Chapter 217 - A Scheme, the Banquet Held by Princess Royal
Reborn: Femme Fatale First Daughter
Mo Xuetong got up late in the morning and could still feel the pain in her head. She leaned on a cushion but couldnât recall when she fell asleep last night. The quilt was placed meticulously on her without any sign of wrinkles. Could it be Feng Yuran...
How could he be such a caring person? Mo Xuetong laughed at her own guess.
Hearing her getting up, Mo Lan pulled up the curtain and tucked it behind the hooks aside, which was decorated with jade-like stone. âDo you want to get up?â Mo Ye held the wash supplies.
Mo Xuetong held Mo Lanâs hand and got up. At ordinary times, Mo Yu was always the first one appearing by her bedside. âWhere is Mo Yu?â
Mo Lan burst into a laugh. âMiss, donât look for her now. Yesterday she tried to get me drunk, but she drank even more herself. She was still drunk and hasnât wakened up.â Last night, Mo Yu urged them to drink, but she couldnât drink too much herself. Therefore, she also got herself drunk and hadnât wakened up until now.
Mo Xuetong heard the words and also smiled brightly.
Mo Lan helped Mo Xuetong to the dressing table and said smilingly, âMiss, please get up quickly. Donât forget we have to go to Princess Royalâs manor. It wonât be good to be late.â
Mo Xuetong was blank for a while before she remembered there was such a thing indeed. Days ago, Princess Royal especially left a message to invite her. Now, she recounted and found the date was today.
Mo Ye, who was making the bed, suddenly asked, âMiss, whatâs this? Itâs so beautiful!â She took out a pair of hairpins under the pillow. There seemed to be nature flowing on the light green hairpins. And the jade tassels behind were inlaid with white pearls. On top of it, they were inlaid with several red diamonds which were placed among the green color. It looked so beautiful!
Those sword-shaped hairpins were changed into this?
Mo Xuetong hesitated for a while and recognized that those were the ones they got last time when she went out with Feng Yuran. Then she somehow felt that the hairpins were too conspicuous and she couldnât let anyone find that she had the pair of hairpins. So she asked Feng Yuran to help to change and decorate them.
However, against her expectation, he made them so beautiful. If she hadnât had a deep impression of the hairpins, she couldnât tell what they used to be like.
The sheath of the sword had been changed into the body of the hairpin, which was more beautiful than before. No one had expected that the sword would get out of the sheath with a little tap on the bloom.
âFrom now on, you can take these hairpins along with you when youâre dealing with the royalty. Itâs necessary to have a weapon to protect yourself. Now I canât always show up by your side, so you must be careful.â By her ears came a lazy voice as if a handsome man were gently fondling her long hair...
Her delicate face instantly turned red. She bit her lips and didnât dare to look at her pink cheeks in the bronze mirror which looked as if they were covered with rouge.
She pretended to be casual and said, âIt was found out at my motherâs place. They were so pretty so I put it away. Take them over and help me put them on.â She said it was her motherâs dowry. These days, Mo Huawen took out the key to the little warehouse and gave it to Mo Xuetong. And Mo Xuetong actually picked something out of it, so it did sound reasonable.
But the flush on her face couldnât be hidden. So she just lowered her head and pretended to fiddle with the pearl ornaments on the table.
Mo Lan looked at Mo Xuetong confusedly, not knowing why she was so bashful.
However, Mo Ye knew about it. The minute she asked, she knew she had done something wrong. Hearing Mo Xuetong explaining like that, she pursed her lips and smiled. Then she put the hairpins at the table and quietly turned around to make the bed. After all, she was happy to see her two masters end up together.
This time Princess Royal didnât hold the banquet at the palace, which was not a good place to hold a banquet. If she held it at the palace, everyone would be constrained and couldnât be themselves. Therefore, she used her own manor instead. Princess Royal spent some time in her own manor every month. It took the carriage from Mo Manor quite a ride to get there because the Princess Royalâs manor was quite far from Mo Manor.
On arriving at the gate of the princessâs manor, Mo Ye got out of the carriage first. Then she instantly turned around to help Mo Xuetong out of the carriage. Mo Xuetongâs feet had just touched the ground when a mocking voice came. âHow come the lord mayor also received my auntâs invitation?â
Mo Xuetong lifted her head and saw Fifth Princess who was surrounded by a lot of people. Today, Fifth Princess was particularly gorgeous. Her dark hair was done in a lofty bun, and there was a splendid golden lotus crown on her head, which was inlaid with star-shaped diamonds. In front of her forehead was a half-arched jade bun. She wore a gorgeous robe and the bangles and pendants clashed around her. She was so glamorous that no one dared to see her directly.
âGreetings to Your Highness.â A gentle smile showed up on Mo Xuetongâs face. She politely walked over and bowed to her as if there were nothing wrong between them.
Fifth Princess smiled politely too, but her words sounded very harsh. âI havenât expected to meet you everywhere I go. It is said that youâre the only miss who can go out at Mo Manor, but youâre almost everywhere.â
Mo Xuetong raised her eyes and smiled. âIâm sorry to have aroused Fifth Princessâs concern. I havenât expected to see your beautiful face everywhere I go. Iâm so lucky.â
Although she didnât want Fifth Princess to be her enemy, she wouldnât let Fifth Princess humiliate Mo Manor like that, as if Mo Huawen asked her to suck up to Princess Royal. Although she didnât explain for herself, her words clearly showed that Fifth Princess went out of the palace for too many times, which was disgraceful.
Mo Xuetong didnât want to argue with Fifth Princess anymore. She wore a bright smile on her face and said, âYour Highness, there is the banquet held by Princess Royal inside. Therefore, I canât stay here for too long and shall get in first!â
Fifth Princess got choked and became angry. She stepped in front of Mo Xuetong to stop her from passing.
