Luck Reliant Beauty – CH 035

Chapter 35: Chit-chat

The women were gathered around Young Lady Niu, chatting animatedly. Off to the side, Jiang Mi spotted Fan Yuxiu waving at her from a distance.

Jiang Mi, already growing impatient, hurried over.

In a flash, Jiang Mi was in front of Fan Yuxiu.

Fan Yuxiu looked Jiang Mi up and down, asking worriedly, “Did they bully you?”

Jiang Mi thought for a moment and shook her head, “No.” Although those people had mocked her, Jiang Mi didn’t feel hurt.

Fan Yuxiu felt relieved. She patted her chest and let out a long sigh, complaining, “Mother is really something. She knew I was not sociable, but she still left all the reception responsibilities to me.” Then she said happily, “But now it’s all good. Mother was afraid that I would talk nonsense and get into trouble, so she asked the two elders to come and help me. Cousin is here to greet these people.” At this point, Fan Yuxiu glanced at the women surrounding Young Lady Niu, chatting and laughing animatedly, and asked curiously, “What are they talking about?”

Jiang Mi thought seriously, then replied, “They, well, they think Young Lady Niu has a very ordinary skill that’s remarkable, and they’re praising her.” Since Young Lady Niu’s grandfather thought her skills were even inferior to hers, Jiang Mi, that meant Young Lady Niu’s abilities were just that, right?

Jiang Mi thought for a moment, then added seriously, “Well, they also have inside information and know Young Lady Niu would be Prince Kang’s Consort, so they wanted to establish a good relationship with her beforehand.”

“Young Lady Niu could be the Prince Kang’s Consort?” Fan Yuxiu was stunned. She asked blankly, “Didn’t Her Imperial Highness the Empress have her eyes on Zheng Wen? How could it be Young Lady Niu?”

Jiang Mi replied matter-of-factly, “But these influential ladies are surrounding Young Lady Niu, not Zheng Wen!”

Fan Yuxiu frowned, then smiled and said, “Who cares? It’s none of our business anyway.” Then, taking Jiang Mi’s hand, she walked forward.

As they walked, Fan Yuxiu said cheerfully, “Ah’Mi, just now, that Yu Family’s Man’er, one of the Three Great Beauties of Shu, came to me to ask about you. Hehe, Yu Man’er seems to like you very much. She kept asking me to take you to her house more often. She also said that if you encounter any difficulties in the future, don’t hide them from her. She and I will help you together.”

Jiang Mi felt a warm glow inside when she heard this. She said with a smile, “Yes, I understand.”

Fan Yuxiu led her along a bamboo path, and they sat down in a pavilion built on a stone platform. However, as soon as they sat down, a maid ran over and called out to Fan Yuxiu, “Young Lady, many more ladies have arrived in our mansion. Young Lady Zheng Wen and Young Lady Chu Qiong are both here. The ladies and the third and fourth young ladies are all busy. Young Lady, won’t you go and help?”

Fan Yuxiu pursed her lips and replied, “My mother sent me out. She said that if I treated guests this way, I would eventually offend them all, so she forbade me to come out.”

The maid understood and quickly bowed to Fan Yuxiu before running off. After the maid had left, Fan Yuxiu turned and complained to Jiang Mi again, “And Elder Brother Yufeng, too. He clearly told me to send for him if you came. But when I did, he said His Majesty had some urgent instructions and couldn’t spare any time to play! What a jerk!”

Although Fan Yuxiu tried desperately to bring Jiang Mi and Fan Yufeng together, Jiang Mi, a young, uninitiated young lady, had no feelings for any man. No! There was one man she had an impression of! And it was a deeply moving one! He was Cui Zi Xuan, the incredibly handsome man who had schemed to deceive so many of Shu’s families’ daughters!

Because she had no feelings for Fan Yufeng, Jiang Mi smiled and let Fan Yuxiu grumble. After the two of them chatted for a while, a commotion came from not far away. It seemed that Zheng Wen and the other ladies had arrived.

At this point, Fan Yuxiu had completely considered herself a guest. After a while of nonsense, she looked at the very young Jiang Mi, her face serene and calm as water, facing the sunlight, and was stunned.

Jiang Mi looked up, caught her gaze, blinked, and asked, “Yuxiu, what are you looking at?”

“Nothing!” Fan Yuxiu shook her head and said with a grin, “I don’t know why, but just now, seeing you in the sunlight, especially that look in your eyes, it felt a bit like my father at a certain time. Well, that calm, wise feeling.” Of course, everyone in Shu Capital knew that Princess Yihua had only been taking classes for a little over a year. If anyone had said Princess Yihua was wise, everyone in Shu Capital would have burst out laughing.

Hearing Fan Yuxiu ‘s answer, Jiang Mi also laughed.

Just as the two little daughters were talking nonsense to each other, not far away, Zheng Wen shook off the crowd and slowly walked towards the garden.

As the empress’ birthday approached, Zheng Wen, despite having made up her mind, felt a sense of unease.

This unease made her impatient to play and laugh with the other ladies as usual. The garden was quite quiet, and before she knew it, Zheng Wen had wandered into a bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest was tranquil, and the late autumn sunlight shone through it, imbuing even the waters of the nearby pond with a certain elegance.

Zheng Wen sighed deeply and found a place to sit on a stone behind the pavilion.

But just as Zheng Wen sat down, she suddenly heard the clear voice of Young Lady Fan Yuxiu, the heiress of the third house in Fan Mansion, from above the pavilion. “Oh, Ah’Mi, you just said Young Lady Niu would become Prince Kang’s Consort. Now that I think about it, I suddenly feel so sorry for Young Lady Zheng Wen. Actually, this Young Lady Zheng is quite right.”

What? Niu Ziyu would become Prince Kang’s Consort?

Zheng Wen’s face changed drastically!

Instantly, Zheng Wen took a deep breath, leaned against the wall, and listened more intently.

At that moment, the voice of Princess Yihua, a woman Zheng Wen had a deep impression of, reached the pavilion. This young lady, newly arrived in Shu Capital, seemed to lack confidence, her voice always soft. “Actually, I don’t quite understand Young Lady Zheng’s thinking… Her mother gave her so much dowry; was she just going to give it all away for the title of Consort of Prince Kang? But with the power of the Zheng family, she could have done nothing to become Consort of Prince Kang.”

Hearing this, Zheng Wen’s lips moved, but after a moment, she pursed them tightly, listening to the conversation in silence.

Above, Fan Yuxiu called out what Zheng Wen was about to say: “Who said Zheng Wen wants to be Consort to Prince Kang? Of course she wants to be the Empress!”

“But,” Jiang Mi said, her voice growing increasingly confused. “Wu Yi and her family’s parents are all civil servants in the court, and they themselves are well educated. People like them are the most sensitive to court affairs. They are now courting Young Lady Niu instead of Zheng Wen, and Wu Yi even said, ‘Her Imperial Highness the Empress prefers Young Lady Niu to be Prince Kang’s Principal Consort.’ This clearly shows that the Empress and Prince Kang have already made their decision!”