171 Untitled (1/2)

Only Meng Fuyao was able to see her expression.

Princess Lotus was actually laughing.

Her laugh was calm and pure, and using a voice only the two of them could hear, she said quietly, ”Meng Fuyao, I came to offer you a toast, not for you to shame me.”

”You came here to harm me.” Meng Fuyao too laughed as she replied lowly, ”Of course you wouldn't be so stupid as to add poison to the wine, but, you prepared something over at your ignorant brother's side…” Her laughter turned hostile as she said, ”How courteous of you, how persuasive of you, and with so many people supporting you, I would have to drink if I didn't want to lose face. But no matter how much I think, compared with your pride, my life is worth ten thousand times more, so I'll have to disappoint you.”

Meng Fuyao stepped backward and raised the wine cup, her volume rising as she said, ”With the virtuous Princess Lotus whose honorable deed of exorcizing the enemy corpse standing before me, I dare not overstep my boundaries. The only thing I can do is to use this cup of wine and offer it to the guards who died protecting the princess.”

Solemnly, she emptied the contents of the cup on the ground.

The clear liquid of the wine fell noiselessly onto the golden tiles as everyone silently turned to look at Princess Lotus's skirt. She was still standing straight, as though paralyzed and unable to move away.

Fourth Prince Feng glared hatefully at Meng Fuyao, then at Princess Lotus, reaching out to pull her as he said, ”Little sister, let us return to our seats.”

However, Princess Lotus suddenly started laughing as she flicked her sleeves and pushed away her elder brother's hand. With her chin slightly tilted upwards and one hand behind her back, she returned to her seat, her back as straight and elegant as ever. As she walked, she said, ”I completely don't understand what General Meng is saying, I am but a weak lady who does not know any martial arts, when faced with the enemy, apart from being scared lifeless and praying for Buddha's protection, what else can I do? Those guards fought to the death protecting me, and I wished nothing more than to take their place, but under that kind of circumstances, I rushed up to ask them to protect me and increase their burden, and as for that arm…” Her eyelid twitched as she turned calmly and glared at Meng Fuyao. ”Does General Meng honestly think that a woman with no background in martial arts can distinguish, between friend or foe, a severed flying arm?”

She began to laugh lightly and magnanimously. ”But, no matter what, it is rare that General Meng would sympathize with the soldiers who died, I thank you on behalf of them.”

Meng Fuyao began to laugh coldly and had not yet opened her mouth to reply when Princess Lotus continued, ”What I don't understand is, where does General Meng's anger stem from? Speaking of which, myself and General Meng can be considered to be master and servant from the same palace in the future, why do you have to be so merciless and force people, could it be that the rumors are true and that General Meng is doing this because of… jealousy?”

Meng Fuyao was drinking water and spat it out when she heard her. She raised her head incredulously and stared at her. 'Seriously? Master and servant in the same palace? Does she mean that she will become empress of Wuji and as a general of Wuji I will be her servant? And that line about jealousy, what did it mean exactly? Has she already seen through my true identity, or is she hinting at the rumor of ”General Meng and Crown Prince Wuji having an illicit homosexual affair”? Regardless, for her to mention this here, in front of distinguished guests from the seven nations, has she gone mad?'

At this point, everyone expressed yet again exclamations of surprise, not just at the suddenness of Princess Lotus' words but even more so at the last sentence. Of course, they would never think to question Meng Fuyao's gender, but only that—the fiancée of Crown Prince Wuji would actually reveal the secret of the prince's homosexuality in public? Was the reason why Crown Prince Wuji had not married after so many years really because he preferred men?

Meng Fuyao stood there speechless with anger, glaring at the shameless woman who was outrightly spouting lies. Suddenly understanding what Zhangsun Wuji meant when he said ”angry but unable to retaliate”, he had already predicted that after he left, Princess Lotus would not give up and probably try to create chances to discuss it. Now that she mentioned their engagement in front of the seven nations, despite knowing that she was lying, given Meng Fuyao's status and position, how could she reveal her lies?

Meng Fuyao reached slowly into her robes and felt the outline of the object and immediately broke into a smile as she asked Princess Lotus, ”Princess, did you just say, master and servant of the same palace?”

Princess Lotus laughed daintily. ”Everyone under the heavens knows about this, so I don't need to treat it like it's taboo.”

”I've actually forgotten.” Meng Fuyao gestured. ”May I know when Her Highness the crown princess will assume her position?”

”General Meng seems to be getting ahead of himself.” Princess Lotus lowered her eyes as though in humiliation or delight. ”The crown prince has already set things for me, just that, in what way does General Meng seem to believe that he is qualified to ask such a question?”

”Indeed.” Meng Fuyao smiled. ”Up until now I am still considered a servant of Wuji, so naturally I don't have the right to ask the crown prince about the wedding date, just that…”

Stopping mid-sentence, she began to laugh. Princess Lotus watched her quietly; she actually refused to ask.

Meng Fuyao was about to burst. 'What will make this woman stop pretending?'