Lin Hao steadied Qi Qiong.

“Did you drink too much?”

Qi Qiong’s dewy eyes gazed at Lin Hao: “A bit too much. A’Hao, I didn’t expect your alcohol tolerance to be so good.”

“My tolerance is just average too.” Lin Hao spoke honestly.

Qi Qiong tilted her head slightly: “You seem much better off than me.”

Lin Hao raised her sleeve and pointed inside: “I have this.”

Most banquet attire was splendid, primarily consisting of wide sleeves and long skirts. Lin Hao was no exception.

Qi Qiong followed Lin Hao’s gaze into her sleeve, and her pupils suddenly dilated.

What was that?

She extended her scallion-white finger and poked the bulging pouch—the pouch compressed slightly.

Her thoughts, dulled somewhat by drinking, took a while to react: this was actually a water bladder!

“This, this is—”

Lin Hao lowered her voice: “A specially made fish bladder pouch that can be hidden in sleeves. If you pour water into it, it can expand.”

“So all that wine is in this fish bladder pouch?” Qi Qiong was greatly shocked.

Everyone was forced to drink—why did A’Hao have this?

“A small portion. I still drank quite a bit.” Lin Hao held her left hand horizontally in front of her body, letting the wide sleeve hang down to completely conceal the water bladder. But holding it like this was rather tiring after all. “Let’s go to the lakeside. I need to dispose of the water bladder.”

Qi Qiong nodded in a daze. Only when they reached the edge of the artificially landscaped lake did she feel a sense of reality.

“A’Hao—”

“Wait until I pour out the wine.”

Following Lin Hao’s movements, Qi Qiong instinctively blocked the other direction.

The amber-colored fruit wine merged with the lake’s green water, rippling outward with the waves and soon leaving no trace.

Only then did Qi Qiong breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing Lin Hao’s calm and composed manner, she felt somewhat contemptuous of herself.

A’Hao wasn’t nervous—what was she nervous about?

“A’Hao, why were you carrying that thing?” Qi Qiong pointed at Lin Hao’s sleeve, her emotions extremely complicated.

“Better safe than sorry, I suppose. It’s quite useful. If you need one, Princess, I’ll send you one later.”

“No need.” Qi Qiong hastily refused.

If she used this while drinking, she would be exposed on the spot—she couldn’t afford that kind of embarrassment!

“All right then.” Lin Hao seemed rather regretful. “Let’s go over there. The lakeside is slippery—it would be terrible if someone fell.”

Better to stay far away from places where trouble could easily arise.

Qi Qiong nodded. As she left the lakeside, she kept stealing glances at Lin Hao.

She still couldn’t understand how anyone would think to bring a water bladder to a banquet.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Hao turned her head.

“I’m just surprised you thought to bring such an unusual thing.”

Lin Hao laughed: “There are even more unusual things. Baozhu carries them all for me.”

When Baozhu accompanied Lin Hao out, she would carry a cloth bag containing many practical items, such as that pair of bamboo tubes specifically for eavesdropping.

Qi Qiong was about to ask more when she noticed Lin Hao’s expression change. Following her gaze, she saw Kou Wan in the distance.

Unlike Princess Yi’an who was surrounded by admirers, Kou Wan in her pink dress walked alone. Compared to those noble ladies gathered in twos and threes chatting and enjoying themselves, she inevitably appeared somewhat lonely.

“A’Hao, are you familiar with Second Miss Kou?” Qi Qiong asked in a low voice.

“Not familiar. I only know she’s Princess Yi’an’s younger sister.”

A flash of mockery passed through Qi Qiong’s eyes as she lowered her voice further: “Princess Yi’an doesn’t like others mentioning this, especially in front of foreign princesses.”

Lin Hao understood.

No wonder Second Miss Kou had been standing in a corner earlier and was now isolated. Princess Yi’an disliked Kou Wan’s presence reminding others she wasn’t a true imperial princess, yet couldn’t avoid their sisterly relationship. In situations where both appeared together, the safest attitude for noble ladies toward Kou Wan was respectful distance.

