Chapter 25

“Miss, what is your name?”

“What does my name have to do with you? Go away, I’ll cry for a while, and I’ll feel much better!”

Xia Shuixian waved her hand, showing no interest in dealing with this irrelevant man!

“Tell me, and I’ll have your name added to the invitation. That way, you can enter the courtyard and attend the banquet!”

The man spoke gently and calmly.

“What?”

Xia Shuixian immediately stopped her wailing, sat up straight, and covered her mouth with her handkerchief.

Did I hear that correctly? Could such a good thing really happen to me?

“Miss, can you tell me your name now?”

The man’s gentle tone lingered in Xia Shuixian’s ears.

“Ugh!”

“It hurts!”

Xia Shuixian thought she was imagining things and pinched her hand hard.

“Miss, where does it hurt? Do you need to see the imperial physician?”

The man asked with concern.

“Thank you, but I don’t need the imperial physician!”

Xia Shuixian smiled sweetly and nodded slightly.

“Miss, the banquet is about to start, and it would be a shame to be late. If you tell me your name now, I’ll add it to the invitation, and you’ll be able to enter the courtyard immediately!”

His voice made Xia Shuixian feel reassured.

“Alright! My name is Xia Shuixian! Thank you, sir. When you add my name to the invitation, could you please hand it to me? I’d like to personally take the invitation into the courtyard and show those little people that I can go in with the invitation too!”

“Of course, no problem!”

The man signaled to his attendant, and the attendant immediately wrote Xia Shuixian’s name on the invitation.

“Miss Xia, here you go!”

The man handed the invitation to Xia Shuixian.

“Thank you, sir! I will repay you in the future!”

Xia Shuixian took the invitation with a smile and glanced at the three large characters ‘Xia Shuixian’ written on it.

Excited, she ran towards the courtyard entrance.

“Hey! Wait for me!”

The man reached out, trying to stop her, but all he saw was her back.

“Your Highness, that Xia Shuixian is really obsessed with getting into the banquet. If she waits for you to go in together, the other ladies at the banquet will be so jealous they’ll go mad! Also, the Queen might look at her differently! Such a good opportunity is right in front of her, yet she doesn’t realize it!”

The attendant sighed and shook his head.

“It’s fine! This Miss Xia is probably the illegitimate daughter of the Xia Minister. It’s normal for her name not to be on the invitation. I’ll take the chance to watch her performance; seeing her graceful figure and delicate appearance, my heart softens. Let’s enter the courtyard slowly.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The master and servant slowly walked toward the courtyard.

Xia Shuixian handed the invitation to the palace maid.

The maid glanced at the invitation and then carefully looked at Xia Shuixian, wondering why the young lady had left but returned again. She also had an invitation, and so many unexpected things had happened tonight.

“Miss Xia, please come in! The seats for the Xia family are in the third circle of the garden. Please don’t go to the wrong area!”

The palace maid kindly reminded her.

“Thank you!”

Xia Shuixian, holding the invitation, walked towards the courtyard.

A palace maid came to greet her. “Miss Xia, please follow me.”

The maid led Xia Shuixian to the third circle, where the Xia family seats were located.

The circles were arranged according to the rank of the men in the family.

The Xia Minister was a third-grade official, so his family, including his wife and daughters, had to sit in the third circle.

Xia Jinlan looked displeased.

“Mother, we should be sitting in the first circle with the matron!”

“We can’t cross the line! It’s the rule!”

Yan Meili gave her a glare. She had just received a message from her husband’s envoy informing her that the Queen wouldn’t be attending the banquet tonight, and the Princess Consort had asked her to focus on Prince Yan. They needed to make sure that one of the Xia daughters caught the attention of the Noble Concubine, which would guarantee the position of future Empress.

Yan Meili felt unsettled by this sudden change. Originally, Tinglan was supposed to compete for the Jin Prince’s hand, but now both daughters were competing for Prince Yan, which was unexpected.

Moreover, Tinglan, a well-read young lady, didn’t like Prince Yan’s rough demeanor. What was she supposed to do?

Sigh! They would just have to take things one step at a time. With her husband’s position as the head minister, it wouldn’t matter which daughter became a side consort.

“Mother!”

Xia Shuixian walked up to Yan Meili and respectfully greeted her.

“How… how did you get in?”

Yan Meili stared at her in surprise, covering her mouth.

“Hey! How did you get in?”

Xia Jinlan looked at Xia Shuixian with a smug expression and asked suspiciously.

“Second sister, I naturally found a way! If you want to stop me, it looks like you won’t be able to!”

Xia Shuixian spread her hands and sat down by the table, sipping tea and eating snacks.

She had cried for so long earlier and was exhausted, so she needed to eat something to regain her strength for the upcoming competition.

“Mother!”

“She…”

Xia Jinlan clenched her fists and briefly shook them in the air.

“Second sister, sit down quickly. Don’t let others see the Xia sisters fighting among themselves!”

The fifth miss gently urged.

“Fourth sister, where is Xia Qingqing? Did you leave her behind?”

Xia Ting Li, sitting beside Xia Shuixian, whispered.

“Hmph! You’re talking about her! She’s pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger! We all thought she was like that, but actually, she’s doing better than any of us!”

Xia Shuixian couldn’t help but feel frustrated thinking about what had happened earlier in the courtyard.

Xia Tinglan didn’t understand what Xia Shuixian was talking about. “Fourth sister, Xia Qingqing is doing better than us? She’s pretending to be a pig? I didn’t get it. Can you explain it to me in more detail?”

“Haha! I don’t know what’s going on either, but let’s just focus on ourselves for now!”

Xia Shuixian didn’t want to explain what had happened and was content to let them find out for themselves later.

“Tsk!”

Xia Jinlan curled her lips in frustration.

This Xia Shuixian always loved to play games, but how did she get in? That was something worth investigating.

“Noble Concubine is here!”

With the eunuch’s shout, all the ladies and madams stood up and looked toward the entrance where Noble Concubine’s figure appeared.

The Noble Concubine walked onto the stage, surrounded by palace maids and attendants.

“Greetings, Noble Concubine!”

Everyone bowed.

“Rise.”

The Noble Concubine waved her hand.

“Tonight, the Queen has other important matters to attend to, so I am hosting the Chrysanthemum Banquet!”

“Ah?”

The ladies and madams gasped in surprise.

“The Queen always hosts this event! Is something wrong with her?”

Everyone wondered if the Queen had lost favor or was ill.

Only Yan Meili sneered inwardly. The Queen was at the ancestral temple, and the Emperor favored her greatly.

If the Queen wasn’t coming, then perhaps the Jin Prince wouldn’t attend either.

Originally, they wanted to compete for the Jin Prince’s favor, but now they would have to shift their focus to Prince Yan.