The palace banquet continued with the male guests and female guests entering through two gates. Feng Jin Yuan advised his three daughters a bit then sat in his own carriage.
Today, the Feng family had only prepared one large carriage, and the three young misses were to sit together.
Xiang Rong and Fen Dai had become accustomed to it long ago, but Chen Yu was still thinking about her sandalwood carriage. Yi Lin saw her expression become more and more gloomy and quickly reminded her in a quiet voice: "Eldest young miss, didn't you already give that carriage to elder madam?"
Feng Chen Yu gritted her teeth: "Now that she can't even get out of bed, why does she not know to let me sit in the carriage?"
"Young miss, you absolutely must not get angry. Entering the palace is the most important matter."
Chen Yu also understood this reasoning, thus she took a deep breath and finally managed to suppress her gloomy mood. She stepped forward and was the first to enter the carriage.
Fen Dai rolled her eyes at Chen Yu then followed closely behind. Xiang Rong was the last to enter the carriage, but she was left with a seat to the side.
She carefully sat down and used her hands to hold the hem of her clothes, fearing that she would dirty them.
The more Fen Dai and Chen Yu looked, the more they felt that the refined heart of the lake was ugly. They could not help but look away, and the three ignored each other.
This time, the entrance to the palace was called Xiang Rui Gate. Apparently, it was the entrance through which the previous Emperor chose the harem. The Emperor had not taken in concubines for close to ten years, and many people thought that these palace gates would never be opened again; however, they never thought that when welcoming the daughters of the officials into the palace today, they would all be sent into the palace through Auspicious Gate.
At the gate, there were still grannies examining the invitations. At the same time, they were also recording the people entering the palace.
When the Feng family's carriage stopped at the side, many people looked over.
Fen Dai was proud, and she had never participated in this sort of banquet before. Unable to hold back, she was the first to rush out of the carriage.
But the majority of the people did not recognize the Feng family's fourth young miss. Glancing at her, they felt that she was not wearing any expensive clothing, thus they did not think much of it. There were even some that thought of her as a maidservant, saying: "It really is the Feng family of a standard first rank official. Even a maidservant is dressed so grandly."
Fen Dai's ears were sharp and immediately heard these words. Angrily glaring: "Who are you calling a maidservant?"
The girl was given a fright, but she very quickly understood that she had misunderstood. She quickly bowed apologetically as an apology.
Fen Dai did not pay any further attention to her, as she stood in place and began to admire the palace's gates.
This was her first time entering the palace. Everything was new to her. Even the nannies and palace maids standing outside the door gave her a strong sense of novelty.
However, the young ladies lining up to enter the palace made her feel somewhat displeased. She saw that each and every one of them was dressed more brightly than the next. Almost all of the expensive clothing and expensive jewelry were on their bodies. Only then did Fen Dai realize that the ready-made clothes that she had seen yesterday could not compare to what her brother-in-law and madam were wearing. They were truly worse than the servants at their side. Especially the jewelry on her body, it was even more shabby.
Although Han shi had received Feng Jin Yuan's favor over the years, there was still the Shen Clan in the past. She truly could not obtain any benefits. As for Feng Jin Yuan, he was not someone who would privately send things to a concubine. In truth, Han shi had not received anything over the years.
Fen Dai could not help but curse at Han shi in her heart, but before she could finish cursing, she heard a sudden gasp from the crowd. Everyone's eyes turned in a certain direction.
She was slightly surprised and also turned her head; however, she happened to see Feng Xiang Rong descend from a carriage. The refined lake heart winter dress that fell to the ground matched her young and petite face. She was truly like a deity from the lake. She was so beautiful that all of the young ladies present lost their color.
Previously, Fen Dai did not feel that Xiang Rong was very beautiful. In fact, she had never even looked at this third sister properly. But seeing her today, she found that she had overlooked too many people and matters in the manor. She did not even know when Xiang Rong had become so successful.
"I heard that these clothes were sent by his Highness Prince Chun yesterday." Someone in the crowd quietly began to discuss.
"Why would his Highness Prince Chun send clothes to the daughter of a concubine from the Feng family?"
"Who knows. I heard that Prince Chun was close with the Feng family's second young miss, but when did he become so familiar with the third young miss?"
"Don't discuss it any further. How could someone like his Highness the seventh prince be someone we can discuss in private."
Once these words came out, everyone agreed. As long as they thought of Xuan Tianhua's appearance that did not seem to exist in the secular world, they felt that even if they were to discuss in private, it would be a form of blasphemy to his Highness the seventh prince.
Thus they shut their mouths, and nobody said anything else. Even the gazes that looked at Xiang Rong changed from the initial shock to "This is most likely his Highness the seventh prince's charity."
Xiang Rong did not care about this. Getting out of the carriage, she lightly walked to the end of the line and stood there.
At this time, Chen Yu also got out of the carriage, which caused everyone to let out an "eh" sound of confusion.
"Who is this?" Finally, someone could not endure and began to wonder, "The Feng family has a young miss with this sort of skin color?"
Someone that knew laughed and said: "What sort of skin color is that. That is clearly the black blush bestowed by her Highness the Empress."
"Ah!" Someone finally recognized Chen Yu, "Isn't that the Feng family's eldest young miss? Didn't they say that she was a beauty capable of causing the downfall of a country? That she is the number one beauty in the capital? "
"No matter how beautiful a person is, with such makeup, can they still be seen as beautiful?" The people quietly snorted, and not a single person greeted Chen Yu.
