Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 192: Enemy
Around noon, on the busy Xuanwumen Street, there was an elegant-looking two-story teahouse with no customers. It had been guarded by a group of guards early on.
As time went by, horse-drawn carriages or sedan chairs gathered here from all directions. Young girls in gorgeous clothes, wearing veils or revealing their true faces, got out of the carriages or sedan chairs, some with their maids, some going up the stairs by themselves.
Soon, bursts of laughter came from the second floor. Although there were many passers-by on the street who came to watch the fun, they saw the bamboo curtains on the second floor and the guards in front of the building, which clearly showed the atmosphere of wealth and nobility. Ordinary people would just take a few glances and leave. Therefore, when the last carriage arrived, two girls with similar dresses but different temperaments got off the carriage and then went upstairs one after another, they attracted little attention.
But when they went upstairs, the girls who had been chattering suddenly became quiet. Zhu Ying, who was talking to someone, raised her eyebrows and stood up angrily, asking, "What are you doing here? I didn't invite you!"
"If I hadn't come, who knows if you would have sold my second sister?" Princess Yongping sneered. Princess Deyang behind her hurriedly whispered, "Third sister, Yingying just kindly asked me to come out and relax..."
"At a time like this, your father has agreed that you can go out of the palace alone to relax, but if the empress dowager and mother find out, you will definitely be scolded, and even your mother will be blamed. I'll send you here together, so that there will be one more person to share the scolding." Princess Yongping said as she strode forward and sat down opposite Zhu Ying.
When she and Princess Deyang appeared , the girls from other families stood up to greet them. However, after Princess Yongping made a sarcastic remark, Zhu Ying was so angry that she sat down directly. Seeing that this annoying enemy had taken the place of host, she slammed the table and said angrily, "Okay, today, regardless of status, she is an uninvited guest, you all sit down too, why are you being polite!"
"Today, all guests are invited by Yingying. We only care about friendship, not status!" Princess Deyang was originally a shy person. She hurried to smooth things over. "Third sister was worried about me, so she sent me here. Eunuch Chu will come to pick her up to Yuehua Tower in a while."
As soon as the three words Yuehua Tower came out, everyone suddenly realized what was going on. It turned out that the Yuehua Tower literary gathering of this princess was about to begin again! When others thought that Princess Yongping would be leaving soon, they naturally breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhu Ying raised her eyebrows and asked in a very unpleasant way, "It seems that more than a month has passed since the last time? When did you become so passive in your eight-part essay gathering?"
Princess Yongping didn't even raise an eyebrow at this pointed question: "Of course, an article needs to be brewed with emotions and carefully crafted. Besides, last time Xu Fengyang was ridiculed by your Zhang Shou, he was embarrassed. The literary selection committee in the capital was in chaos for a while. If I invite him to judge again, it will inevitably be below standard. I stopped for a month, that's all."
Zhu Ying, who was about to make a sarcastic remark, felt as if she had drunk a glass of ice water in summer when she heard the words "your Zhang Shou". She was too lazy to argue with Princess Yongping. Meanwhile, Liu Qing, who had already decided on her lifelong event, immediately brought up a new topic. With Princess Deyang's efforts but somewhat clumsy support, the other girls naturally gathered around her.
Needless to say, they can't afford to offend either side. If that's the case, then at least avoid them!
Seeing the girls laughingly discussing their daily fun stories on the other side, from the kitchen, rouge, needlework to brothers and sisters at home, Princess Yongping, who was not used to this atmosphere, finally couldn't help but stand up and walked to the window with bamboo curtains. She looked out and asked without turning her head, "You have been attending banquets everywhere these days for no reason. What's the matter?"
"What do you care about me?" Zhu Ying came behind Princess Yongping in a bad mood and said in a bad tone, "I haven't asked you yet! What happened before couldn't be such a coincidence, you did it, right?"
Even though Zhu Ying didn't point it out, Princess Yongping's face suddenly changed. She turned around quickly and saw Liu Qing and Princess Deyang talking about something funny. The girls were laughing so hard that they didn't care about them at all. She glared at Zhu Ying angrily and said, "Do you have a brain? How dare you bring up such a thing?"
"Since you dare to do it, why should I not dare to say anything? You acted on your own and almost hurt someone badly. Do you know that?"
Seeing Zhu Ying's aggressiveness, Princess Yongping naturally responded sharply: "How could I know you were so bold? If the Lu and Liu families hadn't come out and admitted that they were the ones who arranged the match, do you think you could have gotten away with it? Besides, if it weren't for the audacity of Lu Sanpang, my second brother would at most have lost his temper in the street, and then he would have been caught by my eldest brother and scared away, and it wouldn't have become such a big deal!"
"Oh, calling me big brother or second brother one after another sounds really nice!"
