Chapter 280 – Incite Disharmony (2)

“With Xueping there, you can’t even think about winning over her.” Liu Hua snorted.

“Oh, one has to try to know.” Ye Zhen was a little sympathetic to the stupidity of Liu Hua. Can’t she see that Gao Xueping is using her? I can’t believe I’m actually sympathizing with her.

It was rare for such a stupid person to be this conceited.

Liu Hua decided not to argue with Lu Yaoyao. In the future, she would have a lot of opportunities to deal with her. “Let’s go. We don’t have to talk with these wretches.”

Gao Xueping’s eyes flashed with a dark hue. She was a cunning girl, she knew she was no match for Ye Zhen and didn’t wish to confront her directly either. After all, she wasn’t as influential as Liu Hua. As such, she had used the conceited princess as her tool, and cleverly used her words to incite her.

Isn’t this mindless princess the most fond of beating people? Why not let people beat Lu Yaoyao? It would be better if someone injures Lu Yaoyao’s hand so that she wouldn’t be able to attend the examination at the beginning of spring.

But now, seeing her plans foiled, Gao Xueping panicked albeit inwardly. “Princess, are you going to just let Lu Yaoyao go like this?” she asked in a low voice.

Liu Hua sneered. “Who said that I’ll just let her go? People come and go in here, it is not a place to teach her a lesson.”

Gao Xueping’s eyes brightened. “What does the princess mean?”

“I want her to leave the capital forever!” Liu Hua sneered and said with a cold smile. Nevermind teaching her a lesson today. Her dark days are not far away!

Ye Zhen was far out of ear shots by now. One didn’t know how she would react, but for now she was oblivious to what Liu Hua had said.

“How could we meet them today? Had I known they’d be here, I would not have come to the Baihua Garden,” a vexed Sun Wen said.

Ye Zhen faintly smiled. “If we did not meet them today, someday, somewhere here in the capital we would still encounter them.”

“Why are you not angry at all after what she just did to you?” Sun Wen asked. She really admired her friend’s calmness. If it was her, she might have fought with that haughty princess earlier.

“Suppose you are bitten by a dog, will you bite back?” Ye Zhen smiled and asked. “I’m already used to Liu Hua’s arrogance. There is none in the capital who isn’t privy to her vanity. Why bother to argue with her in public? She didn’t let herself lose face. She was encouraged and used.”

“You mean Gao Xueping?” Chen Jinru asked in a low voice.

Ye Zhen smiled and said, pointing to the pink plum blossom in front, “Let’s enjoy the plum blossoms, let not others affect our mood.”

Sun Wen and Chen Jinru immediately stopped talking about Liu Hua.

“Yaoyao, are you really going to take the medical examination?” Chen Jinru walked beside Ye Zhen, looked at her beautiful face, and asked calmly.

“Well, I plan to.” Ye Zhen nodded and did not answer Chen Jinru directly.

Chen Jinru said with a smile, “I heard that Gao Xueping will also take part in the exam. You can certainly do better than her.”

Ye Zhen shook her head and smiled. “She has Princess Royal to help her behind the screen. Even if she doesn’t do well in the examination, she will probably still become an imperial physician.”

“So … What will you do?” Chen Jinru and Sun We exchanged glances with each other, worried about Ye Zhen.

“I shall do my best.” Ye Zhen looked at them. “Didn’t we come out to relax today? How can you think about all these things?”

Sun Wen said with a smile, “Well, let’s not talk about it. Let’s enjoy the plum blossoms.”

The appearance of Liu Hua earlier was an unpleasant episode, but Ye Zhen’s mood was not affected. She asked Dai Mei to pick a big basket of plum blossoms and prepare to go back and make plum wine.

“Yaoyao, let’s go out and visit the flower market during the new year.” As they were leaving the Baihua Garden, Sun Wen suggested.

“Well, aren’t there lanterns to see?” Ye Zhen asked with a smile.

“Are there?” Sun Wen, who had been in the capital for less than a year, knew nothing about it.

Chen Jinru said with a smile, “There are countless lanterns in the streets of the flower market but those are just decorations. The most interesting is the Lantern Festival. During the new year, we should go to the flower market. With thousands of purples and reds, surely it would be beautiful.”

“Then let’s fight lanterns* when the time comes,” Sun Wen said, excitedly grabbing Ye Zhen’s hand.

“Well, then —”

[Fight Lanterns: SW doesn’t mean a literal fight, it’s more figurative here. Apparently, they all make their own lanterns and compete with one another, in a friendly way, to see whose is the best. A few chapters ago, Mo Rongyi had the same gusto.]