CH 524

524: Princess Rong Hua Makes a Death Wish

“Didn’t the Feng family send someone to resolve the issue? Plus Feng Wuliu said he expelled Feng TianXing. For His Highness to hold a grudge is too much!”

“Isn’t it?! It’s too petty of His Highness!”

The old patriarchs shook their heads, feeling that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ancient Eastern Countries was overdoing it. No matter what, Feng Wuliu was still an old patriarch of a super power.

The Feng family also had bloodline inheritance; they weren’t like your common super houses. Those from backgrounds that weren’t even half as prestigious as Feng house were invited, while a super power like them was rejected. It was a slap to the face was what it was!

“Rong Hua,[notes] how could you do this?!” The empress was so angry that her face turned pale. This girl, she wasn’t just slapping Feng house in the face, but also putting His Highness in an awkward situation!

“What? I just didn’t want to see anyone from Feng house here. This is my home. I didn’t want them to come. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Rong Hua said indifferently.

She had secretly been in love with Ming Xi since meeting him, but unfortunately she had been ignored by him. She wasn’t sure how she heard it, but she found out Ming Xi was studying at Xingguang Holy academy in Central city. On her way there to see him, she learned he was not at school.

How could she have known Ming Xi recently injured his hand and had returned to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom to recover? To make matters worse, she heard gossip about the ambiguous relationship between Ming Xi and Feng Wu. Princess Rong Hua, who had always been proud, couldn’t bear it.

She wouldn’t have been so mad if he had chosen anyone else. What made it intolerable was that he had chosen Feng Wu – a slut with a child out of wedlock, over her! How could she hold her face up?! She could just imagine the other ladies ridiculing her publicly and privately once the news spread.

She felt ill every time she thought about it.

This year, she was responsible for helping her mother with the invitation list for the banquet. It was her crossing out the Feng family name that directly led to this incident. She didn’t regret it even though she knew she would be blamed. The palace was her home and she didn’t want to see anyone from Feng house.

“How can you say that? Is Feng house an ordinary house? They are the highest ranked house in all of the ancient eastern countries! And they’re a super power on the continent! How can you say you didn’t do anything wrong?!”

The empress truly regretted asking her daughter to help with the banquet preparations. If she had known this was the kind of help she’d get, she would have opted to work more and be tired instead! How could her daughter use such an opportunity to ruin her own mother like this?!

She could already see His Majesty’s wrath.

“So what if they’re not ordinary. I’m a royal princess; what need do I have to fear some lesser house?” In short, Rong Hua was not concerned about Feng house.

Bang! The empress was so angry she slapped her hand on the table. Fortunately, all the maids were dismissed so she didn’t have to worry about being overheard.

“You dare talk back to your empress like this?! How could I have given birth to such a stupid thing as you?! You speak words even your own father wouldn’t say! You are bold, dare spit anything out of your mouth.”

The empress was so angry she felt like her liver was exploding. Seeing that the princess was still unrepentant, she made a mental note to discipline the princess more strictly in the future. She could not afford a repeat of today.

The emperor sent someone to summon the empress and princess not long after he realized the trouble they were creating for him.

His empress and princess had just dared slap the face of an aristocratic family that even he dared not do willy nilly. Well his wife and daughter were really courageous weren’t they?

The empress and princess walked to the imperial study trembling. A teacup smashed in front of the empress’s foot just as she entered. She didn’t dare dodge and could only let the tea stain her.

“Your Majesty, please remain calm. It is this servant’s fault for not teaching Princess Rong Hua well. She will be disciplined strictly in the future so as not to make such a mistake again.” The empress tried to pull Rong Hua down to kneel, but the girl was not having it and adamantly stayed standing.

It was a serious issue. If the Feng family decided to pursue the matter, Rong Hua would not fare well. In order to protect her daughter, the empress could only diminish herself do her best to hint for Rong Hua to admit her mistake and apologize.

A pity Rong Hua didn’t think she was in the wrong. She looked at her mother who was nearly in tears.

“I have an empress and a princess, one is a wife the other a daughter. It is fine if you don’t wish to share in my daily worries, but you dare to create such a big issue? You. . . the two of you are purposefully trying to anger me and bring me to an early grave?!”

