Speaking of, there were only three people sitting at the princes' table. The eldest prince, Xuan Tian Qi, the second prince, Xuan Tian Ling, and the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan. With three people sitting at a table, it was cold and cheerless. The eldest prince and second prince chatted happily, but the fifth prince, Xuan Tian Yan, was not very sociable. He sat quite a few chairs away from his two elder brothers, and he held a cup of wine and drank alone.
Xuan Tian Yan looked lonely, but the Li Palace had been very lively recently. Just five days before the new year, his third secondary princess had entered the palace. The Li Palace even set off firecrackers for this, and Xuan Tian Yan even wore a bright red wedding robe to personally welcome her. Apparently, that secondary princess had been carried into the Li Palace by the fifth prince, and the extravagance was quite grand.
Seeing that the fifth prince had returned to his former appearance, the people were quite used to it. Some people said that the fifth prince's nature should be like this. A few years ago, he had been bewitched by the Feng family's fourth young miss, which caused him to become abnormal. Now that the Feng family's fourth young miss' limelight had passed, the fifth prince had gotten tired of it and no longer cared about her. As a matter of fact, she had been chased to a normal courtyard to live in.
There were also people who said that the Feng family's fourth young miss was quite pitiful. She had not even married into the Li Palace and had followed the fifth prince for all these years for nothing. In any case, those so-called secondary princesses and concubines still had a status. She was a young girl, yet she had been called the fifth prince's official princess for so long. Even if she did not marry in, perhaps there would not be anyone who dared to marry her in the future.
There were even people who said that Feng Fen Dai deserved it. They heard that her temper was especially bad, and she would often give the fifth prince a bad attitude. A perfectly good prince had been insulted by her to the point that he was like a grandson. Dumping her was the right thing to do.
In short, when faced with the Li Palace's successive happy events, the people said all sorts of things, especially that time a few years ago. Xuan Tian Yan had used such a grand ceremony to welcome the new bride into the palace. In the eyes of outsiders, this was even more like Feng Fen Dai had been banished to the cold palace.
Thus some people with bad intentions ran to the entrance of Feng Fendai's small courtyard and made sarcastic remarks. They fiercely mocked Feng Fendai and said how good the new secondary princess was. At first, they thought that based on Feng Fen Dai's personality, she would definitely come out and curse at them. They had already made preparations for a fight. Either way, the Feng manor was no more, and Feng Fen Dai had become enemies with Feng Yu Heng. Now that the fifth prince had abandoned her, she did not have anyone to rely on. Unexpectedly, no matter how much they scolded, no one came out from the small courtyard. From morning till night, no one came out.
Who knew if Xuan Tian Yan knew about this, but either way, the Li Palace did not make any sort of reaction. They just allowed those meddlesome people to curse Feng Fen Dai for two days and two nights. Apparently, on the morning of the new year's eve, there were even people that went to mock her!
During today's palace banquet, the third secondary princess also entered the palace. At this moment, she was sitting together with the family members of the eldest prince and second prince. But it was very clear that she was not liked by the two imperial sisters-in-law. To the other two official princes' wives, that girl was just a plaything for their fifth brother. Once they were tired of playing with her, they would throw her away. Her position was far from Feng Fendai who was officially married.
However, although everyone knew what sort of person the fifth prince was, the position of the Li Fifth Palace's official princess was still empty. That was a huge temptation. Looking at these princes, there was no hope for those who were already married. The unmarried fourth prince had already lost his throne and was not within the range of consideration. And the Sixth Prince had the position of regent, which was equivalent to the crown prince. It was very likely that he would be the future Emperor. The position of official princess was very likely to be the future Empress. That was not something that normal people could curry favor with. Then there was the seventh prince. That was an even more unattainable existence. Thinking about it, wanting to be related to the imperial family, there was only the fifth prince left. Therefore, even if the fifth prince had a bad reputation, there were still people who rushed forward to get close to him. For example, this person who was currently walking towards the princes' seats.
"Greetings to Your Highness the fifth prince." The girl bowed slowly with a charming smile on her face.
Xuan Tianyan glanced at her expressionlessly, but he still asked: "Who are you?"
The girl smiled and said: "My father is the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, Qi Huai."
"Qi Huai?" Xuan Tianyan thought for a while and nodded, "A standard third rank official. He usually keeps a low profile. I am actually completely unfamiliar with him."
"That's right!" The girl did not act like an outsider and sat down next to Xuan Tianyan, "My father has never been good at socializing with people. He rarely even attends this palace banquet. If not for the fact that the Emperor said that he could not be absent, he probably would not have entered the palace! " She looked a little aggrieved, "If Father does not enter the palace, it is even more impossible for us to enter the palace. Speaking of which, this is the first time This Official's Daughter has come to the palace, and it is also the first time I am meeting Your Highness the fifth prince." She glanced at Xuan Tianyan and did not hide her flattery and fawning.
Xuan Tianyan was too familiar with this kind of gaze and could understand too well what people with this kind of gaze were thinking. He did not mind and did not reject anyone. The other party had shown good intentions, so he also returned a smile and gave further advice to the other party: "I see that you have delicate features and are pleasing to the eye. How should I address Young Miss?"
