The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!

Chapter 653: Chapter 652: The Five-Colored Invitations

Xia Wenjin laughed and said, ”Nanny Zhou, don’t worry, I usually dislike using my hands, it’s a hassle!”

Nanny Zhou: ”...”

Why did she feel that the lady meant it was because using hands was a hassle that she usually didn’t like to use them, rather than causing trouble after doing so?

She sighed in her heart, the lady was, after all, raised in the Jianghu; she was very clear about her mistress’s thoughts. Her mistress felt sorry for the lady, who lost her mother at a young age and grew up among a group of rugged men, fearing she wouldn’t find a good match. She wanted to select a good marriage for the lady among the noble sons in the Capital City.

Now it seems, her mistress has her work cut out for her.

In no time, the attendant over there, the one in gray, approached with great respect: ”This young lady, may I ask which color invitation you hold?”

Xia Wenjin was somewhat surprised. The invitation in her hand was red, and she had thought all of them were red. It now seemed, there were several colors?

She replied, ”Red!” and casually asked, ”How many colors of invitations are there?”

Upon hearing she held a red invitation, the attendant became even more respectful and said, ”There are five colors in total: red, purple, green, blue, and orange! This way, please, young lady!”

Xia Wenjin immediately understood.

The Yanxia Pavilion had five halls, each tastefully furnished, but still with varying degrees of quality. The two best halls allowed one to enjoy the sight of the water and landscape, were spacious and decorative, and featured the best musicians. All appointments were top-notch, whereas the other halls were somewhat inferior.

As the quality varies, so do the prices of each hall.

The five colors presumably correspond to the five halls.

If there are five colors, there must be a ranking—it’s unclear whether the red invitation is high or low!

As for the attendant’s attitude, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything; it might be just part of their training.

But she only felt a slight stir in her heart and didn’t inquire further; after all, these things would be apparent once she saw them.

The attendant led Xia Wenjin all the way to Yanxia Pavilion, and Xia Wenjin followed calmly, while Nanny Zhou was initially worried that Xia Wenjin might act improperly at her first social gathering, especially since she refused to learn etiquette just yesterday.

Yet, as they walked, Nanny Zhou’s expression, who had been on edge, turned complicated!

Whether walking, speaking, or behaving, Xia Wenjin exhibited poise and grace. Even if Nanny Zhou used a critical eye, she couldn’t find fault with Xia Wenjin’s bearing.

Was this the person who instructed the driver to run over anyone who blocked the road?

Was this the same one who just suddenly kicked Mr. Geng into the air?

This was clearly an elegantly raised, composed, poised, and calm young lady!

She remembered the lady said she could just watch how others did it and imitate that. Could it be that she merely glanced at how other ladies walked and learned from that?

Nanny Zhou nodded to herself. If the lady refrained from acting rashly, just like this, her mistress would have much less to worry about!

As they continued along the winding path, the roadside flowers were in full bloom, splendidly vibrant. It was indeed a flower viewing event, with a vast display of flowers competing in beauty.

By the roadside were elegant pavilions for resting and small flowing streams, each layout being quite tasteful.

The young ladies were dressed in their fineries, either admiring flowers, viewing the scenery, or chatting leisurely, looking as vibrant as the flowers themselves, creating another beautiful landscape.

The noble gentlemen, whether warm like jade, tall and graceful, or elegant and courteous, even from a distance, each had their distinctiveness.

The attendant led Xia Wenjin to the Youlan Hall.

The Yanxia Pavilion’s five halls were respectively named Dan Bamboo Hall, Youlan Hall, Proud Plum Hall, Yiju Hall, and Jingsong Hall, reflecting the virtues of the Four Gentlemen or the Three Friends of Winter.

Dan Bamboo and Youlan were the best two halls, and the remaining three were a rank below.

Xia Wenjin was somewhat surprised, not expecting the invitation her second aunt gave her to carry such weight.

This Seventeenth Princess was quite interesting too, organizing a flower viewing event with rank-graded invitations.

Who hosts gatherings like this?

Fortunately, she was a Royal Princess and currently quite favored by the Emperor, or else, if people found out there was a ranking system—especially those placed in the lowest rank—they would surely be too indignant to attend.

In her previous life, Xia Wenjin had no contact with the Seventeenth Princess. Although in the current timeline, she was already married to Huangfu Yuxuan in her past life, by then Huangfu Yuxuan’s influence had already formed an early net, and she was busy immersing herself in it.

And the Seventeenth Princess would be married off to the East Tang next year for a political alliance.

When Huangfu Yuxuan started dealing with matters in the Capital City, the Seventeenth Princess was no longer there, so she never met her and did not know her temperament.

However, thinking back, Xia Wenjin recalled vaguely hearing about how lively the Seventeenth Princess’s flower viewing was. At that time, Huangfu Yuxuan didn’t suggest taking her along, so she didn’t go.

Now thinking back, perhaps the Seventeenth Princess didn’t send her an invitation because she was already married to Huangfu Yuxuan. Or perhaps there was an invitation, but Huangfu Yuxuan, despite being superficially gentle and attentive, actually looked down on her deep down and didn’t want her involved in such grand events, hence didn’t inform her.

However, those details no longer mattered.

In this life, the trajectory had changed; she had not married Huangfu Yuxuan. Also, Huangfu Yuxuan’s web of influence had not matured as before.

Interestingly, some of those webs were unwittingly severed by her and Huangfu Jingchen as they traveled through the Jianghu.

For instance, Yuqing County Governor Wang Qianshan and Northern County Magistrate Yu Shikui, who were going to become his crucial aides, and the Chief Ming Qing of Shian Temple and others.

These were supposed to be his strong supporters, or had been placed by him to handle matters on his behalf.

So, currently, Huangfu Yuxuan was still in the middle of weaving his net.

Even if everything developed like in her previous life, at the same point in time, there’s no way Huangfu Yuxuan had that much manpower, influence, or financial resources.

It was said that the Seventeenth Princess had not yet arrived.

However, according to the invitation colors, there were already people in each hall, with red and purple corresponding to the first two halls, men in Dan Bamboo and women in Youlan. Green, blue, and orange corresponded to the last three halls, with green for Jingsong, for men, and blue and orange for women.

Upon reaching the second floor, Nanny Zhou and the maids could follow no further.

As the attendant explained, there were dedicated servants on the second floor, so each family’s servants didn’t need to follow and could rest on the first floor.

Nanny Zhou was dumbfounded. Although nothing seemed to have gone wrong on the way here, the young lady hadn’t even learned etiquette. She didn’t know anyone here and was attending such a gathering for the first time. What if she made a social misstep?

Those who were viewing flowers or scenery by the roadside, whether noble gentlemen or young ladies, every single one she could whisper introductions about to the young lady—but that was just a few people!

What if the young lady couldn’t handle being in such a setting alone, or caused embarrassment because she didn’t recognize anyone? What if she was mocked or bullied?