When two cousins conversed, Shen Cangning suddenly came up to them with Su Yufei and Su Yuyin. She said with a smile, “First cousin, I couldn’t find you anywhere, and you are talking with third sister-in-law here.”

These three girls were young and pretty. However, their fashionable heavy makeup and colorful clothes looked pretty terrible. The elders had scolded at them in vain, let alone the cousin sisters.

Two cousins got to their feet to greet three girls. Shen Cangning said, “Min Yinuo pleaded with Princess Linchuan to write something for her. What about going to have a look?”

Wei Changying just now heard Princess Qingxin say that Princess Linchuan was often praised by the Empress for her good calligraphy. According to Shen Cangning, Min Yinuo now wanted Princess Linchuan to write something for her, and she might flatter her rather than favor her handwriting.

Su Yuli accepted this suggestion, but Wei Changying saw the back of Consort Deng not far from her. After seeing this, Shen Cangning got what she was worried about, so she said with a smile, “Third sister-in-law, do you fear that Honored Consort would find you later? I will inquire her on your behalf.”

Before Wei Changying stopped her, Shen Cangning had run to Consort Deng. After saluting her with a big smile, Shen Cangning spoke to her in a lively and cheerful way. It was noisy in the palace, so Wei Changying didn’t hear clearly their conversation. Finally, the maid serving Honored Consort came back with Shen Cangning quickly. She said, “Honored Consort asks you to help yourself here, and we will serve her. So don’t worry.”

Wei Changying thanked her. After the maid left, Shen Cangning said with her hands clapping, “Is it OK? Let’s go to Qianqiu Pavilion, and they have headed for there earlier. If we are late, Princess Linchuan might finish writing.”

Wei Changying was surprised to ask, “Doesn’t she write in this palace?”

“Third sister-in-law, it is pretty noisy here, so how could she write down something calmly?” said Su Yufei in a clear tone.

Wei Changying agreed with that. She followed them to walk out of the palace along the wall. Shen Cangning was familiar with Weiyang Palace. After turning off for several times, they walked onto a path covered by flowers and trees. The noisy Changle Palace was further away from them.

Shen Cangning, Su Yufei and Su Yuyin walked in front of Su Yuli and Wei Changying. These three girls whispered, “As expected, Princess Anji didn’t come here today.”

“It is said that Madam Zhenyi has been ill.”

“It must be an excuse. Madam Zhenyi often gets ill, so why should Princess Anji take care of her this time? She must deliberately do so to avoid coming here.”

“Did Princess Anji quarrel with Princess Linchuan again?”

“I heard that Princess Anji had broken the ink favored most by Princess Linchuan.”

“How poor she is! This year, how many things of Princess Linchuan have been broken? Ten pieces or eight ones? All of them are treasured by her.”

“You are right. I also heard that Princess Linchuan....”

Su Yuli found that their words were increasingly exaggerated, so she stopped, “You had better not gossip about the imperial family.”

“There is no one else on this road,” said Su Yuyin, sticking out her tongue. Meanwhile, she followed her cousin’s advice to cease this topic.

Wei Changying was a little curious, so she secretly asked Su Yuli, “His Majesty doesn’t like Princess Anji, so why does she always break things of Princess Linchuan?”

Su Yuli said in a low voice, “She is a noble princess despite she is not loved. Moreover, Princess Linchuan dares not violently feedback her because of her bad temper. So as Princess Anji breaks her things, she has to bear it.”

Wei Changying was a little awkward to say, “I hear that His Majesty pretty spoils Princess Linchuan.” Princess Lingxian was silent in the palace today, so Princess Anji must be lonely, prudent and had a hard life in this place. However, according to the gossip, why was she so aggressive? Why did she even bully the princess most loved by His Majesty?

It was not easy for Su Yuli to describe what Princess Anji looked like. After thinking for a while, she said, “You will know the answer after meeting her.”

She added, “This princess is vengeful, so you had better not have troubles with her. Princess Linchuan once had a quarrel with her, so she has been bullied for about one year. Princess Anji is scolded and punished by the Empress, but she doesn’t fear her. As a daughter of His Majesty, the Empress doesn’t know how to deal with her.”

Wei Changying knew that Princess Linchuan was not on the side of the Empress. Therefore, the Empress’s inability to deal with Princess Anji was deliberate. Actually, she had her quarrel with Princess Linchuan. Princess Anji was so willful, because she was spoiled by the Empress, not by His Majesty.

These three unmarried princesses of imperial family had caused so many conflicts. Moreover, it would be unexpected what would be like in the palace in which there were seven princes and twenty princesses of His Majesty. It was no wonder that the Empress and Honored Consorts were so sophisticated. If they were not so, how could they deal with these noble princes and princesses?

They now arrived at Qianqiu Pavilion nearly surrounded by lake. On both sides of the only one winding path leading to the pavilion was filled with sparse bushes. This one-story pavilion was built on the artificial hill. The hill was not high, and someone could take at most five steps to reach the entrance. There was a pile of soil, on which were two exuberant magnolia trees on each side.

The clear sound of young girls came out of the open door of the pavilion. There were many beautiful girls inside, so it was a pretty lively scene.

