roccoschili Chapter 324 Adding fuel to the fire
Chapter 324 Adding fuel to the fire
Half an hour had passed since the auspicious time, and Her Highness the Princess finally arrived late.
Upon hearing the news, the people in the courtyard displayed various expressions, which were then carefully concealed.
The Duchess of Qi instructed the actors to leave the stage, and the crowd went to greet them.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
"Get up quickly," Li Zhilan said, rubbing her forehead and looking tired. "I really have a headache today, which is why I'm a little late."
Everyone naturally chimed in with their own opinions, saying that Your Highness should take care of your health, and no one dared to blame anyone.
Having done his act, Li Zhilan lowered his hand, walked forward with an arrogant expression, and sat in the main seat.
She glanced around casually before fixing her gaze on Shen Fuhan.
After he refused to come to her residence twice, she never summoned him again.
Even if she were to enter the palace, she would deliberately avoid it.
As the eldest princess, she naturally had pride and would simply refuse to see him.
So she and Shen Fuhan haven't seen each other for over a month.
She originally intended to take this opportunity to mock him, but after not seeing him for so long, she couldn't help but be somewhat amazed when she saw him again.
Tall and elegant, with sharply defined eyebrows and bright, star-like eyes, he possessed a captivating charm despite his aloof and indifferent demeanor.
Li Zhilan admitted that she couldn't let go of Shen Fuhan, and even for the sake of his face, she could forgive his disrespect.
So the sarcastic remarks turned into pleasantries.
"It's been a long time since I've seen Lord Shen, and..." She feigned nonchalance, but when she glanced at Wen Jiayue beside her, her voice suddenly changed, "Madam Shen."
She then realized that they were wearing the same color clothes, and even the hems of their clothes were embroidered with twin lotus flowers!
She gripped the armrest of the chair tightly. Wen Jiayue knew she would come here, yet she still dared to do something that would arouse jealousy!
What? After twice blocking Shen Fuhan from coming to the princess's residence, is it not enough that you want to give her a hard time this time?
What a foolish dream!
“What the Princess says is true; it has been more than a month since we last met,” Shen Fuhan said, bowing respectfully.
Wen Jiayue also curtsied once again.
Li Zhilan stared at her gentle face and chuckled.
"I remember that Madam Shen is now a fourth-rank Lady Gong. Why isn't she wearing her official robes today?"
Wen Jiayue replied respectfully, "Your Highness, today is Miss Pei's coming-of-age ceremony, and I do not wish to overshadow her."
Li Zhilan said calmly, "In my opinion, you and Lord Shen dressed like this today, which is actually overshadowing the host."
Wen Jiayue knew what Li Zhilan was thinking; she was simply encouraging Shen Fuhan to dress like that so that she could pin all the blame on her.
But instead of defending herself, she added fuel to the fire, saying, "This humble woman dares not accept such praise... Is it because the color is too bright? This humble woman simply thought the color was exceptionally beautiful, which is why I had Jinfu Pavilion make it."
She looked innocent and shy, and Li Zhilan wanted nothing more than to tear her apart.
That bitch, she definitely did it on purpose!
After taking a deep breath, Li Zhilan spoke calmly, "It is indeed very good. I will have the Imperial Palace make one for you as well."
After saying that, she ignored Wen Jiayue and started exchanging pleasantries with the others.
Wen Jiayue watched as Li Zhilan's expression changed from calm to anger before she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon meeting her, she knew that the poisoning was almost certain.
After a short while, the coming-of-age ceremony finally began.
With everyone present as witnesses, Pei Shijing underwent her third hairpin ceremony, which was then completed.
After the ceremony, it was past noon, and everyone went to the hall for a meal.
Wen Jiayue glanced outside worriedly and whispered, "Niannian hasn't come back yet. Shall I go out and check?"
Shen Fuhan shook his head: "No need, they know what they're doing."
Since even the eldest brother wasn't worried, Wen Jiayue didn't ask any more questions.
Shen Fuhan said in a low voice, "If the Princess makes things difficult for you, have Ruyi come to me."
Male guests and female guests do not sit together when dining, and he is about to go over there.
Wen Jiayue replied, "Okay, husband, go quickly."
The couple's oblivious behavior was extremely irritating to Li Zhilan.
After Shen Fuhan left, she smiled and said, "Madam Shen, please sit next to me."
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wen Jiayue was not worried about her doing anything bad, but she was worried about Zhaozhao.
So she agreed and prepared to hand Zhaozhao over to Ruyi so that she could take her to Shen Fuhan.
Li Zhilan stopped her, saying, "I haven't seen Zhaozhao for a long time either. Let me hug her."
Wen Jiayue pursed her lips, pondering how to refuse, when Wen Ruohuan suddenly snatched Zhaozhao from her hands and walked towards Li Zhilan.
"Your Highness, I am Wen Ruohuan, the wife of the Marquis of Jing'an."
Li Zhilan frowned almost imperceptibly. What was Wen Ruohuan doing here?
She didn't want to have much contact with her, otherwise, if things were to come to light later, she wouldn't be able to exonerate herself.
But not wanting to anger Wen Ruohuan, he could only smile faintly and accept the child.
Wen Jiayue quickly stepped forward, fearing that something might happen to Zhaozhao.
In the blink of an eye, three people appeared. Before Zhao Zhao could react, she could already smell a pungent fragrance.
She sneezed three times in a row, groaned uncomfortably, her eyes filled with tears, and looked at her mother with a wronged expression.
Wen Jiayue knew her daughter was unwell, but she couldn't bring her back immediately. She waited until her daughter started crying before she could speak.
"Wow--"
As expected, Zhao Zhao soon burst into tears.
Wen Jiayue quickly spoke up: "Your Highness, Zhaozhao must want to change her clothes. It would be bad if she got them on you. Why don't you leave them to me?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhilan immediately showed his disgust and returned the child to Wen Jiayue.
She cried last time, and she's crying again this time. It seems she's not meant to be with this child.
Once Wen Jiayue is dealt with, it'll be easy to kill this child as well.
Despite the malice in her heart, her face grew increasingly kind.
"Zhao Zhao is so adorable, I don't want to let go of her."
Wen Jiayue smiled but didn't reply.
Wen Ruohuan quickly replied, "Your Highness is right. Sometimes, I don't want to let go of my little niece when I'm holding her."
Li Zhilan glanced at her and said indifferently, "Is that so?"
She gritted her teeth inwardly, thinking how clever Wen Ruohuan was to keep talking to her and getting close to her, while she was completely helpless.
If Wen Jiayue hadn't only been close to Wen Ruohuan and hadn't been someone she could bribe, why would she have chosen her?
Just as she was pondering how to get rid of her without angering her, Wen Ruohuan suddenly said, "Forgive my rudeness, I need to change my clothes and will accompany the Princess to catch up later."
Li Zhilan raised her eyebrows slightly, and saw her gesture for her to leave as well.
How dare they order her around!
Li Zhilan was not someone to be trifled with, so he remained seated.
Wen Ruohuan didn't move at all.
Wen Jiayue decided to lend her a hand and asked in confusion, "Huan'er, why aren't you leaving?"
Wen Ruohuan was overjoyed upon hearing this, and innocently replied, "Without the Princess's orders, I dare not leave."
After weighing the options, Li Zhilan stood up angrily.
She worried that if the stalemate continued, Wen Ruohuan, that idiot, would use other things to blackmail her.
"Perfect timing, I also need to go there. Miss Wen, please lead the way."