Uncle Liu was startled by the coldness in Lin Hao’s eyes.

Utterly ruined?

Second Miss was actually this ruthless!

Naturally, this didn’t frighten Uncle Liu, who had experienced the bloody storms of battlefields. Instead, it made him feel closer to her.

“Second Miss is truly loyal to her friends.” Uncle Liu praised her, then advised, “But that’s a marquis’s mansion after all. If Second Miss wants to deal with the Heir of Marquis Pingjia, it would be best to discuss it with the old madam.”

“Uncle Liu doesn’t know—some days ago, people from the Marquis Pingjia’s mansion came to our home wanting to arrange a marriage between the Heir of Marquis Pingjia and Elder Sister.”

“What?” Uncle Liu’s face darkened. “That little bastard must be utterly ruined!”

Lin Hao smiled.

With Uncle Liu as an ally, it would save considerable effort.

The next day, the two sisters prepared themselves and went together to Prince Jing’s mansion.

Since they were neighbors, it wouldn’t do to arrive right on time. They arrived relatively early, and not many noble ladies had yet come to Jade Garden where the banquet was being held.

Little Princess Qi Qiong came forward, smiling as she greeted them. “Miss Lin and Second Miss Lin have arrived.”

When mentioning Lin Hao, there was an imperceptible coolness in her tone.

She had just learned that her family had actually sought to arrange a marriage between her elder brother and Second Miss Lin, and had been refused by the Lin family!

Her elder brother was incomparably handsome, gentle as jade, and rarely so modest and low-key. Aside from his health being a tiny bit poor, there wasn’t half a fault to find with him, yet he had been rejected!

Whenever Qi Qiong thought of this, she felt angry.

She admitted that her displeasure with Lin Hao was misdirected anger, but her dear elder brother had been spurned—wasn’t she allowed to misdirect her anger?

Lin Chan presented the gift they had prepared. “A small token from my younger sister and me. We wish the princess a happy birthday.”

Qi Qiong thanked her, and a maid at her side stepped forward to receive the gift.

“Please sit wherever you like.” As more noble ladies arrived, Qi Qiong went forward to greet them.

In the corridor, long tables were arranged where several groups of two or three noble ladies sat chatting and laughing.

Lin Chan led Lin Hao over and greeted the noble ladies she knew.

Lin Hao sat beside her sister, quiet and composed.

She had no particularly close friends.

A mute—people of her age always kept their distance for various reasons.

Needless to say there were those who looked down on her with disdain, but some people were overly careful out of sympathy. Interacting with them inevitably felt tiring, so naturally genuine closeness was impossible.

A light laugh sounded. “Wen Hao, I thought I wouldn’t see you today.”

Lin Hao looked up. Sure enough, this grating voice belonged to Second Miss Tang Wei of the Marquis Wuning’s mansion.

Come to think of it, she had done nothing to offend Tang Wei. Perhaps in Tang Wei’s eyes, being unable to speak was itself a fault deserving of ridicule.

Tang Wei’s arrogant and domineering manner was well-suited to her status as the Crown Princess’s younger sister and Second Miss of the Marquis Wuning’s mansion.

Lin Hao lowered her eyes and picked up a yangmei fruit to eat.

“Wen Hao, didn’t you hear me speaking to you?” The embarrassment of being ignored made Tang Wei’s temper flare instantly.

The noble ladies who heard the commotion all looked over.

Lin Hao remained calm under these gazes and picked up another yangmei to offer to Lin Chan. “Elder Sister, try this. These yangmei are quite good.”

Tang Wei strode over with a dark expression and glared down at Lin Hao. “Wen Hao, are your ears not working?”

Lin Hao took a handkerchief and wiped the yangmei juice from her fingertips before finally looking up at Tang Wei.

Those dark eyes were like pond water, possessing an unfathomable tranquility.

Tang Wei paused for a moment, then mocked, “Have you become mute again?”

“So Second Miss Tang was speaking to me.” Lin Hao smiled sweetly.

Her skin was very fair, and her expression usually cold. This sudden smile was like ice and snow beginning to thaw, transforming into spring water.

The corridor fell quiet for an instant.

