance in their eyes when they looked at Qingwu.
Qingwu had been accustomed to her outstanding appearance since she was a child. She did not want to cause trouble at such a banquet, so she found a place to sit and waited for the instructions of the nobleman in the main hall.
Who would have thought that a moment later a pretty girl would take the initiative to sit next to her. She leaned over, holding the carved armrest, and stared at Qingwu with her grape-like eyes, causing Qingwu to lean back unconsciously.
Perhaps she realized that she was being too presumptuous, so the girl sat up straight and introduced herself with a smile.
"My name is Lin Shanshan, the name of the two trees Lin, which means kind. My husband is Xu Huaiyu, a recent imperial scholar."
As the saying goes, "Don't hit a smiling person." Qing Wu smiled and nodded, "My surname is Xi, my name is Qing Wu, and my husband is the tribute scholar Song Yunhe. I wonder what's going on, Madam Lin?"
Hearing Qingwu's doubts, Lin Shanshan pursed her lips, as if she knew she couldn't say her reasons. But when she met Qingwu's charming eyes, she embarrassedly revealed her true feelings: "You are beautiful, and I like to play with beautiful people."
Although she looked shy, her eyes were still staring at Qingwu, and her eyelashes like small fans kept blinking, but never left Qingwu's face. This infatuated look made Qingwu laugh out loud.
As Qingwu laughed, a trace of bitterness arose in her heart. It had been a long time since she had seen such a look of pure appreciation for her appearance. Ever since she returned to the Xi family, they always compared her with her twin sisters. Even though they had the same face, they felt that she was three points inferior to her twin sisters.
"Okay, I also like straightforward people."
Qingwu had been practicing medicine with her grandmother for many years and had treated countless patients, so she naturally developed the ability to judge people. After just a few interactions, she realized that this girl was really simple-minded, so she started chatting with her.
Let’s not talk about this for now, let’s talk about the main hall where all the princes and princesses gathered together.
There were five princes before Xiao Ji who had all been crowned kings. The eldest prince was King Wu, the second prince was King Wen, the third prince was King Ning, the fourth prince was King An, and the fifth prince was King Ying. The four of them had already married their principal wives, so when it came to ranking according to seniority, Xi Qingtong, the prince's concubine, felt a little embarrassed.
If she were the principal wife, she would naturally be respected, but she was only a concubine, and the Crown Prince was the sixth child, so she could only be overshadowed by the previous princess. No matter how proud she was when she was a noble lady, now she had to sit quietly and let the sister-in-law above her speak.
Princess Ning brought the teacup and before she even took a sip, she smiled and said, "If you ask me, our father favors His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Look at Xi Liang Di's beauty, she is truly dazzling."
As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Wen took over the conversation, her eyes flickering, "That's right, otherwise why would the emperor have given it to Consort Kong Que Luo?"
This sentence made the golden phoenix on Xi Qingtong's temples tremble, and she felt something was wrong.
The peacock is a tribute from a foreign country, with only two pieces produced each year. I heard that when the Fourth Princess got married, the Emperor also gave her one. She was proud of it, and now she has one too. The Fourth Princess must be unhappy.
As expected, Princess An's expression suddenly changed. Although it was only for a moment, who among the smart people present didn't see it?
Princess An was still young after all, and she noticed her sisters-in-law laughing secretly, so she couldn't help but retort, "What the sisters-in-law said is true. Liangdi is so beautiful that she is indeed a perfect match for Kongque Luo."
But the next moment, she held the seven-tailed golden phoenix hairpin on her temple, glanced at Xi Qingtong, and said in a sweet voice, "Although the peacock silk is good, of all the gifts Your Majesty gave me, I like this phoenix hairpin more."
The whole hall was suddenly silent.
Princess Wu paused the spinning seven-treasure Buddhist string in her hand, Princess Wen's eyes were full of surprise, and Princess Ning's gaze fell directly on Xi Qingtong's bun - it was a five-tailed phoenix hairpin, a style worn by concubines.
The three princesses had not expected Princess An to bring up this matter. This matter was decided by His Majesty, not a personal choice. Moreover, if the Crown Prince ascended the throne, the title of Noble Consort would be more honorable than the Crown Princess.