That girl was secretly happy and quickly replied: "This Official's Daughter's name is Qi Fang. Everyone in the family calls me Fang-er. If Your Highness the fifth prince does not mind, you can also … … also call This Official's Daughter this way." As she spoke, her face turned red and her head lowered slightly, looking very shy.
Xuan Tianyan, however, did not feel that this Young Miss Qi was in a shy state. A girl who had such thoughts and was so bold, how could she be shy. This shyness was just an act. In reality, she probably hoped that their relationship could progress further. If he brought up the idea, she would not care about the reserved manner of a daughter from a noble family and directly throw herself into his arms.
"Fang-er." He smiled again, "It sounds nice."
"Many thanks to Your Highness the fifth prince." Qi Fang was very happy. Seeing that Xuan Tianyan was willing to acknowledge her, she moved her chair closer to him without any awkwardness and spoke even more intimately, "Why is Your Highness the fifth prince drinking alone? Fang-er sat opposite him and saw this, feeling very distressed. Your Highness only brought a secondary consort into the palace today. Fang-er saw that that secondary consort elder sister does not like to talk. Your Highness will inevitably feel lonely. How about … … Let Fang-er accompany you to drink a few cups! " As she spoke, she picked up an empty cup from the table and filled Xuan Tianyan's cup with wine first. She then poured her own cup before raising it: "Your Highness the fifth prince, Fang-er toasts you."
Xuan Tianyan also raised his cup, "Alright, many thanks, Fang-er." After saying this, he downed the cup in one gulp, then said: "I was just worrying about how boring it is to drink alone, Fang-er came. You really are a girl who understands others."
"Fang-er thanks Your Highness the fifth prince for his praise." Qi Fang was even happier. After downing a cup of wine, she had opened her mouth. In addition to Xuan Tianyan's ambiguous attitude, calling her Fang-er caused her heart to itch. She felt that she was already moving in the direction of becoming familiar with this fifth prince. As long as she worked harder, she might be able to reap even greater rewards!
Qi Fang was very happy. The Qi family had always kept a low profile. Her father, Qi Huai, rarely interacted with other colleagues. Other than attending court every day, he would stay at home and would never take the initiative to interact with others. During the festive season, he rarely even moved around with etiquette. It was to the point that even if her ambitions were higher than the sky, she did not have the chance to stand out. Seeing that she was already 16 years old this year, there were quite a few people who came to propose marriage, but there was not a single one that caught her eye. Mother said that marrying into a large family was not good. The internal strife could take one's life. But were there no conflicts between small families? A few days ago, the shopkeeper of the Gao family's pastry shop even hit the madam because the madam mistreated a concubine and treated a concubine's daughter badly. If a small business family was already like this, how small of a family did she have to look for? Could it be that she had to look for a poor citizen?
Qi Fang thought, rather than fighting in a small family, it would be better to fight in a large family. There would be fighting everywhere, so she wanted to fight in that kind of high-end family. As for whether she would win or lose, die or live, that would depend on each person's abilities. It would be considered fair.
She had high aspirations. Normally, people would look down on her, but she actually set her eyes on a son of the imperial family. It just so happened that Emperor Tianwu was afraid that this year's imperial banquet would not be lively enough and ordered that the invited officials could not be absent for any reason. Only then did she have the chance to enter the imperial palace with her parents. She had to grasp this chance. She definitely could not enter the imperial palace for nothing. At present, there were very few princes that could be chosen. Although this fifth prince was not the best choice, and he had many secondary princesses and concubines, at least the position of official princess was empty. If she could become the official princess of the Li Palace, it would be considered gaining face for the Qi family. Her life would not have been lived in vain.
With this idea in mind, Qi Fang did her best to curry favour with Xuan Tian Yan. She also displayed her magnanimity, praising the secondary princess that Xuan Tian Yan had brought into the imperial palace. The two could be considered to have a good time chatting, but as they chatted, for some reason, Qi Fang recalled Feng Fendai, who was said to have been abandoned by Xuan Tian Yan. She had also heard many rumours about Feng Fendai and the fifth prince, and she also knew that the Feng family's fourth young miss' temper was so bad that it angered both humans and gods. She treated the fifth prince very badly, either hitting or scolding him. She felt indignant because of this and could not hold back for a while, beginning to denounce Feng Fendai: "Fang 'er really feels that the past few years were not worth it for Your Highness the fifth prince. Who in the capital does not know! You treat the Feng family's fourth young miss so well, and you even supported the entire Feng manor for her. Later on, you even helped her raise the child that her concubine mother had with someone else. But you're a prince! You've already done this much, but she still treats you like that. She really does not know what's good for her. "
The more Qi Fang spoke, the angrier she became, and she became more and more immersed in her act. It was as if she really was looking down on Feng Fendai and was feeling indignant for the fifth prince. The rumours that she had heard in the past surged into her mind, then she said them all: "She actually dared to say that Your Highness the fifth prince is useless. Who does she think she is? She's just the daughter of a concubine from a declining family. Her concubine mother was even brought out from a brothel, and she even cheated on her father. With this sort of status, if it were any other family, she would have been thrown into a corner and ignored. Yet Your Highness the fifth prince thinks highly of her and even gave her the position of official princess, but what about her? Not only does she not know how to be grateful, she even orders you around. She really is disgusting to the extreme. "
The more she spoke, the more spirited she became; however, she did not notice Xuan Tian Yan's extremely cold expression … …
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