If one were to say that she was once in the capital,
The most all-powerful woman who incited endless discussions was none other than this calm and proud one in front of them.
She was once the empress's personal maidservant,
When the eldest crown prince was five years old,
When the crown prince was young, she often took care of him.
Later, she wholeheartedly studied,
She named herself Tang Shi,
She became a female official,
Walking in the capital,
Relying on her valiant methods, she made many people suffer.
Some people hated her, some feared her, and some respected her for her purity and impartiality in handling matters.
Later,
The crown prince was established,
The crown prince moved into the Eastern Palace,
The crown prince married a wife and appointed a crown princess,
The crown princess passed away from illness, leaving behind a two-year-old imperial grandson.
The crown prince proposed to Tang Shi in front of the palace, and the emperor granted the marriage.
She became a female official who would never marry and put on a red dress,
She flew up to become a phoenix.
Tang Shi had no backing,
She had no family background,
But she was smart and intelligent,
Crown Prince Sasuke was safe to this day,
His trust was also getting better and better.
A just crown prince who strictly followed the rules and laws,
Was more convincing and reassuring in the end.
In the past, the Third Prince's reputation within and outside the Imperial Court had improved, and his momentum was gradually being reversed.
Now, the crown prince's seat was very stable.
Among these, the crown princess took great credit.
She also repeatedly advised the crown prince that it was a good thing that he didn't marry her into his wife's family — the emperor was healthy, long-lived, and diligent, so he definitely didn't like the crown prince's impatience.
And now, the emperor was already in his early sixties, and the crown prince was already a middle-aged man in his forties. Presumably, the crown prince's ascension to the throne was not far away.
And the former crown princess might become the noble empress in the future.
No one expected that she would appear in this place at this time. The coming-of-age ceremony of a nameless and incompetent little girl???
But when they thought of Lord Chen's character, everyone felt that it was truly unexpected but reasonable.
After all, in the entire court, there was only one person who didn't make the emperor apprehensive when interacting with the crown prince. That was Chen Jue.
A person who was just and strict, who strictly controlled his own conduct with the law and rules.
"Why is it the crown prince consort?" Sixth Miss Zheng watched in disbelief as the crown prince consort strode gracefully up the steps and sat in the seat of honor.
She couldn't come back to her senses at all. How could it be the crown prince consort!
Why was someone of this status willing to be the main guest of honor for someone like Li Xiao?
It wasn't even a marriage, it was just a young girl's coming of age ceremony …
"Previously, there was a case that involved the Crown Princess. At that time, many people knew that there was something fishy behind this case and didn't dare to take over the case.
At that time, Lord Chen had already decided to solve the case. He was upright and not afraid of offending people. He also cleared the Crown Princess's name. "Fourth Young Mistress Yu's gaze was always on the Crown Princess. That was her belief.
She had always longed to be a woman like the Crown Princess.
He had both ability and integrity, strategizing, and was respected by others.
Even though she was quite old, she still retained her charm and charm.
"I remember that even though the Crown Princess had a high status back then, she didn't have a backer. Many people in the court wanted to …" Standing on the other side, Miss Zhou Liu of the Zhou Ji Restaurant sighed.
Many people in the court wanted to get rid of the Crown Princess and replace her with one of their daughters.
It was not easy for a woman with no status or background to sit firmly in such a position.
In the past few hundred years, there had never been a single case that was absolutely correct!
"How could she … let the Crown Princess be her guest of honor …" Zhao Fu looked at the Crown Princess, so angry that she twisted the handkerchief in her hand.
The people around them whispered to each other. They were jealous and shocked.
Those who were jealous felt that it was unfair. As for the other madams, although they were jealous, they had already started to think. Since she was Lord Chen's cousin and was so favored, if they asked for her hand in marriage on behalf of their good-for-nothing son, would it be successful …
Chai Hengyu stood in the crowd and looked at the Crown Princess's peerless beauty. He couldn't help but think: only a person like Lord Chen could be helped by such an elegant person at such a time.
And only these people who were worthy of respect would not care about the 'big and small matters' in the eyes of the world and gladly carry the sedan chair for their friends.
How nice …
Chai Hengyu pursed his lips slightly and thought in his heart, how nice would it be if he had Lord Chen's character?
He could judge right and wrong, and had enough courage and ability to enforce justice.
As Li Xiao's father, Li Zhun stood up to give a speech. As the county magistrate, he spoke in a very imposing manner and pompous manner.
When he invited the praises, everyone straightened their necks and craned their necks to look forward. Who would come to be the praises for this Miss Li?
Everyone knew that this Older Sister Li Xiao didn't have many friends in the capital.
Speaking of princesses and county princesses, the princesses and county princesses who were favored in the capital were all married. As for those who didn't have much of a presence, it was meaningless even if they came to be the praises.
As for the legitimate young misses of high officials and noble families in the capital?
Sixth Miss Zheng, Fourth Miss Yu, and the others all looked around. Those who they usually played with and had status were all standing around. They didn't miss anyone, right?
Just as everyone was thinking this, they saw a young girl in a pink dress, who was taller than most of them, come out from the back. She walked to the west stage and lowered her head to wash her hands before walking up the stairs to the main stage.
This person's back was straight, and her face was haughty when she wasn't smiling. She didn't seem easy to get along with and even had a bit of craftiness on her face. She probably wasn't a good-tempered girl.