Wei Changying saw Princess Linchuan surrounded by four or five girls with beautiful clothes. This princess held a writing brush, talking with a girl beside her. This girl wore a magenta upper shirt covered by a tube top embroidered with a light yellow peony. It seemed that they were discussing how to write down the first character.

Among the people around Princess Linchuan, Wei Changying only knew Liu Ruoyu, Liu Ruoye, people from Zhiben Hall, Wei Changwan and Wei Changjuan.

Shen Cangning came up to a girl and then greeted her. This fair-skinned girl had long eyebrows, black eyes, tiny nose and red mouth. On top of her head was a double-bun. She wore a lotus colored upper shirt, with a crossed collar, embroidered with pomegranate flowers and leaves, and a high-waisted full skirt tied with a pair of love knots in front of her breast. The jade pendants attached to the garnet ribbon of the knots prevented the skirt from flapping by wind.

She held a round silk fan, on which was not a noble lady with a hairpin, but an elegant nature scene, such as mountains, bamboos and stones. There were not any decorations on the end of the fan’s handle. She appeared poised, as if didn’t care about anything.

Wei Changying heard Shen Cangning ask this lady in a low voice, “Sister Huo, do you know what Princess Linchuan is going to write this time?”

The girl being called Sister Huo said with a smile, “Min Yinuo imitated a picture named The Ode to Spring Grass and Lake a few days ago, so she pleaded with Princess Linchuan to write down the title for her drawing.”

Su Yufei asked, “But why is there a blank rice paper before Princess Linchuan?”

“Your Highness thinks that the characters of the title are so rare that she is not familiar with them, so she has to practice them first,” said Sister Huo. And then, she saw Wei Changying accompanied by Su Yuli. When she was about to greet her, a person not far away walking over, nodded her and said, “Fourteenth sister, I have something to talk with third young madam of the Shen Family, so I will meet you later.”

It was Mrs. Huo, first young madam of Zhiben Hall. After seeing her, Wei Changying immediately knew what she would say, so she said with a sneer, “I also have something to tell you.”

Wei Changying and Mrs. Huo apologized for their temporary leave to their own companion, and then walked out of Qianqiu Pavilion to head for a corner of a rockery. Mrs. Huo said with a deep frown, “Only you and I are here, so could you directly tell me why there are bruises on Lingzi’s wrist, third young madam?”

Wei Changying expected that, so she pretended to ask in surprise, “Bruises?”

Mrs. Huo was a little angry to said, “Why did you do so? Lingzi was originally well before getting off the carriage. However, on your way to Weiyang Palace, you grasped her wrist so forcefully that she bruised it. She told me that it was done by you. Now, didn’t you acknowledge what you have done?”

“Sister-in-law, your words are not reasonable,” said Wei Changying, frowning. “As you said, Sister Lingzi was pulled by me on our way to Weiyang Palace. You and Sister Lingyue were also present, so if I hurt Sister Lingzi, didn’t she cry out? And did you hear her grumble then?”

“Lingzi once called out, but ignored by you,” snarled Mrs. Huo.

Wei Changying said, “Are you kidding? I explained it at that time, and now you think that I did it deliberately? If so, why didn’t you ask me then? Why didn’t you roll up Sister Lingzi’s sleeves to have an examination? Now, you have slandered me, right?”

Mrs. Huo seriously said, “She has told me the cause, you....”

“Sister Lingzi is not here. You don’t believe what I said, and I don’t believe you, either,” said Wei Changying with a cold smile. “Today, the elders there witnessed that it was Sister Lingzi who had an active talk with me. Is it likely that you are jealous to see Lingzi and I are close, so you want to cause conflicts between she and I on the pretext of seeking fairness for her? The Huo Family is a family in the Capital City. As a lineal daughter of the Wei Family in Fengzhou, I’m suspected by you. So, why should I believe you, a daughter from the common Huo Family?”

Mrs. Huo was furious to say, “As a matter of fact, it is nothing serious. Lingzi was slightly hurt by you, so I only want you to apologize to her. Why are you unreasonable? I merely said something, why did you refer to background of two families? Do you want to bully me by the means of your family? Don’t forget that my husband and sister-in-law are also from the Wei Family in Fengzhou!”

Wei Changying said, “As daughters from the Wei Family in Fengzhou, it is reasonable that Sister Lingzi and I are familiar. However, why did you meddle in it? You accused me of offending Sister Lingzi, but she didn’t argue with me about it. So how could I accept your accusation?”

Mrs. Huo angrily quivered. After thinking for a while, she said with her mouth biting, “I originally wanted to give you a chance to solve this matter privately without telling it to the elders. However, if you didn’t feel shame, I would not care about that we are families. I would tell it to aunt and then have her seek fairness with your mother-in-law.”

“I would inform the elders of what has happened even if you were not to do so,” said Wei Changying coldly. She was more furious than Mrs. Huo. “I know that there are conflicts between our own grandmothers, but we couldn’t meddle in it. Now, as a wife of the Shen Family, the matters of Wei Family naturally have nothing to do with me. Also, it is strange that Sister Lingzi talked with me actively. Did she do it on purpose? Is it easy to slander me? I don’t believe that my mother-in-law would help others.”