“I understand,” Duan Huirou said, standing up and glancing at Madam Xiao.
Madam Xiao immediately stood up too, putting on a look of helplessness and inner conflict.
Seeing her sister-in-law’s instant transformation, Duan Huirou felt even more like crying. Their whole family were natural actors, and she was the only fool, now targeted by wolves.
If she had known this day would come, she would’ve avoided Mingxi the moment she returned to the capital.
Madam Xiao led Duan Huirou back to their original spot. Mingxi sat with a stern face, while Duan Huirou’s eyes were red — it was clear at a glance the sisters were not on good terms.
The other guests noticed from afar, exchanging glances.
The Empress’s expression eased slightly. She had expected this. Mingxi, with her temperament, after being trampled by Duan Huirou in the past, would certainly not let things go after gaining power.
The worse the relationship between the two sisters, the better it would be for her.
Mingxi, watching the lively scene in the garden, kept a stern face and remained silent for a while. Then, she slowly got up and sat next to Consort Shu, speaking to her in a low voice.
Consort Shu: …
She turned her head to look at Mingxi and met her restrained, burning gaze. After a moment, she nodded. “Alright. How do you want to handle it?”
Mingxi whispered, “Royal Mother, can you move the boxes around? Like, rearrange them?”
“That’s easy. How do you want them moved?”
“Place the worst one right next to the one the Empress instructed Huirou to choose.”
Consort Shu immediately understood — oh, this would be fun. It had to be done.
She picked up her tea and took a sip, then quietly instructed Hu Momo, who in turn quietly passed orders to Nan Jiao.
Nan Jiao slipped away unnoticed among the crowd.
At this time, the embroidery challenge was over. The Empress deliberately called Duan Huirou to her side and praised her in front of everyone: saying she was elegant, clever, and skilled — basically stepping all over Mingxi’s reputation.
Everyone knew Duan Wangfei was good at many things — except embroidery, which she had never displayed publicly. Clearly, it wasn’t something she was proud of.
The Empress affectionately held Duan Huirou’s hand, all smiles.
Duan Huirou threw every bit of her acting skills into this moment. After all, dying at the Empress’s hands might leave her a whole corpse; dying under Mingxi’s… she didn’t even dare imagine it.
If she was going to die either way, she couldn’t drag her brothers down with her.
“I don’t dare accept Your Majesty’s praise. There are so many outstanding young ladies in the capital. My win today is just pure luck,” Duan Huirou replied humbly.
But it wasn’t luck at all. The Empress had set it up, and Duan Huirou had spent days practicing, nearly going blind from the effort.
The other ladies and young girls kept glancing toward Duan Wangfei. Ning Qin Wangfei had not even wanted to attend today, but with the Empress’s summons, she had no choice.
Seeing Mingxi sitting calmly and sipping tea, Ning Qin Wangfei silently approved.
But seeing how close the Empress was with Duan Huirou… it seemed ominous.
Thinking back to the earlier scene of the two sisters falling out, she grew even more uneasy.
Zhenbei Wangfei also glanced coldly at Mingxi, thoroughly disapproving of the Empress’s underhanded way of using Duan Huirou to slight Mingxi.
Gan Ying sat beside her Di Mother. Li Peilan had already moved over to sit closer to Duchess Cao, not far from the Empress. The Duchess hadn’t even let her daughter stay with her mother-in-law, chatting happily instead — making it obvious to everyone that their relationship was poor.
After a round of compliments toward Duan Huirou, who wore a strained smile while inwardly crying, the Empress ordered the palace servants to bring out the spider boxes.
She smiled and said to the gathered young ladies, “Each of you, come pick a box. Let’s see whose luck is the best today.”
Gan Ying rose from her seat beside Zhenbei Wangfei and joined the line of young ladies. Duan Huirou also moved from the Empress’s side, ending up right next to Gan Ying.
Mingxi’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately gave Hu Momo a meaningful look.
Hu Momo broke into a cold sweat but quickly acted: she picked up the tea and approached Consort Shu’s side, pretending to pour tea but accidentally bumped into Gan Ying.
Gan Ying quickly stepped aside, and Hu Momo took the chance to gently tug her away from her original position. Feigning panic, she apologized, “Miss Gan, I didn’t see you — are you alright?”
Gan Ying replied, “I’m fine, don’t worry.”
Hu Momo hastily patted Gan Ying’s dress with a handkerchief, “My clumsiness. Thank you for your understanding. Please, go ahead and pick your box — don’t let me hold you up.”
Gan Ying glanced at her dress — there wasn’t even any tea spilled. She was a little confused but didn’t think too much, simply found another spot in line.
Mingxi’s eyes swept toward the girl who had taken Gan Ying’s original spot. “Who is that? She looks unfamiliar.”
Hu Momo, hearing this, glanced over while pouring tea and replied, “This old servant hasn’t seen her before either. Today the Empress invited many daughters of fifth- and sixth-rank officials — they usually wouldn’t have qualified to enter the palace.”
Mingxi nodded thoughtfully. “It seems the Empress had planned this in advance. Looks like the side consorts the princes are expected to marry won’t be from very high backgrounds.”
If it was too high a status — it would pose a threat to the Crown Prince.
Looking again at these unfamiliar young ladies, each was beautiful, though of low birth. But with such beauty, even if they were granted as concubines, it would be acceptable in the Emperor’s eyes.
Perhaps this was the Emperor’s original intention.
Zhenbei Wangfei cast a thoughtful glance at Hu Momo, then at Duan Wangfei and Consort Shu, both wearing calm expressions, her mind turning over with realization.
Earlier, when Gan Ying had stood next to Duan Huirou, Hu Momo had appeared.
Sure enough, there was a problem on Duan Huirou’s side.
She just wasn’t sure if Duan Mingxi’s calmness meant she had planned ahead — or if she simply didn’t care and let things unfold.
Clearly, pulling Gan Ying away had been to prevent her from becoming collateral damage.
Back when the matter with Gan Li happened, she already owed Duan Mingxi a favor. She hadn’t expected to owe another one now because of Gan Ying.
The key was, Duan Mingxi never brought up the old favor from before — not even casually. Sometimes even Wangye would compliment her when speaking of her.
At this moment, the palace maids lined up neatly, smiling warmly at the young ladies.
Some of the madams present, those with ambition, wore faintly nervous expressions. Those without much thought in the matter showed worried looks. There was both joy and anxiety in the air, making the lines clearly drawn.
Lu Momo, who stood by the Empress, took a step forward and smiled as she said, “Ladies, please come forward and choose a spider box.”
At her words, Duan Huirou’s legs went weak. She forced herself to look at the box the Empress had arranged for her. Step by step, she moved toward it. The box wasn’t eye-catching, but the gold patterns on its four corners were slightly different — only noticeable if one looked closely.
Step by step, Duan Huirou moved closer. She lowered her head, her gaze brushing past the box next to it. Just as she was about to reach out and take it, someone lightly bumped her shoulder. She staggered a few steps to the side.
She watched as the box the Empress had arranged for her was lifted up by a pair of hands. The girl holding it then turned around, smiling warmly at Duan Huirou, and asked with concern, “Miss Duan, are you alright? You must be more careful when walking, and watch the people around you.”
As she spoke, she helped steady Duan Huirou with a genuine and sincere smile.
Duan Huirou: …
I really, truly thank you!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
Duan Mingxi was also stunned by the scene. It really was one of those unplanned accidents that worked out perfectly.
