Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C029

After hearing this, Chen Yueyi could not calm down for a long time.

"I never imagined Wushuang would have a marriage agreement with Prince Wei, I was completely unaware of this."

Zhao Lanzhi said, "Very few people know about this matter. I only learned of it from Minghui."

Chen Yueyi pondered and said, "Elder Sister, I am quite familiar with Wushuang. Now, Commandery Princess Minghui wishes to marry Prince Wei, yet she comes to me asking to see Wushuang. If I were to lead her there, and something were to happen..."

Zhao Lanzhi rebuked, "What are you thinking? What could Minghui possibly do to her? She is merely curious and wishes to meet her, which is why she had me bring her along. Besides, with Minghui's status and so many people present, what could possibly happen to her?"

"But what good would a meeting do? Can she take away someone else's marriage agreement just by seeing them? Elder Sister, it's not that I'm saying anything, but how can Commandery Princess Minghui be like this? Knowing full well that someone has a marriage agreement, she still…"

Zhao Lanzhi quickly interrupted her, "You can say these things in front of me, but you cannot say them outside. Speaking of the marriage agreement, that was many years ago. Moreover, His Majesty may not agree. His Majesty still leans towards Minghui becoming Prince Wei's Princess Consort. After all, the Marquis Changyang's family has such a low status, and their household is not peaceful, not to mention the Empress Dowager."

"But…"

"Alright, it's useless for us to say anything about this matter. If she wants to see her, then let her see her. Today, it just so happened that this incident occurred, so we can use it as an excuse to call her over and satisfy her curiosity. You and I will both be watching from the side, what could possibly happen!"

Chen Yueyi could only say, "Very well then."

***

Upon hearing that Commandery Princess Minghui wished to see her, Wushuang, amidst the many envious gazes in the flower hall, followed Chen Yueyi.

The small flower hall was not far from there; it was reached by passing through a small courtyard.

Upon entering, the noble young ladies each had their own unique charm. Seated at the head was a delicate-looking young lady exuding an aura of nobility. Wushuang was momentarily stunned, discovering that this was an acquaintance.

She was actually the Consort Hui from her previous life.

Only then did Wushuang recall that before Consort Hui married Prince Wei as a Secondary Consort, she was a Commandery Princess, with the title Minghui. And this Commandery Princess Minghui was none other than the current Empress Dowager's own granddaughter.

In her previous life, Wushuang learned of this matter somewhat belatedly. She married before Mei Wuxia, and only several months later did she learn that Mei Wuxia had been betrothed to Prince Wei. At that time, she was shocked beyond words. It was then that Mei Wuxia had suggested she scheme against Zhao Jianzhi, ruining her reputation in his hands, and creating a situation where he would have no choice but to marry her.

As for the marriage agreement with Prince Wei? Since she was in such a state, naturally, she would not have to fulfill it.

In any case, that was what Mei Wuxia had told her at the time, also saying that the family would help her explain to Prince Wei. She had never imagined that the explanation would turn out like this.

It wasn't that the Wushuang of that time didn't want her sisters to be well, but even if she was cowardly, timid, and foolish, she still knew some basic common sense. If there hadn't been a prior cause, the Marquis Changyang's family would never have been able to climb up to a prince's level.

Initially, she thought that Prince Wei had a terrible personality and was resentful of her breaking off the engagement, so he had her elder sister take her place. At that time, she felt extremely guilty towards her eldest sister, feeling that it was all because of her own willfulness and selfishness that her eldest sister had fallen into the hands of Prince Wei, who had a reputation for killing his wives.

At that time, her situation in the Duke Zhao's mansion was very bad, and she was living a difficult life, so she had no energy to care about these matters. After some time, she heard that the Emperor had betrothed Commandery Princess Minghui to Prince Wei as a Secondary Consort.

In truth, these matters were very distant from her at the time. In the meantime, because she felt guilty, she did not dare to step foot into Prince Wei's mansion. The few times she met her eldest sister were all at the Marquis Changyang's mansion. She only knew that her eldest sister was very busy, and it seemed that the Commandery Princess Minghui was not an easy person to deal with, and she was fiercely fighting with her eldest sister.

Later, when Prince Wei ascended the throne as Emperor, her eldest sister was made Empress, and the Secondary Consort Minghui was made Consort Hui. It was not until she had an illicit affair with Ji Yang that she learned from her eldest sister that Consort Hui was the instigator of her current predicament. Of course, the people of the Duke Zhao's mansion also played a role in pushing things along.

