Chapter 21

These ladies usually look dignified and ladylike, but the words they say are even more piercing than a knife. You said one thing and I said another, and Yang had no chance to retort.

    The Empress was not too close to Yang, and she was surrounded by many people, so she did not immediately notice Yang's predicament. I don't know if it was because of the blood ties between the sisters, but the Empress suddenly glanced towards Yang's side. She saw Yang surrounded by a group of ladies, and her face was very ugly.

    The Empress frowned and whispered a few words to Wu He, who then parted the crowd and went to Yang: "Madam, the Empress invites you to come and talk to her."

    Wu He's appearance was really a timely rain for her, so she hastily dragged her daughter and followed her.

    The ladies were reluctant, but there was nothing they could do, after all, no one dared to offend the Empress. Some of the ladies, who did not dare to speak out because of Yang's presence, joined in the conversation now that Yang had left.

    Hua Ling remained frozen in place, his gaze dull and his expression somewhat dazed, as if he could not believe that Yang's loving care for him in the past was in fact a deliberate attempt to harm him.

    The ladies' hearts softened at his appearance. They asked him how Yang had treated him in the past.

    Hua Ling looked as if he wanted to say something but didn't want to, and his eyes were still filled with tears, which seemed to be about to overflow. With the ladies half consoling and half coaxing, Hua Ling, with tears in his eyes, whispered what he had done with Yang in the past.

    At the end, he still asked undyingly, "My mother, my mother, all these years ... my mother really never treated me as her own son?"

    The trembling voice, the sad and argumentative look, it was really sad for those who heard it and tears for those who heard it, some emotionally fragile ladies even took their handkerchiefs to wipe their red eyes.

    One of the ladies comforted, "It's not a bad thing, it's not a blessing when you lose a horse."

    "This Yang has played a good trick," some of the ladies were indignant, "Why is her heart so black? It's disgusting to see her acting like a loving mother. I thought she was nice, bah!"

    One of the ladies added, "I was wondering before, if the State Lady is really as good to her stepson as she says she is. Why didn't she marry him to King Zhaoge instead of King Ruiying?"

(T/N: King Zhaoge is the courtesy name of the second prince, the current empress son, King Ding is the courtesy name of the third prince that is Prince Yan Sheng while King Ruiying is the courtesy name of Yan Shi, the eldest prince and the former Empress son and I think King Mu should be the courtesy name for the fourth prince, but this I am not sure of yet)

    With these words, this lady brought the conversation to a new climax.

    After a short while, one of the ladies suddenly coughed, and all voices came to an abrupt halt.

    Only a maid came from a short distance away, "Ladies and misses. The Empress is inviting you over."

    The ladies straightened their hair and tugged at the hem of their dresses, and walked towards the Empress with brisk steps.

    Hua Ling still followed at the end, waiting until the crowd had finished walking before he could follow.

    "What a blind man, you can't even tell if you're a dog or a man after all these years." Hua Ling looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tree a few steps away from him, a young man leaning against the trunk of the tree with his arms in his arms.

    When the man saw Hua Ling looking over, he didn't wait for him to say anything and took off after those ladies and women with his steps.

    Afterwards, they ordered two rows of tables and chairs to be set up in the imperial garden, with a small table to the right of each chair. Every year, on the eve of the banquet, the Empress had the imperial kitchen prepare a variety of delicacies using flowers as ingredients, and this year was no exception.

    The table is now full of food, and the Empress calls them over to taste it.

    Many people are already seated at the table, and Yang and Hua Lu Yao have already entered.

    Hua Ling did not rush over to the table, he looked behind him and saw Princess Huajia walking between the two rows of tables and chairs, supporting concubine De.

    With a frown on his face, Hua Ling quickly picked up a small stone from the ground. When Princess Huajia reached Hua Luyao, Hua Ling whispered, "I'm sorry," and hit the stone on Hua Luyao's knee with a flip of his hand.

    Hua Luyao's leg stretched forward uncontrollably, and Princess Huajia was caught unawares, tripping over her and falling to the ground.

    "Ah! The princess has fallen!" The maids following her cried out in alarm, and a few ladies who were close by rushed over.

    The fall was painful, but she was so used to enduring it that she didn't feel anything and tried to get up from the ground. At that moment, she felt a force pushing her back, and it was the hand of the concubine.

    Princess Huojia was so clever that she knew immediately what she meant and made a painful face, "I can't stand up."

    The concubine ordered her maid to help Princess Huojia to sit down on a nearby chair: "Huojia, how are you? Did you break something?"

