On the night of the palace banquet, as the lanterns were lit, the Imperial Garden was already bustling with elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen, their sleeves fragrant and hair adorned.
Noble young ladies gathered in small clusters, chatting and laughing softly, yet their eyes kept drifting toward the entrance—this was the first palace banquet hosted by the Crown Prince since his return to the capital.
Su Yun’er had deliberately worn a light pink gauze dress that flowed like drifting clouds. Leaning delicately among a few close noble friends, she could not hide the pride in her eyes and expression.
“…Sisters, please don’t tease me. His Highness the Second Prince merely shows me extra consideration out of respect for my father.”
Li Yan, the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue, covered her lips with a round fan and laughed:
“Oh, still playing coy? Who doesn’t know that the Second Prince, for your sake, didn’t even spare a kind look at his legitimate elder sister’s coming-of-age ceremony? If you ask me, Yun’er, your gentle and understanding nature is far better than someone who merely holds the title of legitimate daughter but lacks propriety.”
Several other young ladies nearby chimed in, their words subtly praising Su Yun’er while disparaging Su Yaoyao.
Su Yun’er felt flattered inwardly but feigned alarm on the surface: “Sister, please don’t say such things… My elder sister, she… she is just straightforward by nature, not intentionally unkind. When I visited her the other day, she even scolded me for dressing too brightly, saying it was unbecoming of the Marquis’s household.”
The daughter of the Minister of War, Miss Wang, raised an eyebrow. “With her own appearance, she dares to criticize others?”
“Exactly!” Li Yan sneered. “The last time I saw her, she looked sallow and emaciated, wearing a drab gray dress, like a nun who’d escaped from some temple!”
Miss Wang scoffed: “If you ask me, Su Yaoyao is just delusional. The Second Prince clearly favors someone as cultured and reasonable as Sister Yun’er, yet she insists on pushing herself forward. Isn’t she just asking for humiliation?”
Su Yun’er pretended to be angry. “Don’t speak of my sister like that. She is the legitimate daughter and the elder sister. It’s only right for her to scold me…”
Before she could finish, a bold male voice interrupted:
“She dared to scold you?!”
Everyone looked up to see Xiao Qiming dressed in a sapphire-blue brocade robe, his hair tied with a jade crown, his face filled with anger.
“Did Su Yaoyao bully you again?”
“Sister is the legitimate daughter… It’s only right for her to scold me.” Su Yun’er lowered her eyes, looking aggrieved. “But… Sister said I don’t understand propriety and shouldn’t… shouldn’t get too close to Your Highness.”
“How audacious!”
Xiao Qiming was indeed provoked. “Does she have no idea of her own behavior?! A fool who binds her chest and starves herself all day dares to lecture you?!”
Seeing Su Yun’er’s tearful, delicate appearance, his heart softened, and he took her hand:
“Don’t worry. Today, I will make her kneel and kowtow to apologize to you!”
Su Yun’er felt triumphant inside but wore an even more pitiful expression: “Your Highness, please don’t say such things… After all, Sister… Sister is engaged to you… It’s nothing if I suffer a little…”
The more “understanding” she appeared, the more Xiao Qiming’s heart ached for her and the more he despised Su Yaoyao.
“Engagement?” Xiao Qiming pulled Su Yun’er closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“Yun’er, you are the only one in my heart! Once I marry that ugly creature, I will immediately elevate you to a co-wife. I will never let you suffer!”
He spoke as if it were a matter of course, as though it were already set in stone.
As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings fell silent.
A co-wife? Wouldn’t that mean standing on equal footing with the legitimate wife? The Second Prince… wasn’t leaving any face for Su Yaoyao at all.
But Su Yun’er’s heart sank.
A co-wife?
She absolutely refused to share a husband with Su Yaoyao! What she wanted was the position of Second Prince Consort, to make Su Yaoyao disappear completely!
“Your Highness…” she raised her teary eyes, “didn’t you despise my sister the most? Why must you still marry her?”
Xiao Qiming frowned, somewhat impatient:
“It’s all because of Mother Consort! She keeps saying the Grand Tutor’s mansion has disciples all over the court, insisting I marry her! Yun’er, you have no idea how disgusted I feel seeing her sallow face! And that figure of hers—utterly shameless! Not like you at all, naturally beautiful without adornment, delicate and graceful like a willow in the wind—that’s true beauty!”
He spoke through gritted teeth, as if suffering a great injustice.
Su Yun’er’s fingernails dug into her palms, yet she had to maintain a gentle, understanding smile on her face.
Family background… family background again!
Just because her own birth mother was a maid?
No, she would never accept this fate!
She took a deep breath and said softly, “Your Highness, don’t be angry. Today is the palace banquet, we should be happy.”
But in her heart, she had already torn Su Yaoyao to pieces.
Just wait, Su Yaoyao. After today, I will ruin your reputation completely, make the Second Prince nauseated at the very sight of you!
Just then, a faint commotion suddenly arose from the entrance.
It seemed someone was approaching.
First came the sound of a maid gasping, then the crisp clatter of a cup accidentally falling to the ground,
and then… increasingly audible, suppressed exclamations and sharp intakes of breath.
Xiao Qiming frowned impatiently. “What’s going on? All this noise…”
His words abruptly cut off.
Everyone’s gaze involuntarily turned toward the direction of the Imperial Garden entrance.
Under the interwoven light of moonlight and palace lanterns, a graceful figure slowly approached.
The person wore a red ruqun dress, its hem embroidered with scattered silver-thread magnolias that shimmered faintly with each step, as if she were walking on moonlight.
Most striking was her figure.
Her waist was slender, seemingly too delicate to hold, loosely cinched by a brocade belt of the same color, accentuating its willow-like slenderness.
And above… was a breathtakingly full curve. The neckline was cut just right, revealing a stretch of snow-white neck without being revealing, instead exuding a lazy charm.
She wore no elaborate hairstyle, only half-pinning her dark tresses with a mutton-fat white jade hairpin, the remaining hair cascading like a waterfall down to her waist.
Her face was lightly powdered, her lips naturally red without rouge, her brows dark without pencil.
Her skin glowed softly under the palace lanterns, like fine warm jade.
Most captivating were her eyes—clear and bright, the corners slightly upturned, shimmering with a radiant light as she glanced around, carrying a careless yet utterly bewitching allure.
She walked slowly, her steps unhurried, her waist swaying gently, each step seeming to tread upon everyone’s heartstrings.
Wherever she passed, the autumn colors of the entire garden seemed to pale in comparison.
The entire waterside pavilion fell silent.
Everyone was stunned.
This… this is…
“The legitimate daughter of Yongning Marquis Manor, Su Yaoyao, arrives—”
The eunuch’s sharp announcement rang out, like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
“Ah—”
After a brief silence came an even greater uproar.
“That’s… Su Yaoyao?!”
“Heavens, that figure… that appearance…”
“Wasn’t it said she was sallow, thin, and haggard? This… this…”
Countless gazes fixed intently on that figure—shock, admiration, jealousy, and utter disbelief.
The handkerchief in Su Yun’er’s hand was nearly twisted to shreds.
She stared wide-eyed, glaring at the woman approaching step by step, her nails digging deep into her palms.
Impossible… this can’t be!
That good-for-nothing… that good-for-nothing she had trampled underfoot for over a decade… how could this be…
As for Xiao Qiming, he was completely stunned.