Thinking of this, the three people who wanted to ridicule Princess An in their hearts suddenly changed their expressions. Some raised their eyebrows, some chuckled, and then they all watched from the sidelines again.
Only when the prince ascends the throne can she be conferred the title of imperial concubine.
Whether the prince can ascend the throne...is still unknown.
Xi Qingtong was naturally furious at being mocked by Princess An. However, she had once been able to show off her power in the Xi family, but now she couldn't do whatever she wanted. She could only grit her teeth and swallow it, lowering her eyes and pretending not to know what Princess An meant.
"This golden hairpin was made by a skilled craftsman. It is exquisite and beautiful. It was given by Your Majesty, so it is natural that the princess likes it."
But Princess An did not stop there. She glanced at Xi Qingtong, who was shocked when she met her gaze. She had a bad feeling in her heart. Then Princess An turned around and looked around. She covered her lips and smiled and said to everyone:
"Liang Di's beauty is indeed outstanding, but it seems she has more than one such beauty. I heard that Liang Di has a twin sister?"
Finally, her gaze fell on Xi Qingtong's face, the smile on her lips became even wider, and her eyes were full of malice.
Xi Qingtong became famous in the capital at the age of fourteen. She was the first noble lady of the same age. A girl like her who was in the limelight naturally attracted a lot of attention. When her lost twin sister was found, it was discussed for a long time.
Xi Qingtong hated hearing about her twin sister, and her thoughts couldn't help but go back to that time. Everyone who saw her would ask about her twin sister, and all the attention fell on Xi Qingwu. Because of this identical face, all the speculation was shared with her.
"Is your sister already married and has children? I heard that girls who grew up in the countryside are married off at the age of thirteen or fourteen..."
They smiled and hinted that they suspected Xi Qingwu was ignorant of poetry and literature and did not know etiquette, but they did not dare to ask her themselves. They just cast their suspicious eyes on her face, as if seeing her was seeing the twin sister who grew up in the countryside.
Ever since the day Xi Qingwu came back, she had been like a bright pearl with a flaw, and Xi Qingwu was that flaw.
Just at this moment, even though this matter was known to everyone, they still pretended not to know and used it to mock her.
"Oh? They're twin sisters?"
"Why didn't Lady Liang invite us here so we could meet the twin sisters?"
The princesses knew about it, of course, but they were just there to watch the fun and were not afraid of getting angry, so they all pretended not to know.
Xi Qingtong had cursed Princess An a thousand times in her heart and hated her to death, but when she spoke, she was still very gentle and warm: "The twin sisters are already married, so they probably didn't come this time."
With the hint of the sachet she sent, I think my cousin can understand the meaning.
Princess An was very disappointed to hear that the twin sisters did not come, but this did not stop her from continuing to play Yin and Yang. She said:
"Even if I haven't seen her, I know she's definitely not as good as Liang Di. My three sisters-in-law don't know that Liang Di's twin sisters were lost when they were young and grew up away from home. How can they compare to Liang Di, who was raised in the capital?"
Seeing that the princesses pretended not to know, the other wives of the clan understood what he meant and followed suit.
"Indeed, even flowers of the same species look different when grown in different places."
"Oranges grown in Huaibei are bitter oranges."
"Yes, a woman's virtue lies in her chastity. If she grows up away from home, she might..."
The lady suddenly stopped talking as if she was afraid, but the unfinished words had already made people imagine a lot, and also made Xi Qingtong's gentle appearance completely lose its shape.
Her expression darkened, her body trembled slightly, and she felt that the eyes of the people around her were all on her, as if she was Xi Qingwu, the wild girl who grew up outside and whose chastity was unknown.
The others were just joking about it, but the Princess Wu, who was over thirty years old, noticed that Xi Qingtong was already reluctant, so she spoke up in time to change the subject:
"Alright, let's stop gossiping. The eunuch just came to report that the gentlemen are ready. Let's move on."
If a quarrel really breaks out and gets to the men's side, she will also be at fault.
Besides, the most important thing today is not just these things between women.
Princess Wu was getting older, and her temperament was much better than her younger sisters-in-law. But when she thought about what happened today, she couldn't help but raise the corners of her lips, and the Mosuo Buddhist beads in her hand turned faster.
I'm really looking forward to it...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
