Having sent Ye Ying away, Ye Li had a sigh of relief. She didn't get anything out of Ye Ying spending all this time on her.
"The third son of Feng Family, please show yourself if you've heard enough." Glancing at the treetop beside the path, Ye Li said lightly.
"Hah hah…" The lush treetop was separated and a bright red robe emerged from it. "Good to see you again, Princess Ding. What an honor. But… how do you know it's me, princess?"
Ye Li darted a look at him in shock: "I won't if you don't dress in such a bright color and get yourself way too aromatic."
"Way too aromatic?" The corners of Feng Zhi Yao's eyes went up. He raised his arms and smelled his sleeves. How was the newest and simplest magnolia fragrance from Suhe Building way too aromatic? One that wasn't close to him couldn't even smell it. He, Feng San was a refined and tasteful man instead of those vulgar idiots who would love to put fragrance all over themselves.
Looking at Feng Zhi Yao's rigid and unhappy look, Ye Li lowered her eyes and smiled slightly.
Feng Zhi Yao checked his dress and didn't find anything that could damage his reputation of a gentleman so he concluded that Ye Li noticed him because she had seen the corner of his lower hem. He was narcissistically drunk with his own appearance and smiled: "Princess, I didn't think you cared about me so much, being able to guess who I am just by seeing the corner of my lower hem. What a… pleasure…"
"Mr. Feng San." Ye Li raised her head and smiled: "Didn't anyone tell you that it's not proper to flirt with your friend's wife? Or… do you want me to tell His Highness about what you've said? Besides, I'm sure it's you since no man would dress as…coquette as the bridegroom except for you."
Bang! Feng Zhi Yao's face went stiff and he almost fell from the tree. He had no choice but to shrug and rub his frozen face: "Well, I'm sorry. Please forgive me, princess."
Ye Li nodded forgivingly.
Feng Zhi Yao turned away from her, his face distorted. Now he finally knew why Mo Xiu Yao would marry her. People marry because they share common traits. He had never seen a woman who could put on a show better than Ye Li. Besides, he had never seen a man who would change his ideas faster than Mo Xiu Yao. "Come to think of it… your argument just now was truly intriguing, princess. That marriage is the end of love? Is that it?" Recalling what he had just heard, Feng Zhi Yao was pleased with himself once more. He wondered if Ah Yao knew anything about what his dear princess had on mind.
Ye Li nodded seriously with a clear conscience and said: "Mr. Feng San, please believe me when I say that. It is a well-known saying which has stood the test of the vicissitudes of life. I believe you agree with it or why haven't you married at such an advanced age?"
Wrong! I was born in the same year as Mo Xiu Yao. Rubbing his nose, Feng Zhi Yao smiled bitterly: "I'd love to enter a grave but unfortunately she doesn't feel the same way for me." A trace of dejection pa.s.sed his handsome face.
Ye Li had no idea how to comfort a person who was disappointed in a love affair/had a one-sided love/had a secret admirer so she simply said: "There are plenty more fish in the sea."
Feng Zhi Yao cupped his hands to thank her while smiling bitterly.
Ye Li didn't want to bother him while he was mourning so she said: "I'll leave you alone. Good bye."
"Huh…" Looking at the woman who turned around without hesitation, Feng Zhi Yao stopped for a second: "Your prince asked me to check on you and told you to be careful."
"Thanks." Be careful? Ye Li walked away slowly in thought.
Feng Zhi Yao went back behind the leaves to hide himself unhappily and muttered his complaint: "What have I become? Ordering me about because of such a trivial task. Why don't you check on her yourself if you are so worried about her? Mo Xiu Yao, you'd better pay me what I deserve or…"
As soon as Ye Li was back in the garden, Hua Tian Xiang rushed at her happily with Qin Zheng and Murong Ting.
"Li-er, how have you been?" Qin Zheng asked while holding Ye Li's hands, concerned.
Hua Tian Xiang smiled: "Zheng-er, I've told you not to worry about her a long time ago. How will she not be okay? Who in the capital doesn't know about Princess Ding's mighty name? She's the woman who could scare the princess of Xi Ling to tears without even doing anything."
"Ah Li, well done!" Murong Ting patted Ye Li on the shoulder and praised her loudly while saying with pity: "However, I was busy with something else that day and missed it. Ah Li, let's play a game of shooting arrows some other day."
Ye Li waved her hands and smiled: "No need for that. I was just giving that little girl a lesson. I don't dare to compete with General Murong's beloved daughter. That would be showing off one's skill with the axe before the master carpenter."
Murong Ting didn't buy that: "Humph, I don't believe you! We have to play!"
"All right. Ting-er, can you talk about something else? Do you want a beating from General Murong again?" Qin Zheng said with a headache.
Murong Ting snorted unhappily: "Zheng-er, you always frighten me with my dad."
Ye Li looked at Qin Zheng and Hua Tian Xiang curiously, however, neither opened their mouth under Murong Ting's intimidating looks. Hua Tian Xiang pa.s.sed her a glance secretly, signaling to tell her about it later.
Qin Zheng held Ye Li and smiled: "Li-er, except Tian Xiang, we haven't got a chance to see you after your wedding."
Ye Li smiled apologetically: "There have been some ch.o.r.es in the manor so I haven't been out. How about you guys come to Prince Ding's Manor some other day?"
