CMWKSD -Chapter 187 The Flower Appreciation Banquet

Ling Yue’s entire face instantly flushed bright red.

Jiu Yue recoiled in horror, taking a step back and hugging her weak, pitiful, and helpless self tightly.

What on earth was going on here?

She’d only had a momentary lapse of judgment and blurted something out—just a bit of teasing, a couple of jokes.

So why were you blushing like that?

Don’t tell her she’d really reached the level of being universally loved—flowers blooming at her sight, irresistible to both men and women?

She’d only made that one snarky remark.

And it was something she wouldn’t dare say directly to Ji Yiqing.

That man had already undergone ultimate evolution—so flirtatious it was deadly.

He would absolutely demonstrate through concrete action just how much he liked Jiu Yue!

But the problem was, Ling Yue had genuinely been joking—just idle banter to fill the silence.

Ling Yue raised her eyes and saw Jiu Yue staring at her in terror.

Yet as far as Jiu Yue was concerned, from the very first meeting—starting with that whip strike—and then recalling everything that had happened at the autumn hunt grounds—all of it lingered in Ling Yue’s heart, refusing to fade.

Clearly, Jiu Yue’s status in Ling Yue’s heart had already risen to a certain height.

So she looked at Jiu Yue with utmost seriousness and sincerity.

“Yes. I really like you.”

Jiu Yue let out a startled “Huh?”—her head filled with question marks.

“I like your confidence and ease. I also like how decisive you are when facing matters—swift and resolute, bold and heroic…”

That mouth of hers when praising people—she really was on par with Ji Yiqing.

Shao Qing stood behind Jiu Yue, listening to the princess’s string of descriptions.

It truly gave him the same feeling as the intelligence reports they’d previously gathered.

The Ling family—aside from Princess Ling—was just a bunch of blunt cudgels.

If one were to describe these traits, “admiration” would clearly be far more appropriate.

There was no need to scare his boss half to death like this.

Seeing Jiu Yue’s increasingly horrified expression, Shao Qing finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He stepped forward and leaned close to Jiu Yue’s ear.

“Boss, the Princess probably means admiration, appreciation, and respect—not the kind of ‘like’ you’re thinking of.”

Shao Qing felt a little mentally exhausted. His boss clearly didn’t have a single ounce of a lovestruck brain—yet she was always fond of pairing people up in the strangest ways.

Jiu Yue frowned. “You’re serious?”

Shao Qing nodded.

Ling Yue, meanwhile, seemed to have just finished delivering an award acceptance speech.

After speaking, she even blinked at Jiu Yue.

As if waiting for Jiu Yue’s feedback.

Jiu Yue: …That really wasn’t necessary!!!

“So you must come, okay?”

Jiu Yue’s mind was still in a daze. She gave an absent-minded “Mm.”

Ling Yue smiled sweetly, her smile beautiful and bright. She turned and was just about to get into the carriage—then suddenly turned her head back.

Jiu Yue, who had just lowered her hands, instantly clutched her chest again.

Once more hugging her weak, pitiful, and helpless self tightly.

“About the last time at the prince’s residence, when I used a whip on your husband—that was entirely my fault. Today, I sincerely and solemnly apologize to you. I’m sorry. I know I can’t ask for your forgiveness, but I still really wanted to say sorry.”

Jiu Yue’s eyes sharpened.

That incident—she really had been furious.

If anything had gone even slightly wrong, Ji Yiqing might not have walked out of the prince’s residence in one piece.

So Jiu Yue had never intended to forgive her.

Ling Yue knew she had done wrong.

And Jiu Yue’s personality was straightforward—everything written plainly on her face.

Ling Yue knew Jiu Yue wouldn’t forgive her.

She didn’t think there was anything wrong with that.

After all, if making a mistake and saying “sorry” once was enough to earn forgiveness—that would be unfair to the victim as well.

“I will definitely make it up to you in the future.”

Jiu Yue said nothing. She clasped her hands toward Ling Yue in a brief salute, then turned and went back into the residence.

Ling Yue grew anxious and called out loudly, “Doctor Jiu Yue, you must come!”

She truly wanted to befriend Jiu Yue, yet things always went against her wishes.

……

When Ji Yiqing learned that Jiu Yue was going to attend the Ling Prince Residence’s flower appreciation banquet, he only inquired about who would be attending.

He didn’t say a single word about forbidding Jiu Yue from going out, nor did he feel that Jiu Yue would have trouble getting along with those official wives and noble ladies.

As long as there weren’t any particularly troublesome people, Jiu Yue generally wouldn’t be wronged.

As long as Jiu Yue wasn’t wronged, nothing would happen.

That really wasn’t false.

Especially after the autumn hunt, where Jiu Yue had shone brilliantly.

Now in the capital, Jiu Yue could be considered a well-known figure.