Because it was her mother-in-law, Chen shi, who had brought her into the palace at that time.

At that time, she believed it and was very heartbroken, and she hated the Zhao family even more for harming her like this, even if they didn't like her. But not long after, she heard a different story from Consort Hui.

Consort Hui did not deny that she had brought her into the palace to deal with Mei Wuxia, but her eldest sister was not a good person either. She said that Mei Wuxia was able to marry Prince Wei as his Princess Consort with such a lowly status because she had used and schemed against her, this fool.

She said that only if she herself had insisted on pursuing Zhao Jianzhi would the position of Prince Wei's Princess Consort become vacant. She also mocked herself for being a helper, saying that she and the Zhao family were related by marriage, and that the Zhao family was actually secretly colluding with Prince Jin at the time. No matter how hard she pushed, Prince Wei would not marry her as his Princess Consort.

At that time, Prince Wei, in order to avoid the Empress Dowager's forced marriage, had used a substitution tactic, transferring the marriage agreement to Mei Wuxia. It seemed that the Mei family had also done something to make this marriage happen, but Consort Hui did not know the specific details.

Consort Hui only knew that Mei Wuxia had schemed against her, almost causing her to lose her chastity. Her old and new grudges combined, and she was still unwilling to give up on Prince Wei, so she would rather lower her status and marry into Prince Wei's mansion as a Secondary Consort.

***

And at this moment, Wushuang was wondering, had Commandery Princess Minghui met her in her previous life?

No, she had not.

Little did she know that this moment in her previous life remained unchanged. She had still come to Marquis Xuanping's mansion as before. Without her alterations, there would be no Mei Chang and Mei E. Without her changes, Mei Wuxia in her past life would still be the dazzling focal point, following Chen Yueyi and socializing with the noble young ladies.

In her previous life, Mei Wuxia's true face had not been revealed, so naturally, it did not cause discussion among the noble ladies. Without this pretext, Commandery Princess Minghui could not simply demand to see a daughter from a secondary branch of a marquis's family. She merely had someone lead her past, and upon seeing her standing there, humble and timid, Commandery Princess Minghui gave a disdainful smile and left, not considering her an opponent at all.

"Are you the Third Miss of the Mei family?" Commandery Princess Minghui asked, a smile playing on her lips, though her hand beneath her sleeve clenched tightly.

Even if she did not want to admit it, she had to acknowledge that the young girl standing there, neither humble nor arrogant, with her eyes half-lowered, was worthy of the words "national beauty."

Her summer jacket, embroidered with hundreds of butterflies in autumn yellow color, perfectly showcased her snow-like, creamy skin, further accentuating a delicate fragility, as if a single touch would break her precious skin.

Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, her eyes like spring waters, and even with her head only half-raised, she had already astonished everyone.

"She is indeed a charming one. No wonder your elder sister is so jealous of you."

These words somewhat revealed Commandery Princess Minghui's true feelings, but to others, it sounded as if Commandery Princess Minghui was giving Third Miss Mei special attention, feeling that the actions of the Mei family's eldest daughter were excessive.

This caused Mei Wuxia, who was standing to the side, to turn pale instantly, with waves of hatred churning beneath her half-lowered eyelids.

She sneered inwardly: And how are you any better than me? You are nothing but a despicable person coveting what belongs to another. 

She clenched and unclenched her fingers, forcing herself to calm down. At the same time, a plan was forming in her mind. As for whether it would succeed, that depended on whether she would be given the opportunity.

Wushuang only kept her eyes half-lowered and did not speak, which caused Commandery Princess Minghui, who had wanted her to respond and publicly denounce her sister, thus becoming a laughingstock, to feel a sense of disappointment, and also a little bored.

"You may leave," she said, waving her hand, actually treating Wushuang as a servant.

Zhao Lanzhi thought to herself that this was not good, knowing that she had become jealous. But others would not think so. Others would only think that Commandery Princess Minghui was too arrogant. Clearly, she had called the girl over, and now she was making her leave. Although no one would speak up for Wushuang openly, they had already placed her in a lower position privately.

Those who sympathized with Wushuang would only sympathize with her more, and at the same time, they would form an impression of Commandery Princess Minghui as being overbearing and rude. Although these noble ladies all revolved around Commandery Princess Minghui, in reality, each of them had their own ledger, and future interactions would all be recorded in this ledger.

Wushuang left, and Commandery Princess Minghui felt vexed. Seeing the others also annoyed her, so she chased them all away as well.

