An Eight-year-old Princess

Chapter 168 An Incident In The Temporary Imperial Palace (Part One)

Prince Jing turned to look at Yun Shang who was standing by his side, and found Yun Shang had fixed

her eyes upon the withered flower in his hand. Yun Shang looked as if she had expected that. Prince

Jing understood that Yun Shang must have known why the flower in his hand suddenly withered, so he

did not panic at all. He lifted his eyes and found traces of complacency in the Grand Councilor's eyes.

Prince Jing frowned and threw the flower on the ground. He said with an astonishingly cold look,

"Brother, it seems that I shouldn't have touched the flower. The flower was too delicate. How could it be

rated as the best flower in the Flower Show Festival? I think the best flower in our state should be

enduring and stoical." After saying this, Prince Jing took the flower from Yun Shang. As soon as he

held the flower, it also withered. Prince Jing swiveled around to look at Wen Ruyu and inquired, "Lady

Wen, could you tell me why the two flowers withered when I held them? But when Shang'er held it, it Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

was fine."

The Grand Councilor frowned slightly. He didn't expect that Prince Jing would take the flower which

was held by Yun Shang. The Grand Councilor looked at Wen Ruyu who seemed shocked at Prince

Jing's cold face and said, "I think the flowers prefer beautiful ladies to men." While speaking, the Grand

Councilor walked up to Prince Jing and picked up the flower on the ground. He said, "What a pity! Such

a wonderful flower is rare to see."

At the same time, the Grand Councilor noticed an odd smell radiating from Yun Shang and Prince Jing.

So he fixed his eyes upon them.

"Just now the flowers exhibited by Lady Wen were glamorous. Though the flowers withered, we can

still give a fair judgement of their beauty. Later, a stage will be set here and all the flowers exhibited

today will be put on the stage. All the citizens present will receive a leaf that they will place in front of

the flower which they liked the most. Then the voting result will be calculated. Your Excellencies, to

ensure the result is fair, you have to go to another Palace to rest before the result is shared, " said the

Grand Councilor.

After this, several eunuchs guided all the officials and ladies to the Palace. Yun Shang walked near

Prince Jing and whispered, "This is just the start. That flower exhibited by Wen Ruyu will wither once it

is held by a man who wears the robe you are wearing. Your robe is what matters. My robe is made of

the same fabric as yours. But there is nothing wrong with my robe. The Grand Councilor deliberately

prepared robes made of the same fabric lest we suspect that there is something wrong with your robe."

Prince Jing raised his eyebrows and looked bewildered.

As they reached the Palace, some singing and dancing performances were being held. All the men

settled down and watched the performances. The ladies who were all daughters of important court

officials were too shy to sit with the men. So Yun Shang led the ladies to the garden.

The maidservants filled cups with tea for the ladies. Yun Shang took a cup and scanned the ladies.

The ladies had been carefully selected from different places. Their family backgrounds and

appearances were all excellent. But they all looked a bit nervous for this was the first time that they had

seen the Princess of the royal family. Wen Ruyu who was normally cold and indifferent, was restless.

She kept glancing toward the entrance of the garden.

Yun Shang thought for a while and realized something. The Emperor had said that Hua Jing would

come today. But she hadn't seen Hua Jing until now.

Yun Shang beckoned Qian Yin and whispered something in her ear. Qian Yin nodded and withdrew

from the garden. Wen Ruyu noticed Qian Yin's retreat. When she glanced at Yun Shang, she found

Yun Shang looked normal. Just as she was about to leave with an excuse, Yun Shang said, "Do I make

you nervous? You should relax. We are resting. We could talk freely. If you like, I can send my maids to

find something interesting for us to play. We have plenty of time."

Many ladies felt a bit apprehensive because it was the first time they had seen the royal Princess. They

had heard that Princesses were haughty and bad-tempered. The ladies looked at Yun Shang who

seemed to always smile. They thought to themselves that this Princess was amiable and kind, different

from the sort of Princess they had heard about.

A lady who wanted to attract attention opened her mouth and said, "Your Royal Highness, this is the

first time that we have seen you. Before this, I had only heard your name. There is a legend that when

you were seven or eight years old, our state was struck by a serious drought and you went to Ning'guo

Temple to pray for rain. Finally, it rained. You brought good fortune to the masses."

On hearing this, Yun Shang smiled and covered her mouth before saying, "I haven't heard of such a

legend. You see, I'm just an ordinary person and I have no advantages. Judging from your

performances, I think you are all talented and outstanding."

The ladies were elated at Yun Shang's words. Many of them had participated to attract the Emperor's

attention. The Princess was the Emperor's favorite daughter. If the Princess mentioned one of the

ladies before the Emperor, the Emperor would offer great rewards.

All the ladies knew that. Therefore, a lady hastened to inquire, "Your Highness, which performance did

you like the most?"

Yun Shang raised her eyebrows and looked at Wen Ruyu with admiration, "Just now Lady Wen

conjured two flowers. Her performance was refreshing. My father spoke highly of Lady Wen. He said

that Lady Wen was more beautiful than the flowers."

On hearing this, the other ladies turned to stare at Wen Ruyu with strong resentment. The flowers

conjured by Wen Ruyu were rather ordinary. The highlight of her performance had been the conjuring.

But the Emperor had praised her.