Anyone with even a bit of sense wouldn’t say a single bad word about her.

To put it bluntly, everyone who attended that autumn hunt—all officials of the fifth rank and above and their families—every single one of them owed Jiu Yue their lives.

Because if it weren’t for Jiu Yue, who knew what state those people would have been bitten into by the insects.

And so—this time at the flower appreciation banquet, seeing flowers still blooming in full splendor despite the season—it was clear a great deal of effort and money had been spent.

Jiu Yue had no real sense for appreciating flowers.

She just felt—

Ah, this one’s pretty.

Ah, that one’s pretty too.

Wow—every single one of them is so pretty.

And because Jiu Yue’s status was, in truth, rather awkward—her family background wasn’t strong enough.

No one went out of their way to curry favor with her, but no one bothered her either.

The principle was simple: don’t provoke, don’t care.

This was actually the most common mindset of those in higher positions toward those below.

Really—unless someone had psychological issues, only then would they constantly tease and toy with people of lower status, like cats or dogs.

Most people in power genuinely didn’t care.

Day after day spent maintaining their families and protecting everything they had—they were already exhausted to the bone.

Very few truly had the energy to target someone else.

Unless they genuinely felt threatened.

If you had to use a modern analogy— it’d be like how Boss Ma probably wouldn’t bother targeting some small, multi-category convenience shop in a county town.

Ling Yue led Jiu Yue to sit in a pavilion.

Water surrounded it on all sides, flowers on three—truly the best viewing spot.

Several officials’ daughters were already there.

Seeing Ling Yue, they hurriedly rose to salute. “Princess.”

Ling Yue waved her hand. “Just sit and enjoy yourselves.”

Then she pouted and, unwillingly, called out to someone ahead of her, “Cousin.”

The woman responded with a soft “Mm,” and still performed a proper salute to Ling Yue.

After all, no matter how noble her status, she was still a marquis household’s daughter with no official rank—there was a clear distinction between her and Princess Ling Yue.

But since she had already arrived, leaving immediately would be rude.

So she simply chose a seat diagonally opposite and sat down.

Seeing Ling Yue’s deeply aggrieved expression, Jiu Yue burst into laughter.

The philosophy was simple: if someone else is unhappy—then hey, I’m happy.

“You two have a feud?”

Ling Yue turned her head and saw Jiu Yue’s face full of eager excitement.

She was practically wearing the words “tell me everything” on her face.

Who would’ve thought—this person was actually so nosy?

But her desire to befriend Jiu Yue ultimately won out.

Ling Yue rattled everything off in one breath.

Jiu Yue listened and secretly curled her lips.

She’d thought there would be something juicy to watch.

But in the end—it was just that cousin being the legitimate eldest daughter of Ling Yue’s maternal aunt’s family.

Smart since childhood, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—excellent at everything.

Which, in turn, made Ling Yue look especially useless.

Wasn’t this the textbook “other people’s child”?

No wonder Ling Yue’s resentment ran so deep—she must’ve been compared constantly while growing up.

As she was thinking this, Ling Yue’s cousin suddenly improvised a poem on the spot.

Jiu Yue and Ling Yue both had black lines all over their foreheads.

At moments like this, Jiu Yue truly felt like a useless person.

Because she genuinely couldn’t compose poetry.

What—was she supposed to recite Three Hundred Tang Poems?

That wasn’t even her own work.

If she really recited them and passed them off as her own, wouldn’t her conscience ache?

Besides, if you didn’t possess a solid cultural foundation, those grand and stirring ancient poems might become a death sentence.

Because virtue not matching one’s position—you might scrape by once, but what about the next time? And the time after that?

Fake was fake. It could never become real.

Perhaps because the atmosphere in the pavilion had grown too awkward, many noble ladies left one after another.

Only Jiu Yue, Ling Yue, Ling Yue’s cousin, and a young girl sitting beside the cousin remained.

The young girl glanced at Ling Yue.

As if thinking of something, she gently covered her mouth with a silk handkerchief.

“Zhuzhu, you haven’t told me what happened afterward yet?”

Zhen Mingzhu cast a spring-filled glance at the girl. “Ning Ning, what are you saying?”

As she spoke, she glanced at Ling Yue.

Ning Ning looked at Ling Yue. “The Princess is your cousin—she surely wouldn’t gossip. Besides, now that you’ve found your ideal husband, she’d definitely be happy for you.”

Jiu Yue raised an eyebrow.

Those words—

She hadn’t only been in this ancient world for a day or two.

Even if such talk might seem harmless in modern times, this was ancient society.

No respectable young lady would ever speak of an “ideal husband” in public.

That was outright ruining one’s own reputation.

The two of them looked like close friends.

This person…

Jiu Yue glanced at Ling Yue—and sure enough, Ling Yue’s face instantly darkened.