The group of noble ladies all walked out of the flower hall, feeling somewhat annoyed and having lost face. Upon seeing Wushuang, who was in the same predicament, they immediately called her to join them.

In the flower hall, Zhao Lanzhi felt utterly helpless.

Minghui, having spent many years in the palace, did not know the wickedness of people's hearts and the power of gossip, but that did not mean Zhao Lanzhi did not know. She was pondering what to say to Commandery Princess Minghui, something that could both warn her and comfort her, when a young girl walked in from outside the door.

"Who are you?" Commandery Princess Minghui asked, frowning.

Zhao Lanzhi had already recognized who this girl was. What was she doing here?

"Your Highness, I am Mei Wuxia, the eldest daughter of the Mei family, and also the elder sister of Mei Wushuang…"

***

Today, there were many young masters from various families at Marquis Xuanping's mansion. Usually, Zhao Jianzhi was the main focus of such occasions.

However, due to his aloof personality and disinclination to be the center of attention, he had avoided the crowd and gone to 'Looking at Summer Spring' with a few acquaintances of the same age.

The so-called 'Looking at Summer Spring' was a pavilion located at the highest point of the entire garden, on a rockery made of oddly shaped stones. The stones were Taihu stones, and the pavilion was called 'Looking at Summer Spring.'

The scenery here was excellent. To the east was a pond and waterside pavilion, and to the west was a bamboo forest. This rather large rockery was connected to a row of climbing corridors, and ahead was a large moon gate. Anyone familiar with the layout of the entire garden would know that this rockery divided the rear half of the garden into two.

Whenever the mansion hosted a banquet, the male guests would be on this side, and the female guests would be on the other side.

Zhao Jianzhi was very familiar with 'Looking at Summer Spring' because every time he came to Marquis Xuanping's mansion in his childhood, his cousin Chen Tao would drag him here. In their youth, they were most mischievous, always liking to climb high and look far. When they grew older and knew the difference between men and women, his cousin liked to bring him here to look at the young ladies.

As a result, even after growing up and no longer being so reckless, coming here had become a habit whenever he visited Marquis Xuanping's mansion.

Today, it was not just Chen Tao and Zhao Jianzhi here. There were also several other young men who were close to them. The oldest was no more than twenty, and the youngest was only fifteen this year.

Chen Tao had recently acquired a new toy called a "thousand-mile mirror," which his younger cousin Chen Duan was holding, standing on top of the rockery and looking down.

Several noble young ladies passed by the foot of the mountain, chatting as they walked. Chen Tao listened for a while, his handsome brows lifting. Zhao Jianzhi, sitting beside him, remained unperturbed, sipping his tea.

"What exactly does this Third Miss Mei look like? I've heard her mentioned several times already," Chen Duan said, holding a spyglass, his heart itching with curiosity.

This reminded Zhao Jianzhi of the past. Indeed, they were cousins. Chen Tao had been the same before, only without a spyglass. However, now that Chen Tao was married, he had become much more composed.

"Instead of learning good things, you learn to peek at young ladies! Be careful Fourth Uncle doesn't beat you," Chen Tao said, flicking a peanut at Chen Duan.

Chen Duan quickly dodged, but was still struck on the forehead.

Several young men nearby spoke up for Chen Duan.

"To admire youth and beauty is human nature."

"Fourth Chen, don't lecture your younger brother. Weren't you like this when you were his age?"

It seemed that Zhao Jianzhi was not the only one who knew of Chen Tao's youthful recklessness. Chen Tao spat and cursed, "Go, go, go!"

A series of hurried footsteps sounded.

Before long, a figure appeared at the corner of the mountain corridor, gradually revealing their full form.

It was a servant from the Zhao family.

"Second Young Master, the master requests your presence."

Zhao Jianzhi stood up, said, "I'll take my leave," and departed with the servant.

***

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Jianzhi appeared at the Qushui Tower.

This Qushui Tower was built by the water, facing the Yuebi Tower across the way. Both buildings were constructed by the water's edge, with three bays wide, no walls to the north or south, and sixteen sets of begonia-cross latticed floor-to-ceiling windows, the scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

May was the best time for appreciating lotuses. The lotuses on the water had already bloomed, faintly emitting a delicate fragrance. Koi carp swam in the pond, red, white, and patterned, full of vitality.

Zhao Jianzhi and several other talented young men sat in the hall. Each had a cup of tea placed on the flower stand beside them, a gift from Prince Wei. They had been sitting here for half an hour, and had yet to see Prince Wei himself.

Yet, who dared to question the dignified Prince Wei? They could only continue to sit there, bored.