Chapter 168 An Incident In The Temporary Imperial Pce (Part One)
Prince Jing turned to look at Yun Shang who was standing by his side, and found Yun Shang had fixed
her eyes upon the withered flower in his hand. Yun Shang looked as if she had expected that. Prince
Jing understood that Yun Shang must have known why the flower in his hand suddenly withered, so he
did not panic at all. He lifted his eyes and found traces ofcency in the Grand Councilor''s eyes.
Prince Jing frowned and threw the flower on the ground. He said with an astonishingly cold look,
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"Brother, it seems that I shouldn''t have touched the flower. The flower was too delicate. How could it be
rated as the best flower in the Flower Show Festival? I think the best flower in our state should be
enduring and stoical." After saying this, Prince Jing took the flower from Yun Shang. As soon as he
held the flower, it also withered. Prince Jing swiveled around to look at Wen Ruyu and inquired, "Lady
Wen, could you tell me why the two flowers withered when I held them? But when Shang''er held it, it
was fine."
The Grand Councilor frowned slightly. He didn''t expect that Prince Jing would take the flower which
was held by Yun Shang. The Grand Councilor looked at Wen Ruyu who seemed shocked at Prince
Jing''s cold face and said, "I think the flowers prefer beautifuldies to men." While speaking, the Grand
Councilor walked up to Prince Jing and picked up the flower on the ground. He said, "What a pity! Such
a wonderful flower is rare to see."
At the same time, the Grand Councilor noticed an odd smell radiating from Yun Shang and Prince Jing.
So he fixed his eyes upon them.
"Just now the flowers exhibited by Lady Wen were morous. Though the flowers withered, we can
still give a fair judgement of their beauty. Later, a stage will be set here and all the flowers exhibited
today will be put on the stage. All the citizens present will receive a leaf that they will ce in front of
the flower which they liked the most. Then the voting result will be calcted. Your Excellencies, to
ensure the result is fair, you have to go to another Pce to rest before the result is shared, " said the
Grand Councilor.
After this, several eunuchs guided all the officials anddies to the Pce. Yun Shang walked near
Prince Jing and whispered, "This is just the start. That flower exhibited by Wen Ruyu will wither once it
is held by a man who wears the robe you are wearing. Your robe is what matters. My robe is made of
the same fabric as yours. But there is nothing wrong with my robe. The Grand Councilor deliberately
prepared robes made of the same fabric lest we suspect that there is something wrong with your robe."
Prince Jing raised his eyebrows and looked bewildered.
As they reached the Pce, some singing and dancing performances were being held. All the men
settled down and watched the performances. Thedies who were all daughters of important court
officials were too shy to sit with the men. So Yun Shang led thedies to the garden.
The maidservants filled cups with tea for thedies. Yun Shang took a cup and scanned thedies.
Thedies had been carefully selected from different ces. Their family backgrounds and
appearances were all excellent. But they all looked a bit nervous for this was the first time that they had
seen the Princess of the royal family. Wen Ruyu who was normally cold and indifferent, was restless.
She kept ncing toward the entrance of the garden.
Yun Shang thought for a while and realized something. The Emperor had said that Hua Jing would
Yun Shang beckoned Qian Yin and whispered something in her ear. Qian Yin nodded and withdrew
from the garden. Wen Ruyu noticed Qian Yin''s retreat. When she nced at Yun Shang, she found
Yun Shang looked normal. Just as she was about to leave with an excuse, Yun Shang said, "Do I make
you nervous? You should rx. We are resting. We could talk freely. If you like, I can send my maids to
find something interesting for us to y. We have plenty of time."
Manydies felt a bit apprehensive because it was the first time they had seen the royal Princess. They
had heard that Princesses were haughty and bad-tempered. Thedies looked at Yun Shang who
seemed to always smile. They thought to themselves that this Princess was amiable and kind, different
from the sort of Princess they had heard about.
Ady who wanted to attract attention opened her mouth and said, "Your Royal Highness, this is the
first time that we have seen you. Before this, I had only heard your name. There is a legend that when
you were seven or eight years old, our state was struck by a serious drought and you went to Ning''guo
Temple to pray for rain. Finally, it rained. You brought good fortune to the masses."
On hearing this, Yun Shang smiled and covered her mouth before saying, "I haven''t heard of such a
legend. You see, I''m just an ordinary person and I have no advantages. Judging from your
performances, I think you are all talented and outstanding."
Thedies were ted at Yun Shang''s words. Many of them had participated to attract the Emperor''s
attention. The Princess was the Emperor''s favorite daughter. If the Princess mentioned one of the
All thedies knew that. Therefore, ady hastened to inquire, "Your Highness, which performance did
you like the most?"
Yun Shang raised her eyebrows and looked at Wen Ruyu with admiration, "Just now Lady Wen
conjured two flowers. Her performance was refreshing. My father spoke highly of Lady Wen. He said
that Lady Wen was more beautiful than the flowers."
On hearing this, the otherdies turned to stare at Wen Ruyu with strong resentment. The flowers
conjured by Wen Ruyu were rather ordinary. The highlight of her performance had been the conjuring.
But the Emperor had praised her.