Thinking further about how the young girl had extended hatred from house to crow toward her because of her elder sister, Lin Hao’s heart suddenly softened.

Fine, she’d find an opportunity to give a warning. Whether the little girl listened would depend on her luck.

Just as she thought this, the opportunity presented itself.

Kou Wan suddenly lifted her skirt hem and walked toward them, stopping about ten feet away. She nodded to Qi Qiong in greeting, then said to Lin Hao: “Second Miss Lin, could we speak privately for a moment?”

“Wait for me a moment, Princess.” Lin Hao walked over.

The two walked to a cluster of fresh flowers and stopped.

The brilliantly blooming peony flowers appeared rather ordinary among the garden full of rare and exotic flowers, with no noble ladies coming to admire them—a convenient place for conversation.

“I wonder what matter Second Miss Kou wants with me?”

After staring for a moment at Lin Hao’s face, more gorgeous than the peony flowers, Kou Wan got straight to the point: “Why does Second Miss Lin keep staring at me?”

Lin Hao hadn’t expected this girl to be so direct and immediately put on an inscrutably profound expression.

Kou Wan frowned.

Here it was again, here it was again!

“Does Second Miss Lin have some grievance with me?”

Hearing the anger in the young girl’s tone, Lin Hao looked completely sincere: “No, I just felt that if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

Kou Wan couldn’t help rolling her eyes again: “If you don’t say it, how do you know I won’t believe it?”

“Then I’ll tell you.”

Kou Wan: “…” Well, go ahead and say it!

Lin Hao examined Kou Wan carefully: “The reason I noticed Second Miss Kou was that I inadvertently discovered your印堂 is darkened. When you roll your eyes, you show too much white, with bloodshot veins crisscrossing—this is a sign of impending bloody disaster. Today you’d best avoid areas with rocks and such…”

Kou Wan was first shocked, then furious: “I never imagined Second Miss Lin would steal fortune-tellers’ rice bowls.”

A high-ranking noble lady actually engaging in such deceptive tricks!

Lin Hao looked helpless: “I told you Second Miss Kou wouldn’t believe me.”

“Only a fool would believe it.” Kou Wan threw down these words and flounced away with a sleeve flourish.

Qi Qiong walked over and glanced at Kou Wan’s rapidly departing back, somewhat curious: “What did you two say to make her so angry?”

“I said her印堂 is darkened with excessive eye whites, and she may face bloody disaster.”

Qi Qiong opened her mouth, but ultimately trusting her friend’s character, asked in an exploratory manner: “How could you tell her印堂 is darkened with excessive eye whites?”

Lin Hao explained with a straight face: “Mainly by observing whether the印堂 is dull. As for excessive eye whites, well, anyone who rolls their eyes shows a lot of white.”

Qi Qiong fell silent.

No wonder Second Miss Kou was so angry.

“So Second Miss Kou faces bloody disaster—”

“I made it up. Being more careful has no downside anyway.”

Qi Qiong: “…”

Meanwhile, Kou Wan walked faster and faster, and before she knew it, had reached where Princess Yi’an was lingering.

Princess Yi’an was standing before a peony tree with Princess Lingque. The peony was as tall as a person, and remarkably, one plant bore flowers of three colors—red, pink, and white—with bowl-sized blooms of various shapes.

Even Princess Lingque, determined to provoke, couldn’t help being attracted by this rare peony.

Beyond her pride, Princess Yi’an’s tone became increasingly warm as she spoke about this peony tree.

Kou Wan unconsciously stopped, staring blankly at her elder sister smiling and chatting amiably with others, suddenly feeling intense resentment.

This was her own elder sister, the person she had looked up to and envied since childhood, yet at gatherings like this she always ignored her younger sister, as if they were strangers.

Alcohol brings courage and impulse. By the time Kou Wan came to her senses, she was already standing before Princess Yi’an.