Second Marriage

“The Xiao Family really has the nerve to come here after killing so many soldiers!”

As soon as County Princess Huijing’s face turned cold, she raised her voice in irritation to speak out.

Xiao Youning had expected this would happen when she came into the palace today, not to mention that Huijing was extremely jealous and considered her an enemy. She held her handkerchief in a graceful manner as the palace maid came to greet her with a bow. Xiao Youning smiled and said, “I have troubled this maid in waiting a long time.” She did not acknowledge Huijing’s existence after she caused trouble first.

The palace maid continued to bow upon hearing her words. “Young Miss Xiao is too polite. This maid cannot accept your words.” The palace maid was dressed in a light blue dress and appeared very young.

Although she knew that Xiao Youning was being polite, she was still happy that Xiao Youning spoke highly of her since she was a young maid. The young ladies of other families were forced to smile when the palace maid looked at them.

Xiao Youning smiled with kindness. The palace maid reached out to support her and whispered, “It is proper for the Young Miss to enter the palace, and the Empress will be free at this time.”

“Do all the members of the Xiao Family consider everyone else beneath them? Does the daughter of a guilty official not know how to bow when she sees me, the County Princess?”

Huijing’s voice came through clearly this time. She had anger in her eyes as she glared at Xiao Youning coldly.

Since the situation had come to this point, it was impossible to avoid. Xiao Youning had never been afraid of her. After County Princess Huijing spoke and was waiting for a bow, Xiao Youning just looked at her indifferently. “County Princess, this is the palace, please speak carefully. You say I am the daughter of a guilty official. May I ask where you heard this from? Did His Majesty tell the County Princess himself, or did the County Princess come to this conclusion herself?”

Huijing was shocked by her rhetorical questions.

The Emperor did not actually issue an imperial decree to denounce the Xiao Family as guilty but had sent his people to seal up Marquis Ningyuan’s Residence. She could not say what the Emperor did not say or what he actually meant. Yet, she was slandering an official which was a charge that she could not bear.

Huijing’s face quickly turned black to white. She didn’t think Xiao Youning would block her here. She couldn’t afford to go down in one breath and was trembling all over.

“I believe the County Princess’s eyes do not seem well. As it turns out, her ears are not very acute either. Oh, congratulations to the County Princess on her engagement to Assistant Minister Li’s son. I would like to wish the County Princess and Young Master Li a happy marriage for a hundred years.”

She was acting naturally and flashed her a sweet smile. Although her previous words were not very pleasant, the congratulations she gave showed that she was sincere.

Everyone could see that one was stewing in anger and wanted to fight while the other was magnanimous and dignified. The contrast was really obvious. All those around looked at each other and were embarrassed to follow County Princess Huijing in ridiculing Xiao Youning.

After all, even if the County Princess stood by her accusations, the others did not dare to speak out. Besides, Li Qingzhi’s conduct was really dishonorable, and Madame Li was difficult to get along with. They could see how cunning the Li Family was from their actions towards Xiao Youning’s dowry.

They also thought that Li Qingzhi was a bad match no matter how good he looked.

Why did Huijing insist on marrying him?

However, no one dared to say this aloud, so they had no choice but to pull Huijing’s sleeve and say, “Let’s go quickly to pay our respects to the Empress.”

Huijing was given a way out of this embarrassment and could only follow to the Empress’s palace. She was very humiliated by how Xiao Youning made the conversation difficult to control.

“Young Miss, please do not take offense.” The palace maid watched Huijing leave. She was timid and whispered, “This servant does not necessarily believe in the rumors about your father. In fact, you are allowed into the palace because of the Emperor.”

This was the second time that Xiao Youning had heard someone console her like this. The first one was Ye Shen, although he was vague. She felt warm in her heart and said solemnly, “Thank you.”

The palace maid smiled bashfully.

Not far from the palace gate where the girls were fighting, Ye Shen was standing behind a wall. When he heard the little girl’s counterattack, the corners of his lips rose slightly.

He thought that the little girl would be afraid of the imperial family and would not dare to speak out in the palace if she were bullied.

Now he realized that his worries were unnecessary.

The little girl was barefoot and didn’t fear shoes1. She was very smart, and could fight back as long as the other person was not employing deceptive means.

However, there was still a conflict that occurred. The Eldest Princess was already in the Empress’s Palace out of fear that Huijing would be crying.

Ye Shen put his hands behind him and listened to the little girl’s footsteps as he walked slowly, almost in step with her.

Just around the corner of the palace wall, when Xiao Youning stepped out with her left foot, she saw a white colored boot come out.

The person who had arrived was dressed simple and neat. Her heart was beating. She stepped out with her right foot, and his right foot also appeared.

The man in the Daoist robe looked cold, she was not prepared to meet him here.

She stood there as if frightened.

The palace maid saw that Ye Shen was here unexpectedly and hurried to greet him with a bow. Xiao Youning also lowered her body, but instead of bowing her head like the palace maid, she looked up at him and whispered, “Hello, Daoist Priest.”

Ye Shen’s expression did not change, but there was a smile in his eyes. He nodded to her, and walked away.

“Why did we see Fifth Master Ye here? He rarely comes this way,” the palace maid was nervous and murmured skeptically.

The palace maid did not know that Xiao Youning heard her and that these words were like honey in her heart.

d.What Ye Shen was worried about happened soon after.

Huijing’s eyes were red when she saw her mother. Sensing something was amiss, the Eldest Princess found an excuse to take her to a side chamber. When she questioned her daughter, her face became extremely ugly and cursed, “She truly thinks she is powerful. Are all the people from the Xiao Family who bully the imperial family at the gate so arrogant?!”

“Mother, you must help your daughter with this!”

“Huijing, did you forget what you promised me?!” The Eldest Princess criticized Xiao Youning out loud, but refused her daughter’s request. “If you didn’t make trouble in the first place, then how could she have used it against you? Your uncle is not in a good mood. You need to behave well in the palace and stop giving your uncle a reason to be unhappy.”

Her brother was already dissatisfied with the marriage, and now her daughter was stirring up trouble in his abode. Was it not enough that she was disliked in the palace?!

But Huijing did not know these things, and was reprimanded until her eyes were redder. She became more and more resentful of Xiao Youning. As soon as she looked up, she saw Xiao Youning come in and thought, that’s impossible!

 

Footnotes

光脚不怕穿鞋(guāngjiǎobùpàchuānxié) – A proverb where barefoot refers to people who have nothing to lose so they are willing to be brazen and shoes refers to people with status and wealth who are afraid of doing anything unusual. The shoes people are afraid of the barefooted people and often the shoes people will have to pay a high price.