Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 456: Chapter 456 Equivalent Value_1

The messenger that Prince of Pingjun sent back was ’invited’ by Meng Zhuqing to have tea, so no one at the Pingjun Prince’s Mansion was forewarned; they were somewhat baffled to see An Jing and her large group appear.

However, several daughters-in-law of the Prince of Pingjun were aware that he intended to present red coral to the Emperor of Xiyun today, and they also understood his motives. Seeing An Jing and the others entering the mansion with smiles, claiming they came to visit the sick Linghe, these daughters-in-law immediately assumed that the matter had been settled and that they were there to congratulate Linghe, which made each of them very happy.

Normally, these daughters-in-law of hers were quite astute—how could they be so oblivious to her mood today...

Watching her especially delighted daughters-in-law, the Princess of Pingjun’s smile was already uglier than crying, and now it was even worse.

An Jing and the Princesses and ladies who had come to watch the spectacle were all wearing appropriately polite smiles, but inside, they were roaring with laughter. They found the ignorance of their own embarrassment hilarious.

”Princess, please rest for a moment, I will have Linghe called over immediately,” said the Pingjun Princess as soon as they entered the main hall, her tone respectful.

She realized that the people her husband had dispatched hadn’t returned home to report on the events of the birthday banquet, which explained the behavior of her several daughters-in-law.

And the reason she said this was to inform Linghe about the embarrassment at the birthday banquet while someone was calling for her, hoping to prevent Linghe from making an even bigger fool of herself and bringing further shame to their Duke Mansion.

An Jing, being extremely clever, immediately figured out what the Pingjun Princess was up to after hearing her words.

But it was their mistake to covet her husband, Xiao Changyi, and to repeatedly scheme against him. The problem was also that they intended to push him into a match without considering his feelings.

She was determined not to let this matter rest!

Therefore, as soon as the Pingjun Princess finished speaking, An Jing smiled and said, ”The Commandery Princess is ill; naturally, we should visit her in her room. We cannot expect a sick person to come see us here.”

Without waiting for the Pingjun Princess to respond, An Jing turned to the Princesses and ladies-in-waiting who had accompanied her and asked, ”Ladies, don’t you agree?”

Since those who had come were there to gawk, and since they had dared to come, clearly they were not afraid of offending the Pingjun Prince’s Mansion or Consort Yu. Seeing An Jing ask them, they immediately nodded in agreement, ”What the Princess said is absolutely correct.”

Only then did An Jing look back at the Pingjun Princess, ”Where is Linghe’s room? May the Pingjun Princess please lead the way.”

”Not at all, not at all,” stammered the Pingjun Princess, seething inside and clenching her teeth tightly, yet still forced to deal politely with them. These people had come to the Duke Mansion with the Emperor of Xiyun’s approval. If she dared to be disrespectful, that would be an act of disrespect towards the Emperor of Xiyun himself.

With no choice left, the Pingjun Princess steeled herself to lead An Jing and her entourage to Linghe’s boudoir.

Linghe was genuinely sick, having taken two ice-water baths and caught a chill. At this moment, she lay weakly on her bed, her eyes lifeless, but her cheeks were flushed with fever.

Being sick was truly unpleasant.

Yet, because she harbored hope, believing that her father would surely please the Emperor of Xiyun with the red coral today and that the Emperor, pleased, might very well agree to make her a consort to Changyi, she felt the discomfort of illness was worth it as long as she could become a consort to the King of Eternal Victory.

It was well worth it.

Feeling lightheaded, Linghe simply closed her eyes, planning to sleep it off and hoping that by the time she awoke, her father would have returned, perhaps even with the imperial decree from the Emperor of Xiyun granting her marriage.