Chapter 141 Birthday Party (Part Two)
Yun Shang was at a loss for words. She stared at them, but the two maids were not fazed. Frustrated,
the Princess turned away.
Seeing that, Qian Yin giggled and approached Yun Shang, "But you have to be vignt, Your Highness.
What if those people turned to you when they fail to deal with the Prince? There is an old saying, go
after low-hanging fruit."
Yun Shang raised her eyebrows at the words. She pretended anger, "Do I look like an easy target? Do
I?"
Her question gave the maids yet another asion to burst intoughter.
Prince Jing had served at the frontier for a long time. But he still had great influence in the Imperial
Capital. As he had sent invitations, people flocked to pay respects to him. In no time, Prince Jing''s
Mansion was crowded with guests, gifts, and people asking for invitation letters.
The Prince''s chambein was a capable man. Though he had never experienced such a situation, he
was able to handle it.
Fortunately, the invitations had been carefully sent. But still, when Prince Jing''s birthday arrived, for the
first time in history, the Prince''s Mansion was so lively.
Normally, ady in a house would administer the internal affairs, but the Prince was not married, so his
chambein yed the role. Thus, when Yun Shang arrived at the mansion, the chambein hurried to
her for help. After having heard the chambein''s brief, Yun Shang was almost amused, if not angry.
She cast a nce at Prince Jing, whoy idly on his bed, "It''s alreadyte. Don''t tell me you''ve not
prepared anything yet. And I had a look along the way. There''s no maid serving in your mansion. Do
you really want to have male servants attend to thedies?"
The chambein coughed to conceal his difort, "It''s all my fault. I''ve been too inconsiderate. After
all, I''ve never taken care of a birthday party before, and His Highness had given his instruction in a
hurry...It''s hard to make a thorough n in such a short time..."
The Prince was extremely calm. He put away his books, nced at the angry Yun Shang, and smiled,
"But I don''t need any maids. And I don''t want to hire some just for today''s event. It''s troublesome to fire
them again."
"Why didn''t youe to me earlier?" Yun Shang felt frustrated.
Prince Jing cleared his throat, "I forgot."
"..."
Although she didn''t want to, Yun Shang started the work with assiduity. She asked Qian Yin and Qin Yi
to help her with the preparations and sent for Ning Qian. Ning Qian would take care of the
entertainment. She ordered Qian Yin to care for thedies, and Qin Yi to arrange for the food. Yun
Shang used to manage a household in her previous life. She wasn''t unfamiliar with the affairs. With her
arrangement, each servant was busy with his or her task. And everything was getting in order.
The chambein watched as Yun Shang gave her orders to the servants. He massaged his whiskers
with a hand and said to Prince Jing, "Your Highness, you truly need ady. In your years away at the
frontier, it was okay for you to ignore etiquette. But now that you''re back in the Imperial City, you have a
lot of internal affairs that need to be taken care of."
Prince Jing shot a nce at Yun Shang. A gleam shed in his eyes when he watched her set
everything in order. He paused for a while, and nodded, "I see. How old am I now? 28? I''m a little old."
The chambein red at him, "Not just old, Your Highness. Most men have already fathered their own
children at your age. And some of their children havee of age."
The Prince coughed to conceal his feelings. "But Shang''er told my brother that she shouldn''t marry for
at least another two years. I have to wait."
The chambein wanted to say more, but Yun Shang entered. He stopped, and grinned to the
Princess, "Thank you so much, Your Highness. I can''t imagine how things would have been without
you."
Yun Shang nodded to him. Without being polite, she turned to Prince Jing and said with a frown, "I can
host thedies for you. But you still have to host the male guests. And your wound…" Yun Shang had
noticed that Prince Jing''s face was pale.
Prince Jing smiled. He stood from his bed, and paced back and forth unhurriedly. Yun Shang watched
him. The Prince looked all fine, but…
"Arrange some bodyguards to protect you secretly. And don''t let anyone get close. You looked fine
when you walked slowly, but you can''t risk making any sudden movements, for your wound may bleed
and tear open. I have to attend to the guests now. Take good care of yourself."
The Prince nodded, "I know."
After nodding to both of them, Yun Shang turned away.
Qian Yin had led thedies to a pavilion aside ake, which was the only beautiful scene in the Prince''s
Mansion. As the Prince was at war, his garden wasn''t taken care of. It was clean, but not eye-catching.
The guests were no ordinary folk. Some of them had attended banquets in the Pce. And they
recognized the girl who entertained them to be Princess Yun Shang''s maid.
