Shen Xihe was extremely sensitive to the scent of agarwood, but in the water pavilion filled with people of status, each wearing their perfumes suddenly wafting on the wind, she found it difficult to pinpoint its direction.
She cast a faint glance at the Defined Prince who had arrived with Duke Wang.
Just then, Defined Prince Xiao Changtai looked her way. He stepped forward, took a cup of wine from Ye Wantang’s table, and approached Shen Xihe: “For startling the Princess, this prince will punish himself with a cup of wine. I hope the Princess will be forgiving.”
Shen Xihe rose, standing one table apart from the Defined Prince. She could smell the premium sandalwood fragrance from his body – mellow, rich, and penetrating, but not agarwood.
So he wasn’t the one impersonating Hua Taoyi, Cui Jinbai, and the others.
“It’s nothing,” Shen Xihe hadn’t been startled. She raised her cup in a distant toast to the Defined Prince and took a small sip.
Her attitude was quite cool. After expressing his apology, the Defined Prince returned to Ye Wantang’s side. Shen Xihe glanced at Duke Wang again, but the distance was too great to determine if the agarwood scent came from him.
Though only two men were present, Shen Xihe wasn’t certain if the trace of agarwood might be from some noblewoman using it mixed with other fragrances. Still, she couldn’t help wondering, having caught the scent just as the two princes arrived.
“I bestow favor upon you, and you dare to dodge?” Li Yanyan spoke languidly. She stood up, her trailing fire-red dress sweeping behind her as she circled the table, bent to pick up a fragment of the teacup, and slowly walked toward the lady she had thrown it at.
The lady seemed to fear her like a tiger, continuously backing away until she hid behind Duke Wang.
“Yanyan.” Duke Wang Xiao Changzhen’s tall frame blocked Li Yanyan’s path, his sharp, thick brows slightly furrowed.
“Oh? She’s not even officially entered the household, yet you’re already protecting her?” Li Yanyan’s long, deep eyes held a touch of cold mockery. “What’s this? So afraid I’ll hurt her?”
“Yanyan, stop this.” Duke Wang reached for Li Yanyan’s hand holding the shard.
But Li Yanyan dodged first, stepping back to distance herself from Duke Wang. She glanced at the lady behind him, then fixed her gaze on him: “You truly mean to protect her?”
“Yanyan, let’s return home.” Duke Wang held back as he stepped forward to grab Li Yanyan.
Li Yanyan gracefully twirled away, her brilliant skirts scattering like sparks, easily evading Duke Wang.
She gave a short laugh: “Since you insist on protecting her…”
With those words, a fierce light flashed in her eyes as she raised her hand and slashed.
Every lady in the pavilion held her breath in shock until blood began trickling down Li Yanyan’s face, prompting screams from some of the noblewomen.
“Yanyan!” Duke Wang rushed toward Li Yanyan.
This time Li Yanyan didn’t dodge but pushed him away.
A gash had opened on her porcelain-white cheek, the shocking red making others fearful, yet she remained nonchalant. Dropping the porcelain shard, she acted as if nothing had happened: “Since you can’t bear to part with your new love, I’ll apologize to the Princess myself.”
Shen Xihe had heard of Li Yanyan’s ruthlessness and madness but was still shocked.
How much did women typically care about their appearance? Some valued their beauty more than life itself, yet she didn’t even blink.
“Doctor! Quickly call for a doctor!” Ye Wantang was the first to recover her senses, hastily giving orders.
Li Yanyan smiled faintly: “No need. It’s just a cut, not fatal.”
With those words, she turned to leave, walking unhurriedly as if taking a casual stroll. Only small drops of blood fell from her cheek, leaving plum blossom-like spots on the clean floor as she walked.
Duke Wang caught up in one bound, lifting Li Yanyan from behind. Ignoring her fierce struggles, he grabbed her handkerchief with one hand and pressed it tightly against her face wound.
As he rushed out of the Defined Prince’s residence, he shouted for his guards to summon a doctor.
Shen Xihe, uninterested in drama, was the first to look away. She saw the abandoned lady gazing after the departing ducal couple, biting her lip, her eyes filled with hatred and unwillingness.
Shen Xihe raised her dark eyebrows and called softly: “Lady Liang.”
Liang Danpu came to her senses and turned around, only to see Shen Xihe grab another teacup and throw it at her.
This time Liang Danpu didn’t dodge; the cup shattered precisely at her feet.
Seemingly frightened, Liang Danpu’s eyes immediately reddened.
Everyone looked at Shen Xihe with confusion and displeasure, some even thinking she’d gone too far. However, remembering how she had dealt with Wang Yuhui and the others, they dared not voice their anger.
After all, Chen Jiaxue had been sent to the imperial palace, the Marquis of Xianping’s household had collapsed overnight, Hu Yingrao had been punished to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days, and Wang Yuhui had received fifty strikes with the discipline ruler.
Now the ladies needed no family reminders to know better than to provoke Shen Xihe.
Just then, Shen Xihe grabbed another teacup and threw it at Liang Danpu, who quickly dodged this time.
“Princess, you’re going too far!” One lady who couldn’t bear to watch anymore stood up in protest.
Shen Xihe merely gave her a faint glance.
“Fool.” Qin Zixie coldly threw out two words at the lady who had stood up to intervene.
“You, you all…” That lady was so angry her chest heaved.
“Princess…” The Defined Prince was about to speak, looking troubled.
Ye Wantang, seeming to understand something, tugged at his sleeve and shook her head slightly.
“Lady Liang didn’t dodge the first time because she knew the cup would land at your feet. You dodged the second time because you knew it would hit your body,” Shen Xihe said with an ambiguous smile. “You must have also known earlier that the Duchess Consort’s cup would only land at your feet. Why did you dodge?”
Tears quickly welled up in Liang Danpu’s eyes: “Danpu doesn’t understand what the Princess means.”
Shen Xihe gave a low laugh. She stood up, adjusting her lilac butterfly-patterned shawl, and walked gracefully to Liang Danpu: “You dodged because I was behind you. If the Duchess Consort had injured me, you could have reaped the benefits.”
“Princess!” Anger flickered across Liang Danpu’s face. “Though Danpu is of humble status, I cannot allow the Princess to humiliate me like this!”
“Humiliate?” Shen Xihe laughed. “I merely spoke the truth, and you call it humiliation? Would you like to know what true humiliation feels like?”
As she spoke, Shen Xihe extended her foot, revealing her pearl-decorated cloud brocade upturned shoes, and swept three broken teacup shards into one pile.
“Bi Yu!”
At Shen Xihe’s command, Bi Yu flashed behind Liang Danpu, gripped her shoulders with both hands, forcibly turned her to face the pile of porcelain shards, and then kicked the back of her knees.
With a thud, Liang Danpu’s knees hit the broken porcelain. She let out a piercing cry as the tears that had been lingering in her eyes finally streamed down.
All the noble ladies present, including Ye Wantang, inexplicably felt pain in their knees.