Chapter 314: A Mad Dog Bites
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Bringing food and tea when attending a banquet? And even boiling water and brewing tea in the host’s house? Everyone was stunned. Although they knew that Longsheng Great Eldest Princess had a feud with the Changxin Palace and the Fu family, and might tamper with the food, they didn’t expect it to be so obvious.
Longsheng Great Eldest Princess’s face immediately darkened, and she said coldly, “Does Ying Wangfei find the food in my mansion unclean? Or are you afraid someone will harm you?”
Mingzhu said in surprise, “How could that be? It’s because I’m on medication and have dietary restrictions. Although Aunt just told me not to be polite, how could I trouble the elders as a junior? So I brought some food with me to avoid inconveniencing my aunt.”
Clearly slapping someone’s face, yet she managed to twist it into being considerate. She was really impolite! Longsheng Great Eldest Princess was angry, but she couldn’t find anything to refute. She could only sneer a few times and said, “In that case, please do as you wish, Ying Wangfei.”
Mingzhu took a sip of tea, ate a piece of pastry from her own stash, and sighed comfortably, praising, “Aunt is truly so loving. I was worried before that Aunt would be angry and have a grudge against me. Our Wangye said I was overthinking it, that Aunt is always so caring and considerate towards juniors, and wouldn’t argue with me. Now it seems to be true.”
Longsheng Great Eldest Princess was so angry her nose was not a nose, her eyes not eyes, but she really couldn’t argue with so many people present. She could only suppress this petty anger, take a deep breath, and shift her gaze away from Mingzhu, pretending not to be bothered.
Qi Wangfei was accustomed to smoothing things over and seeing the situation, so she immediately played the peacemaker, “I heard that the new bride can compose poetry at the age of seven, she’s intelligent, studious, beautiful, filial to her elders, and a wonderful wife. The princess is indeed blessed.”
Everyone followed suit and praised for a while, finally managing to turn Longsheng Great Eldest Princess’s expression around. Mingzhu didn’t mind, enjoying herself, occasionally chatting with the concubine of Fu Wang, Dai Wangfei, and Hua Yang Wangfei.
“Madame Min is here.” The concubine of Fu Wang was the most eager to please Mingzhu. As her status was generally a level lower than the others present, she had developed the ability to observe everything around her. Seeing the women of the Min family coming in a large group, she reminded Mingzhu and the others, implying that Mingzhu should be careful.
Mingzhu didn’t care. When she was nothing before, she dared to confront the women of the Min family publicly. She had never let Min Baoyun, the designated Empress, gain any advantage. Now that she was the legitimate wife of Ying Wangfei, and Min Baoyun’s marriage to Yuwen Bai had not been formally settled, she was even less afraid of Min Baoyun. So she just sat there, smiling and asking everyone if they wanted to taste the pastries she brought from Ying Wang’s mansion.
Even if they didn’t like Longsheng Great Eldest Princess very much, they couldn’t openly eat what Mingzhu brought, publicly embarrassing the Great Eldest Princess. Therefore, they all politely declined. Mingzhu didn’t insist, happily drinking tea, when a fragrant breeze wafted over, and a figure in Xiang attire stood in front of her, speaking in a sharp voice, “Isn’t this Ying Wangfei? Weren’t you supposed to be dying of illness? How come you’re sitting here, drinking tea and laughing?”
Mingzhu looked up and couldn’t help but laugh. This silly girl was Min Baojin, the second cousin of Min Baoyun. As her rank suggested, she was naturally foolish and lacked a few brain cells. She was often used as a tool by others, even more stupid than Mingzhu in her past life.
Min Baojin saw that Mingzhu didn’t respond to her words, just smiled while looking at her, thinking she was scared, and continued, “Say something! Don’t think you can get away with just smiling. Feigning illness is not a good moral character. Aren’t you afraid that you’ll actually get seriously ill while pretending?”
Mingzhu glanced at Madam Min who was not far away, seeing her just chatting and laughing with Longsheng Great Eldest Princess, as if she didn’t know what was happening here. Min Baoyun was hiding behind her sister-in-law, sneaking glances over here, her eyes flickering with anticipation and fear, and Mingzhu understood.
Min was deliberately causing trouble. Everyone knew that Min Baojin was a silly girl, so even if she behaved improperly, it wasn’t good to argue with her too much, or else it would be seen as being petty. But Mingzhu was both petty and unafraid of being called petty by others. Immediately, she heavily knocked the teacup onto the table and sneered, “Where did this mad dog come from? Not knowing manners and barking and biting randomly is bad enough, but doesn’t the owner of the house know how to keep it on a leash? Slandering and provoking me is bad enough, but daring to slander the Great Empress Dowager and insult the late Emperor—does the law mean nothing anymore? Give me a slap!”
Min Baojin was greatly surprised. At first, she thought Mingzhu was joking and trying to scare her, so she said, “How dare you! Where did I slander the Great Empress Dowager and the late Emperor?”
Mingzhu was impatient and didn’t bother to talk to her anymore. She just signaled to Zheng Momo with her eyes. Zheng Momo immediately brought two maidservants forward, grabbed Min Baojin like an eagle catching a chick, and delivered several loud slaps to her face. Min Baojin couldn’t escape and cried loudly. She was also silly and didn’t know how to cry elegantly. She just cried loudly, drowning out the sounds of conversation, shocking everyone.
Madam Min, at this point, stopped pretending to be ignorant and stood up angrily, demanding an explanation from Mingzhu, “Everyone knows that our child is silly. Even if she accidentally offended Wangfei, Wangfei should have discussed it with us, and we would have taught her. Why embarrass and beat an innocent girl in front of so many people?”
Longsheng Great Eldest Princess was holding back a belly full of anger, which now erupted even more fiercely. She felt extremely unlucky and followed suit, attacking, “Old Six’s Wife, this is my mansion, not your Ying Wang mansion. We are celebrating here, even if you want to cause trouble, at least give me, as an elder, some face.”
Mingzhu calmly allowed Zheng Momo to help her up, then solemnly said, “I didn’t want to, but she insulted the Great Empress Dowager and the late emperor. I advised her but she wouldn’t listen. I was afraid she would cause even bigger trouble, so I had to reluctantly scare her a bit to make her shut up. Who knew she was such a coward.”
Turning the tables, she asked Madam Min, “Madame, you’re in the wrong here. Since you knew she was foolish, why did you bring her out as a guest without keeping an eye on her? She’s foolish, naturally not understanding anything. That can only mean she heard it from someone else. Think about it, who hates you enough to want to harm you?”
You let a fool out to bite people, pretending not to care. Now that I want to say whatever I want, it’s my people around me, I say one is one, and there’s no one who dares to say otherwise. There’s no evidence, even if you hit me, it’s just a wasted effort. What can you do?
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