Capítulo 5: Then She... Shall Not Be Kind!
Editor: Atlas Studios
Cui Lingling's face turned even redder. She really could not resist good-looking people. However, when she heard this, she tilted her head and asked in confusion,
"But you look like a beautiful demoness to begin with! You're as beautiful as the demonic sect next door… Oh no, I mean the beautiful demoness that has been rumored about in our hometown!"
Shen Mingjiao stared at her. I'll take that as a compliment!
Just then, there was a commotion nearby. It was the stunning eldest daughter of the Su family, Su Qing.
The two of them looked over and saw a woman in a light purple dress surrounded by people at the corner of the pavilion.
If Shen Mingjiao's beauty was bright and charming, then the woman in front of her was like a walking desert rose. She exuded a noble and calm aura, and her eyes had a calmness that did not match her age.
The noble ladies around them discussed excitedly, "I heard that at the Qushui Feast held by the Grand Princess's residence a few days ago, Su Qing's song [Dream Token] shocked everyone. It even beat many well-established scholars who were present…"
"What's so strange about that? All these years, Miss Su Qing's poems have amazed the world! Many of them have even become classics. They have been printed into poetry collections and are widely circulated. Even the head of the Egret Academy once commented that Su Qing is a talented girl who only appears once every hundred years. Moreover, every poem and essay she writes is of a different style. No scholar has been able to do this since ancient times…"
"There's also all the food created by Miss Su Qing, such as hotpot, skewers, fried chicken, milk tea… Aiya, let's not talk about it anymore. If we go on, I'm going to salivate…"
"How can such a perfect person exist? She had a distinguished birth and she's good-looking yet so smart! The two most noble and handsome men in the current dynasty have fallen in love with her! They don't even dare to write things like this in a fictional script…"
"Hey, do you think Miss Su Qing will eventually choose the Crown Prince or the Prince?"
"Of course she'll choose the Crown Prince. He is gentle and he's also the Crown Prince…"
"Who said so? The Prince is alright too! Besides, the Prince looks a little more attractive…"
"I know right…"
As such, the noble ladies began to discuss fervently about who Su Qing would choose in the end.
Cui Lingling tugged at Shen Mingjiao's sleeve and asked softly, "Is this person really that great?"
Shen Mingjiao said ambiguously, "Well, at least what they said is true. But this isn't her best yet."
Cui Lingling's eyes immediately lit up. "You mean… she knows martial arts? And she's very good at it!?"
"No, she's just a noble lady from a civil servant family. How could she know martial arts?"
"Oh," Cui Lingling said in disappointment. She lowered her head and continued to fiddle with her big golden bracelet.
Shen Mingjiao shook her head in amusement. Although Su Qing did not know martial arts, there was a martial arts master who was willingly her guard.
Tong Yuyao noticed the purple dress that Su Qing was wearing. Her eyes flashed and she said innocently, "Hey, Miss, your dress looks like Sister Su Qing's!"
At this moment, Su Qing happened to walk over. Curious, she followed Tong Yuyao's finger and looked in the direction she was pointing. She met a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes. The next moment, she saw the woman lower her head slightly, her expression was stiff and she looked inarticulate.
Su Qing quickly retracted her gaze and shook her head regretfully. What a pity, she had such a beautiful face but she was an empty-headed beauty.
When the path of vision moved elsewhere, Shen Mingjiao quickly retracted her expression.
Cui Lingling asked carefully, "Are you… very afraid of her?"
Unexpectedly, Shen Mingjiao nodded honestly.
Cui Ling Ling was very puzzled. "Why?! Although she sounds quite powerful, she's just a weak girl from the harem."
To her, any person who did not know martial arts was not a threat.
Shen Mingjiao shrugged helplessly. "You don't understand. She's very sinister. Anyone who goes against her or who she doesn't like ends up badly."
"So you have to be careful when you meet her in the future."
Cui Lingling nodded in confusion. At this moment, a sharp voice reported, "The Emperor has arrived, the Empress has arrived!"
Everyone immediately knelt on the ground. Emperor Jinghe raised his hand. Then he and the Empress addressed everyone with some kind words before they headed to the nearest palace. Before they left, they also welcomed everyone to walk as they pleased and admire the scenery.
The noble ladies were shocked. This meant that they were going to begin looking at everyone.
As such, when the Emperor and the Empress left, they hurriedly tidied up their appearances.
After that, many women stood up and walked around in the most elegant little steps they had ever taken in their lives, in an attempt to bump into the Crown Prince or the Prince. Although Su Qingzhu was at the front, she could not hog both of them. If she really wasn't up to standard, she did not mind to be a secondary consort.
There were also some reserved ladies who chose to stay where they were. They felt that the Empress must have sent someone to observe them from hidden corners, so they had to appear dignified and calm.
Shen Mingjiao looked at the longing and anticipation on the women's faces sympathetically.
It couldn't be helped. Before she died in her previous life, the Crown Prince only had one woman, Su Qing. As for the Prince, there was no need to mention him.
At the end, she glanced in the direction where Su Qing had left and sighed rather regretfully.
