The current Emperor had four sons and two daughters.

The princes were the Crown Prince, King An, King Kang, and King Yan, and the two princesses were Changping Gōngzhǔ and Anya Gōngzhǔ.

Changping Gōngzhǔ was the legitimate daughter of Empress Xu and the eldest daughter of the Emperor. She had been pampered since childhood and had developed a domineering and willful character.

In comparison, Anya Gōngzhǔ was much duller.

Anya Gōngzhǔ was born to Wei Jieyu, whose birth was much lower than that of Changping Gōngzhǔ. Moreover, Anya Gōngzhǔ was born prematurely, and Wei Jieyu almost died of dystocia. Later, she recovered after a long period of nursing. Wei Jieyu’s body was also completely damaged, and she had no more children.

The Emperor was kind and loving to this young girl, but there was still a clear gap between her and Changping Gōngzhǔ. Let’s not talk about anything else, just talking about the construction of the Gōngzhǔ’s mansion. Changping Gōngzhǔ’s mansion was chosen long ago and was built when Changping Gōngzhǔ was ten years old. It was extremely luxurious.

Anya Gōngzhǔ was already twelve years old this year and still lived in the palace. The mansion was still being selected and built, so it seemed that she would have to wait until Anya Gōngzhǔ found a husband before she could move in.

Changping Gōngzhǔ and Anya Gōngzhǔ came to the Su Mansion together. The two sisters were arm in arm and were quite intimate.

Although Anya Gōngzhǔ was young, she had beautiful features, but she seemed to be thinner than other girls of the same age. She only reached Changping Gōngzhǔ’s shoulders and looked younger than her actual age.

Ling Jingshu’s eyes swept across Anya Gōngzhǔ’s fair and petite face, and she couldn’t help but think of Doctor Wei’s handsome face.

Anya Gōngzhǔ’s eyes, which were clearly black and white and extremely clear, were quite similar to those of Imperial Doctor Wei.

To be able to give birth to a daughter as beautiful as Anya Gōngzhǔ, she wondered what kind of beauty the famous Wei Jieyui must be…

Anya Gōngzhǔ was quite quiet and well-behaved. After entering the house, she sat next to Changping Gōngzhǔ and did not speak a word.

Compared to the radiant and cheerful Changping Gōngzhǔ, Anya Gōngzhǔ was like a quiet moon.

Ling Jingyan looked at her for a few seconds, then whispered in her ear: “Ah Shu, this Anya Gōngzhǔ and Imperial Doctor Wei do look a bit like each other!”

Ling Jingshu nodded and laughed softly, “They say nephews look like their uncles. Anya Gōngzhǔ is the niece of Doctor Wei, so it’s not surprising that they look alike.”

“However, this Anya Gōngzhǔ is really quiet.” Ling Jingyan continued to mutter: “She hasn’t spoken a word since she entered the room!”

Ling Jingshu hummed.

The two were whispering when a housekeeper came in with a smile on her face and said loudly, “Second Miss, the auspicious time is almost here. The Crown Princess has also arrived. The Master and the Mistress have ordered the young lady to change into new clothes and go to the inner hall immediately.”

…

Ling Jingshu followed everyone to the inner hall of the Su Mansion.

The elders and relatives of the Su family were all there, and the Crown Princess sat elegantly at the head of the table. Besides the Crown Princess stood a tall and handsome young man.

The Imperial Grandson was here too!

Ling Jingshu subconsciously glanced at the Imperial Grandson, who happened to be looking over at the same time.

Their eyes met briefly in the air, and then they moved away quickly.

When everyone entered the inner hall, the first thing they did was to pay their respects to the Crown Princess. Even Changping Gōngzhǔ and Anya Gōngzhǔ were no exception: “Greetings, Sister-in-law.”

Ling Jingshu finally heard Anya Gōngzhǔ’s voice. She still had a childish tone, but it was clean and pleasant.

The Crown Princess smiled and said, “I didn’t expect Changping and Anya to be here today. Come and sit down next to the Emperor’s sister-in-law.”

There were about a dozen seats in the spacious hall, but there were dozens of guests, but only a few were qualified to sit down.

Changping Gōngzhǔ readily agreed, and she and Anya Gōngzhǔ sat next to the Crown Princess.

The rest of the people then stepped forward one by one to pay their respects.

The Crown Princess was graceful, kind and amiable, making people feel like spring breeze.

When it was Ling Jingshu’s turn to pay respects, the Crown Princess’ eyes flickered, the smile on her lips faded a little, and her tone was a little lukewarm: “Today is a good day for Ying’er to come of age, and I didn’t expect Ninth Miss Ling to come to congratulate in person.”

She spoke to Ling Jingshu on purpose, but her tone was not very warm.

For a moment, everyone’s attention was drawn to Ninth Miss Ling.

They had not paid attention to it before, but now that they had a closer look, they couldn’t help but be secretly amazed.

Ninth Miss Ling was born with a beautiful appearance and was also much calmer and more composed than other girls of the same age.

The corners of her lips lifted up, and she smiled as she replied, “To answer the Crown Princess’ question, I had the honor of meeting Second Miss Su at a banquet at Changping Gōngzhǔ’s residence a few days ago. Second Miss Su invited me to attend her coming-of-age ceremony at that time, and she even had someone send me a formal invitation two days ago. So I came here especially to congratulate her today.”

The words were soft and pleasant, neither hurried nor slow.

The Crown Princess’ smile paused slightly, and a trace of anger surged in her heart.

This Ling Jingshu looked docile and respectful, but actually, she was not like that at all.

These words just now clearly told her that it was Su Ying who personally invited her to be a guest, not that she had come to curry favor with the Su family!

“Ying’er is usually proud and aloof, but it seems she has quite the affinity with you,” the Crown Princess said with a forced smile. “After just one meeting, she invited you to attend her coming-of-age ceremony.”

She didn’t know what tricks this girl used, not only did she confuse Ah Yao, but she even hooked up with Su Ying.

Sure enough, she had ulterior motives, and it seemed that she was determined to climb up to the Crown Prince’s Mansion!

The slight contempt in the Crown Princess’s eyes naturally did not escape Ling Jingshu’s eyes.

Ling Jingshu sneered secretly in her heart.

The Crown Princess had always been prejudiced against her and deliberately embarrassed her in front of everyone. Fortunately, she had never thought of marrying up to a rich and powerful person, otherwise, with such a shrewd and mean mother-in-law, she would have been waiting for a lifetime of frustration and cowardice!

“Yes, there is indeed such a thing as rapport between people.” Ling Jingshu looked normal, smiled, and said, “Miss Su and I are particularly compatible and hit it off right away.”

Before the Crown Princess could say anything else, the Imperial Grandson behind her suddenly coughed softly, “Mother, Su biǎomèi will be here soon!”

He started protecting her so early!

The Crown Princess resisted the urge to curl her lips and replied with a smile, “Well, the auspicious time is almost here. Ying’er should be here too.”

With this interruption, the previous conversation could not continue.

Ling Jingshu took the opportunity to step aside.

Jiang Shi and Ling Jingyan remained silent, but they were secretly worried about Ling Jingshu.

The Crown Princess’ attitude towards Ling Jingshu could not be described as kind. Her words just now were even more pointed. The more they thought about it, the more they felt uncomfortable.

Master and Madam Ling had been planning to have Ling Jingshu marry into the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

However, they didn’t know that Ling Jingshu didn’t have such intentions at all, and they didn’t know that the Crown Princess had such a prejudice against Ling Jingshu!

(End of this chapter)