Chapter 151: Always Charming with Either Light or Heavy Make-up

The next morning, Yang Yingxue waited at Shen Ninghua’s door in a dress made of green silk.

Shen Ninghua looked at her with astonishment. The material of this dress could easily outshine people who wore it. If her skin color was slightly darker or her temperament was somewhat mediocre, she would not only fail to match the imposing beauty of material, but also look less brilliant in comparison to this dress.

Yang Yingxue’s skin was snow white. Although her eyebrows looked slightly lackluster, her bearing was extraordinarily unworldly. The carefully tailored dress made her look like a fairy descending from the sky and enhanced her beauty in such a way that she looked much prettier than she was.

“Cousin, you look great in this dress.”

Yang Yingxue pursed her lips slightly. Originally, she did not want to wear this dress. She felt that if she wore a dress made of the cloth Shen Ninghua just gave her yesterday, it would make her look too anxious. However, once she put on the dress, her obsession with her own look suppressed her self-esteem. She was stunned when looking at herself in the mirror.

At that time, Xia Jingqiu was standing at the side and helped her do her hair. She couldn’t help but praise repeatedly, “My daughter deserved this kind of clothes.”

In order to attract the attention of the Second Prince, she could ignore her self-esteem…

“Cousin, thank you for giving me the cloth yesterday.”

Shen Ninghua wiped her face and carefully drew her eyebrows. When she heard this, she smiled and said, “Yesterday, when I saw the cloth, I felt that it was suitable for you. Now, it has proved that I was right. I still have two bolts of this cloth in my warehouse. I’ll let someone send them to you later.”

“This…” Yang Yingxue bit her lips, but greed gained the upper hand and she was reluctant to refuse. “Then thank you, cousin.”

After Shen Ninghua had carefully dressed up, Bai Ruo brought over the dress that His Majesty bestowed on her yesterday and carefully helped Shen Ninghua put it on.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone present was dumbfounded when they saw Shen Ninghua. This dress was too gorgeous…

In the Palace, palace maids checked the banquet items back and forth before slowly leaving and waiting for the guests.

When Shen Ninghua and Yang Yingxue arrived at the entrance of the Palace, a eunuch blocked their way and said, “Greetings, Prefectural Princess Zhaohua and Miss Yang.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m Her Majesty’s servant. I have come to invite you to Ningkun Palace on Her Majesty’s order.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes moved slightly. “Then my cousin…”

“I will let someone else send Miss Yang to the banquet.”

So only she was invited. What did Empress Zhao Huiying want?

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. Please follow me.”

Shen Ninghua turned her head and gave Yang Yingxue a comforting gaze, signaling her to follow the eunuch on the side. Then she walked towards Ningkun Palace.

The empress had already finished dressing up. She was dressed in a yellow nine-tailed phoenix dress and wore the same colored silk ribbons around her waist. The crown on her head shone brightly, and she carried a dignified and gorgeous disposition. People couldn’t help but praise her after a single glance: she truly was worthy of being the top beauty in the harem!

“Greetings from Ninghua, Your Majesty.”

Zhao Huiying turned around and saw Shen Ninghua. The smile on her lips paused. A trace of light flashed through her eyes and was quickly suppressed. “As you were. Your outfit today is so beautiful that I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Shen Ninghua lowered her head slightly with a shy smile on her face. “Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty. This dress was bestowed by His Majesty. I originally thought it was too flamboyant, but His Majesty gave me an order to wear it at the banquet, so I had no choice but…”

The smile in Zhao Huiying’s eyes became fainter. “Is that so? His Majesty really cares about you. Anning and Anqing even secretly came to me to complain that they were less favored by His Majesty because of you.”

Shen Ninghua did not reply. She lowered her head even more. Her slender eyelashes completely covered her eyes, making it impossible to see her emotions. However, her expression seemed to be extremely shy, which was the reason that she did not know how to reply.

Zhao Huiying looked at the dress she was wearing from top to bottom. The corners of her lips moved slightly, and the coldness in her eyes was extremely frightening. After a long time, she suppressed it and said, “Come with me to the banquet today.”

Shen Ninghua’s fingers moved slightly and she respectfully answered, “Yes.”

Most of the guests had arrived at the banquet. Chu Junyi sat at the table and looked at the empty seat beside Baili Anning with a trace of gentle joy in his eyes.

Seeing Chu Junyi’s expression, the haggard Xiao Huanxi tore apart her handkerchief under the table. She raised her head and swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, as if she could swallow the pain that was choking her throat.

Bu Jinglan, the Second Prince, and the others held their teacups and stared at the entrance of the hall, waiting for the host of the banquet to arrive.

The atmosphere in the hall seemed lively. Everyone was full of smiles, but there were countless different thoughts hidden behind their smiles.

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“His Majesty has arrived, Her Majesty has arrived, His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived, and Prefectural Princess Zhaohua has arrived.”

What? As they bowed, everyone doubted their ears.

As was always the case, the Crown Prince’s appearance along with His Majesty was intended to highlight his prestige as the emperor-to-be. There was nothing strange about it. But why did Prefectural Princess Zhaohua come with Her Majesty?

Shen Ninghua stood behind the empress, slightly behind the Crown Prince, and followed them into the main hall.

Baili Qingcang ascended to the throne with Zhao Huiying. He turned around and said with dignity, “As you were.”

