Indulging in Carnal Desire
chapter-284

Yun Wan had always avidly believed herself to be the most talked about person amid the ladies’ circles of the city. Her father was Marquis Weiyuan, her aunt was an imperial consort, her cousin was a prince, and she had been going in and out of the palace ever since she was young. Among each one of these conditions, which of them wasn’t considered a special distinction?

But today, a lone girl, who was suddenly found amongst the common folk, actually robbed her of her limelight? Another rumor also floated around society, saying that Imperial Tutor Jiang’s granddaughter was coincidentally rescued by the Sixth Prince during his campaign at the borders, so Imperial Tutor Jiang was heard to have harbored intentions of giving his granddaughter away to the Sixth Prince.

Who on earth didn’t know that she, Yun Wan, was already betrothed to the Sixth Prince?

Before she could even get married, a formidable rival had popped out of nowhere. After hearing this, Yun Wan was so angry that she couldn’t even stand to continue embroidering the rest of her dowry.

Soon, Chu Jiao received an invitation from Marquis Weiyuan’s manor. The Third Young Yun Miss had magnanimously invited her to join the Hundred Flower Feast.

Chu Jiao chuckled to herself after reading the invitation. The reason why she had made such a grand entrance in society was all to provoke Yun Wan. In truth, she had been waiting for this golden opportunity all along.

Jing Chen was busy fighting bravely at the front-lines, soaking in blood and sweat, whereas she was unable to do anything but sit around in the rear court in wait.

Marquis Weiyuan was secretly colluding with the enemy to gain influence to overthrow the heavens. In the original plot, after Jing Chen had ascended the throne, it took him a great deal of effort to finally get rid of the villainous marquis, covertly gathering evidence in the dark for so many years before finally prosecuting him with his full wrath. Among these, a very important piece of evidence, which was unexpected of Marquis Weiyuan, was actually hidden on his daughter Yun Wan’s body. In the original novel, it was only when Yun Wan had entered the palace and incidentally started arguing with the male lead that this evidence was uncovered.

Regardless of whether it was out of duty or of her own selfish intentions, Chu Jiao didn’t want Jing Chen to have any more contact with Yun Wan, so upon Chu Jiao’s return, she had been preoccupied on figuring out a way to retrieve the object from the female lead’s body.

The security at the Marquis’s Manor was tight as a drum. Even if she had some abilities, they still weren’t enough to slip past the notice of several patrolling guards. Moreover, if she made any abrupt actions towards the female lead, the other party’s suspicion would definitely be provoked.

As such, Chu Jiao deliberately put on a favorable impression of Jing Chen in front of everyone, even specially weaving an exciting tale of how a hero saved a damsel in distress. In any case, if anyone were to really investigate these events, they would find that she had truly come from the border. That was why she and Imperial Tutor Jiang had already agreed on the story beforehand, making it so that the lie they had spun was much more believable.

Chu Jiao thoroughly understood the female lead’s mentality from the original plot. The arrogant Yun Wan was extremely competitive, so once she learnt of this matter, she definitely would not allow the eyesore, that was her, to exist.

And, this coincidentally lined up with Chu Jiao’s plan.

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The Hundred Flower Feast was held in one of the villas Marquis Weiyuan owned with all the capital’s debuting ladies arriving in elegant clothing. Yun Wan even invited the Fifth Princess to the feast, amicably supporting her by the waist to allow Chu Jiao to see her own inferiority and understand just how big the difference was between her and the proud daughter of the heavens, eradicating any of her hope to climb the sturdy tree that was the Sixth Prince.

In reality, the ladies of the capital simply watched Yun Wan make a fool of herself. They snarkily laughed at her for actually getting betrothed to the powerless and ugly Sixth Prince. And now, she was reduced to using means like this lavish banquet to demonstrate her own worth to a girl picked up among the common folk. Yun Wan felt it beneath her to explain to them, but she had been stifling her rage up until this moment.

Coinciding with the day of the feast, an urgent report from the campaign at the borders hundred thousands of miles away had reached the capital, reporting the great victory of Daye from having rid of the South barbarians. The Sixth Prince had taken the head of the South Barbarians’ admiral, causing their army to hear the wind and lose gall¹To become terror-stricken.. This news quickly spread through the imperial court and the common folk, the Sixth Prince instantly turning into a hot figure.

Who else didn’t know that military strength was an important achievement. Now that the Emperor was growing older, and the heir apparent to the throne was still undecided, even though several people placed their bets on the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, with the Sixth Prince’s military accomplishments, his identity was no longer the same as it was before.

Yun Wan put on the facade of a ‘good sister,’ fawning over the princess while also thinking in her heart that this was expected. She had confidence in her own foresight, knowing that the Sixth Prince wasn’t a person who had no particular talent from the start.

Chu Jiao had arrived at the venue early on and was seated beside the assistant minister’s daughter at the corner of the banquet hall, showing no intentions of joining the exciting discussion going on. But, she still kept observing the female lead in secret. It was no wonder she was called the female lead. Even though she was still young, her house management skills were extremely proficient, arranging this Hundred Flower Feast cleanly and orderly without any mishaps occurring.

However, since Yun Wan was the hosting family for the event, she was far more concerned about entertaining all kinds of guests that came her way, and it was only when the afternoon banquet had concluded that she was able to summon her last bit of energy to probe the truth out of Chu Jiao.

“I heard that Princess Huanjia was rescued by Sixth Brother from the evildoer’s hands, may I ask if this is true?” The Fifth Princess Jing Ya asked on behalf of her good friend.

The reason why rumors stayed as rumors was because nobody had gone out of their way to confirm them.

When the Fifth Princess asked such forward words in front of everyone, even particularly bringing up the word ‘evildoer.’ If Chu Jiao were to answer yes, her purity may be destroyed²To explain, any kidnapped woman would be deemed impure regardless of whether they had really lost their virginity or not, because they had ‘spent a night with a man.’.

“The part about the evildoers is false, but the part about meeting the Sixth Prince is true,” Chu Jiao got up and bowed, simply responding with these words. Her words cleared out any doubts, and she emphasized, “Chu Jiao was just an ordinary farmer’s daughter in the past, but now that His Majesty has conferred the name ‘Huanjiao’ to me, I have realized how terrifying it all was.”

Behind her words was the implication that the Emperor was the one who had settled the whole matter. So, if the Fifth Princess were to continue speaking baseless words about this matter, it would be no different to contradicting the Emperor’s decision.

Faced with this retort, Jing Ya could only stop there. Chu Jiao stood a little far away from them, and when she raised her eyes to look, she only saw a particularly familiar face greeting her, “Come a little closer, let this princess take a closer look.”

Chu Jiao’s heart dropped with a loud clunk but she maintained a calm demeanor on the surface, taking two steps forward.

“Sigh, Ah Yuan,” The Fifth Princess mulled over for a long time, feeling as though Chu Jiao’s face looked slightly familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she saw her from. “Don’t you think Princess Huanjiao looks quite familiar?”

Currently, Yun Wan was absent-mindedly drinking juice made from peach syrup, but right at the moment when Chu Jiao arrived at the venue, she had already measured her from afar, thinking that the girl had dressed up quite tackily and her looks mediocre at best, deeming the rumors as far-fetched, which was why she felt at ease early on. After hearing the Fifth Princess’s words at this moment, she raised her eyes and carefully examined Chu Jiao. This time, her hand suddenly quivered, and the contents of her cup started to shake, splashing out onto herself.

[Completed]