Now the one sitting on the left side of Song Yixiao was Princess Changxing and on the other side of her was a n.o.ble lady that she was not familiar with.

She was on bad terms with Princess Changxing. Now that Changxing was clearly in a bad mood, she would definitely not ask for a snub. Hence, she asked Jinxun to stay at the feast for keep an eye for her. “Wuying has to get changed and I"ll accompany her then. If anyone looks for me, remember to inform me!”

Then she got up with Yuedeng and headed to the door at the corner of the hall with Nie Wuying.

Actually, it was her first time that she had come to the side hall. Luckily, two groups of palace servants were waiting outside. She asked them about a room for dressing up and then one of them volunteered to show her the way.

After arriving at the warm chamber for female guests to wash and dress, Song Yixiao hinted Yuedeng to give a purse to the palace maid and then went into the chamber with Nie Wuying.

After a while, they changed their clothes. On the way back to the feast, they walked by a moon gate when Nie Wuying suddenly stopped and said, “Yixiao, I seem to smell the plum-blossom?”

“It"s wintersweet.” Song Yixiao held tightly the heater and said curiously, “You like plum-blossom?”

“Yes, I do.” Nie Wuying wanted to say something but she didn"t know how to say it. She hesitated and said, “Can we go there and have a look?”

If Song Yixiao were alone, she would never ramble in a strange place, especially the imperial palace. However, this was Nie Wuying"s wish. She had been at a loss what to do since this morning, who looked quite pitiful. Thus, Song Yixiao got soft-hearted, “The birthday feast is held in the nearby side hall. This place leads to the chamber for dressing. Since no one is guarding here, it should be okay to take a tour around.”

She pondered for a while and said, “Let"s see whether we can find any wintersweet nearby.”

Her unspoken words were that if the wintersweets were too far away, they would not go then.

Nie Wuying hastened to nod her head. After a while, they found three wintersweet trees in the corner behind the wall a dozen steps away. The trees seemed old, which were winding and dark brown with lots of flowers. The trees in the snowstorm created a leisure and graceful natural view.

“They are so beautiful!” Nie Wuying arrived under the tree. She finally gave a happy smile on her gloomy face. She reached out her fingers to touch the icy flowers, “How fragrant!”

Song Yixiao looked at her with a smile for a while. Noticing that she still didn"t want to leave, Song Yixiao said, “The wintersweet is blooming so beautifully. If it were not grown in the imperial palace, I would snap two branches and take them back to the feast.”

She said so to remind Nie Wuying that it was time for them to go back to the feast, for they had stayed here for long enough.

Unexpectedly, suddenly a snort came from her back, “Do you think you are qualified to touch the wintersweet here?”

Song Yixiao heard the voice and frowned. As she turned around, she found Sikong Yihan. This unexpected person looked thinner with Paojia Bun, wearing a purple marten coat. Not even escorted by a maid, she was staring at Song Yixiao coldly, “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager disliked others" touching her plants in the imperial palace. You must conduct yourselves well!”

Speaking of this, she narrowed her eyes and finally recognized Song Yixiao, “You?”

“Your Highness!” Given her angry voice, Song Yixiao thought that Sikong Yihan was coming for her. By now she realized that it was a misunderstanding. While paying respects to her, Song Yixiao felt depressed, “No wonder Yiren told me that this girl was even a nerve-wracking trouble for Great Grand Princess Zhenyang… She can make a kind reminder sound like a curse. How many people can stand her?”

She still remembered Sikong Yiluo but the current Princess Consort of Liang and Sikong Yiluo were never alike in terms of appearance and disposition. Thus, she didn"t feel like making friends with this princess consort at all. After paying respects to her, Song Yixiao said, “Thank you for the kind reminder. We"re leaving at once!”

“Who is this?” Sikong Yihan didn"t intend to let them go easily. Instead, she raised her chin at Nie Wuying and asked.

“This is my foster sister, Nie Wuying.” Song Yixiao smiled benignly, “Her favorite flower is plum-blossom. She smelt the fragrance so we come here to take a look.”

Sikong Yihan looked Nie Wuying up and down, sneering, “Oh she is the foster daughter of the Grand Princess. Judging from her bashful look, I thought she was the cousin of your maiden family!”

Nie Wuying got awkward to hear that. Song Yixiao held her hand more tightly and said in a gentle tone, “You are a princess consort now. How can you refer to my mother-in-law as the Grand Princess? You should refer to her as Auntie! As to Wuying"s bashful look, you don"t know the reason behind it. She is the youngest child of Mother-in-law, who is always regarded as treasure. Now that she has stood in the wind for appreciating the flowers on such a cold day, how can she not appear weak? Yet, for a girl, she doesn"t have to be as strong as an ox!”

Sikong Yihan had a sharp tongue herself but she didn"t react slowly to others" sarcasm, “If I were an ox, I would rush forward and knock you down!”

Song Yixiao frowned and said, “You must be kidding. I never called you an ox. It was only a metaphor. Today is Her Majesty the Empress Dowager"s birthday. You"d better mind your words!”

Xie Yiren complained to her for several times, saying that Sikong Yihan always acted up and refused to see reason. Therefore, Song Yixiao didn"t want to get entangled with her. She said that and pulled Nie Wuying, “It"s cold and windy. Your Highness, please enjoy the scenery yourself. We will leave first!”

