SGEIRS -Chapter 116 Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

After a moment, Meng Jinyao withdrew her gaze from the audience seats on the first floor and turned to look at her two maids.

“Why aren’t you two crying?” she asked.

Qingqiu: “……”

Ningdong: “……”

They had cried. They had just finished crying, and their eyes were probably still red. Could it be that Madam hadn’t noticed?

Seeing their silence, Meng Jinyao examined them carefully, then nodded lightly.

“Mm. You’ve cried. Your eye rims are red, and your eyelashes are still damp.”

Ningdong asked, “Madam, there’s still another performance. Will you stay and listen?”

Meng Jinyao thought for a moment, then shook her head slightly.

“No. We’ll watch it another time. Let’s go out for a walk.”

The two maids responded, called the attendant to settle the bill, and then left.

The capital wasn’t that big. Sooner or later, enemies were bound to cross paths.

When the three master and servants reached the staircase, they ran into Meng Jinyu.

At this moment, Meng Jinyu was following beside a beautiful young lady. The girl was dressed luxuriously and carried herself with noble grace. One could tell at a glance that her background was extraordinary, but Meng Jinyao did not recognize her.

It wasn’t strange that she didn’t.

The Yongchang Marquis’s Mansion had long fallen into decline. High-ranking noble families never invited them to banquets. Middle-ranking families also looked down on them—after all, aside from living off their ancestors’ legacy, the Yongchang Marquis’s Mansion had nothing to offer.

Meng Jinyao rarely attended young ladies’ gatherings. Even when she did, she had never met this girl. She usually associated with daughters of lower- and middle-ranking officials. High noble families despised fallen households like hers, and she had no reason to ingratiate herself with them.

As for after her marriage, she had attended some banquets, but those were gatherings of officials’ wives. She had never seen any madam bring this young lady along.

Meng Jinyu naturally noticed her too. She put on an expression of surprise and glanced at her.

“Isn’t this Elder Sister? What a coincidence. I didn’t expect you’d come to listen to opera too. In the past, when Grandmother invited an opera troupe for her birthday, Elder Sister couldn’t even understand it and would just doze off.”

Meng Jinyao replied calmly, “It is quite a coincidence.”

After speaking, she didn’t want to bother with Meng Jinyu anymore and stepped forward to leave.

Just then, the girl beside Meng Jinyu gave a delicate shout.

“How presumptuous! You dare not salute when you see this County Princess?”

Meng Jinyao was startled.

A County Princess?

Meng Jinyu watched her surprised expression with interest, feeling secretly pleased. It had been a long time since she’d seen Meng Jinyao suffer embarrassment.

She introduced softly, “Elder Sister, I forgot to tell you. This is County Princess Jingning of Prince Liang’s Residence.”

Hearing this, Meng Jinyao was stunned again.

Prince Liang was His Majesty’s younger brother born of the same mother and greatly favored. Among all county princesses, Jingning held the highest status—she was the Empress Dowager’s legitimate granddaughter.

How had Meng Jinyu managed to get acquainted with her?

Meng Jinyao quickly curtsied.

“This humble one greets County Princess Jingning. I failed to recognize Your Highness just now. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Qingqiu and Ningdong hurriedly followed and saluted as well.

County Princess Jingning frowned and glanced displeasedly at them. She deliberately let them remain in their bowing posture and did not tell them to rise. Instead, she started chatting with Meng Jinyu, clearly intending to make things difficult for them.

Since she hadn’t said “rise,” Meng Jinyao and her maids naturally couldn’t straighten up.

Seeing this, Meng Jinyu felt a surge of satisfaction. She chatted with the princess about amusing gossip, pretending not to see the three of them.

Some passersby noticed the scene at the staircase and found it strange. But none lingered. The richly dressed girl was obviously not someone to offend, and they didn’t want to invite trouble.

About a quarter of an hour later, Meng Jinyu finally said in feigned surprise, “Oh my, Your Highness, my elder sister is still saluting you.”

County Princess Jingning glanced at them and said in mock surprise, “So this ill-mannered sister of yours actually knows how to pay respects? I thought she didn’t. She didn’t even look at me properly just now.”

Then she said indifferently to them, “Alright, you may rise.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Meng Jinyao replied.

She stood up, her expression calm and without the slightest resentment.

“This humble one still has matters to attend to. I’ll take my leave and won’t disturb Your Highness’s enjoyment.”

After speaking, she nodded slightly to Jingning and led her maids away.

She had only taken two steps when she saw a leg stretch out.

She immediately dodged to the left with lightning speed, narrowly avoiding tumbling down the stairs.

Meng Jinyu, however, was not so lucky.

With a sharp scream of “Ah!”, she fell toward the stairs.

Meng Jinyao reacted swiftly. She grabbed Meng Jinyu’s wrist with one hand and the railing with the other, pulled with all her strength, then released.

Meng Jinyu was yanked back and fell onto the flat ground behind the staircase.

“Ah!”

She hit the ground hard and cried out in pain. Her face turned pale as she stared at the stairs in shock, her heart pounding wildly.

County Princess Jingning was also frightened pale by what had just happened.

Meng Jinyao looked down at Meng Jinyu coldly. Her eyes were icy, and she curved her lips into a meaningful smile.

Slowly, she said, “Second Sister, don’t stand near the stairs again in the future. It’s very dangerous. If you accidentally stretch out the wrong foot and fall again, you’ll surely end up bleeding from head to toe. Luckily, I was here just now. Otherwise, you’d have been carried back home by others.”

Meng Jinyu’s heart tightened. Her pupils shrank sharply, fear clearly showing in her eyes.

She knew very well that if Meng Jinyao hadn’t grabbed her at the critical moment, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

She also knew—Meng Jinyao had definitely seen her stick out her foot.

Meng Jinyao nodded slightly to County Princess Jingning once more, then said to her maids, “Qingqiu, Ningdong, let’s go.”

Soon, the three of them left the opera house.

Ningdong said angrily, “Madam, County Princess Jingning was clearly making things difficult for you on purpose. You have no grievance with her. She must have been slandered by Second Miss.”

Meng Jinyao replied calmly, “Yes, it’s obvious. I just don’t know how she managed to latch onto the county princess.”

Qingqiu pondered and said, “Second Miss is ambitious and good at networking. She probably met her at some banquet.”

Meng Jinyao nodded indifferently. “Probably.”

Thinking of the terrifying scene just now, Ningdong grew even angrier.

“Madam, I saw it clearly. Second Miss secretly stretched out her foot to trip you. If you hadn’t reacted quickly, you’d have already rolled down the stairs!”

She looked up at her mistress, puzzled.

“She’s so vicious. Why did you still save her?”

Meng Jinyao narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke slowly, “At that position, I was standing very close to her. If she had fallen, I would’ve been the biggest suspect. And County Princess Jingning was there. From her angle, she couldn’t see clearly. If she pitied Meng Jinyu and insisted that I maliciously pushed her, how could I defend myself? You are my maids. Even if you told the truth, others would say you were lying to protect your master.”