She clutched her forehead, gritting her teeth, practically squeezing the words out from between them: “Where did that girl come from?!”
By now, the guests had already been sent off, and the entire Feng family, both young and old, had gathered in Madam Feng’s room. No one looked pleased.
Especially Feng Yuzhang—he glanced at Feng Caiwei and thought of how no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t get Xiao Yunting to stay. His face darkened further: “Do you think she did it on purpose, or was it truly just to save someone?”
Madam Feng was so furious her head throbbed.
Everything had been going smoothly. Feng Caiwei’s reputation had been growing by the day, and they had planned for her to take another step up today, smoothly leading to Xiao Yunting finally noticing her.
But who could’ve expected Qi Yuan to barge in halfway and completely ruin everything?
Not only had all their previous efforts gone to waste, but now the Feng family was left in an awkward situation.
From now on, when people mentioned Feng Caiwei, they would also say she didn’t even understand the basics of food incompatibility.
Madam Feng bit her lip in fury, practically fuming from every orifice: “How could it not be on purpose?! She came here to cause trouble!”
Only Feng Caiwei remained silent, still sitting quietly to the side without saying a word.
Seeing her remain silent, Madam Feng couldn’t help but glance at her: “Caiwei?”
Feng Caiwei finally returned to herself, gave a soft hum, and said lightly, “That Miss Qi… she’s quite formidable.”
More formidable than she had expected.
“Are you alright?” The third young master of the Feng family—Feng Jun, her biological brother—looked at her worriedly and reached out to feel her forehead. “Don’t tell me that wretch made you so mad you’ve lost your senses?”
Why was she speaking up for that little wench?
He had already heard from Wei Qingyang that from the moment they were in the side hall, Qi Yuan had been trying to outshine her, going out of her way to embarrass Feng Caiwei and show off her own abilities.
A woman who deliberately came to someone else’s birthday banquet to steal the spotlight—what else could she be but a wretch?
He gave a cold laugh: “And who can say for sure whether those foods were really incompatible? I could just as well say she poisoned them!”
All their efforts had gone up in smoke. Feng Jun had originally wanted to build connections with Xiao Yunting, but the prince’s attitude had been far from warm. He was already holding in a stomach full of anger, and now he blamed everything on Qi Yuan.
Feng Caiwei avoided his hand and shook her head. “We underestimated her.”
Madam Feng clutched her chest in pain: “Then what do we do now? She’s gone and ruined everything!”
Feng Caiwei had nearly won full applause, but Qi Yuan had kicked the whole stage over. How was she supposed to maintain her reputation now?
Feng Caiwei was starting to feel tired. She said in a low voice, “If I truly had the ability, I wouldn’t have been thrown off just because of this incident. At most, people will gossip about me a little when I go out. If I did something wrong, I should admit it. There’s nothing disgraceful about losing.”
When people laugh at you, it’s only because you take it seriously yourself.
If you show that you’re unaffected, others will quickly decide it’s not a big deal either.
She turned to Feng Yuzhang: “Grandfather, have you already sent someone to the Duke Cheng’s residence to apologize?”
Feng Yuzhang sighed. “Of course. I sent someone specifically to offer formal apologies.”
He hesitated, then said, “But today’s great opportunity… we still missed it. His Highness…”
After all this effort, Xiao Yunting still hadn’t paid any attention to Feng Caiwei at all!
He didn’t even know whether he should follow his granddaughter’s lead and take things step by step from here.
Feng Caiwei curled her lips faintly: “Grandfather need not worry. This might not be a bad way to leave an impression on His Highness the Imperial Grandson.”
As she spoke, she raised an eyebrow slightly: “I’ll visit the Qi residence tomorrow. Have someone send a message ahead—say I’m going in person to thank Qi Yuan.”
Feng Jun simply could not understand his sister’s thinking.
Thank her?
What was there to thank?! Qi Yuan had wrecked the Feng family’s plans, and now they were going to suck up to her in gratitude?
What’s the difference between getting slapped on one cheek and then handing over the other?
But Feng Yuzhang stroked his beard and laughed: “Good, good! To admit mistakes, take responsibility, and not push blame onto others—that’s also a virtue. Caiwei knows how to keep her cool.”
Indeed, if a person seems too perfect, they stop seeming human.
Now that she had made a mistake and didn’t react with shame or rage, but calmly admitted it—that in itself was an admirable quality.
He glanced at Madam Feng: “Alright, nothing to be angry about. As Caiwei said—so long as we don’t treat it as a big deal, no one else can laugh at us.”
Meanwhile, Second Madam Qi still felt her heart pounding even after returning home. She had looked at Qi Yuan several times but didn’t know how to ask what was on her mind.
She already knew Qi Yuan was skilled in martial arts—extremely skilled.
And now it seemed she might even know horsemanship. She half-suspected that if Qi Yuan stood up now and mounted a horse, she’d ride like a professional.
But the question was: how could one person be good at so many things?
On the way there, she had still been worried Qi Yuan would embarrass herself in front of the other noble ladies.
But as always—when it came to Qi Yuan, she was never the one to lose face.
By the time Qi Yuan returned home, Old Madam Qi had already heard about the incident.
She grabbed Qi Yuan’s hand and patted it approvingly. “Good! Very good! A few days ago I heard Ah Chan say how impressive that Feng Caiwei was, and it really made me annoyed…”
Now she could finally let out a breath!
She couldn’t help but blurt out her true thoughts: “Turns out she’s all noise and no substance!”
If she were really that capable, how could she let someone eat something at her own banquet and end up causing a problem?
Qi Yuan couldn’t help but laugh.
This old lady was really protective.
Seeing her laugh, Old Madam Qi said, “Don’t laugh, Ah Yuan. Since you have this kind of ability—”
“She’s not lacking in ability either,” Qi Yuan replied mildly. “Actually, she knew those two foods were incompatible. That’s why, thinking back, her shock and change in expression—those were because I ruined her plan.”
Old Madam Qi was stunned.
After a moment, she asked in disbelief: “You mean… she knew the foods were incompatible…?”
Then why would she still put them on the table?
Was Feng Caiwei not afraid the guests would fall ill?
Qi Yuan explained to her: “Those two dishes actually count as medicinal cuisine. Even though they technically clash, there usually aren’t any major effects for the average person. It’s just that some of the ladies have weaker constitutions, so their digestive systems can’t handle the irritation…”
Old Madam Qi quickly understood: “Then she—she was planning…”
“Yes. She likely planned to handle it herself, then step forward and explain the food incompatibility.” Qi Yuan lowered her eyes. “Honestly, it was a pretty good method to get attention.”
