Chapter 145 – A Restless Heart (1)
When she met this cousin in Baihua garden that day, Lu Wushuang only felt that the other person was not a beauty. Back then, her skin was tanned and callous and her appearance was made pitiful by her scraggly figure as she had just recovered from an illness.
Therefore, when she heard rumors outside about how beautiful Lu Yaoyao had become, she didn’t believe any of them. Only now, having seen her in the flesh, did she know that people were not exaggerating at all. Her cousin had changed so much that she could hardly recognize her!
Old Madam Lu smiled and saluted, “At last! I have seen the Wang Fei. My humble greetings to Her Highness.”
“Grandma, you and I are family! We don’t have to do this kind of empty ceremony.” Lu Wushuang regained absolute calm and asked her ladies-in-waiting beside her to assist Old Madam Lu up to her feet and then, help her sit on the plush chair beside her.
Ye Zhen knew that she was expected to kneel down and salute at this moment, but her feet were too stiff to move and her heart, unwilling. But eyes were on her, therefore her knees slowly kissed the porcelain floor…
“Your Imperial Highness.” Ye Zhen clenched her teeth and forced herself to kneel down with great strength.
The Wang Fei’s eyes squinted at Ye Zhen slightly. Lu Wushuang addressed the Old Madam Lu with a smile, “Grandma, if you didn’t bring my third sister into the palace with you, I’m afraid I won’t be able to recognize her outside. Gee, she has really changed!”
“This madam thanks the Wang Fei for her kind words. Your third sister, putting her beauty aside, is very silly. She can’t compare with you at all.” The old madam said in a jest, a clear attempt to instill warmth into her jealous granddaughter’s smile.
She laid her eyes on Ye Zhen’s face again. The dark, thin and sickly girl she saw in Baihua Garden was gone. The little girl in front of her didn’t only had skin like tofu, but also had bright eyes adding up to her remarkable appearance.
Indeed as everyone said, a stunning beauty!
Lu Wushuang mood was dampened in an instant—her cousin bears a beauty that could surpass hers! She regretted that she summoned Lu Yaoyao to the palace today. What if the
emperor sees her?
Even holding the highest position of a concubine, she had been unable to own Mo Rongzhan’s heart and Lu Yaoyao catching his interest would put her in complete frenzy.
Kneeling on the ground, Ye Zhen felt pins and needles digging in her skin, the Wang Fei’s heated gaze trained only to her.
With her cousin’s noticeable strain, Lu Wushuang urged Ye Zhen to stand. “Third Sister, get up. This is your first time in the palace so don’t be too restrained.”
Ye Zhen mumbled a soft “yes, your majesty” then stood up in haste. She walked behind Old Madam Lu and stood still.
“My third sister is really fighting for our family’s face. I heard that she passed the exam which made Liu Hua lose a fortune.”
“Wang Fei, I believe that our Yao Yao was indeed very lucky. ”
Lucky? Lu Wushuang found this word ridiculous. She never knew that there were still chances to pass the entrance examination into the women’s college.
“Whether it was luck or not, she did it and now, everyone seems to know her:” Lu Wushuang had a bitter taste on her tongue.
♚♚♚
Ye Zhen listened to Lu Wushuang and Old Madam Lu in silence. She looked around the place from the corner of her eye. From her memory, the furnishings here were all gaudy and luxurious.
Lu Wushuang had always abhorred people saying that she was of lowborn. In remedy to this dilemma, she made her identity clear to everyone by living in a magnificent and noble style.
Although she looked very luxurious, she still could not take off the temperament of a merchant’s daughter and people like Ye Zhen could see this.
Drawing a tiger’s print on a dog does not make it a tiger. It’s just not how things work.