Chapter 28: I Shall Wait and See

Upon hearing this, Sheng Yunqing couldn't help but sneer. "Do I need you to teach me?"

Bai Jinxiu smiled and said, "You haven't learned any etiquette in the manor over the past eight years. The palace is not the desolate mountain you’ve been living on; I’m only worried you might offend the Empress Dowager."

With Sheng Yukun absent, she had become much more arrogant. It seemed she had once been highly favored by the Empress Dowager.

"Oh? You’ve learned our family's etiquette, then? Can you even perform a proper kowtow? Do you intend to just sit there in front of the Empress Dowager? How truly impolite," Sheng Yueying remarked, her words sharp as if dipped in poison.

"You!" Bai Jinxiu choked with anger, her hands gripping the armrests of her wheelchair tightly.

Sheng Yunqing cast a disdainful glance at her and said, "Do not trouble yourself. Before you even stepped foot into this manor, I had already mastered all the etiquette required of a noble lady."

Bai Jinxiu bit her lip hard and replied, "That is certainly for the best. The Empress Dowager has a weak heart and cannot handle shocks, so you... you had better be careful with what you say."

Sheng Yunqing walked up to her, leaned down, and looked at her with a smile. "What? Even now, do you still think you can keep up the charade?"

Bai Jinxiu glared up at her and let out a cold laugh. "As long as the Empress Dowager favors me, what difference does it make whether I am the true daughter or not?"

Sheng Yunqing narrowed her eyes slightly, observing the dark, ominous aura surrounding Bai Jinxiu’s forehead. It seemed there would be bloodshed today.

"I shall wait and see."

The scale of this banquet was small, with only ten noble daughters invited. The young ladies bowed to the Empress Dowager behind the beaded curtain before taking their seats one after another.

Looking at Bai Jinxiu, who had been pushed in by a wheelchair and was wearing a veil, the noble ladies looked at her in confusion, exchanging glances and whispering to one another.

"I heard Sheng Jintang fell a few days ago and broke her leg."

"Really? I heard it was broken by someone else."

"Who would dare break the leg of the eldest daughter of the Sheng family? She is the treasure of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate."

"She isn't the eldest daughter of the Sheng family at all. She’s an imposter."

"Yes, I heard that too. Her leg was broken by the Marquis of Zhenbei himself."

"That can't be true, can it?"

"Regardless, she looks quite ridiculous like that."

Several young ladies covered their mouths and giggled.

Sheng Yunqing remained silent, simply eating the grapes on her table while watching Bai Jinxiu with a smile in her eyes.

Bai Jinxiu kept her head low, her face flushing with humiliation, though it went unnoticed behind her veil.

"What are you all whispering about? Tell me as well."

Behind the beaded curtain, the Empress Dowager, dressed in luxurious brown robes, spoke in a deep voice tinged with a kind smile.

She couldn't see clearly through the beads and added, "Jintang, come here. I haven't seen you in a long time; I have missed you dearly."

"Empress Dowager, she is no longer called Sheng Jintang. I heard she changed her name to Bai Jinxiu," one of the ladies informed the Empress Dowager.

"Oh? Why would you change your name for no reason?" The Empress Dowager frowned in confusion. "Never mind, come here and let me take a look at you first."

"Yes." Bai Jinxiu responded with trepidation, and a maid pushed her behind the beaded curtain.

She lowered her head and bowed. "Empress Dowager, please forgive this subject for not being able to stand."

"Oh, child, how did you end up in this state?" The Empress Dowager looked at her, scanning her up and down with deep pity in her eyes.

Bai Jinxiu’s gaze darted around as she whispered, "I... I accidentally fell into a well some time ago. The doctor said I will recover in a few days."

"And your face..." The Empress Dowager reached out to lift her veil, but Bai Jinxiu pulled away.

"Empress Dowager, my face is injured as well. It would only frighten you; it is better not to look."

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager nodded and took her hand. "You have suffered, child. I heard you were engaged to Chen'er. I was so pleased to hear such wonderful news the moment I returned, and I was looking forward to congratulating you. The Emperor has finally done something to make me happy. You must get well soon so you can marry Chen'er."

"Empress Dowager, she is not the one betrothed to Prince Ye," Sheng Yueying interjected.

"What?" The Empress Dowager frowned, tightening her grip on Bai Jinxiu’s hand. "I have already heard the Emperor's decree; how could there be a mistake?"

Sheng Yunqing stood up, bowed to the Empress Dowager, and said, "Empress Dowager, Yueying is correct. The one betrothed to Prince Ye is me."

Hearing this unfamiliar voice, the Empress Dowager’s tone turned cold. "Who are you? Step forward."

A maid parted the beaded curtain, and Sheng Yunqing walked before the Empress Dowager. She glanced at the anxious Bai Jinxiu and said, "This subject is Sheng Yunqing, the daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei’s estate."

The Empress Dowager pondered this for a moment. "That is not right. I have met all the daughters of the Sheng family, and you look like a stranger to me."

"In reply to the Empress Dowager, if I were not a daughter of the Sheng family, I would not have been able to enter the palace today. I was lost eight years ago and was only recently found by the Marquis’s estate."

"So, you are a country bumpkin..." A hint of repulsion appeared in the Empress Dowager’s eyes. "How could a country bumpkin enter a Prince's manor? What do you have to compare yourself with Jintang?"

"The Empress Dowager has forgotten again; she has changed her name to Jinxiu," Sheng Yunqing reminded her with a smile.

"You!" The Empress Dowager looked her up and down again. With her exquisite makeup, ethereal beauty, and the demeanor of a true noble lady in her elegant attire, she couldn't find a single fault. Frowning, she said, "Sharp-tongued! I do not like you!"

What was the Emperor doing? Could she have been confused and heard wrong?

She looked at the head-bowing Bai Jinxiu and said, "I do not consent to this marriage. No matter what she calls herself, she is the one I have chosen."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jinxiu let out a secret sigh of relief and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

The Empress Dowager glared at Sheng Yunqing. "I tell you, Prince Ye, Ye Jinchen, can only marry the eldest daughter of the Sheng family!"

Hearing this, Bai Jinxiu’s body stiffened abruptly, and she trembled with guilt.

Sheng Yunqing blinked and said, "It is a tremendous honor for me that the Empress Dowager would hold me in such high regard upon our first meeting."

The Empress Dowager looked at her, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

Bai Jinxiu turned to Sheng Yunqing and said, "Yunqing, how can you be so disrespectful to the Empress Dowager?"

Sheng Yunqing sneered, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Is deliberately deceiving the Empress Dowager your idea of etiquette?"

"I..." Bai Jinxiu was at a loss for words, biting her lip in silence.

The Empress Dowager patted her hand, attempting to soothe her. "Child? Is there something you wish to tell me? What is actually going on here?"

"Empress Dowager, please forgive me. I did not mean to deceive you." Bai Jinxiu suddenly burst into tears, her eyes shifting evasively. "Empress Dowager, in truth... I am not the eldest daughter of the Sheng family. The eldest daughter is... is the person standing beside me... Sheng Yunqing."

The Empress Dowager was shocked. "What?"

Sheng Yunqing patted her shoulder, then walked to her other side and said to the Empress Dowager, "Empress Dowager, even she herself has admitted it. Therefore, the person named in that imperial decree is me."