After about the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, the scent of wine in the hall grew heavier, and the noise of conversation became more chaotic.
Princess Ming Zhao felt somewhat stifled. She leaned close and said something quietly to Emperor Ming Chong.
Emperor Ming Chong was in the middle of accepting a toast from an elderly minister. Hearing her, he only nodded and reminded her, “Come back early.”
Princess Ming Zhao rose to her feet and, with Cuiguo, quietly withdrew through a side door beside the imperial dais.
The cold wind outside immediately cleared her mind.
She took a deep breath and walked slowly along the corridor.
Behind Linde Hall lay a small courtyard. At this moment, only a few stone lanterns cast dim yellow halos, illuminating the patches of unmelted snow on the ground.
She walked beneath an old plum tree and looked up at the sparse red blossoms on its branches.
Cuiguo followed half a step behind, rubbing her hands and speaking softly, “Princess, it’s cold here. Let’s take a quick look and go back?”
Just as Princess Ming Zhao was about to respond, a series of hurried, somewhat chaotic footsteps came from the far end of the corridor—more than one person.
She did not turn around.
The footsteps quickly approached.
“Well, well—who is it braving the cold to come out here for fresh air?” a mocking voice sounded.
“Oh, so it’s our mad Princess.”
Princess Ming Zhao slowly turned around.
Zheng Yingying stood at the front, surrounded by several maidservants.
She wore a lake-blue brocade dress embroidered with peonies, a white fox fur cloak draped over her shoulders. A silver hair ornament adorned her hair, and her makeup was exquisite—yet the arrogance in her eyes ruined all sense of beauty.
Cui Xueqin stood slightly behind her, wearing an expression of eager anticipation, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Zheng Yingying looked Princess Ming Zhao up and down, then let out a sneer. “What, thirteen years in that backwater Lingyang still didn’t teach you any manners?”
“Dressed like a gaudy peacock showing off its feathers—who are you trying to impress? Don’t you even know your place?”
“Elder Sister Zheng, don’t say that,” someone added lightly. “The Princess has been away from Ye City for so long—she’s probably forgotten. The noble ladies here value elegance and restraint.”
“The Princess’s style is certainly bright… but it reminds me of those Western Region dancers I once saw at West Market—just as eye-catching.”
They mocked her as frivolous, laughing softly afterward.
Zheng Yingying stepped forward, stopping a few paces away from Princess Ming Zhao.
Though she was half a head shorter, she lifted her chin arrogantly.
“Mad Princess, have you forgotten what nonsense you spouted at five years old? Accusing my Zheng Family of plotting against you and harming your Imperial Father. And what happened in the end?”
Her voice echoed through the courtyard.
“In the end, you were kicked out like a stray dog by your own dear Imperial Father, sent off to that miserable place Lingyang.”
“Why come back now? To keep spewing nonsense and slandering my Zheng Family’s reputation?”
Princess Ming Zhao looked at her quietly, her face expressionless.
Zheng Yingying grew irritated under that gaze and lashed out without restraint.
“You really think you’re something? Let me tell you, Princess Ming Zhao—without the approval of my Zheng Family, without the silent consent of all those noble lords in that hall, what are you and your father worth?”
“This Princess title was given to you as charity, and you actually think it belongs to you?”
“Bah! Without it, you’d still be playing in the mud somewhere in the countryside!”
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. She waved her hand sharply behind her.
“What are you standing there for? Grab her!”
“Today, I’ll teach this so-called Princess of Lin’an what real rules are—let’s see just how much your lowly bones can endure!”
Two maidservants who looked accustomed to rough work immediately stepped forward, reaching out with coarse hands to seize Princess Ming Zhao’s arms from both sides.
Cuiguo screamed, “How dare you!”
She rushed forward to shield Princess Ming Zhao but was shoved hard by another maidservant.
With a cry, Cuiguo staggered backward, her back slamming heavily against the cold trunk of the plum tree. She groaned and slid to the ground, unable to stand from the pain.
“Cuiguo!” Princess Ming Zhao’s arms were tightly restrained by the two maidservants.
In the courtyard, the dim light of the stone lanterns flickered, casting wavering shadows of the struggle across the snow.
“Look at our noble Princess of Lin’an now—doesn’t she look like a stray dog with its throat being strangled?”
Princess Ming Zhao said nothing.
She tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over Zheng Yingying toward Linde Hall in the distance.
Warm yellow light spilled from the hall, and faintly, the sound of music and instruments could still be heard.
【At this point… the only option is to make this big!】
Since she couldn’t avoid it, she might as well bring everything into the open.
“Zheng Yingying,” she said with a hint of ridicule, “after all these years, your brain is still full of mush.”
Zheng Yingying froze for a moment, then snapped, “Who are you insulting?”
“You.” Princess Ming Zhao lifted her chin, gesturing toward the hall. “Have you thought about how you’ll end this?”
“My Imperial Father may not hold much power right now, but the title ‘Emperor’ still hangs clearly above the Golden Throne Hall.”
“Your Zheng Family may be powerful, but if the charge of publicly assaulting a royal Princess is placed on you—do you think that carries enough weight?”
She even added as if thoughtfully, “What do you think the other families—the Cui Clan, the Wang Family, the Xie Family—will think? Will they admire your Zheng Family’s might, or will they think your reach has grown too long, trying to tear away the last thin veil?”
Zheng Yingying’s expression shifted, but she quickly hardened again.
“Don’t pretend to act concerned here!”
“There are plenty of ways to deal with you. Later, I’ll just say you went mad and attacked first—we were only trying to restrain you out of kindness!”
“Guess who they’ll believe? Me, the legitimate daughter of the Zheng Family—or you, a Princess with a history of madness?”
Princess Ming Zhao looked at her self-satisfied expression and recalled that, in the original story, Zheng Yingying had long harbored feelings for the heir of the Xie Family, Xie Xing.
“I heard you have… rather special feelings for Xie Xing, the heir of the Xie Family?”
Zheng Yingying had not expected her to know this. She had never told anyone—not even her own mother. How did Princess Ming Zhao know?
Princess Ming Zhao continued, “Do you think someone like Xie Xing—refined and gentle—would ever take a liking to a woman who bullies the weak and harbors malicious intent?”
“Shut up!”
Zheng Yingying shrieked, her embarrassment, anger, and the shame of having her hidden feelings exposed all bursting out at once.
Without thinking, she raised her right hand and swung it toward Princess Ming Zhao’s mocking face!
“You wretch—you dare even speak his name!”
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