Bab 26: Banquet
Feng Ning was not the only one who noticed Feng Hao Shui's peculiarity. Prince Lin Zi Xuan had also noticed it. In fact, he sensed it better than Feng Ning thanks to his martial arts.
However, he only felt that this was good for him.
He naturally would not interfere with the internal battles between these Imperial Family members. Looking at his wife and how she was always keeping low profile, except during that one incident, Lin Zi Xuan was feeling more satisfied.
At the very least, he wouldn't have to be busy cleaning up her mess.
The next few days were peaceful.
Feng Ning only felt that she was very tired in her new residence. Thankfully, her husband was soon assigned more duties in the palace, which made him hold back a little bit. This allowed her to have a bit of good rest.
After a few days, the day of the banquet arrived.
"Your Highness, would this dress be appropriate?" Xiao Yu asked as she helped Feng Ning to tie the sash.
Looking at the mirror, Feng Ning could see a woman wearing bright red dress staring back in her direction. The dress was made with the best brocade and looked very beautiful. Her dark brown eyes sparkled under the dim light in her bedroom.
Feng Ning nodded.
Bright red dresses were only allowed by royalty to wear, which naturally included her. With this color contrasted her skin, it only highlighted her beauty and fair skin.
"Your Highness is very beautiful." Xiao Lu smiled and then took the hairpin for Feng Ning.
Since the main character for today's banquet was not her, Feng Ning decided not to dress up too much. She didn't want to incur hatred from her sister or cousin towards her. They were technically still higher ranked than her.
After she had done dressed up, Feng Ning walked out of her quarter. She noticed that her husband was already ready. He was wearing moonlight pattern robe. It caused his previously sharp and wild aura to look a bit tamer.
Prince Lin Zi Xuan smiled when he saw his wife. "Ning'er, come."
Feng Ning held Prince Lin Zi Xuan's hand as she entered the carriage. Looking at the somewhat sophisticated man in front of her, Feng Ning felt that he did look quite different today compared to usual.
He looked more refined.
Even though the man before her was actually a wild soldier who had honed his temper in the battlefield.
The two of them remained silent thorough the journey. There was nothing much that Feng Ning wanted to talk with her husband either. The two of them maintained this same look and approach method, carefully interacting with the other party while probing each other.
It was a bit tiring.
But the two of them were being careful as they didn't know much about the other party aside from the rumors. Well, Feng Ning was sure that Prince Lin Zi Xuan had some people investigating about her, though.
"We've arrived."
Feng Ning glanced outside. The splendor of the palace was displayed to the fullest, making people feel small when they looked at it. Probably, this was the effect that Princess Lin Mei Ni wanted when they reached her palace.
That they would never be able to compare to her.
'How ridiculous.'
Following her husband, Feng Ning walked inside. She noticed that the banquet didn't separate male and female. Probably, it was because majority of the guests today were already married couple.
There was no need to separate them anymore.
"Imperial Second Sister, you're here," Princess Feng Zhu Liu smiled when she saw her sister. She curtsied politely as she greeted Prince Lin Zi Xuan beside her.
Feng Ning nodded and wrote on the paper she carried. Amongst all of the nobles, she might be the only person who carried this thing around in order to be able to communicate with the others.
"It's been a while, Imperial Third Sister. Have you been well?"
"Yes." Princess Feng Zhu Liu smiled warmly. She didn't even look at Prince Lin Zi Xuan beside Feng Ning aside from greeting him at first. All of her attention was on Princess Feng Ning.
This attitude seemed as if she was purposely trying to ignore Prince Lin Zi Xuan.
Beside Feng Ning, Prince Lin Zi Xuan watched indifferently as Princess Feng Zhu Liu tried to talk with Feng Ning a lot. He could sense that the woman beside him was being patient, but she was not completely comfortable.
The relationship between these princesses were not that good with each other.
Feng Ning was honestly very tired. In the end, she wrote, "Imperial Third Sister, have you seen Imperial Brother?"
"Imperial Brother is going with Imperial Cousin Lin." Princess Feng Zhu Liu actually didn't want to pay much attention to her twin brother. She hated her twin brother because he always set her up just because everything he did would never be wrong. In the end, all the blame simply fell on her.
That was very infuriating.
Because of that, Princess Feng Zhu Liu simply ditched her brother when she came to this party. Her brother also seemed like he didn't want to see her in this place either.
It was a win-win situation for the two of them.
"I see. Imperial Third Sister, I'll take a seat first."
"Alright."
