Chapter 30: Princess Anyang
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
“When did I say I won’t see the guests? How come you dare to make decisions for me?”
With the soft voice resounding in the air, a tall and slim girl came over surrounded by a dozen of maids. She, with long and slender eyebrows curling up and phoenix eyes bending upward, was clad in a light yellow damask robe with dotting flowers and patterns of peony and phoenix. Her soft sole cloth shoes, with the decoration of a pearl-made lotus, were stitched by double color thread made from the feather of the peacock. Her hair was worn in the Canluan knot, into which inserted sidelong a pure white jade hairpin in the form of peony.
A slight sneer could find its way in her stern voice. Even standing there quietly, she would emit a noble and compelling aura.
Staring at her, An Rushuang suddenly thought of a sentence—-conquering the city with one’s beauty at the first sight, then the whole country at the second.
It was nobody but the Princess Anyang.
After standing blankly for a little while, all the people lowered their heads instantly, daring not to look at her eyes. “Pay respect to Princess Anyang,” everybody said at the same time.
Luoxia’s face turned ghastly pale, even her lips had lost its hue.
She turned swiftly and knelt down, knocking the ground heavily with her head while shouted, “Your Grace, I am merely worried about your health! I heard Miss Lu said just then she didn’t care whether she would be invited by Princess Anyang, as long as she had princess Mingxi’s invitation. It was really because I was infuriated that I intended to drive them out!”
As smart as she was, Luoxia must make a good excuse by self-praise after caught off guard by Princess Anyang.
She also began to sob. It was natural for her to be a little proud, though feeling scared deep inside her heart—if Princess Anyang believed her words, the small mistakes she made several days ago would be ignored. Perhaps, she would not be sent out of the manor...
Since her future would be such bright, Luoxia walked on her knees urgently to Princess Anyang and said as sobbing, “Your Grace, you must trust me. It’s them who acted rudely first. I just want to save your grace’s face...”
With a light smile, Princess Anyang glanced at Luoxia and then fixed her eyes on Lu Mingyue clad in red. Though she kept silent all the time, a compelling aura was still emitted from her, forcing Lu Mingyue, as tough and unreasonable as she was, to retreat out of fear.
Suddenly, Lu Mingyue was stopped by a delicate but strong hand on her waist. She turned her head, finding An Rushuang standing next to her. With a bright smile and a pair of star-like eyes, she held her head high and stared at Princess Anyang fearlessly.
“Given your penetrating judgement,” she said slowly, “we might as well hear what evil things this maid has done before us, and then you will know how come a lady of such noble status would make an indiscreet remark out of anger.”
It was out of Anyang’s expectation that Luoxia was actually like a mad dog, framing others up randomly.
An Rushuang didn’t want to hide it from Anyang. Though most of the ladies were her friends, Anyang would surely not be silly enough to find fault with them at the entrance of her palace.
Hearing An Rushuang reveal everything peacefully, Luoxia, frowning lightly, was a little upset.
According to her expectation, while the ladies made denial in urgency, she would take the chance to put the blame on Chang Sheng who was too honest to tell a lie. Once Princess Anyang knew what Lu Mingyue said then, the “mistake” she made would be reasonable.
However, to Luoxia’s surprise, the ladies actually admitted calmly Lu Mingyue did say something inappropriate. All of these made Luoxia wordless in panic.
As soon as An Rushuang finished speaking, Princess Anyang fixed her eyes on this lady. She, with her hair worn in two S-shape knots and clad in silky pleated skirt whose color was the same as the clouds in the water mist, was such an elegant girl but not the most beautiful one among the three. However, with her speech rate being slow enough to form a unique rhythm, her bearing and demeanor was even more graceful than the madams at the royal palace.
The most attractive part was her eyes.
It was a pair of glamorous eyes, not only as soft as the rippling water, but also as bright and tough as the twinkling stars at the night. Maybe it was Princess Anyang’s illusion that every time she met An Rushuang’s eyes, she would think of her mother’s eyes filled with pity and unwillingness.
“Okay,” Princess Anyang, whose heart seemed to be touched by something, said subconsciously.
A maid in green standing beside Princess Anyang stepped toward Chang Sheng and said, “You tell her grace what happened on earth.”
Following her order, Chang Sheng came over in a hurry and knelt down before Princess Anyang. “My respect to Your Grace. Since I have always been guarding the entrance, I, to some degree, have a general knowledge of the whole thing.”
No sooner than he finished speaking, Luoxia glanced at him in sorrow. He, though, let out a sigh silently, still decided to tell the truth. “It was Luoxia who refused to let the ladies in first. Miss Lu’s inappropriate words, as I see it, should be out of anger...”
“No! It’s not like that!” Luoxia, kneeling before Princess Anyang, implored urgently, “Your Grace, it’s not my fault. I refused to admit them because Miss Lu humiliated you first... Ah! I knew. There must be someone bribing Chang Sheng and asking him to frame me up! I am innocent...”
Princess Anyang glanced at Luoxia while lowering her head. “Qing Lu, slap her,” she made the order slowly.