At this moment, Lin Hao, who had been unconsciously overlooked due to her inability to speak, suddenly made an impression in the hearts of the noble ladies: Second Miss Lin was very beautiful.

Tang Wei was also dazzled by this smile for a moment, then felt inexplicable anger rising. “Then why were you pretending to be deaf?”

Lin Hao smiled. “I didn’t hear you calling me. My apologies.”

“Wen Hao, I called you several times!”

“My surname is Lin.” Lin Hao’s tone was light, yet each word was clear.

Tang Wei faltered, then said irritably, “Even if you changed your surname, don’t you know I was calling you? I think you’re doing this deliberately!”

Lin Hao looked up slightly at the exasperated young lady, her expression still calm and unruffled. “The surname was changed by official judgment. If I still remembered the old surname, wouldn’t that show disrespect for the Prefect of Shuntian’s ruling?”

Hearing this, the ladies all turned their gazes toward a young lady wearing a goose-yellow robe.

The yellow-robed young lady was precisely the granddaughter of the Prefect of Shuntian, surnamed Huang with the personal name Yingying.

Tang Wei glanced at Huang Yingying and said to Lin Hao with a cold laugh, “I didn’t expect that after Second Miss Lin learned to speak, she would turn out to be so glib-tongued.”

“Second Miss Tang.” Lin Hao rested one hand on the wooden table, her tone helpless. “Could you be more mature and stop bickering like a child?”

As soon as these words were spoken, several light laughs immediately sounded.

“You—”

“Tang Wei.” Little Princess Qi Qiong approached with several young ladies and took Tang Wei’s hand. “Why are you standing there? Come sit over there.”

She smiled at the corners of her mouth, her tone gentle, but Lin Hao knew that at this moment, the little princess was probably quite impatient with Tang Wei.

This wasn’t strange. Those who could truly get along well with Tang Wei were the rare ones.

It could only be said that even as a princess, there were people she had to tolerate.

Being pulled by Qi Qiong, Tang Wei shifted her attention. Her eyes swept over the several young ladies who had followed and she pointed at a young lady in a pink dress. “Whose daughter is this? Why do I find her unfamiliar?”

Tang Wei had asked the question the other ladies were curious about.

They had never seen this young lady who was following the little princess before.

Their circle, while not large, wasn’t small either. There were only degrees of wanting to befriend someone and levels of familiarity—purely unfamiliar faces were quite rare.

Qi Qiong brought the pink-robed young lady before the assembled ladies and introduced her. “This is my cousin Sun Xiuhua.”

Being surrounded by everyone’s gazes, Sun Xiuhua was clearly somewhat uncomfortable.

Tang Wei raised her eyebrows. “Princess, your cousin is from out of town, isn’t she?”

Lin Hao noticed a trace of embarrassment flash across Sun Xiuhua’s face.

“My cousin’s family lives in Qingning. She’ll be staying permanently at the prince’s mansion from now on.”

Tang Wei looked at Sun Xiuhua with scrutiny in her eyes. “Princess, some days ago you said your second brother went out. Could it be he went to bring your cousin to the capital?”

Qi Qiong nodded. “Precisely.”

Tang Wei’s expression clearly cooled. She pulled Qi Qiong aside. “Let’s go sit over there and chat.”

Before Qi Qiong could react, Tang Wei had dragged her away, leaving Sun Xiuhua standing there at a loss.

“Cousin, come sit here.” After taking her seat, Qi Qiong beckoned with her hand.

Lin Hao’s gaze fell on Sun Xiuhua’s somewhat tense back, and she finally knew where the Heir of Prince Jing had gone during this period in her previous life.

So he had gone to bring his cousin to the capital.

This didn’t even count as solving a mystery for Lin Hao, since the Heir of Prince Jing’s private affairs had nothing to do with her.

She quickly withdrew her gaze and looked toward a young lady who had just arrived.

The young lady had willow-leaf eyebrows, an oval face, and a pair of large eyes that were particularly spirited.

Miss Chen Yi of Earl Huai’an’s mansion—she had indeed come.

Two noble ladies acquainted with Chen Yi called her over, and sounds of quiet teasing congratulations drifted into Lin Hao’s ears.