Then they walked away instantly. Song Yixiao was about to comfort Nie Wuying but Nie Wuying couldn"t help but to sob, “I know I am not a n.o.ble lady so I didn"t want to come. As expected, none of them think much of me!”

Song Yixiao said hurriedly, “Why do you care about Princess Consort of Liang"s words? She has a sharp tongue, which is well known to your cousin"s fiancée, Yiren. If you don"t believe me, I can ask Yiren out so that she can tell you about her impoliteness! Now people don"t take her words seriously. How can her words stand for everyone?”

She added, “You are a pearl in the palm of your mother, for which no one dares to look down upon you. Just now Her Majesty the Empress Dowager specially asked about you. Among all the guests of today"s feast, including the princesses, commandery princesses and county princesses, how many of them had such honor like you?”

Song Yixiao managed to make Nie Wuying stop crying by all means. Nie Wuying"s handkerchief became completely wet so Song Yixiao pa.s.sed her own handkerchief over and wanted to persuade her into returning to the feast together. Now they were standing in the atrium that was seven or eight steps wide. Suddenly a group of people came from the opposite hallway and the leading young man seemed to be as young as Nie Wuying. As he walked by, he took a glance at them occasionally. Upon seeing Song Yixiao, he nodded his head at her elegantly to give his regards.

However, when he saw Nie Wuying"s tearful face, he felt rather surprised and couldn"t help turning around even after walking by. Unexpectedly, he happened to make eye contact with Nie Wuying who just wiped her face and raised her head.

Wallowing in self-pity, she felt bitterly grieved and felt being teased by him. Out of shameful rage, without thinking much, she raised her arm to point at the young man, yelling angrily, “What are you looking at?”

Song Yixiao was speechless.

Nie Wuying"s reaction changed so fast that Song Yixiao couldn"t follow at all.

Obviously, the young man didn"t expect to get in trouble because of curiosity. He was in a daze to hear the shout and stopped. Anyway, as a cultured man, he immediately turned around and made an obeisance, saying, “I saw your depressed face just now so I turned around out of curiosity. If I have offended you, please forgive me!”

Nie Wuying was not an unruly girl. If she had not been hurt by Sikong Yihan"s insult and mistakenly thought the young man was teasing her, she would have never point fingers at a stranger and question him. Now that the young man apologized sincerely, she was instantly at a loss and hurriedly turned to Song Yixiao by pulling her sleeves.

Song Yixiao was speechless.

Wasn"t she fierce and tough just now?

She couldn"t help but to curtsy to the young man, saying, “You are too serious. My sister is young and ignorant. She acted on impulse just now. Please do forgive her!”

The young man said smilingly, “Madam, you are lenient. Gu (I) has misconducted.”

As he proclaimed himself as Gu, Song Yixiao wanted to walk through it but now she knew that she had no other choice but to ask, “May I know which prince you are? I am Jian Xubai"s wife, Song Yixiao…”

Before she finished her sentence, the young man interrupted her laughingly, “Oh, you are wife of Cousin Xubai? Don"t be so serious. I am the fourth prince and luckily, Father granted me Land of Zhao.”

“Your Highness Prince of Zhao!” Song Yixiao made a curtsey to him and said with a smile, “This is Wuying, the younger sister of Xubai. We were talking about the past occurrence. Sorry for offending you!”

Nie Wuying would wish to hide behind Song Yixiao. How dare she put on an arrogant look again?

Having been pulled by Song Yixiao for several times, she finally raised her head and said, “I"m sorry for my solecism. Please punish me, Your Highness!”

“We are relatives anyway. Wuying, you"ve been too serious.” Prince of Zhao looked her up and down and had no idea whether to laugh or to cry. However, given Nie Wuying"s sensitivity, he held back laughing and said, “It"s cold today. If you two finish talking here, how about going back to the hall?”

Song Yixiao agreed on the suggestion and took the opportunity to drag Nie Wuying and walk into the hall. She didn"t feel relieved until she pressed Nie Wuying to sit next to Commandery Princess Qingjiang quietly. Then she winked at the maid of Commandery Princess Qingjiang to come to her and sneakingly told her about what just happened. “Luckily, His Highness Prince of Zhao happened to walk by and thus, Wuying won"t feel sad for the moment. However, she is still less interested in the feast now. I"m afraid that she may be frustrated by something so I hope that Sister can pay more attention to her!”

The maid thanked her gratefully and returned to report this to Commandery Princess Qingjiang.

Song Yixiao finally went back to her own seat when the new dishes were served. She tasted some of the dishes and looked around only to find that Princess Yushan was talking with Princess Changxing instead of sitting within the area for the imperial concubines.

These two princesses were born by different mothers but they were half-sisters and about the same age. It was not strange that they got along well.

Song Yixiao only took a glance at them without thinking too much.

However after a while, Princess Changxing suddenly exclaimed and shouted angrily, “What are you doing? You"ve pinched me too harshly!”

Princess Yushan didn"t respond to her whining, asking in a surprised, flurried and anxious tone, “Who is that man in green?”

Song Yixiao looked to the direction she pointed at sneakingly and smiled faintly. He was such a handsome man that even the Grand Princess complimented him on his outstanding appearance. Su Shaoge was only resting with his eyes closed and his back leaned against the chair for drinking too much wine. Yet, even though he was sitting there simply, he still looked amazingly charming among all the male guests.

No wonder Princess Yushan got so excited to injure her sister accidentally at the first sight.