Wen Chan swallowed hard. Although these words made her feel somewhat embarrassed, she knew they were all true.
Over the years, everyone in Shengjing City knew that she was devoted to the Crown Prince, so no one dared to propose marriage to the Wen family, and her path turned from a smooth road to a narrow bridge.
With no hope for the Crown Prince, and the other princes either too young or already having wives, Prince Xiaoqiaochuan, Li Qingchen, became the only viable option among them, and marrying him was far better than marrying any of the other princes.
Li Qingchen's father commands 100,000 elite troops and is practically a local tyrant in the prosperous Qiaochuan, deeply revered by the people. This power will inevitably fall into Li Qingchen's hands in the future, making her his principal wife far better than marrying one of the princes whose future fiefdoms are uncertain.
Besides these, there is another crucial point: Li Qingchen is handsome and dashing, and even setting aside his noble status, his good looks alone make him the dream man of countless young women in Shengjing.
Therefore, if Wen Chan were to choose, she would prefer Li Qingchen to the Crown Prince. Although His Highness the Crown Prince is also handsome and refined, he is still inferior to Li Qingchen.
The principles that Wen Chan could understand, Consort Wen naturally saw even further ahead.
Once Wen Chan marries Li Qingchen, she can ensure the prosperity of the entire Wen family for decades to come and solidify the Emperor's favor towards her. Because the Lord of Qiaochuan will always be the person the Emperor values and fears the most, Wen Chan's marriage will become an extremely important link, tightly connecting Daye and Qiaochuan.
Now that the aunt and niece had reached a consensus, Consort Wen gave her niece a few brief instructions and then ordered someone to invite His Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Xiaoqiaochuan over.
Although today's banquet was designated by His Majesty for the selection of a consort for the Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan, His Highness the Crown Prince has also come for some reason. The two of them had previously competed in archery at the shooting range, so it would be somewhat impolite to invite only the Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan.
Consort Wen was also eyeing both options: whether it was Crown Prince Zhu Haogan or Prince Xiao Qiaochuan Li Qingchen, as long as one of them succeeded, it would be a guarantee for the Wen family's generations of glory and prosperity.
Consort Wen had prepared fine wine and delicacies in the Jinlu Palace long ago. After Zhu Haogan and Li Qingchen arrived together and exchanged greetings, Consort Wen raised her cup and drank with the two of them.
After drinking a cup, Consort Wen began to speak: "It's a pity that there is only fine wine here, but no singing and dancing to accompany it, which is a bit of a shame."
Upon hearing this, Li Qingchen guessed Consort Wen's purpose and put down his wine cup, pretending not to know.
Crown Prince Zhu Haogan, however, was much simpler, saying only, "If Your Highness wishes to have some singing and dancing, just order the Imperial Music Bureau to do so."
Consort Wen merely smiled and steered the conversation to what she truly wanted to say: "The red plum blossoms are in full bloom right now, which reminds me of Consort Mei from the previous dynasty, who cherished plum blossoms as if they were her own life. Her stunning dance once caused a sensation in Chang'an, but unfortunately, later generations have no chance to witness it."
"Chan'er, your aunt has heard that you have studied this dance. Why don't you perform a piece for your aunt?"
At this moment, Wen Chan, who had been standing behind her aunt serving her, came out and stood in the small space in front of the tables. She bowed gracefully and said, "Then Chan'er will make a fool of herself."
Having said that, he turned and left Jinlu.
In this dance, Wen Chan used her own little tricks. She needed to dance in conjunction with the falling plum blossoms to make it even more outstanding. Therefore, she was willing to brave the cold of late autumn and dance outside the Jinlu Pavilion wearing only a thin dance dress.
Two palace maids separately lifted the two sections of the curtain in front and hung them on the snow-silver hooks. This way, the temperature inside wouldn't be affected too much, and the three people inside could see Wen Chan's dance more clearly.
As the jade flute began to play, Wen Chan danced to the melody, her graceful figure swaying like a wild goose soaring freely and proudly across the sky. Plum blossoms drifted down around her, the red plum blossoms dancing with her white skirt, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
It's just a pity that there was no kindred spirit in this small brocade house.
The Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan and the Crown Prince drank merrily, seemingly by some unspoken agreement, neither of them daring to look outside. Meanwhile, Consort Wen's attention remained fixed on the two of them, only concerned with whether they had ever glanced at Wen Chan, and she had no interest in appreciating Wen Chan's dance.
After the dance ended, apart from Granny Yu, no one even glanced at Wen Chan.
Consort Wen was extremely disappointed. She gave a perfunctory compliment, saying, "Chan'er dances very well. It's truly a sight to behold!" But there was no smile on her face at all.
Afterwards, she drank alone in a huff, reminiscing about how she had been so impressive back then, captivating the emperor's heart with a single dance. But the next generation of the Wen family was so utterly useless; no matter how splendidly she, as their aunt, paved the way for them, they couldn't be guided onto the right path!
Seeing her aunt's anger, Wen Chan couldn't help but look flustered. Without her aunt's permission, she stood outside the brocade pavilion, neither daring to enter nor leave. Her thin dress shivered slightly in the wind.
Consort Wen was known for her poor alcohol tolerance. In addition, she had been thinking about the plum blossom viewing banquet arrangements last night and had only slept for a few hours. After drinking a few cups, her head felt heavy, and she rested her forehead on her hand, feeling drowsy.
"Since Your Highness is tired, I shall take my leave." Li Qingchen rose, nodded to Consort Wen and the Crown Prince, and strode out of the Jinlu Palace.
Outside the brocade pavilion, Wen Chan was still waiting. When she saw Li Qingchen about to leave, her heart tightened. Then, a thought struck her, and she remembered a scene from a storybook.
Just then, a breeze began to blow, and Wen Chan loosened the thin, cicada-wing-like shawl she was wearing! The wind carried the shawl towards Li Qingchen, but Li Qingchen dodged it, avoiding the shawl that was going to hang on him, letting it be blown high up and rolled onto a branch.
This is clearly unintentional...
Wen Chan was both angry and anxious, her eyes slightly red. She called out to Li Qingchen as he walked away, "Young Prince, please wait!"
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
