13 Garden Debates

uzzlement and replied, "This sword is specially selected by my father the King and your Excellency for Duke Ding's Queen Consort; what’s wrong with that"Secretary Ye said sternly, "My daughter is abou...The Imperial Capital Ode 13. Garden Debate

13. The Verbal Duel in the Garden

Although Ye Li did not enjoy mingling with crowds, she knew that unmarried ladies and married women were different. If a maiden refused to attend gatherings with other young ladies, people might simply think her reserved or ill. However, after marriage, especially for those who would be managing their households, if they continued to avoid social interactions, others would see it as arrogance and lack of respect, which could even affect their husbands' reputations. The current mistress of the Ding Wang Estate was now the disabled Ding Wang Mo Xiuyao, although there were still a few other female relatives in the household, Ye Li would certainly take charge after her marriage. Therefore, when Lady Ye made this suggestion, Ye Li smiled and agreed, appearing very eager for that year's Blossom Festival.

After seeing off Noble Consort Xianzhao and her entourage, Ye Li returned to Qingyi Pavilion with permission from Lady Ye. As Lady Ye and Madam Wang were still basking in the glory of Noble Consort Xianzhao’s personal visit for betrothal negotiations, they did not keep Ye Li any longer. When she left Rongle Hall and walked leisurely along the corridors, a thought occurred to her about Noble Consort Xianzhao's glance at her before leaving. There was something intriguing in that look.

"Miss, look," Qingshuang whispered beside Ye Li when they passed through the garden, reminding her of something.

Looking up, she saw a pair of perfect lovers sitting under a pavilion by the side of the path through the garden. The handsome and dignified man, as well as the beautiful and delicate woman, could only be Mo Jingli and Ye Ying. Ye Li was puzzled; why were these two not out enjoying moonlit nights but sitting at an entrance to the garden It seemed as though they had been waiting for her deliberately. She approached them and greeted Mo Jingli with a bow: "Your Highness, it's an honor." Mo Jingli glanced at the maidservants following Ye Li and sneered, "You're quite full of yourself now." In previous encounters, Mo Jingli saw that Ye Li was often accompanied by only one maid, making her seem petty. Now that she had just been betrothed to him, not only did she dare to embarrass him but also put on airs. For some reason, whenever he saw Ye Li, he felt rather annoyed. Thinking about the nearly 20,000 taels of silver that Ye Li demanded from him, Mo Jingli gritted his teeth in anger. He was capable of giving her such a sum, yet she acted as if it didn’t matter to him at all.

Ye Li covered her mouth with a smile and looked calmly at the two of them: "Your Highness is joking. This is just what a lady should do. I know that Fourth Miss and Your Highness are fond of each other, but since they haven’t married yet, it’s still best for Fourth Miss to have maids follow her... Even if they stay far away, it will avoid gossip."

"Third Sister, why are you saying such things..." After hearing Ye Li's words, Ye Ying's bright and clear eyes turned red with tears glistening in them. She looked at Ye Li with great委屈, "My relationship with the Prince is clean and proper. Even if I have wronged Third Sister as a younger sister, it wasn't my intention... Why would Third Sister say such things"

Ye Li slightly raised her hand to calmly interrupt her, somewhat amusedly asking: "Fourth Sister misunderstands. Who said your relationship with the Prince isn't clean and proper Just speak up; whether Grandmother and Father don’t defend you or not, I will defend you." After finishing her sentence, she swept a questioning glance at everyone behind her. Qing霜 covered her lips and smiled, saying: "I haven’t heard anything. But since Fourth Miss says so, there must be something to it. Perhaps we should report back to the Venerable Lady and thoroughly investigate this matter of someone slandering Fourth Miss and Prince Li." Ye Ying's expression changed as she glared at Qing霜 with hatred before turning her face towards Mo Jingli in a pitiful manner, "Prince..." If Grandmother found out about this, she would surely reprimand herself. If the situation got worse, even false rumors might become real.

