Around noon, on the busy Xuanwumen Street, there was an elegant-looking two-story teahouse with no customers. It had been guarded by a group of guards early on.
As time went by, horse-drawn carriages or sedan chairs gathered here from all directions. Young girls in gorgeous clothes, wearing veils or revealing their true faces, got out of the carriages or sedan chairs, some with their maids, some going up the stairs by themselves.
Soon, bursts of laughter came from the second floor. Although there were many passers-by on the street who came to watch the fun, they saw the bamboo curtains on the second floor and the guards in front of the building, which clearly showed the atmosphere of wealth and nobility. Ordinary people would just take a few glances and leave. Therefore, when the last carriage arrived, two girls with similar dresses but different temperaments got off the carriage and then went upstairs one after another, which attracted little attention.
But when they went upstairs, the girls who had been chattering suddenly became quiet. Zhu Ying, who was talking to someone, raised her eyebrows and stood up angrily, asking, "What are you doing here? I didn't invite you!"
"If I hadn't come, who knows if you would have sold my second sister?" Princess Yongping sneered, and Princess Deyang behind her hurriedly whispered: "Third sister, Yingying just kindly invited me out to relax..."
"At a time like this, your father has agreed that you can go out of the palace alone to relax, but if the empress dowager and mother find out, you will definitely be scolded, and even your mother will be blamed. I'll send you here together, so that there will be one more person to share the scolding." Princess Yongping said as she strode forward and sat down opposite Zhu Ying.
When she and Princess Deyang appeared, the girls from other families stood up to greet them. However, after Princess Yongping made a sarcastic remark, Zhu Ying was so angry that she sat down directly. Seeing that this annoying enemy had taken the place of host, she slammed the table and said angrily, "Okay, today, regardless of status, she is an uninvited guest, you all sit down too, why are you being polite!"
"Today, all guests are invited by Yingying. We only care about friendship, not status!" Princess Deyang was originally a shy person, so she hurried to smooth things over. "Third sister was worried about me, so she sent me here. Eunuch Chu will come to pick her up to Yuehua Tower in a while."
As soon as the three words Yuehua Tower came out, everyone suddenly realized what was going on. It turned out that the Yuehua Tower literary gathering of this princess was about to begin again! When others thought that Princess Yongping would be leaving soon, they naturally breathed a sigh of relief, but Zhu Ying raised her eyebrows and asked in a very unpleasant way, "It seems that more than a month has passed since the last time? When did you become so passive in your eight-part essay gathering?"
Princess Yongping didn't even raise an eyebrow at this pointed question: "Of course, an article needs to be brewed with emotions and carefully crafted. Besides, last time Xu Fengyang was ridiculed by your Zhang Shou, he felt ashamed. The literary selection committee in the capital was in chaos for a while. If I invite him to judge again, it will inevitably be below standard. I stopped for a month, that's all."
Zhu Ying, who was about to make a sarcastic remark, felt as if she had drunk a glass of ice water in summer when she heard the words "your Zhang Shou". She was too lazy to argue with Princess Yongping. Meanwhile, Liu Qing, who had already decided on her lifelong event, immediately brought up a new topic. With Princess Deyang's efforts but somewhat clumsy support, the other girls naturally gathered around her.