To not only become connected with His Highness the Crown Prince on the day of the princess’s birthday banquet, but also to be personally invited by Princess Fu’an to share lunch at the same table—what a great honor this was.

Many noble ladies watched Qin Shuying’s retreating figure with envious eyes.

Actually, those who could share lunch with Princess Fu’an and the various princes also included Liang Qiong, Mu Tianxiang, Mo Yiting, and several other scions of prominent families, but given their backgrounds, no one found anything improper about it.

Qin Shuying was an orphan. Although she was a relative of Imperial Consort Lianpin’s maternal family, she was only a cousin, not a blood sister. With both parents dead, what qualification did she have to dine with a princess?

Qin Shuying couldn’t concern herself with these people’s complex gazes and hurriedly followed along.

Guangbin Tower was extremely large with many private rooms, and the back courtyard had particularly complex pathways. After quite a bit of winding and turning, Qin Shuying finally followed them up to the third floor of a building and entered an extremely large private room.

After entering, she stayed behind Mu Tianxiang the entire time.

Because among this group of people, Mu Tianxiang had the lowest status.

She constantly remembered her own position.

After taking seats according to rank, Qin Shuying discovered that the table seated exactly ten people, and she, the eleventh person, had nowhere to sit.

Princess Fu’an seemed not to notice that Qin Shuying had no seat, only discussing rouge and powder with Mu Tianxiang.

Qin Shuying stood there, intentionally or unintentionally surrounded by a group of palace maids and servants, looking just like a servant herself.

Mo Yiting did glance at Qin Shuying twice, and the Sixth Prince also looked at her twice, but said nothing.

Suddenly, Princess Fuping asked, “Fu’an, how many people did you arrange for this table?”

This was the first time Qin Shuying heard Princess Fuping speak after meeting her multiple times—most of the time, she remained silent. Qin Shuying was somewhat expectant. Since meeting in the palace, she hadn’t seen Princess Fuping’s attitude and wondered what she would ask next.

Only then did Princess Fu’an raise her head to look at Princess Fuping, saying, “Imperial sister, I don’t really know either. The matrons handled everything.”

Princess Fuping said gently, “Fu’an, Seventh Miss Qin has nowhere to sit. Shouldn’t you find her a place to sit?”

The other nine people all looked at Princess Fuping. Probably none of them expected that Princess Fuping, who usually didn’t talk much, would actually speak up for Qin Shuying.

The Fifth Prince glanced at Fuping but didn’t speak.

It seemed the siblings shared the same attitude. Although Zhou Qin found it strange, as a follower of the Fifth Prince, he naturally spoke up, saying, “Indeed, I just noticed that Seventh Miss Qin is still standing.”

Princess Fu’an glared at the Sixth Prince and said, “Sixth Imperial Brother is certainly favoring people from your Qin family.”

Zhou Qin said, “Imperial sister’s words are too harsh. As a member of the imperial family, I naturally prioritize the imperial family’s reputation at all times. Since Imperial sister invited Seventh Miss Qin in but didn’t arrange a seat for her, if word gets out, people might mock our imperial family for being petty.”

Princess Fu’an immediately bristled, about to retort, when suddenly her expression changed. Not knowing what she thought of, she smiled charmingly and said, “Sixth Imperial Brother is right. In that case, there’s another private room over there. Seventh Miss Qin might as well go there—there happen to be several other noble ladies to be arranged there as well.”

At Princess Fu’an’s signal, someone came to lead Qin Shuying away.

Qin Shuying curtsied and withdrew.

The person leading Qin Shuying was a palace maid who brought her down to the second floor—the third floor had only that one private room.

The second floor’s corridors were deep and connected to several other buildings, so they crossed bridges linking the buildings and arrived at a two-story building opposite the previous one. At the door of a room, the palace maid said, “Seventh Miss Qin, this is the place. The people the princess arranged haven’t arrived yet, so please wait a moment. Let me call someone to serve you.”

Looking out from the open window, Qin Shuying could see the third floor of the previous building.

“Thank you. Seeing the scenery is excellent today, I’ll enjoy it from this corridor. You may go about your business.”

Seeing that Qin Shuying wouldn’t enter the room, the palace maid didn’t urge her. She curtsied and left.

By this time, it was nearly mealtime, and soon two serving maids from Guangbin Tower came up to serve tea and arrange bowls and chopsticks. They were clearly well-trained, dressed identically, with quick movements and kind smiles that easily made people feel favorable toward them.

After completing these tasks, the two serving maids stood with hands at their sides in the corner, quietly waiting for guests’ instructions.

Qin Shuying lingered outside the building to admire the view for a while before entering the room. One of the serving maids hurried over to pour tea for her, then quietly returned to stand in the corner.

Qin Shuying sipped her tea and was sitting bored when she heard delicate laughter. Before long, several young ladies entered.

Among them was Liu Sujiang.

After a brief moment of shock, Liu Sujiang immediately called out joyfully, “Sister Shuying is here too—how wonderful!”

Besides Liu Sujiang, there were several other young ladies Qin Shuying could be said to know, though she wasn’t well-acquainted with them.

“Sister Liu, it’s been many days since we’ve met,” Qin Shuying said coolly.

Liu Sujiang inwardly snorted but came over to link arms with Qin Shuying, laughing charmingly, “Sister Shuying, we haven’t seen each other for four years. I’ve missed you so much.”

If you missed me, why didn’t you come over to talk in the hall earlier?

Qin Shuying remained noncommittal and pointed to the tea on the table, saying, “Sister Liu, this tea is quite distinctive. Why don’t you try some?”

The serving maids from Guangbin Tower were going around pouring tea for everyone but hadn’t yet reached Liu Sujiang.

Liu Sujiang sat down beside Qin Shuying, and the serving maid approached with the teapot.

However, Liu Sujiang said to the maid, “Put the teapot down. I’ll do it myself.”

The maid respectfully agreed and set down the teapot. Liu Sujiang indeed picked up the teapot to pour tea for herself.

She said, “Since Sister Shuying says this tea is good, I want to pour it myself to properly savor it.”

Before she finished speaking, as the teapot faced the teacup, a stream of hot water burst forth. Somehow Liu Sujiang exclaimed “Ah!” and her hand tilted, the hot water twisted direction and rushed toward Qin Shuying’s waist.

Qin Shuying was already prepared. Such tactics were, as Lin Zilan had said, too low-level—she had grown tired of seeing them.

She slightly twisted her body to move aside and quickly stood up.

But when she stood, she accidentally stepped on her skirt hem, stumbled, and fell against Liu Sujiang, one hand striking Liu Sujiang’s arm that held the teapot.

Liu Sujiang’s arm couldn’t bear the weight and couldn’t hold the teapot steady. The entire teapot tipped over, and all the remaining tea water splashed onto her own feet.

Although she wore shoes and socks, this was still scalding hot water!

Immediately, a miserable shriek rang out. Liu Sujiang was in such pain she nearly fainted.

Having lived fourteen years always cherished and protected, when had she ever suffered such torment?