Both of them lowered their voices unconsciously, and when they glared at each other, it was a fierce look against murderous intent, as if the argument would turn into a fight in the next moment. However, now was not the time when they were still children. After glaring at each other for a long time, Princess Yongping was the first to look away in annoyance, but said sternly: "I warn you, don't be too self-righteous!"
"You don't need to nag me." Zhu Ying sneered and said nonchalantly, "I know my own worth, so when the incident with Fatty Lu happened, I immediately went to the palace to tell the emperor. I also informed the emperor about the current situation, and the emperor said that if it really works, it means I have good vision, so I can just go for it!"
Princess Yongping couldn't believe her ears. Her father actually allowed Zhu Ying to act so recklessly! Even she, the emperor's biological daughter, had to abide by a lot of messy formalities. Why could Zhu Ying, the Duke of Zhao, ignore all kinds of rules and act recklessly?
Seeing Princess Yongping's face full of indignation, Zhu Ying sneered again: "I dare to tell the emperor about this, what about you?"
Princess Yongping was immediately shocked and angry. When her father heard about Zhu Ying's matchmaking, he naturally regarded it as a joke and laughed it off. How could he tell her about her own plans? Although her father doted on her mother and loved her the most, if he knew that she was plotting against her two brothers behind her back, he would definitely not forgive her!
Seeing Princess Yongping was speechless, Zhu Ying said smugly, "So, if I follow my previous idea, it's just a prank on your two brothers. At most, they will have a fight, and then there will be a big fuss, which will make the Queen angry and embarrassed. But you are fanning the flames now. Once the Queen Mother or the Emperor finds out... Haha, you still have the nerve to say that I am self-righteous?"
Princess Yongping gnashed her teeth, but could only swallow her anger and say, "I didn't expect that one of them would be so calculating and the other would be so impulsive... I just passed on this news to my elder brother..."
"Okay, I'm too lazy to talk about the past!" Zhu Ying interrupted Princess Yongping unhappily, and then gave the order to leave indifferently, "Aren't you going to Yuehua Tower? You go there and be your talented and noble lady, and I'll be my unreasonable and overbearing lady here. We don't interfere with each other! As long as you don't plot against Ah Shou and my family, I don't care what you do!"
Although she knew that Zhu Ying was a soft-hearted person with a hard mouth, and had never complained to the Queen Mother or the Emperor about quarrels or other conflicts with her, Princess Yongping could not help but feel annoyed when Zhu Ying spoke so harshly. But she knew that it was useless to deny that she had anything to do with the incident, because the person who knew her best was indeed her mortal enemy.
She turned around with a gloomy face, but just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard Zhu Ying's surprised and happy voice behind her: "A Shou!"
Princess Yongping was slightly startled, and turned her head to see that Zhu Ying had already opened the bamboo curtain a big gap, and was leaning out of the gap, smiling and waving at the downstairs. Thinking that if she left at this moment, she would probably run into Zhang Shou as soon as she went out, she simply stopped and turned around to stand behind Zhu Ying.
Looking down from above, she saw Zhang Shou riding on his horse, looking up and smiling to greet Zhu Ying. Although it was a very simple dark grey outfit, it only highlighted his upright figure. Even though he raised his hands to shield his eyes from the blazing midday sun, the sincere smile still overflowed from his eyebrows and mouth.
"Yingying, what a coincidence? Are you inviting people to a party here?"
Even though Princess Yongping has always believed that those who have passed the imperial examinations are the pillars of the country, although Zhang Shou seems to have been promoted again and again, his foundation is not stable and he may not be able to go far in the future. She even sneers at those who say behind their backs that Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying are a perfect match. But at this moment, seeing the two of them talking as if no one is around, she still feels uncomfortable.
Even though she was never a person who admired beauty more than talent, she had to admit that Zhang Shou, apart from his Pan An-like appearance, had a different kind of talent from others. And such a talented young man with a deep mind, actually liked Zhu Ying, who was like an embroidered pillow and a bag of grass, just like those frivolous young men who only loved the appearance.
Although she had never admired any man, there were many noble sons who tried their best to show their affection to her. She felt that she could tell whether they were sincere or not. Zhu Ying had been pampered by her father, brothers, elders, the empress dowager and the emperor since she was born. Now she could meet such a perfect husband... her luck was too good!
Although she didn't know how envious and jealous Princess Yongping was behind her, even if she knew, Zhu Ying would still say nonchalantly, I'm just luckier than you, so what! At this moment, she smiled and leaned on the railing and said to Zhang Shou: "Yes, I have invited a group of sisters to have tea here. The Yangzhou tea here is famous! Where are you from?"
Zhang Shou immediately noticed the pair of prying eyes behind the gap in the bamboo curtain, and said nonchalantly, "I just took Zhang Chen, Lu Sanlang, and your second brother and seven or eight other people to Tingyu Cottage to finalize something."