In addition, she had been spoiled since she was young. Her gaze was filled with a pickiness that made people feel uncomfortable.
"Why is it her?" Sixth Miss Zheng looked over in astonishment.
After not seeing her for so many days, not only did she not become depressed or self-abased, why did she seem to have become even more arrogant?
Previously, she had stirred up so much trouble because of her temper. After the calamity, many of her sisters had secretly rejoiced.
Now, after not seeing her for more than a month, they actually saw her again in this kind of setting.
"Didn't they say that the servants by her side went crazy and almost killed her?" Zhao Fu asked with a frown as she poked her head over to Sixth Miss Zheng's side.
"I also heard that her face was disfigured. Look … it doesn't seem like she was injured anywhere," Fourth Miss Yu also muttered.
Chai Hengyu had already slipped in front of them and said with a smile, "When Second Miss Ge heard that Older Sister Li Xiao was going to hold her coming-of-age ceremony, she took the initiative to write a letter asking if she could be the praiser."
There was a bit of pride in her tone.
"Hasn't Ge Zhen been recuperating at home this whole time?" Sixth Miss Zhou secretly asked.
"She just didn't want to participate in too many gatherings. I heard that she was fine." Chai Hengyu naturally knew what had happened at the House of Ge, but deliberately concealed it.
Ge Zhen and Ge Yue had been recuperating at home these days. Although their physical injuries had healed, their mental fears were hard to treat.
They would probably never forget that moment of helplessness for the rest of their lives.
For Li Xiao's coming-of-age ceremony this time, not only Ge Zhen, but even Ge Yue had written a letter to Li Xiao, wanting to be the praiser.
Later on, Ge Zhen said that she was the Second Miss of the Minister of the Ministry of Appointments, so her status was higher and she was more suitable for the role.
If Ge Zhen hadn't appeared, Chai Hengyu also wanted to be the praiser for Li Xiao.
Whether it was for Li Xiao or for Lord Chen's life-saving grace, in the capital, these young ladies had recognized Li Xiao as a 'friend'.
After the praises were in place, Li Xiao finally walked out of the East Room.
Many people had never seen Li Xiao before, and this was the first time they saw her.
Or perhaps, when they saw her before, it was just a quick glance, or Li Xiao was dressed plainly with her head lowered.
But recently, Li Xiao was coming-of-age, and she was dressed luxuriously.
Chen Jue had also spent a lot of money on her.
From the crown, hair accessories, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, belts, to the clothes and embroidered shoes, he had spent a lot of money on them.
From head to toe, they shone brightly.
As Chen Jue watched the young lady walk out gracefully, a faint smile appeared on his face.
This was what he wanted — he wanted her to hold her head up and chest out, to not hide her appearance out of shyness, and to not want to hide out of fear.
He wanted her to be confident and have thousands of gazes on her. He wanted everyone to be envious of her, or even jealous of her.
He wanted her to be happy because she was good-looking, to be able to happily and freely wear pretty clothes and pretty accessories, and to laugh whenever she wanted.
With an appropriate smile on her face, Li Xiao wore a light gauze dress that resembled a cloud of mist. With a light kick of her feet, she dispelled a cloud of mist and dragged it over.
Her beautiful and bright eyes scanned the surroundings, and she quickly found Lord Chen, who was dressed in a long, light silver robe. He stood there gracefully like an immortal, smiling at her as he gazed at her.
The moment she saw him, she also immediately curled the corners of her lips. Her expression instantly became lively, and her entire person dazzled as if she was glowing.
"Wow …" Sixth Young Miss Zheng, who had originally wanted to speak with malicious mockery about her shabbiness, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration when her rationality was judged.
Even Zhao Fu and the others opened their mouths slightly when they saw Li Xiao. They were speechless.
It was said that there wasn't a single noble lady in the capital who wasn't good-looking, but among the noble ladies who were adorned with jewelry and rouge, Li Xiao's beauty far surpassed everyone else's by a large margin.
There was once someone who said that Ge Zhen's beauty surpassed that of so and so, but it was hard to say that Ge Zhen was definitely more beautiful than that of so and so.
After all, the difference between each beauty wasn't that great.
Sometimes, if one changed into a more suitable set of clothes and matched it with more suitable makeup, it might be the other way around. Who knew, who would be more beautiful than Ge Zhen.
But … Li Xiao's appearance …
It was the kind of beauty that made people feel that she was truly more beautiful than everyone else.
Li Zhun stood on the stage and watched as Li Xiao walked into the crowd's line of sight with small steps.
He finally understood why Chen Jue hadn't been willing to accept his family's arrangements all these years.
Every time they met, he would always mock the other family's daughters for being ugly. In the past, everyone thought that Chen Jue didn't want to get married prematurely and used the excuse that he disliked the others' looks to refuse marriage.
But now, Li Zhun believed that Chen Jue's words weren't an excuse … He probably really disliked the ugliness of those young ladies.
After all … even though Li Zhun had always felt that those young ladies that Chen Jue disliked were already very good-looking.
But compared to Li Xiao … they really … were just ugly.
Chen Jue … this nephew of his from his wife's family was actually a genuine fan of looks!!!
Li Xiao walked to the center of the venue and bowed to every guest who was watching the ceremony.
As she bowed, she swept her gaze over everyone's faces. At the same time, she didn't miss the trees and rooftops in the courtyard.