After Princess Feng Zhu Liu had left, Feng Ning picked one of the seat and turned to look at her husband. He was looking in her direction as if he was contemplating something. It was unknown what would make him think so hard.
Feng Ning took her husband's hand and wrote on his palm.
After a few days, Prince Lin Zi Xuan had already gotten used to this method of communication. He could read all the letters Feng Ning wrote on his palm very easily without any problem.
"Is there anything wrong, Zi Xuan?"
Prince Lin Zi Xuan's eyes flickered. He looked at his wife, who was looking at him with her bright eyes that revealed nothing but clearness. For some reasons, he felt that the most dangerous person in the Imperial Family was not that annoying and ruthless Emperor but the woman beside him.
She didn't seem like she did anything, but her small action, gesture, and words, had inevitably affected those around her.
"It's nothing."
Feng Ning looked at him once more before retracting her gaze. She looked around and noticed that her third sister was now wandering around. It seemed that Feng Zhu Liu also noticed Prince Feng Hao Shui's eagerness to get away from her and wondered what the reason is.
'I'm not doing this to help you. I just don't want to see you destroy your life more than this.'
Even though Feng Ning didn't want to care for her siblings, she just couldn't see them went straight towards their doom. She had seen Feng Hao Shui's condition the day before and knew that if she didn't do anything, his condition would worsen. And in this world's medical capability…
He would never be able to survive.
Feng Ning lowered her eyes and sipped the tea in front of her. Her methods might be a bit harsh, but this was the only thing she could do without exposing herself.
Prang!
The sound of porcelain falling could be heard from the garden. Accompanying it was the sound of screaming and yelling.
Raising her head, Feng Ning looked a bit clueless.
"Let's take a look." Prince Lin Zi Xuan narrowed his eyes and grabbed his wife's hand. However, he paid attention to her reaction and only stood up when she did. He didn't want to make things difficult for the young woman.
Feng Ning nodded her head.
Following her husband's lead, they reached the garden. As they got closer, Feng Ning could hear the shout of Princess Feng Zhu Liu.
"Imperial Brother, why are you using this kind of substance? Don't you know that His Majesty had already banned the…"
Feng Ning blinked her eyes.
Her younger sister was more knowledgeable than what she gave her a credit for. She thought that Princess Feng Zhu Liu would only say that it was a harmful substance. But she even knew that it was already banned.
Tsk, tsk, the sweet smiling angel was not so innocent after all.
Plak!
Princess Lin Xie Ya had arrived and slapped her son. She looked so angry and infuriated. All this time, she had paid close attention to her son to make sure that he would be able to grow up well. But this just showed that he could still do things behind her back.
"Why do you have this, Feng Hao Shui?" Princess Lin Xie Ya asked in quivering tone.
Prince Feng Hao Shui looked a bit unstable. The drug caused him to be unable to think properly, but he still could hear his mother's voice. His body trembled when he heard his mother's harsh tone.
All this time, his mother had never treated him harshly.
She would always take care of him very well. Those harsh tones would only be directed towards his sisters.
He scrunched his face. "Imperial Cousin gave it to me."
"Nonsense!" Prince Lin Mei Ni was flustered. She was honestly shocked when Princess Feng Zhu Liu suddenly came into the garden and screamed at the two of them. How could she explain her whereabouts to her father and Imperial aunts?
"Imperial Mother, it's true. I see Princess Lin Mei Ni passed the bottle to Imperial Brother!" Princess Feng Zhu Liu added to the flame.
In fact, she was delighted. She only thought of seeking her brother because Feng Ning mentioned about him. But in the process of seeking him, she ended up finding out that he was actually getting a banned drug from her cousin.
How could she not be happy?
She didn't like the two of them.
This seemed to be the gift from the Heaven for her to be able to push down the two of them at the same time.
"Is that true?" The Emperor walked into the garden. His sharp eyes were looking at his daughter and nephew. Truth to be told, he had been disappointed over his daughter because she couldn't do anything good.
Now, she even involved his nephew.
This had crossed the line.
"Imperial Father, please listen to me! I didn't do it…."
"Your Highness…."
The voices of the people debating came and goes as Feng Ning watched from the distance. No matter what the verdict was, she would not be involved in the matter in the slightest bit since she didn't even have any interaction with either of them for a long period of time.
Beside her, Prince Lin Zi Xuan watched his wife's reaction as the corner of his lips curled up to form a smile. This cunning little woman… was still the same as when she was young back then.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Sorahana
Sorahana There was a mini mass release in patreon because the goal was reached. The mini mass release is delayed here because it's for the readers who read there first. Since the chapters are already made public, I made the mini mass release to be today. :)
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone