Ambush
Nie Shuang had planned to continue berating Chen Yuelan a little more, but her rival had already fled in tears. Turning her attention to the group of noblewomen, she smiled warmly and engaged in light conversation. After all, socializing wasn’t difficult—anyone could do it. Hah! Why would she need someone like Chen Yuelan to teach her? Just thinking about it made her even more annoyed at the General.
Before long, everyone began taking their seats. Nie Shuang spotted her husband standing tall and commanding attention among the crowd. He was looking at her. As she excused herself from the conversation, Song Qilin took long strides toward her, grasped her hand, and led her to the table as if he were picking up a child from their first day of kindergarten. He then seated her beside him.
Since he was still young, despite his status as a General, he was still a third-ranked official, so their seats were toward the back. After they were seated, he turned to her and asked,
“How did it go?”
It wouldn’t be wrong to say he’d been keeping an eye on her the whole time. At first, seeing her surrounded by a group of women, including Chen Yuelan, he felt reassured. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but he noticed Chen Yuelan’s troubled expression as she left the group. Did she make Chen Yuelan cry again with her scold? Even he, a man, nearly run crying to his mother after hearing her sharp words.
“It was fine,”
Nie Shuang replied nonchalantly, her face relaxed. Seeing her demeanor, he felt that she was annoyingly cute—if they weren’t surrounded by so many people, he would have been tempted to kiss her right then and there.
The Empress Dowager entered, accompanied by the Emperor and the Empress, prompting all the officials and their families to bow in respect. Once they were seated, the banquet began. Some of the senior officials had brought gifts they had not registered at the entrance and waited to present them personally. Most of them were valuable items. The atmosphere between the givers and receivers was jubilant.
Nie Shuang stifled a yawn, wondering when the food would arrive. She was curious to see how the palace kitchen’s skills compared to Michelin-starred chefs in the modern world. Noticing her boredom, Song Qilin leaned in and whispered, introducing the royal consorts, princesses, and princes to her. She half-listened, nodding politely to avoid disappointing him, though in truth, she couldn’t care less about these people—they didn’t matter to her life in the slightest.
After the last official presented their gift, the young misses, mostly the descendants from the Empress Dowager’s side, began to perform. They played instruments, sang, and painted, all under the guise of offering blessings, though it was clear they were showing off to potential suitors! Nie Shuang had drunk too much tea and now really needed to use the restroom, so she leaned over and whispered to Song Qilin.
He signaled a nearby palace maid, who came to escort Nie Shuang. Leaving the lively banquet hall, Nie Shuang followed the maid to a secluded area. Once finished, she exited, only to find the maid had disappeared. Nie Shuang began walking back along the same path.
Along the way, a woman in a blue dress suddenly darted out from behind some bushes, stifling her laughter as she glanced back. The distant sounds of maids chasing after her grew louder. The woman, smiling mischievously, hurried toward the banquet hall ahead.
Suddenly, a man emerged from the side of the path and grabbed the woman, covering her mouth and dragging her into the bushes. Nie Shuang glanced around and, seeing no one nearby, decided to rush in to help the woman.
Luckily, Nie Shuang had taken judo classes in university. While she wasn’t skilled enough for competition, she knew how to defend herself. She followed them into the bushes and grabbed the man, who was hugging the woman. She threw him to the ground, pinned his back with her knee, and twisted his arm into a lock, ready to break it.
"Who are you, daring to commit such a crime within the royal grounds!? The royal guards will be here soon, and then you’ll be spending the night in a royal prison."
Nie Shuang threatened, though in truth, she hadn’t seen any guards nearby. The woman who had just been attacked stood trembling nearby, eyes wide with shock, but quickly gathered her senses and shouted for help.
"Someone come here!"
Within moments, palace maids and eunuchs arrived, surrounding them. The woman ordered the eunuchs to apprehend the man.
"Wait! Please, spare me. This is all a misunderstanding. I wasn’t trying to harm her; we had an arrangement," the man pleaded with Nie Shuang.
"An arrangement with whom!?"
The woman demanded loudly.
"With you, of course! Nie Shuang. Why are you turning on me now? Pretending you don’t know me in a moment of crisis—it’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?"
Nie Shuang was stunned, as was the woman beside her. After a long pause, the woman ordered the eunuchs,
"Detain him for now. After the banquet, we will interrogate him."
Once the man was taken away, the palace maids quickly adjusted the woman’s blue clothes and hair. As they worked, the woman turned to Nie Shuang and said,
"Thank you so much for coming to my aid. Who knows what would have happened to me otherwise?"
"No need to thank me. How could I not help someone in trouble? Besides, if not for me, you wouldn’t have been caught up in this."
"What do you mean by that?" The woman asked, confused.
"I am Nie Shuang."
Upon hearing this, the woman immediately understood. She herself had been wearing a blue dress. It seemed that someone had planned to ruin Nie Shuang’s reputation by having an attacker wait for a woman in a blue dress. The woman had simply been unlucky, passing by at the wrong time in the same color attire.
"I see. Even so, I still owe you my thanks. I am Princess An Le. Earlier, I was playing a game with my maids, trying to lure them into searching for me while I planned to reappear at the banquet to surprise them. Who would have thought I would end up spoiling such a wicked plot instead?"
Hearing this, Nie Shuang bowed in respect, but An Le quickly helped her up.
"No need for such formalities. You are my savior. If ever you face trouble, come to me. But tell me, I don’t recall seeing you before. You are..."
"I recently married General Song."
Princess An Le smiled widely.
"I’ve heard many things about you, all of them unfavorable. But now that I’ve met you in person, I see those rumors are baseless,"
Princess An Le said bluntly, making Nie Shuang smile.
"Those rumors don’t bother me. Whatever people think of me, it’s not my problem."
Hearing such straightforward words, the mischievous princess admired her even more, especially after witnessing her impressive judo throw earlier. Seizing the moment, she offered her friendship.
"Sister Nie Shuang, you’ve made people see you in a new light. If you don’t mind, could you accept me as your younger sister?"Nie Shuang looked at the eager face of the princess and felt a bit troubled. She truly had no desire to get involved with anyone in the palace...