Fen Dai heard the people discuss Chen Yu and felt at ease. She could not help but go forward and stand at Chen Yu's side, saying: "Eldest sister, you are the Feng family's daughter to the first wife. Why do you not greet these madams and young misses? Based on our family's official rank, they are far below you. "
Chen Yu even had the heart to strangle Feng Fen Dai to death. Could it be that she did not want to go and greet them? But look at these madams and young misses. Each and every one of them saw her look over and turned their heads away. It was clear that they did not want to pay any attention to her, so why bother going over and provoking them?
She did not argue with Fen Dai, as she turned and walked towards the end of the line. But after just a few steps, she saw Xiang Rong begin chatting with a few young misses. There was also a young miss that had just walked over and loudly said to Xiang Rong: "Aren't you the Feng family's third young miss that came with Royal Consort Yu to participate in the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet?"
Xiang Rong smiled at her and replied: "I am. Has young miss Yuan been well recently?"
The girl that had been called young miss Yuan had a smile bloom on her face, quickly saying: "I have been well. What about you?"
Xiang Rong also nodded: "Me too."
The girls gathered together to chat and laugh, and it was very lively. Chen Yu and Fen Dai found this to be an eyesore, but they had no choice but to line up with Xiang Rong. There was nothing that they could do. They could only grit their teeth and go forward.
When the young misses saw the two come over, they gradually stopped laughing and quietly stood there, no longer speaking.
Fen Dai courted disaster by saying: "It's finally quiet." This caused the young misses to glare fiercely at her.
In truth, Xiang Rong really wanted to remind Fen Dai to be extremely careful when she spoke and did things in the palace, but how could Fen Dai possibly listen to advice? She swallowed the words that had reached her lips a few times. In the end, she chose not to speak. An shi was correct. Everyone had their own destiny, and nobody could control the other.
The people entered the palace one by one. Xiang Rong did not see Xuan Tian Ge and the others the entire time. Only after asking the young misses did she find out that imperial daughter Wu Yang was originally a member of the imperial family. There was no need for her to line up outside. As for the other young misses, they had been brought in by imperial daughter Wu Yang long ago.
Finally, they had their name cards checked and entered the palace; however, Xiang Rong found that the banquet this time seemed to be in a different place from the previous one. Although it was a different entrance, they were definitely not going in the direction of Liu Li courtyard.
She was just thinking that since it was Winter, the banquet should be held indoors, right?
However, the palace maid who led the way led them to a large lake. The lake had not frozen over, and there were boats of various sizes floating on the lake. Some of them had people sitting on them, while others were empty.
Seeing that another group of people had arrived, the eunuch in charge of the boat quickly docked and said to the palace maid leading the way: "How many more groups are there?"
The palace maid replied: "Around three groups." She then turned around and said to the female members of the palace maid's family: "Today's banquet will be held on a small island in the middle of the lake. Everyone will need to take a boat to the small island. The lords, madams and young misses that entered the palace earlier have already gone over. Let's hurry!" After saying this, she began to arrange for everyone to board the boat.
The Feng family's three young misses naturally boarded the same boat. The boat that the three were on was not large, and it swayed slightly when they rowed. The few of them held onto the pillars of the boat; however, they still stood and enjoyed the scenery.
Chen Yu stood at Fen Dai's side. Ever since she boarded the boat, she had been looking around the lake. Fen Dai saw her like this and knew that she was looking for someone. She then recalled what Han shi had said about her behavior toward his Highness the seventh prince. How could she not understand what Chen Yu was thinking. She could not help but coldly snort and mockingly say: "Eldest sister, don't think about tarnishing his Highness Prince Chun any longer. Why don't you think about whether or not you are worthy."
"Feng Fen Dai." This time, Chen Yu did not get angry. She only reminded her in a cold voice: "Do not think that you can continue living in the manor forever just because you were able to use the imperial decree to come back. As long as father does not give up on me, you will not be able to make a comeback. Moreover … "She glanced to the side," There is still Xiang Rong above you. Your mother has the highest status. Do you feel that based on this point, you still have hope in this life? "
In the end, Chen Yu was older than her by a few years, and she had been the daughter of the first wife for many years. When scaring people, she still had some ability.
Fen Dai was angered by what she had said and fiercely stomped her foot; however, she forgot that they were on a boat. The boat swayed, scaring Xiang Rong so much that her face turned white.
The eunuch controlling the boat said: "Young misses, you absolutely must not move around randomly. This boat is small. If you fall into the water, you will suffer in this cold weather."
These words reminded Fen Dai of something. She just stared at the ice-cold lake. For some reason, she felt that if Feng Chen Yu fell in at this time and drowned, perhaps she would be able to drown out the arrogance of her daughter to the first wife.
As she thought like this, her arm also began to move.
Unfortunately, Feng Chen Yu had noticed that something was off. When Fen Dai stared at the lake, she had already become more careful. Now that she saw her slightly raise her arm, how could she not understand what she meant.
But Chen Yu did not expose her. She just carefully calculated the distance and moved back a few steps. When Fen Dai's hand became fierce, she pulled Xiang Rong over!
Fen Dai was caught off guard and pushed with her outstretched arm, pushing Xiang Rong, who was still standing there in a daze, into the water.
A "plop" sound was heard, followed by Feng Chen Yu's shriek "Not good! Someone come! Someone fell into the water! "While shouting, she looked at Xiang Rong in the water and repeatedly asked:" Third sister, are you alright? Third sister? "
The Winter lake was bone-chillingly cold. Although it did not freeze, there were still a few bits of ice. Not to mention a person falling into the water, even palace servants would grimace from the cold if they reached their hands into the water.
Xiang Rong felt as though she had been frozen in an instant. She could not even raise her arm, as she quickly sank into the water.
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