âWhy does Her Highness do this? Do you want to drive the guests out for Princess Royal?â Mo Xuetongâs smile was still gentle. âMaybe Princess Royal isnât holding a banquet today. Itâs me who has mistaken it?â She blinked her watery eyes and looked childishly attractive. She looked at Fifth Princess, but her eyes revealed her detachment.
This time couldnât be compared to the last time when Bai Yihao asked her to go there. Last time she didnât dare to speak it out loud in front of Fifth Princess, which might get her jealous.
But Fifth Princess didnât dare to drive the guests out for Princess Royal!
Although as the Empressâs daughter by blood, Fifth Princess knew how much her father cared about Princess Royal. Besides, Princess Royal was an elder to her, thus she couldnât evict her guests out.
Fifth Princessâs face turned cold. She stepped forward and lowered her voice. âYou canât try to win my cousinâs attention. He looks down on you; youâre just a third-grade officialâs daughter. You canât dream of getting Cousinâs attention and becoming the Empress in the Yan Kingdom.â
She did do that for Bai Yihao. Mo Xuetong was still smiling, and she said lightly, âWhy would you think there is a connection between Sir Bai and me? Sir Bai was royalty and will be a perfect match with a royal princess like you. Iâm just an ordinary acquaintance of his. And why would I have any relations with him? Besides, an ordinary girl like me can never think about the respected position of an Empress.â
She didnât want to be involved with Fifth Princess and Bai Yihao. It had nothing to do with her no matter what happened between them. Compared with Feng Yuran, Bai Yihao seemed more dangerous to her, and she would never be stupid enough to let herself trapped in the war between the two countries. Even though he smiled gently and affectionately, he was still that bloodthirsty emperor.
Mo Xuetong would rather believe that it was only his camouflage, which would let down othersâ guard.
In this second life, she would rather believe in the hearts she could see through.
Bai Yihao was definitely cruel and cold-blooded!
Seeing Mo Xuetong speaking like that without hesitation, Fifth Princess was kind of satisfied. She snorted. âYouâre sensible enough.â
At the moment, the guard by the gate declared loudly. âSir Bai is here.â
The noisy place by the gate suddenly turned completely silent. In the sun glows, a man walked out of the carriage. His white clothes flew up in the air and looked very enchanting.
He raised his handsome flawless face which instantly caught everyoneâs attention. Though he was far away from them, he seemed to have brought along elegance, freedom, and easiness as carefree as the clouds in the sky.
He was wearing a light silver cloak which was embroidered with phoenix patterns. Those bright eyes glanced through the crowds. He was so elegant and noble that he didnât seem to belong to this world. The wind blew his hair up and disturbed not only Fifth Princessâs heart. Every miss there obsessively looked at the figure walking out from the light.
Bai Yihao walked out from the carriage and glanced in Mo Xuetongâs direction.
Mo Xuetong hesitated for a moment and took two steps back to hide. Fifth Princess was already hard enough for her to deal with. If the princess noticed that Bai Yihao paid attention to her, she might have to die for it.
Bai Yihao was walking in her direction!
Mo Xuetong lowered her head and looked at the ground. Mo Yu and Mo Ye also politely stood by the side. With their heads lowered, they were not so conspicuous compared with all the maidservants Fifth Princess brought.
Bai Yihao smoothly walked to her, and his cloak with the embroidery of the phoenix motif raised a breeze which chilled peopleâs hearts. âI havenât expected to meet Third Miss Mo here. Iâve ordered someone to send the clothes to you. Have you received it?â
Mo Xuetongâs face turned pale and she tightly held the sleeves in her hands. She obediently stepped back to bow and offered a polite smile on her face. âThank you, Sir Bai. I wore Fifth Princessâs clothes that day and left too hurriedly because I thought it might be inappropriate. Therefore, I left my clothes at your place. Thank you for sending it back to me.â
After her words, she said to the cold-faced Fifth Princess, âI havenât thanked Your Highness for giving me the clothes.â
Seeing her talking politely and indifferently to Bai Yihao and mentioning her help, Fifth Princessâs expression softened. Just when she wanted to speak, Bai Yihao smiled tenderly and gently said, âIt wasnât a big deal and isnât worth mentioning again.â
After those words, he turned to Fifth Princess. âItâs so lucky that youâre here. We should get in together now in case Aunt gets worried because of the long wait.â
Princess Royal Yunruo and Princess Royal Mingzhu used to grow up together before Empress Dowager and had a special relationship. So it was proper for Bai Yihao to use such a close appellation.
Fifth Princess agreed to him happily. âOkay, Aunt just sent someone to urge us and said you were too late. So Iâm here to wait for you.â Then she turned around and glared at Mo Xuetong as if she were threatening. When she turned back, she was chatting and smiling with Bai Yihao with a sweet face when they walked in.
They were closely followed by a big crowd of maidservants and eunuchs. Then those misses, who just collected themselves, started to step forward.
Mo Xuetong didnât move until they all left.
Mo Yu couldnât help murmuring, âMiss, Sir Bai was too...ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Mo Xuetong replied coldly. âMo Yu, donât speak improperly.â Then she knitted her brows a bit.
Even Mo Yu knew itâs improper to talk with her in public, Bai Yihao, who was so smart, must know about it. He knew it inside whereas he still talked like that and even mentioned that thing in front of Fifth Princess. If she were Fifth Princess, she would also be annoyed.
Mo Xuetong definitely wouldnât believe Bai Yihao did it accidentally. A person like him wouldnât let others find a fault with him. The only explanation was that he had another purpose on her. This thought made her chill and her heart wouldnât stop trembling. When faced with Bai Yihao, she didnât think she had any chance to win even if it was in her second life.
Such a person should belong to a totally different world from hers...