326 Birthday
The fourth prince was here?
This time, not only Princess Ning Fu, but even the women who had been paying attention to the drama were shocked by this news.
At about the same time, in the reception hall outside, people from Marquis Beining’s ministry came over to report the news that the fourth prince had also come to congratulate the old lady.
The old lady, who had been fuming over Lin Suisui, immediately changed her attitude.
To be able to get Mr. Pei of the current dynasty to personally come and congratulate her was a huge honor in the northern region. Even Duke Huai Yang’s mother didn’t have such an honor.
For a moment, the old lady was overjoyed. Amidst the praises, she had long forgotten her unhappiness when she saw Lin Suisui just now. After she let the girl beside her help tidy up her appearance, she stood up and walked out under the escort of a group of people. She stood outside the reception hall to welcome the esteemed guest.
With the old lady taking the lead, most of the women in the reception hall had already stood up and followed the old lady out.
They all knew that the fourth prince had come to the north and was also in Cloud Mountain City, but Duke Huai Yang’s ministry had beaten them to the chance. For so many days, no matter what method they used, Duke Huai Yang’s ministry had always refused guests. Although they were frustrated, there was nothing they could do.
Now that they finally had the chance to see the fourth prince, these women naturally wouldn’t let it go.
The families who had daughters waiting to get married were even more eager.
If their daughter could catch the fourth prince’s eye, they would be able to climb up the social ladder. Everyone knew that the crown prince was out of favor now. Other than the third prince, the only other person who had the ability to compete for that position was the gentle and easy-going fourth prince.
The third prince was ruthless. Although he wasn’t weak, his reputation was much worse than that of the fourth prince. Therefore, although many people here didn’t show it on the surface, most of them still bet on the fourth prince.
Lin Suisui was the only one who was still sitting there.
She watched as Princess Ning Fu and a group of women crowded towards the door. She only sat there with a teacup and sipped tea as she watched the commotion.
Since it was Old Madam’s birthday today, the fourth prince had to go through the formalities.
The fourth prince had a good reputation and was good at keeping up appearances. As he came in, he actually took the initiative to pay his respects to the old lady, like he was just a commoner.
Although the old lady said that she didn’t dare to accept it, she couldn’t hide the smugness in her eyes. The fourth prince was quite respectful and his words made the women in Marquis Beining’s ministry overjoyed.
The commotion lasted for more than ten minutes before it subsided. The fourth prince was an outsider after all, so it was a little against the rules for him to stay in the reception hall. Therefore, he didn’t stay for long before he stood up and bade farewell to the old lady. With Song Minghui accompanying him, he turned around and walked out.
After sending the fourth prince off, it was time for the banquet to begin.
This wasn’t the first time Marquis Beining’s ministry had held such a banquet, so even with an esteemed guest like the fourth prince visiting this time, everything was prepared in an orderly manner.
Lin Suisui went to the water pavilion where the women ate.
The seats here had been arranged long ago. To be honest, she didn’t know anyone here, but fortunately, her status was high enough, so the surrounding women fawned over her from the beginning to the end. No one had the guts to cause trouble.
Except for Princess Ning Fu.
Looking at Princess Ning Fu, who had come uninvited and sat beside her again, Lin Suisui didn’t want to hide her annoyance anymore. She glanced at Princess Ning Fu, who was sitting beside her, in disdain. Without any hesitation, she stood up and said to the servants, “Change my seat.”
“This…” The servant didn’t expect Lin Suisui to make such a request. She looked at Princess Ning Fu, who had just sat down beside Lin Suisui, and then at Lin Suisui, who wanted to be as far away from Princess Ning Fu as possible. For a moment, she really didn’t know what to do.
These two were esteemed guests that the higher-ups had instructed them to treat with great care today.
She was just a servant, so she couldn’t afford to offend either one, but these two people had a conflict now. What should she do?
Lin Suisui and Princess Ning Fu were already the focus of all the women’s attention. Even if they didn’t get involved in a dispute, they would have been noticed by others, not to mention that they had a dispute now.
“Sister, you…”
Princess Ning Fu looked at Lin Suisui with an aggrieved expression, as if Lin Suisui had done something evil. However, before she could finish speaking, Lin Suisui interrupted bluntly, “Princess, you’re 17 years old this year. I’m much younger than you, so I really can’t afford to be called your sister.
Besides, we’re not familiar with each other, so there’s no need for us to interact too much!
You really don’t have to try to get close to me everywhere you go. I really don’t want to have any contact with you. Please understand!”
After saying that, Lin Suisui ignored Princess Ning Fu and turned to look at Zhou Ningqian, who had come to save the day. “Please change my seat. If you can’t, I can only take my leave first.”
Zhou Ningqian could tell at a glance that Lin Suisui was really angry this time. She didn’t dare to delay and quickly cooperated with Lin Suisui’s request to change her seat to another table.
As Princess Ning Fu glared at Lin Suisui, who had left, she tightened her grip on the handkerchief in her hand. She wanted to see how this woman could act so high and mighty after today!
Not long after the commotion here subsided, the actors on the small stage above the water pavilion began to sing.
At first, the troupe was just singing. The singing was mellow and melodious, but it sounded unique in the water pavilion.
Old Madam Beining clearly liked liveliness.
After this performance, there would naturally be a reward.
Soon, it was time for the magic trick that was mentioned in the reception hall.
There were not many people in this troupe. There were only about ten young women. The seven women who went on stage disguised themselves as seven fairies as they celebrated Madam Wang’s birthday.
The Queen wasn’t present, but it was obvious who the Queen was.
The seven women danced on the stage like butterflies. Not long after, under everyone’s exclamations, they saw strings of butterflies flying out of the petals scattered by the girls. They were so beautiful that most of the women present were mesmerized.