10 Chapter 10

Liu Jilian wasn't stupid, she knew what a crush was and she knew what it felt like to have one, right now she had a crush on that beautiful princess.

Sighing for the 10th time she stared blankly at the book, she hasn't turned the page in the last hour and all because she was preoccupied with her thoughts.

"Miss it's time for lunch"

Looking up she stared at the little girl, She had lost track of time, "It's that time already?" she said in a daze before standing up with her help and heading to the dining area.

The martial arts competition would be ending in a few more days, who knows if this sister of hers will come back alive or dead.

She smirked and looked at the invitation to the banquet, this should be interesting.

The nearest big event was a poem appreciation banquet hosted by the princess Feng Zhou Lan, this time she wasn't the only one invited, quite a few eligible young ladies were also coming it was rumoured that she was looking out for a princess consort for her brother, the crowned prince Feng Mu Chen. She wasn't particularly interested in this man but she was mildly interested in becoming a princess consort. She was smart enough to realise that marrying a member of the royal family wasn't a good idea considering her lack of knowledge of how the royal family worked, but she figured that the position of the crowned princess was a rather stable position, at least she didn't have a reason to fight with concubines, she just needed to act magnanimous and proper and give birth to one child, a son.

Being a princess consort wasn't a bad idea, but if she wanted to look into the monks was it ok for her to get married immediately?

She saved her thoughts for herself and dressed not too simple but not too grand, she would easily be able to fit if her actions didn't draw any attention, she would decide whether to pursue this man when she sees him. "Mei li, what did you manage to find out about the crowned prince?" Mei Li was a rather smart girl and was good at collecting information, it was probably because of her martial arts training, the breathing exercises were really good for calming her down.

"According to the servants, he's rather handsome and isn't very hedonistic, he also only has a few concubines and is a rather high ranking martial artist." Jilian nodded, he was what she expected: handsome, talented, and a great catch. She was a bit bummed by the fact he had many concubines but he was most likely looking for a marriage of convenience not a marriage of love, so was she. If she was expecting to return home one day then she shouldn't think of falling in love, it'll be unnecessarily dramatic.

"Do you think he would make a decent husband?" As long as he didn't mistreat her it should be ok, Mei li nodded shyly as she wasn't expecting such a question, seeing her reaction Lilian smiled slightly and enjoyed the ride.

•°•

It was rather shocking to see a main character type at the banquet, Jilian stared a bit confused at the beautiful girl dressed rather averagely, she looked so elegant and disinterested in anything. It was a bit confusing for Jilian to see such an angel but she brushed it off secretly giving up on the crowned prince, once he saw her wouldn't he be captivated by her beauty? Walking up to the princess she said her greeting and was asked to sit next to her, blushing she sat bashfully avoiding eye contact, even though that woman was pretty the princess had a sort of mature charm to her that was a thousand times better.

"Princess you are really beautiful" The princess paused, surprised at the sudden comment but smiled, it wasn't every day she could hear such straightforward compliments.

"How can you call me beautiful when there is a fairy among us?" with that she glanced at the beautiful woman sitting by herself with a bit of annoyance in her eyes, Jilian turned to the woman and couldn't help but strange seeing her.

"Do you by chance know who she is?" Jilian asked the princess hoping to find out more about this mysterious woman.

Snorting in disdain she took another sip of tea before replying, "How would I dare not know who she is? Mu Chen nearly scolded me for forgetting to send her an invite and he personally went to invite her to my banquet" sipping some more tea, she looked at Jilian and took her hand, "my brother is very short-sighted, I hope you can forgive him"

Jilian paused, she wasn't stupid, she knew where this was going, this felt like an obvious cliche plot where she was the other woman who was about to be forced on the male protagonist. She felt her hairs stand on end in fear, she really did not want to get involved with this Feng Mu Chen person, if she decided to make him marry her won't she be asking for a life of torture? "It's ok princess, sometimes love is rather strong and we shouldn't come between them" she silently begged for the princess not to pick her to marry the crowned prince.

"You're truly a good woman, It's my brother's loss for not being able to tell a pearl from a fish eye." Liu Jilian's thoughts were thrown into disarray as she tried to piece together what was happening in her head, it seemed like the prince has met this beautiful woman and had decided to marry her so was pissed when his sister refused to invite her to the bride picking banquet. It had also seemed like the princess had decided to pick her to be the prince's princess consort which explains the unexpected private meet up earlier on.

She felt goosebumps all over her body, if she married the prince he'd hate her guts and would make her life difficult, she either had to make him change his heart or find another man who won't bother her. She was starting to consider marrying a gay man, at least she wouldn't have to do with this drama.

Even though this was drama she felt herself smile lightly, she really couldn't it, she suddenly felt the urge to steal that man's heart.