"Enough! Ye Li, whatever you do is useless; I won’t look at you that way and you should give it up." Mo Jingli sternly rebuked her with a gaze filled with disdain and disgust towards Ye Li.

Ye Li was slightly stunned by his words. What was Mo Jingli talking about Did he think she was playing hard to get Where did this person get such an inflated sense of self

Feeling the scrutinizing gaze from Ye Li, Mo Jingli became infuriated and coldly said: "Have you looked enough Don’t be shameless!"

Ye Li helplessly rolled her eyes in her heart without saying the words "You need to take your medicine." She bowed politely towards Mo Jingli and said, "That’s enough. Prince, Fourth Sister, I’ll take my leave now." Without waiting for Mo Jingli's response, she turned around and walked away towards Qingyixuan.

Behind her, Mo Jingli stared at the slender figure that was walking away with a gloomy expression. Ye Ying watched this scene in distress and softly said to him: "Prince, Third Sister has always been like this; please don’t mind her.

Seeing the beautiful face of the person in front filled with worry and entreaty, Mo Jingli's expression softened slightly. Pulling Ye Ying, he muttered softly, "Rest assured. Since she is your sister, I will overlook her actions for your sake." Ye Ying's eyes flickered as she blushed and lowered her head, saying, "Thank you, Your Highness."

As soon as they entered Qingyi Hall, several idle maidservants were chattering excitedly about how bountiful the dowry sent by Prince Li's mansion was today. They said that Fourth Miss marrying into Prince Li’s household as his principal wife was truly a blessing. Of course, they couldn't help but mention Third Miss’s unfortunate marriage to the infamous wastrel prince of the capital city. Qingshuang turned pale with anger and immediately shouted at Ye Ying before she could speak: "How dare you! Who gave you permission to talk about your masters like this!" The maidservants were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t even notice several people standing behind them. Only when they heard Qingshuang’s voice did they turn around and kneel on the ground out of fright.

Ye Ying walked calmly past the kneeling maidservant, but just as the maidservants thought they had escaped punishment and heaved a sigh of relief in their hearts, Ye Ying said coldly, "Take them down to get twenty strokes each."

"No… Miss, forgive us! We won’t do it again…" The Qingyi Hall courtyard was not favored within the mansion, but for these maidservants doing menial work, there wasn't much difference. Regardless of which other courtyard they were in, good things never came their way anyway; Third Miss was the easiest to serve among all Ye Mansion’s masters and mistresses. She rarely made any unreasonable demands or caused trouble for her subordinates, nor did she vent her anger on them. In fact, she had hardly ever punished anyone in the hall before. So these young maidservants naturally felt that Third Miss was soft-hearted and became lax as a result. But today they were being punished twenty strokes just because they said some idle talk.

"Take them down!" Ye Ying was too lazy to hear their pleas for mercy. She left with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Miss, it's not worth getting angry at such trivial matters," Qingshuang softly advised as she followed behind Ye Ying.

Ye Ying glanced back and smiled, "Do you think I’m angry"

"Miss… what about it" It was rare to see a miss punishing her maids in recent years.

Ye Li sneered, "I am not punishing them for gossiping but because they are disloyal."

"Huh"

"If you were one of the maids, would you stand at the entrance to gossip about your mistress"

Qingshuang suddenly understood and asked somewhat confusedly, "Then who instructed them It can’t be Madam, right What benefit is there in doing this besides infuriating Miss And it’s not even certain that she would be able to do so."

Ye Li frowned slightly, shook her head, and told Qingshuang, "Tomorrow you go personally to the Office of Censorship and deliver a letter to Uncle No. 2 on my behalf. Tell them that I have some things I am unclear about and wish to ask Auntie No. 2 for advice when she is free. Oh right, tell her not to hurry."

—— Interlude —— want to take on in the first place. He dared not show off his success before Prince Dingwang.Standing up, Li Congyun bowed slightly to Mo Xiuyao and said, "I truly have brought His Majesty's decree f...