Suburban Manor.
This manor was gifted as a dowry to the Lady of Zhen Guo household, Su Miaolan's mother. In the future, this manor would be Su Miaolan's dowry. The surrounding hills were covered in wildflowers, and many women of nobility sat comfortably on the ground. The small tables set before them presented exquisite pastries and delicacies.
Nearby, there was a rock garden pavilion where a number of youths were invited to lounge. The rules here were very lenient, as long as its visitors did not cause too much ruckus.
At this moment, a maiden wearing a 'hundred flowers' embroidered skirt turned to the girl beside her and quietly whispered, "Zhang Princess 1, I heard... that Gong Yi Mo will be coming here today."
The Zhang Princess Gong Han Yue raised her brow and looked at the girl beside her. She snorted. "What is she, an ordinary citizen, doing here?"
Although it wasn't obvious on the surface, Princess Zhang was actually very worried. She did not want to meet that formerly favored princess.
The girl named Qin Ke Er, who wore the hundred flowers skirt, smiled. "I heard that Su Miaolan borrowed Liu Qingqing's hand to force her to come."
Seeing Zhang Princess's clueless expression, she said no more. Anyway, Qin Ke Er had spoken all of the words she intended to say. It wasn't Gong Han Yue's fault if she couldn't understand.
The Zhang Princess, who held her unique title alone, was not favored. She was approaching twenty years of age this year, but she was still unmarried.
Gong Han Yue turned Qin Ke Er's words around in her head but still couldn't understand, she just stopped thinking about it.
On the other side of the pavilion, a young girl wearing a pink dress and a small coat pouted as she asked, "Sister Su, you are too kind! Why should you invite that repulsive girl? Not only is she disgusting, she even stole the embroidery that you painstakingly made for a year. You shouldn't have bothered with the likes of her."
Su Miaolan placed her hand over her mouth and laughed gently. "Don't say that. The Chaoyang Princess is pitiful enough."
"What Chaoyang Princess? She lost that title a while ago!" The girl narrowed her slender eyebrows. "Don't be afraid, I, Zuo Xi, will definitely seek revenge for you!"
A shuffling of feet sounded through the air as a maiden named Liu Qingqing walked towards the entrance. She arrogantly strode through the crowd while showing off her costly dress and rare cloud satin. Her hair bun was styled to the city's most popular fashion. The young maiden walked confidently, swaying her hips with allure in every step. She had a natural beauty about her, yet everybody glanced over her to look behind her.
There was no helping it. The former princess was too much of a mystery-whether it was about her astonishing rise out of the Cold Palace or the emperor's favor that she had won for the past two years in the harem. Even with all her accomplishments, she rarely appeared before the crowd.
Everyone present had family who had known that Gong Yi Mo would come and had repeatedly warned them not to oppose her. This group of young and willful girls wanted to know what kind of person could be so feared even after having been demoted to a commoner.
The scene in front of her made Liu Qinqing grind her teeth in annoyance!
But after coming to the present scene, she smiled in satisfaction. The girl Liu Qingqing resented was currently obstructed at the mansion entrance, without any permission to pass through.
At this time, Gong Yi Mo stood by the entrance without losing her temper. She only said with a calm and commanding voice, "I'll count to three. If you don't let me in, I will leave immediately."
To women in the kingdom, attending banquets was a way to boast of their status while building relationships with those hosting the gathering. To Gong Yi Mo, however, this kind of social gathering was useless in her eyes. Moreover, she didn't even like the extravagant feasts held in the palace, let alone this kind of little girl's private feast.
The former princess' words were spoken so surely it was difficult to doubt. Liu Qingqing had insisted earlier to block her path to make things difficult. But if she doesn't join the party, will Liu Qingqing and the group be blamed?
A servant quickly reported the matters to the banquet's host. Su Maiolan originally wanted to watch the fun, but if Gong Yi Mo didn't come in, what fun was there to watch? After considering these things, Su Miaolan ignored the displeasure of others and personally came to the entrance in a low profile.
Gong Yi Mo laid her eyes on this familiar face with indifference. She smiled coldly and entered through the gate.
And since Su Miaolan had introduced a commoner like this, it was undoubtedly the same as setting her to burn on a fire. Her intentions were completely malicious.
But what does it matter?