Others might not know it, but she could roughly guess where the Crown Prince and the Prince were.
She was really unwilling to miss out on the Prince.
But forget it. If she really followed the trajectory of her previous life, she would probably feel guilty and short of breath whenever she faced Feng Lisheng for the rest of her life.
She gritted her teeth in her heart and said, "Feng Lisheng, whether you can marry your true love this time will depend on your luck."
…
Ten minutes later, a sharp cry for help came from the pavilion in the middle of the lake.
"Help! Miss Su Qing has fallen into the water…"
Everyone was shocked. They stood up and walked towards the source of the sound. Shen Mingjiao also followed behind the crowd silently.
When they got closer, they realized that it was not Su Qing who had fallen into the water. Instead, it was a palace maid dressed in a similar color to Su Qing. At that moment, the palace maid was being rescued by two rough servants.
At this moment, they heard a splash not far away. Everyone looked over and saw the Crown Prince slowly walking ashore with Su Qing, who was drenched. Immediately, a smart palace maid handed over a cloak.
The handsome and gentle Crown Prince took the cloak and gently draped it over Su Qing while ignoring her struggles. This scene could be said to make a group of noble ladies envious. However, apart from feeling a little jealous in their hearts, they could only wish her well silently. After all, she was Su Qing.
When the palace maid who had just been rescued saw that the person had not appeared, a strong unwillingness flashed in her eyes.
At this moment, there were naturally people who noticed the palace maid's abnormality. Putting everything else aside, the palace maids' attire were usually uniform. But not only was this palace maid wearing the same clothes as Su Qing, but she had also fallen into the water so coincidentally. One could say that her intentions were so obvious.
Prince Feng Qiyu looked at the palace maid kneeling on the ground and frowned. He waved his hand and had someone bring her away for interrogation.
Shen Mingjiao stared at the palace maid who was dragged away. After a short moment of shock, she did not find that surprising at all.
In her previous life, she thought that she had been pushed into the lake coincidentally because someone wanted to mess with Su Qing. However, the clues later made her gradually understand.
As such, in this life, even when she did not go to the pavilion in the middle of the lake as planned, there would still be someone falling into the water with Su Qing.
The only thing that puzzled her was that Feng Lisheng had not appeared!
Shen Mingjiao could not help but frown. Doesn't Feng Lisheng love his true love so much? He actually did not appear when Su Qing was in danger!
Just as she thought of Feng Lisheng, she heard the Crown Prince call for his uncle in a gentle voice.
Shen Mingjiao seemed to have sensed something and turned her head.
She saw a man in a scarlet python robe with a purple-gold crown on his head. He was wearing the crown of a superior first-grade prince, which made him look cold yet eye-catching.
However, Shen Mingjiao frowned in confusion. In her impression, this guy was always dressed in black and held a sword hilt. Forget the shiny jade pendant sachets hanging on his waist, even the hairpin used to tie his hair was the simplest and neatest.
When did he become so meticulous? Is it to please his sweetheart?
But that wasn't right either. She doesn't recall him wearing this on this day in his previous life!
However, the noble ladies around them stared at the Prince in a daze. They couldn't be blamed for this. It was just that the Prince was too good-looking!
His face was like a work of art meticulously carved by God. His cold white skin made him look slightly feminine at first glance. However, his facial features were different from the gentleness of the Central Plains people. They appeared very deep and three-dimensional.
The most stunning thing was that pair of blue gem-like eyes. When you met those eyes, it was as if you could see the sparkling light on the blue sea, they were clear and bright.
It was also because of this pair of eyes which clearly carried foreign blood, that no matter how outstanding he was, he was destined to have no fate with the throne.
His temperament was cold, and his years in the military made him look reliable and murderous.
Shen Mingjiao stared at the… ahem… black token hanging on the waist of the Prince.
It was the entry token for all the shops in the Prince's Mansion.
Possession of this token was equivalent to direct control of… the assets of the Prince's Mansion.
She thought of the happy times in her previous life when she could buy all sorts of things, as well as the small mountain of jewelry, satin, and spoils of war in the Prince's Mansion's storeroom that had piled up because nobody tidied them up.
She felt terrible. She wished she could fly to the Prince's Mansion immediately and organize those things one by one.
At this moment, she suddenly felt someone looking at her. She subconsciously looked up and met that pair of blue gem-like eyes.
After being stunned for a moment, Shen Mingjiao blinked at him in a friendly manner.
Feng Lisheng paused for a moment before smiling gently in her direction. This smile was like melting ice and snow, making him look even more dazzling and causing the surrounding noble ladies to gasp.
Shen Mingjiao was stunned. Feng Lisheng… actually smiled at her. Oh no… that was not the point. The point was that he could actually smile!
In her previous life, the two of them had lived under the same roof for ten years, but Shen Mingjiao had never seen him smile. Even when he faced Su Qing, his expression was only slightly less cold.
At the mention of Su Qing, she suddenly realized that Su Qing had still chosen the Crown Prince in this life.
Hence, the two of them were destined not to be together, so Feng Lisheng would still not marry a wife in this life!
Then… she shall not be kind!
-- Presente
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