12 Of Banquets and Announcements (I)

The sunrise came earlier by a full two hours on the day of the crown prince's birthday. All the astrologers called it an auspicious sign from the deities, proving that the following year will be lucky and that the crown prince was sure to be the best candidate to succeed the throne if the emperor decided to declare as such.

Xueying called it all bulls**t.

An auspicious sign? A lucky year? What?

Had the good luck that followed her throughout her life gone off to celebrate her idiotic thirteen-year-old half-brother's birthday party? Is that why she was punished by her father for the first time in her entire life to be locked in her room and forced to attend this stupid birthday banquet?

A string of curse words flew out of Su Xueying's mouth once she heard of all the nonsense about sunrises and luck from Xiaosu. Xiaosu, on the other hand, only stared the princess warily, slightly concerned that someone with a status as high as the only princess in the kingdom cursing so freely.

When she was sure that Princess Xueying had calmed down enough, Xiaosu stepped a little bit closer, holding a crisply folded set of robes that the seamstress hall had sent down earlier this morning.

"Princess, your clothes for the banquet today."

Xueying pursed her lips, placing her hand against the fabric. It felt soft enough, she supposed, and without even unfolding it, she could tell that there were detailed stitches embroidered onto the robes, depicting lovely scenes of lotus blossoms and butterflies. Clearly, despite the fact that the whole palace would've heard by now what happened between the princess and the emperor, they were still certain that Xueying would earn her father's attention again and return as his favorite child.

They all knew that the only reason why Emperor Su paid the slightest of attention to the crown prince would be because he was the crown prince. If it weren't for that fact, then he would treat the crown prince with the same withdrawn attitude he held towards his other three sons. Princess Xueying, the sole child shared between him and the previous empress, was placed with such importance at the tip of his heart that she was allowed to be as reckless as she wished.

So, no one dared to ever speak up against the princess, carefully playing their cards so that she didn't look down on them.

A little smile appeared on Xueying's face while she brushed her hand over the set of robes. Perhaps she should attend the banquet willingly. After all, she was Princess Su Xueying of Danyan, and as long as she reminded her father that she was his favorite child, then she would regain her freedom once more. It would be easy to do so.

Humming a soft tune, Xueying waved her hand, beckoning Xiaosu to help her get dressed. Xiaosu, although shocked by the princess's sudden change of mood, obeyed.

…

Princess Su Xueying looked charming as she sat at her seat at the banquet.

She wore a set of blushing pink robes with a trim of delicate, subdued green. The robes were, at a glance, obviously palace-worthy material composed of silks and sashes. At a closer look, one could tell that the seamstresses who created the set of robes also used a pastel yellow thread to embroider the sleeves with detailed little pictures of similarly lovely things.

Her hair was styled into a simple yet matching style. A few braids tied ornaments that resembled flowers and butterflies to her head while the rest of her hair was left to cascade down her shoulders, giving her the look of a rather innocent princess. Princess Xueying also had a bit of rouge— but not too much— dusted on her cheeks, lips, and the corners of her eyes, further enforcing the fact that she was a pure, blameless, and naive princess who was kind and compassionate to anything and everything.

The concubines and princes stared at Su Xueying, realizing that something had definitely changed about her. Where a few days ago, she seemed to be condescending and annoying, now she looked as if she finally found peace within herself and changed for the better.

They heard that the emperor had ordered for her to be confined to her room to rethink her decisions… but would a single night make such a drastic difference in someone?

But of course, those were all wrong assumptions to make of the princess from her fair appearance. In reality, although Xueying was smiling peacefully, her emotions were battling each other as she tapped her fingers impatiently under the table.

Xueying knew that she had to attend this pointless banquet to win her father's affection again, but the banquet was… just simply dull. The emperor hadn't even arrived yet, and all that anyone could do was to watch the uninteresting crown prince sit at the front of the room, doing nothing except for breathing and blinking.

And as expected, if the crown prince wasn't doing anything, and the emperor was not here either, then no one could do anything. They couldn't even eat the food placed in front of them or drink the wine poured into the cups!

This banquet was boring, this crown prince was boring, this palace was boring, and even Su Xueying's whole life was boring…

Xueying was clearly not one for patience.

Time seemed to pass by so slowly, and Xueying was practically glaring at the crown prince as things dragged on. He was now lethargically nodding his head, as if agreeing to some imaginary conversation. To think that such an imbecile would ascend the throne after her father…