Consort of a Thousand Faces

Without waiting for Yun Ruofeng to speak, Ning Lianchen replied, "What a coincidence. Prince Yun does have this dangling ornament, but it's currently in the hands of the current Eldest Imperial Princess. If it’s just a hair ornament, and since you have worked for it, why not bestow it to her, Prince Yun?"

 

Yun Ruofeng's eyes brightened up as he enunciated his words slowly. "This Prince doesn't concern myself with women's accessories, and you must ask the Eldest Imperial Princess to fulfill this request. This Prince can’t make decisions about things that don’t concern me."

 

Pei Qianhao finally understood. So she wanted the jade green dangling ornament that belonged to Ning Rulan. He was extremely surprised about this. But what surprised him even more was that the person Su Xi-er admired was Ning Rulan - someone who basically personified the strong and willful behaviour that the former exhibited.

 

Only people of the same kind would admire each other. That means that Su Xi-er is a strong woman at heart too. 

 

Pei Qianhao was reminded of their strange conversation in the horse carriage. Why did she suddenly mention Ning Rulan? She asked me if I would fall in love with Ning Rulan, but wasn’t she basically asking, “would you fall in love with me?”

 

He felt a tugging in his heart, a feeling that had suddenly revealed itself made him increasingly uncomfortable.

 

Looking at the silhouette of red, he could feel her strong will subtly radiating from within her. She could easily draw everyone’s attention and still remain in control. Even Yun Ruofeng is no match for her in today’s dispute.

 

Having such a powerful maidservant - should I be happy about it?

 

"Prince Yun, this servant only wants that jade green hair ornament and nothing else. If you are planning to bestow something else, Prince Hao has plenty of those." Su Xi-er suddenly turned and smiled at Pei Qianhao.

 

Without any rhyme or reason, Pei Qianhao felt a fluttering in his heart. A moment later, he nodded and replied, "When have you ever cherished the things this Prince bestowed upon you? How many of them have you thrown away?"

 

His words were filled with indescribable doting towards Su Xi-er. Hua Zirong's brows furrowed slightly. Prince Hao sure dotes on this maidservant a lot.

 

Meanwhile, Ning Lianchen watched Su Xi-er intensely. Although he had only met her four times, she had left a lasting impression on him every single time - their first meeting at the Yun Palace, last night's banquet, at the repose palace afterwards, and now, at the viewing deck.

 

He felt that it was many times better to give Su Xi-er his Imperial Elder Sister’s jade green hair ornament than have it remain in the hands of Ning Anlian.

 

Hence, Ning Lianchen directly said, "As this concerns Beimin, it's no longer just a mere woman's accessory. This Emperor shall make the decision and reward you with the dangling ornament. Someone, head to the Eldest Imperial Princess' repose palace and retrieve the jade green hair ornament. This Emperor wants to see it in the next four hours."

 

Yun Ruofeng neither agreed with nor rejected the decision. Although Ning Lianchen was usually nothing but a puppet emperor, his words still held weight in front of the envoys from different nations.

 

Seeing that Prince Yun didn’t object, an imperial guard bowed and replied with an affirmative before heading towards the path that everyone had used to get here. He then mounted his horse and began the journey back to the imperial palace.

 

Having achieved her aim, Su Xi-er smiled. "Many thanks, Your Majesty." She then sat down and met Pei Qianhao's inquiring eyes.

 

The performance on the floating platform had ended. What followed was a demonstration of Nanzhao's winemaking process. Of course, Jade Nectar Dew was also served during this show.

 

Su Xi-er stood up and took the wine jug before filling up Pei Qianhao's winecup. "Prince Hao, the wine tastes good, but you should still drink less."

 

"How interesting. This Crown Prince has never seen a maidservant controlling her master before." Of course, the perpetrator was Chu Linglong. He was the only one who would directly voice out thoughts like this.

 

Pei Qianhao lifted his winecup and took a light sip before he questioned, "Are you reminding this Prince that I dote on my maidservant too much, or are you envious that this Prince has a beauty to wait on me?"