Long Live the Empress

Chapter 117 Birthday Banquet

That night, the prince's secret guard brought an invitation to Yue Jinghong: two days later, the second prince will hold a birthday party in the second prince's mansion, and invites young ladies from various aristocratic families to attend.

Yue Jinghong stared at the bright red gold-embossed invitation with a sneer on her lips.

two days later

Because of the scandal in Yue Mansion, the Second Prince did not invite any of the ladies from Yue Mansion to attend the event. Only Yue Jinghong went out dressed like a lotus flower emerging from water.

When the carriage was about to arrive at the Second Prince's residence, Yue Jinghong asked Zhenzhu to find out whether Fan Ronghua had arrived.

Zhenzhu went for an incense stick and came back. "Second Miss, Miss Fan is here!"

Yue Jinghong nodded slightly and asked the coachman to stop the carriage in front of the second prince's door.

At this time, the entrance to the Second Prince's house was crowded with people, all of whom were holding valuable gifts and placing them in the hands of the steward for easy registration.

Yue Jinghong was wearing a set of white bear skin knee pads. Although knee pads were common, it was really rare to find knee pads made of a whole white bear skin.

Yue Jinghong was walking slowly in the yard when she saw Fan Ronghua chatting and laughing with a few young ladies from aristocratic families. Yue Jinghong sat in the pavilion opposite Fan Ronghua, looking at the fish in the pond.

Not long after, Zhenzhu said in Yue Jinghong's ear, "Second Miss, Miss Fan is here."

Yue Jinghong pretended not to see it and continued to throw fish food gracefully.

"Isn't this Sister Jinghong? Why are you here alone?" Fan Ronghua stepped forward and grabbed Yue Jinghong's hand, very warmly.

Yue Jinghong quickly bowed, "Hello, Sister Fan! My sister is here too!"

Fan Ronghua raised her head proudly, "Sister Jinghong, don't you know? The Second Prince is my cousin!"

Yue Jinghong seemed to have just learned about this, with a look of surprise on her face. She looked at the young ladies from the noble families behind Fan Ronghua and saluted, "Hello, young ladies. I am Yue Jinghong!"

Fan Ronghua quickly took Yue Jinghong's hand and introduced her, "This is Jinghong, the second young lady of the Yue family. Sister Jinghong is the most talented woman in the capital~"

Everyone in the capital knew that Yue Jinghong had handed in a blank paper for the entrance exam to Fengzhuo Academy. It seemed like a kind of irony that the title of the most talented woman in the capital was given to Yue Jinghong, but she dared not say it out loud, so she could only flatter her, "So it's Miss Jinghong! You girls really don't recognize a great man! I have heard of your name for a long time, and today I see that Miss Jinghong is indeed worthy of her reputation!"

"Look at how beautiful Sister Jinghong is! She's like a fairy from heaven!"

"Look, her clothes are well matched..."

"…Exactly, aqua blue is the most difficult color to match, but Sister Jinghong looks so good in it…"

The compliments from the others not only did not make Yue Jinghong happy, but made her even more reserved. "Ladies, you have misunderstood. Jinghong is just a humble girl, how can she compete with Sister Fan's stunning beauty~"

Yue Jinghong's words greatly satisfied Fan Ronghua's vanity, and she felt that Yue Jinghong was her good friend. "You don't know, Sister Jinghong gave me a box of South Sea pearl powder. I've only used it twice, and look at my face. I can even squeeze water out of it!"

Several noble ladies cooperated very well and touched Fan Ronghua's face, and they all shouted exaggeratedly, "Oh my God! I was wondering why Sister Fan is more beautiful today than before, it turns out there is a secret magic weapon!"

"That's right! Hey, I can't touch my face again!"

"..."

The compulsory course for noble ladies from aristocratic families is to please others, to please people with higher official positions than their fathers, and to please noble ladies with higher status than themselves, so as to consolidate their fathers' position in the court. Then they can also find a husband of their dreams.

While these noble ladies were talking and laughing, Fan Ronghua suddenly ran away, "Cousin... Cousin..."

The second prince frowned when he heard this. There is no other woman as rude as Fan Ronghua! After thinking about it, he turned his head impatiently. "Don't make a loud noise, it will be embarrassing for others to see you!"

Fan Ronghua then lowered his head and said "Oh" softly, but then he took the Second Prince's arm. "Cousin, where are you going?"

The second prince struggled to pull his arm out of Fan Ronghua's hand and looked around vigilantly. "Cousin, please don't be so rude. If others see us, it will be a disaster! Do you want me to be scolded by my father?"

Fan Ronghua knew that he had gone too far, so he stopped touching her. "Brother, Huaer brought you a birthday gift today, you must see it!"

The second prince said "hmm" impatiently and wanted to leave. As soon as he turned around, he saw a group of noble ladies standing not far away, watching him and Fan Ronghua. One of them, a woman wearing a light blue gauze pleated long skirt, attracted the second prince's attention.