    "My leg hurts badly," Princess Huajia's palm was already faintly stained with blood, she looked at Hua Luyao again, "Why did you trip me on purpose?"

    Although she was used to being domineering at home, this was the imperial palace. She was dumbfounded and said, "It wasn't me, I didn't trip her on purpose."

    The concubine's face did not look worried: "Miss Hua, I saw you stretch out your leg, did you say it was not yours?"

    There were many people here, and many of them saw Hua Luyao stretch her leg out. At this moment, a lady said, "I saw it too."

    Seeing that it was time for him to make an appearance, Hua Ling took a few steps over and said with a sad face, "Sister, you can beat me and scold me all you want. I know I made you angry again, but you can't take it out on the princess. Although the Princess is the Prince own sister, she didn't provoke you."

    Hua Ling's words were tantamount to pouring oil on the fire, and the faces of the ladies looking at Yang's mother and daughter had changed.

    "It's not me, I didn't, don't be ridiculous!" Hua Luyao was so anxious that she was about to cry out, and didn't know what to say, she only kept retorting.

    Yang saw the scene just now, but she couldn't admit it and said, "This must be a misunderstanding, how could Luyao have the guts to make the princess fall on purpose? Luyao, go and apologise to the princess."

    The concubine said angrily, "Madam Guo, do you think we are all blind? So many pairs of eyes are watching, how dare you speak blindly with your eyes wide open?"

    The Minister's wife also followed suit, "This is what Madam Guo is used to doing, she usually acts like a loving mother, but her heart is more vicious than a snake and scorpion. Now you're turning black and white in front of everyone's eyes. How dare you people of the Duke of Kangle's House not even take the Princess into account? Is your daughter still more noble than the princess?"

    They were not far from the Empress, and the words they spoke reached there. The Empress came closer with the help of her maid: "What has happened?"

    Yang replied, "In reply to Your Highness words, the princess fell down." Yang blotted out the reason for the fall quite naturally.

    Concubine De let out a cold voice: "Madam, why don't you tell us why the princess fell?"

    "How dare the State Lady say it." The woman who spoke was no one else, it was none other than King Ding's mother, Lady Shu Gui, whose position in the harem was second only to that of the Empress.

    There were four noble consorts in the Great Abyss dynasty, Lady Shu Guifei was one and King Mu's mother, Lady Xian Guifei, was also one. The sons of the three fought in the court, and these three also fought in the harem.

    Noble Consort Shu said, "Your Highness, your sister (referring to herself) could see clearly just now that it was this Miss Hua who deliberately stretched out her leg to trip Princess Huojia."

    "Empress, I saw it too, sister." It was Xian Guifei who spoke, and it was rare for the two of them to be on the same page, "I was shocked just now, I have to say that this Miss Hua is really bold."

    The situation was not favourable to the Empress side, and although she was already furious inside, her face remained unchanged as she looked at Hua Luyao and asked, "Is that so?"

    With her own aunt here, Hua Luyao was not as scared as she had been earlier, so she boldly said, "Your Highness, I didn't do it on purpose, I don't know what happened, but my leg suddenly stopped working."

    The lady sneered, "How can your legs not obey you when they're on your body?

    "I don't dare," Hua Luyao lowered her head, "What I said is true, I hope Your Majesty will believe it."

    "Not to say I don't believe you," Shu Guifei continued, "there are so many people here, as long as they have eyes, they won't believe what you say."

    Consort Xian continued, "Miss Hua looks so young, yet she is so eloquent. Are all the people in the Duke of Kangle's household like you?"

    The matter had already affected the Kangle State Duke's Mansion, and to say that the Kangle State Duke's Mansion was bad was to slap the Empress face. The Empress said, "The matter has not yet been clarified, is it not too decisive for sister to speak in such a manner?"

    "How can it be decisive, so many of us have seen it clearly." Today, it was so easy to find fault with the Queen Mother's side, how could Xian Guifei give up such a good opportunity, and immediately said, "I am afraid only the Queen Mother does not believe it."

    She said, "Your Majesty, just because Miss Hua is your niece, you should not be so biased. That would be unfair, and how can we trust you in the future?"

    "His Majesty has arrived -" These four words rang out like thunder over the Imperial Garden, no one had expected the Emperor to come. In previous years, the Emperor had never come to the Flower Festival to avoid suspicion, but why did he come this year? And it was such a coincidence that he came.

    As the crowd speculated, they knelt down to receive the Emperor: "Long live the Emperor!"