The four of them found a place where there were few people and sat down. Qin Zheng and the other two girls thoughtfully asked Ye Li about her new life. Ye Li didn't want to have them worry about her so she simply told them about the good news.
Hua Tian Xiang said with envy: "Ah Li, you are the luckiest girl. Those who would rather die than marry Prince Ding are not in their right mind. Look how happy you are right now, having everything under control as soon as you get married. With fewer people in the manor, there's less jockey for power. Prince Ding doesn't even have concubines…"
Murong Ting nodded approvingly and said: "Tian Xiang is right. Prince Ding is indeed a good man!" She admired Prince Ding's Manor regardless of any principle.
Qin Zheng saw there was a trace of worry in Ye Li's eyes. Ye Li held her hands with a smile to show her that she was in a good place. Only by then did Qin Zheng slightly nod.
Those friends who hadn't seen each other for quite some time were having a good time. Ye Li had left her worries behind her temporarily, chatting and laughing with her three friends when a shrill scream broke out from somewhere else.
Murong Ting jumped up from her seat in an instant and watched out for the source of the scream.
Ye Li frowned and pointed at one direction: "Sounds like it's coming from that direction."
The four girls gazed at each other helplessly. That direction seemed to lead to the place where all the women of the manor were. Besides the four of them, at least half of the guests in the garden had heard the scream. Right now, some of them were already walking towards the source of the scream curiously.
Murong Ting said below her breath: "This time, nothing happened to the bridegroom and bride so something happened to the guests? The weddings of Prince Li's Manor must have enraged the Heaven."
Qin Zheng covered Murong Ting's mouth immediately and glared at her. Murong shouldn't have said that.
"Let's go and have a look." Hua Tian Xiang said, raising her brows. She would love to watch the fun of Prince Li's Manor.
There was a beautiful yard between the garden and the front yard where all the women of the manor were. The yard was independent of the front yard and was only accessible from the garden through a door which kept those guests from offending or disturbing women who lived in the manor. When Ye Li and the three girls reached the yard, there were already many people inside.
Ye Li stood by the door and looked around her.
Hua Tian Xiang asked in a small voice: "Ah Li, what is it?"
Ye Li shook her head and laughed below her breath: "I don't know what happened but that scream was really loud." In a yard like this, if the voice was from the room, there was no way it could travel over half a garden so it was most probable that someone screamed in the yard in order to drew people here. "Let's stay behind. Don't hurry to watch the fun." Ye Li said in a low voice.
Hua Tian Xiang glanced at her, confused. Though she didn't know why Ye Li said that, she didn't oppose and with Qin Zheng on the right, she stopped Murong Ting on the left, who was about to rush forward.
"For Heaven's sake, how is this possible?" The moment they were in the reception room, they saw two girls rushing out in a dither, blushing while one of them said: "Have someone invited Consort Xian Zhao over."
They looked at each other. Something did go wrong.
Murong Ting said: "Zheng-er, you guys wait here. I'll go inside and check it out."
Ye Li stopped her and said calmly on the surface: "Murong, you stay with Zheng-er and Tian Xiang, I'll go and have a look." Having seen those girls with their cheeks as red as apples, Ye Li had guessed what was going on inside. She was married after all. It would be bad if Murong Ting, who was still unmarried saw something inappropriate.
Hua Tian Xiang and Qin Zheng were quick and understood Ye Li at once.
Hua Tian Xiang said: "How about we wait here?" They didn't have to rush it.
Ye Li shook her head: "I'll check first." What worried her most was whether that fool Ye Ying had done something she shouldn't have. Besides, as the elder sister of Princess Li, it was improper for her to stand by since she had come thus far. "Don't worry. Wait here. Consort Xian Zhao is on her way."
Going inside, there were already many people in front of one of the rooms. They all looked strange, standing there not knowing whether to step forward or back. With a glance, Ye Li saw that most of them were young girls, with several married women. Those senior n.o.ble ladies were accompanied by Consort Xian Zhao and those who were steady enough to be in charge of their families gathered together to chat. At the moment, those who were hanging around were mostly girls and young women.
Seeing Ye Li inside, someone finally recovered to herself: "Ding… Princess Ding." A young woman hurriedly greeted Ye Li when she saw her. Though she tried to be elegant and proper, she couldn't hide the embarra.s.sment on her face.
"Princess Ding." Those other women hurriedly greeted her as well.
Ye Li looked at those women with various expressions and heard dubious moans and gasps from the room behind the half open door. She walked forward speechlessly and closed the door under the amazement of the crowd, then said calmly: "Let's go out. Consort Xian Zhao and Princess Li are on their way."
Those women blushed. They did understand that it was not proper to eavesdrop but they were dumbfounded by what happened in the room. They couldn't come here and go away, pretending they didn't hear anything.
"She's right. Let's go." A woman said and others agreed with her.
However, there were people who didn't want this event to go unnoticed. A maid coming out of nowhere rushed over in sobs: "Princess! The princess is inside!"
Bang! The once closed door was b.u.mped open by that maid. Inside the room, the scene of someone having s.e.x was completely reveled.
Those women in front of the door froze at their spots. Princess? For Heaven's sake… What have they run into?
Ye Li calmly looked at her left hand that had missed the maid and put it down. Well, she shouldn't have meddled in others' business. But how dare that maid pinch her? Did she think she was somebody since she knew martial arts?