The empress could only remain kneeling and confess her guilt. She didn’t dare say anything.

Princess Rong Hua, on the other hand, refused to admit any guilt.

“Does the princess not believe she is at fault?” The emperor sneered.

“This princess did not want to see these people. There was nothing wrong with my not inviting them,” said the princess confidently.

“Hm, yes I see. It is my fault for siring such a rebellious girl. Someone, escort Princess Rong Hua to her room. She is not allowed to leave without my express permission.”

A team of guards came in as soon as the emperor issued his command. It didn’t matter how much the princess screamed and kicked, they escorted her out to her room.

Now that the princess was taken cared of, the only business left was how to placate the Feng family.

News broke out the next day that Princess Rong Hua was grounded for excluding the Feng family from the banquet. She had accidentally crossed out their name from the invitation list.

Honestly, who would believe this? It was too coincidental to say she accidentally crossed out the row the Feng family was listed on.

Shortly after news of the princess being grounded came out, the empress went to Feng house with a gift to apologize.

The Feng family didn’t want to see anyone in the royal family, but because it was the empress herself, Madam Lan came out to greet her and invite her inside. None of the three men were present to welcome her however.

According to etiquette, Old Master Feng should have brought the younger generation, Master Feng and Young Master Feng, to greet her, but the Feng family were so angry they didn’t bother. It was already a compromise that Madam Lan was greeting her at all.

Madam Lan accompanied the empress for a cup of tea and some pastries, whereupon the empress explained her intentions for visiting and expressed her sincerest apologies.

Madam Lan said she understood but did not explicitly accept or reject the apology. The empress was left with no choice but to leave dejected.

“Father, the empress came to apologize just now and hoped we could forgive Princess Rong Hua for her ignorance.” Madam Lan walked to Grandfather Feng’s study to explain the situation.

“Hmph. Don’t worry about them.” Grandfather Feng continued practicing his calligraphy and ignored the royal family entirely.

The empress was scolded by the emperor when she returned. The matter was such a headache. The emperor finally invited Old Master Feng personally for a chat in the palace. The two talked for a long time. After Old Master Feng came out, news quickly spread that Princess Rong Hua would marry into a neighboring country.

Everyone guessed Old Master Feng was really angry. Even Princess Rong Hua couldn’t escape unscathed.

Because of the incident, Princess Rong Hua’s reputation took a dive. She vented her anger on the pillows in her bedroom every day.

It was an embarrassing end to the ancient eastern countries’ number one beauty.

So what was the moral of the story? The moral of the story was, don’t play with fire unless you have the skills. Otherwise you’ll just end up burning yourself.

Feng Wu told Ming Xi about the whole story literally word for word. Ming Xi never expected the matter to resolve the way it did. How did he not see how brainless Princess Rong Hua was before? His Xiao Wu was so much better. Her odd blankness and naivete were good. At least he’d never have to worry about his Xiao Wu hanging herself like that.

Time flew by and before they knew it, it was time for the Flower festival to officially begin. The Flower King would be selected by popular vote in the imperial city. Each and every household could select and send over unique pots for the competition. The winning pot would be awarded the title Flower King. Every king before had sold at outrageously high prices.

The owner of the king would get a blessing from the flower gods. Those married would have a happy marriage and welcome a baby early, while those unmarried would attract suitors for marriage.

This was why the previous winners all sold at prices far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Flowers presented to the competition could be submitted on behalf of a family or an individual.

The Feng family sent in five pots of rare flowers for the competition. All the other major families also sent in pots for the contest as well.

The results would be announced after the end of the seven-day voting period.

Every resident was entitled to one vote. The pots with the most vote would be sent to the Hundred Flower alter and placed before the flower gods, who would be the final judge. The flower blessed by the flower gods would be the winner and declared this year’s Flower King.

Feng Wu and Juntian walked together in the flower and bird market. The market was lively because of the Flower festival. The farmers were making a lot of money because so many people were buying flowers.

All the good flowers were gone because the king selection had started and only the average looking ones were left.

Juntian took Feng Wu to market to look around because he knew how much she liked plants. If she found something she liked, then they could buy it.