After Lianhan’s words came out, everyone fell silent. Jiang Mingwei stroked the nails on her hands and said calmly, “The Prince had just sent a message that the concubine is in an inconvenient situation, so she may be late. Forget it, let’s not wait for them— set the meal.”
The women here were all experienced in these sorts of affairs, so there was nothing they didn’t understand when they heard this. Lianhan was secretly annoyed that she had said the wrong thing, so when serving Jiang Mingwei dishes, she was very attentive.
Consorts and Concubines were like a moat— no matter how favoured a concubine was, she was not qualified to sit down in front of the main wife, the Princess. When eating in the main room, they would also stand on the side to serve tea, rice and vegetables for her as well.
But today, before Lianhan was able to start her ‘performance’, a noise sounded from outside and the women in the room stood up in unison when they heard the announcement, “His Highness the Prince has arrived.”
Without waiting for the announcement to finish, a servant girl’s greeting came from outside. Jiang Mingwei was overjoyed and immediately went to greet him. Xie Xuanji lifted the curtain and entered, Jiang Mingwei saw the woman joyfully calling out ‘Prince’. Jiang Mingwei hadn’t stopped smiling until she saw Xie Xuanji turn around and automatically place his hands around the other woman.
Jiang Mingwei’s smile gradually faded as Wan Yanduo bowed her head when she saw her, “Your Highness the Princess.”
“It turns out that the Concubine has arrived,” Jiang Mingwei said in a very cold tone, “Everyone has been waiting for you for a long time, so come in quickly.”
Xie Xuanji was here, so the breakfast would naturally need some adjustments. Jiang Mingwei led Xie Xuanji to his seat and explained, “I originally thought that Your Highness would not come to my place for breakfast today, so I asked them to set the meal first. I have neglected the Prince, please forgive me.”
Xie Xuanji waved his hands and said that it was okay. Jiang Mingwei apologised a few more times before sitting down next to Xie Xuanji.
All the people in the room were women except Xie Xuanji, but only Jiang Mingwei and Wan Yanduo were eligible to sit down. In fact, Wan Yanduo was not qualified at all to do so, but she was a Princess of a foreign country and had the title a Concubine, so she was able to sit at the dinner table.
The Concubines who were still lifeless just now came back to life in an instant, competing to serve them one by one. Some of them had their eyes on Wan Yanduo as all the women in the harem knew that the Prince asked for water last night and the term ‘asking for water’ meant that someone was being favoured. Now that there are so many people in the harem, Xie Xuanji wouldn’t be able to spend time with all of them even if he had a round with a different concubine every night. The main wife Jiang Mingwei only had two days to herself, but Wan Yanduo had occupied him for several nights. The eyes of all the Concubines looking at her were full of jealousy and hatred.
Wan Yanduo pretended not to know about it and ate indifferently throughout the whole process. After the meal, when several people washed their hands one after another, Xie Xuanji suddenly talked about a few matters, “The New Year is coming soon. This year, there are many natural disasters and man-made disasters, so my Father Emperor wants to hold a big New Year’s Eve banquet in the meaning of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming a happy new year. This will be done for three days.”
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