Villain Lady

When the play was over, the music played on the background as they began to chat with each other. Princess Ji Xiaoli was naturally surrounded by those with the highest status among the young ladies, which included Wei Xiao Hua and Xie Feng. They were the main daughter of both Prime Minister of Han Shi Kingdom.

"Princess have reached marriageable age. I'm sure that your marriage partner must be someone great," Xie Feng started the conversation.

Princess Ji Xiaoli's hand that was holding a cup of tea froze in the place for a moment. She had always known that Xie Feng was a very straightforward person, but she didn't expect to hear this young lady posed the question right away like this.

Wei Xiao Hua smiled lightly. "Of course, Princess Ji Xiaoli is beautiful and talented. Her partner must be someone extraordinary."

"Yes."

"There's no way Princess Ji Xiaoli would be paired with someone bad."

The ladies started to suck her up. However, Ji Xiaoli couldn't bring herself to smile. She had heard that Xiong Tribe's Crown Prince was a very talented young man who was also very powerful. However, she also understood that if war were to occur again, there was high chance that she would die. 

After all, the Xiong Tribe would never allow her to stay alive.

How long can peace due to marriage treaty last?

She didn't know.

Princess Ji Xiaoli kept her composure and continued the talk with the ladies. Even though she was unwilling to talk about this, there was no other option for her. She tried to divert the conversation to something else after they had enough.

"I want to know if there's any of you who's interested in martial arts," Princess Ji Xiaoli remarked.

One of the ladies giggled. "Martial arts are indeed amazing, but mastering their movements won't be easy. It's already enough that the males are the one who had to study."

"I'm content with not learning martial arts too."

"Yes. That's true."

The ladies didn't like to learn martial arts because it would make their hands rough too. Who would want to have muscular body when they were all fair maidens? It was also unnecessary for them to learn martial arts.

Wei Xiao Hua laughed. "It's too hard for us to learn, Princess."

"I agree," Princess Ji Xiaoli smiled. "Embroidering and playing music is much more suitable for us."

"Yes. Princess knew us the best."

The girls were laughing by themselves while the males were trying to suck up to the princes. It was not hard to guess what these officials were thinking to do as Wei Liuying could hear the conversation in Prince Ji Sheng's table.

"My daughter is of marriageable age as well. Your Highness, have you perhaps thought about adding more flower to your garden?"

Ji Sheng raised the cup of his tea. "A young sprout like me shouldn't be thinking about something like this. If you have any suggestion for flowers, shouldn't you speak to my Imperial Mother?"

The official had an awkward face. Who didn't know that Prince Ji Sheng's mother was unfavored in the palace? She rarely showed herself in the public, so it was hard for anyone to meet her as she rejected most of their visits. Some criticized her, but they didn't dare to do it publicly because it would be tarnishing the Imperial Family's name.

Prince Ji Sheng acted as if he didn't hear anything and continued drinking the tea. Whenever one mentioned about adding women to his harem, he would reject them almost immediately. His words might sound pleasant, but the content was anything but that.

Yang Xian was still standing with a poker face while Wei Liuying was trying hard to match his. She really wondered what the officials were thinking when they tried to get close to Ji Sheng. Didn't they realize that he was not interested in the slightest bit?

Why would they still continue that type of conversation?

At this time, Wei Liuying heard interesting conversation from the other side of the screen.

"Princess, would you like to hear us play some song so as to congratulate you for your engagement?" Wei Zilin braved herself to ask.

"Ah yes, Your Highness. We're all confident that we would be able to gift you the best song."

"Please give us this chance, Your Highness."

Princess Ji Xiaoli's face turned sour. How could she not know that these young noble ladies were trying to use their talent to attract the males behind the screen? But how could she possibly reject them when they were all looking at her with those expression, ready to strike her even if it was necessary.

"is the play from before not enough, Ladies?"

"That's a different one. What we want to give to you this time is a completely different song that come from the bottom of our heart," Wei Zilin tried to reason.

Another young lady chirped in. "Yes, Your Highness. We might not be as skilled as the professional, but we have learned in the academy for a long time. I'm sure that we can perform a great music to comfort your heart."

Comfort?

Princess Ji Xiaoli was trying her best to not show her real feeling to these people as she smiled lightly. Her beautiful face was heightened even more now that she had reached 16 years of age. Many people would fall for her face alone, yet it was precisely this reason why she was even coveted by people from Xiong Tribe.

"In that case, I'll be waiting for your performance."

"Many thanks for your kindness, Your Highness!"

Princess Ji Xiaoli smiled and maintained her composure. Who didn't know that they were actually trying to make use of this chance to attract the males who were staying on the other side of the room?

But she didn't say anything.

Their faces already showed that they were not afraid of offending her in the slightest bit. All they wanted to do was to make sure that they would be able to grasp this chance and attract better person for their marriage. As for Princess Ji Xiaoli? Who would care for someone who will leave the kingdom in just a short period of time?

Soon, they started to play music.

Princess Ji Xiaoli turned her head to look at the young ladies. "Are all the young ladies in the Capital City come here today?"

"My sister, Wei Liuying is not here," Wei Xiao Hua responded with a bitter smile.

On the other side of the screen, Wei Liuying's eyes turned cold when her name was mentioned. She did disappear without doing anything because her plan changed. However, she didn't expect that Wei Family would continue to hide the truth of her death without revealing anything like this.

"Do you know the reason?"

Wei Xiao Hua looked to the screen and bowed her head slightly. "My sister is a bit muddleheaded and tried to get close to my fiancé. He's angry and punished her again not long ago, so she can't show her face out."

Again?

Wei Liuying was speechless. She was clearly not in Wei Family Residence yesterday because she was too busy trying to find a perfect restaurant. In addition, she was busy learning the Imperial Palace etiquette to care about whatever they thought about her.

"You need definite closure."

"I know," Wei Liuying replied in whisper. She understood perfectly that because her plan changed, she was unable to fake her death. Originally, she planned to burn down that shed and escaped during the chaos by blocking the door from inside so that no one will know that she was still alive.

But she had to escape earlier to save her uncle.

Thus, her plan failed miserably even before it could be executed.

Yang Xian chuckled without changing his expression. His mouth moved a bit as a faint whisper entered her ear. "You can finish everything now or later."

Now?

Wei Liuying did think of returning back to Wei Family Residence and create chaos. But thinking about Prince Ji Shu's men there, she didn't think that it would be a good idea. Her fist was clasped tightly.

"There's no hurry. I'll finish everything in a while."

"As you wish."

Princess Ji Xiaoli arched her eyebrows when she heard what Wei Xiao Hua said. She did hear that Wei Liuying hadn't appeared in public for the past three months. No one knew what happened to her as there was no one who could meet her. Besides, no one was close with Wei Liuying.

Her eyes narrowed. 'Could it be that Wei Family hide something?'

Looking at Wei Xiao Hua's innocent expression, Princess Ji Xiaoli understood that she must be saying those in purpose. She acted as if she was unaware that what she said could destroy someone else's reputation.

'What a vicious young lady from Wei Family. But then again, isn't that what everyone do to survive?'

"In that case, I wish she can recover soon," Princess Ji Xiaoli said in a low tone.

"Many thanks for your concern, Your Highness."