Chu Lian’s brows drew together as she looked towards the young girls standing not far away, dressed according to their high status.

What was going on?

The event she was trying to avoid in the novel had occurred at Dingbo Pavilion, not Mei Court. Furthermore, these noble personages hadn’t appeared in that event. Why did these princesses have their eyes on her now?

Chu Lian felt a headache brewing. She couldn’t even tell which princess was which...

Since she didn’t know their identities or their family backgrounds, she could only bow in greeting towards them.

“Sister Yuanqin, is that the woman that Brother He abandoned?”

The slightly older girl standing at the back chuckled in a haughty manner. She was the legitimate Fifth Miss from House Dingyuan, Zou Yuanqin. She had just come of age and was one of Imperial Princess Leyao’s study companions. The sudden exclamation that Chu Lian had heard earlier had come from her.

“Imperial Princess, your eyes are really sharp.”

Imperial Princess Leyao was wearing an outfit of about the same colour as Chu Lian’s today. She was even wearing a ruby hair ornament.

However, the workmanship on her dress was much more exquisite, while the materials were clearly rare. The pink dress had a slight gradient from top to bottom. Beautiful patterns were embroidered onto the skirt, and there were even small pieces of precious stones woven into the material. When the light hit them, the dress sparkled like a starry sky. It was both elegant and luxurious.

In comparison, Chu Lian’s similar outfit looked much poorer.

However, with Chu Lian’s delicate looks, slender body, and lovely figure, she still managed to look stunning in the simple pink dress that she was wearing, especially since she was currently in the best period of her youth. Conversely, the eleven-year-old Imperial Princess Leyao still hadn’t quite grown into her figure.

When the two of them stood opposite each other, they each had a charm of their own. However, when looking closely at their outfits, Chu Lian’s dress wasn’t quite up to par. The ruby butterfly pin on her head had been bright and lovely at first, but compared to Imperial Princess Leyao’s ornament, it completely lost its colour.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The buzzing of discussion sprang up around them, and Chu Lian could feel the contempt in the gazes thrown at her.

“How shabby!” Imperial Princess Leyao smirked as she said.

With that one comment from the princess, the noise of discussion grew ever louder. All the voices she had been trying to ignore fell into her ears one by one.

“Well, didn’t House Jing’an connect with House Ying because of their particularly... fertile ladies?”

“Did you hear? He Sanlang left his family and the capital just two days ago!”

“Haha, what a joke. Without her man, what use is her fertility?”

“Isn’t that right? She’s just a poor little maid. I can’t believe she wore that to the Dingyuan Estate. How embarrassing.”

“I guess you all don’t know yet. This Sixth Miss Chu didn’t have a good reputation in the first place. I’m afraid that it was He Sanlang who must have been forced to leave because he didn’t like this new wife of his!”

......

House Ying’s Madam Rong had taken a trip to the restroom and had just come back. When she noticed the clamour in Mei Court, she looked over in curiosity. It was at this moment that Miss Su, from the main branch, came over to hold Madam Rong’s arm. With a pale face, she said, “Eldest Sister-in-law, Sixth Sister is being bullied.”

The second branch’s Eighth Miss, Miss Yuan, also followed along. She rolled her eyes in scorn. “She’s been abandoned by her husband just days after her marriage. I can’t believe she still dares to come out just to lose face!”

Madam Rong’s expression instantly changed. She glared at Miss Yuan first, and then asked Miss Su, “What happened exactly?”

At first, House Jing’an had hidden the news that He Changdi had left for the northern border. However, the news had been leaked somehow.

Madam Rong, who usually spent her time in the inner court, didn’t know much of outside news. After hearing Miss Su’s explanation, her face turned solemn.

“You’re saying that Imperial Princess Leyao, Royal Princess Duanjia, and Feudal Princess Anmin are all here?”

“That’s right. Judging from Imperial Princess Leyao’s words, it seems like she doesn’t really like Sixth Sister.”

Miss Yuan stomped her foot fiercely. “That troublemaker! When did she anger the princess?! Now we’re going to be pulled into trouble along with her. We shouldn’t have let her marry into House Jing’an back then!”

“Miss Yuan, stop speaking nonsense!” Madam Rong scolded her in a low tone.

This wasn’t the Ying Estate, so Madam Rong couldn’t let them speak so freely. Even though Chu Lian wasn’t favoured in House Ying, since she had married, anything she did would still reflect back on House Ying. Since she was here, she couldn’t just ignore the situation that Chu Lian was in.

Chu Lian wanted to scold He Changdi until his eardrums bled right now. ‘Brother He’? When did that fellow seduce this princess!? Furthermore, this princess was still pretty young. Wasn’t she a little too mature for her age?!

Royal Princess Duanjia was standing next to Imperial Princess Leyao. She was more than a head taller than Princess Leyao, and had a cold expression on. However, her gaze was fixed on Chu Lian.

From not far away, Wei Fengzi had also noticed the situation outside the corridor. The corner of her lip lifted when she saw Chu Lian standing in the middle of the crowd. Since Chu Lian hadn’t sent any of her maidservants to ask for help, she simply sat back and watched the commotion.

Feudal Princess Anmin cast a look of disdain towards Chu Lian. “Since we’ve already seen her, Leyao, let’s go.”

Following Feudal Princess Anmin’s words, several young ladies of high status turned around to leave at the same time. House Dingyuan’s Fifth Miss, Zou Yuanqin, shot a parting glance at Chu Lian. Unexpectedly, there wasn’t any restrained anger or pain in Chu Lian’s expression. Zou Yuanqin’s face contorted and her glance grew contemptuous. Only then did she follow the rest of the noble ladies.

Chu Lian’s mouth twitched as she watched the noble ladies’ figures disappear into the distance. Huh? So all they had come to do was ridicule her? Wasn’t that a little too childish?!