Although surprised, they knew better than to make inquiries. Gathering in small groups, they chatted
with each other to pass time.
When Yun Shang arrived, thedies were exchanging gossip. They were talking about the most
popr courtesan in the Imperial City, Qian Qian, and how the noble men fought for her. Although
Princess Hua Jing''s scandal was the hottest topic, thedies certainly wouldn''t bring it up in front of
Princess Yun Shang, lest it would incur trouble.
Yun Shang shed a generous smile as she approached the guests. Thedies also curtsied to her
when they spotted the Princess. Some said, "We all found the two women hosting us to be familiar.
They seem to be Your Highness''s servants. Thus we wondered where you were, Your Highness. But
before we asked, Your Highness appeared."
Yun Shang looked to the direction, and identified the woman speaking to her to be Prince Shun Qing''s
daughter-inw, Lady Ruxin.
Yun Shang smiled to her too, and said, "How have you been, my Lady? It''s been a long time since we
for a long time, my uncle has not been able to care for formalities. But as he has returned to the
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Imperial City, it would be rude for him to ignore basic courtesy. What''s worse, he doesn''t have maids
working in his mansion. So he had to borrow my maids to host the guests. I sincerely hope that you
don''t feel neglected, mydies."
Thedies exchanged nces. They had heard of Prince Jing''s apathy, but until they came here did
they believe that the Prince had no maids. When they heard Yun Shang say there were no maids
working in Prince Jing''s Mansion, different feelings surged in their hearts.
But they didn''t dare to make anyment in front of Yun Shang, given her and Prince Jing''s rtion.
Suddenly, a voice cut in, "Your Highness, you are so lucky to have the Prince. Polygamy ismon in
the State of Ning. Even themoners take many wives. How unbelievable it is for a noble Prince to
have no interest in other women. He doesn''t even have maids tending to him. Your Highness,
seemingly, the Prince loves you so deeply. But fortunately, you are famous for your virtues. Oops, is
this garden a wilderness? Perhaps when you marry him, you could manage his household by starting
with the weeds."
Yun Shang turned and saw that the speaker was Cangyang Yu''er. Yu''er looked aggressively into Yun
Shang''s eyes. Her pretty face sported an ironic smile.
Thedies sensed the sarcasm in Yu''er''s words. And some had recognized Yu''er to be the woman who
proposed to the Prince the other day during the royal banquet. They recalled how the Prince had
refused her.
Thinking that through, thedies intended to watch a cat-fight, and couldn''t helppare Yu''er''s and
Yun Shang''s appearances. Yu''er was a beautiful girl, who must have many suitors. But her true love
was Prince Jing who had turned her down mercilessly. She had said that the Princess was lucky. And
so, the guests read between the lines. What Yu''er truly meant was that Yun Shang was jealous and
petty, which was why she didn''t allow other women to approach the Prince. And the awkward situation
was exacerbated by Yun Shang, as ording to Yu''er''s words, the Princess should''ve helped the
Prince to choose some maids.
Yun Shang shed a smile. "I''ve chosen some maid for uncle before. But he was very picky, and he
didn''t like any of them. If I insisted on arranging maids for him, I''m afraid uncle would be displeased."
Yu''er''s face fell, and thought to herself. "Ning Yun Shang, how dare you to deny your jealousy?" She
wanted to say more, but amanding voice called from a distance. "Your Highness, I''mte. Did I
miss anything?"
Yun Shang turned towards the voice, and saw Wang Jinyan walking to them. She was dressed in cyan.
A prettydy followed Wang Jinyan.
Yun Shang shed her a smile. She always thought that red suited Jinyan best, but cyan worked on
her too as it brought out her feminine charms. ''You are notte. It has just begun.'' Yun Shang thought
to herself.
Jinyan cast a cold nce at Yu''er before she turned to Yun Shang and smiled, "Your Highness, this is
my mother."
Yun Shang nodded to her before looking at the smilingdy behind Jinyan. She sighed to herself and
wondered how the serious Minister Wang and the gentle Lady Wang had parented Jinyan and Jinhuan
Wang. Yun Shang smiled to Lady Wang, "Good day, Lady Wang. You are so gorgeous. No wonder
both your children are so pretty!"
Lady Wang was happy to hear the praise. She shed Yun Shang a warm smile.
Suddenly someone gasped. The guests looked around and saw a woman in pink pass through the
corridor opposite theke. Although far, the pink figure looked so alluring…