Everyone stood up and saw Shen Ninghua standing almost shoulder by shoulder with the Crown Prince.

She was dressed in a red palace dress today. There were large golden peonies embroidered on the hem of the skirt. The petals and stamens were outlined with golden threads, making the flowers seem lifelike. The long sleeves were also outlined with golden threads. The bottom part near the hem of the skirt was embroidered with dancing butterflies. With her movements, the sleeves would swing like butterflies dancing on the peonies, forming a truly beautiful and dazzling scene.

In addition to this dress, Shen Ninghua wore a glittering golden Eight Treasures hairpin on her head. At the lower end of the hairpin were two exquisite carved butterflies. They swayed up and down on her waterfall-like dark hair as she walked, holding people in spell.

Many people present were dazed. They had seen Shen Ninghua in extremely simple attire. At that time, they all secretly sighed with admiration for her natural beauty. They did not expect that Shen Ninghua’s beauty would be even more shocking in gorgeous attire.

The gorgeous decoration could not snatch away her glamor. Instead, it made her beauty even more flamboyant and dazzling. She matched the saying “Always charming with either light or heavy make-up”.

After saluting, Shen Ninghua wanted to take her seat next to Baili Anning, but Zhao Huiying suddenly said, “Someone, arrange a seat next to me. Ninghua, come up.”

Shen Ninghua’s pupils contracted abruptly. “Your Majesty, that will violate the etiquette.” The seat next to Zhao Huiying was not a seat, but the crater of an active volcano!

“What’s the big deal? Today’s banquet is held for you. You call me mother and His Majesty father. Since that’s the case, there’s nothing wrong with your sitting here.”

Shen Ninghua could no longer refuse, and she had to sit beside Zhao Huiying. Immediately, she felt the gazes of all the people in the hall were focused on her, and there were all kinds of them: burning hot, freezing cold, resentful, envious, and others.

Below the stage, Chu Junyi lowered his head slightly to conceal his icy gaze, and his entire body was covered in anger.

Baili Qingcang raised his eyes and said, “Today’s banquet is not purely for celebration, but for both rewards and punishments. Too many things have happened during this period of time and shall be reviewed as we gather today. Alright, let’s begin the banquet.”

The empress did not inform Baili Qingcang in advance of her arrangement for Shen Ninghua. Although he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, he did not say anything because he doted on Shen Ninghua.

As soon as Baili Qingcang said those words, the officials all felt that the wine in their mouths had instantly turned so bitter that they were chilled in their heart.

Especially the Governor of Capital Guards. During this period of time, he had been in charge of the investigation. Before he made any significant progress in the snake incident at the hunting party, the chickenpox incident happened. Who would expect that as soon as the chickenpox incident was over, the emperor gathered everyone to settle the score! This was truly the call of death for him.

“Governor of Capital Guards, you are in charge of all these matters. You report first. Start with the hunting party.”

Well, talk of the devil and he would appear. The Governor of Capital Guards had cold feet but had to stand up. “Your Majesty, I found Wanying pollen in the camp. This pollen has a unique fragrance and is most attractive to vipers. The vipers that surrounded the tents that night may have something to do with the pollen.”

“So, someone deliberately lured those vipers over?” Before Baili Qingcang said anything, Bu Jinglan said first. First, he was coerced into an engagement with a crippled girl, then he was bitten by a poisonous snake and almost died. Each thing was a great humiliation to him. Now that he heard that someone was behind the scenes, how could he not be angry?

The Governor of Capital Guards had sweat on his forehead. “Sixth Prince, the matter has not been investigated thoroughly. I still don’t know what exactly happened.”

However, Bu Jinglan would not let go of this topic easily. If he could prove that someone framed him, then he could use this reason to justifiably cancel the engagement.

“I remember that before the hunting party, you once told me that there were no big preys in the imperial garden. But we met poisonous snakes and packs of wolves there. If we weren’t lucky, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to return. Besides, it’s not just me who suffered. Many young masters and young ladies of aristocratic families were also victims.”

As he spoke, a sad expression appeared on his face, which instantly won the empathy of many people, especially the officials who had lost family members in the hunting party. They all got up and knelt down in the hall. “We beg Your Majesty to investigate clearly and give us justice.”

The heirs or daughters they had painstakingly nurtured for so many years had lost their lives because of a hunting party. If it was an accident, they could accept it. But if someone had deliberately set them up, how could they let it go?

The Governor of Capital Guards almost fainted. He never thought that he would land himself in such a big trouble by saying those words.

Baili Qingcang’s expression was gloomy. He had long wanted to deal with the hunting incident, but was delayed by the chickenpox incident. Now that the investigation had been delayed for so long, it was even harder to investigate.

Xiao Jingran suddenly stood up and reported, “Your Majesty, I know a little about this matter.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I accidentally picked up something when I brought my bodyguards to save people. Speaking of which, this thing is related to the Sixth Prince.”

Bu Jinglan suddenly raised his head and a gloomy look flashed in his eyes. “Related to me. What is it?”

Shen Ninghua sat high up there and looked down at Xiao Jingran who had a serious expression. A trace of sneer flashed in her heart. The vipers were attracted by Xiao Huanxi. But in order to help his daughter clear her name, Xiao Jingran actually forged evidence. The Xiao family took themselves too seriously!

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