507 Contest (1)
No matter how much she disliked Xiao Ruoqian, she knew that the palace was not a place to mess around. However, she was afraid that she would cause trouble if she walked around alone, so Xiao Ruoshui could only tacitly let her follow.
“But Sister Yuwan, why are you walking with Jiajia?” Xiao Ruoshui sized up the two of them curiously.
Yuan Yuwan was already used to Xiao Ruoshui’s shocked expression. She smiled and told her about meeting Shen Yijia.
In the end, she pursed her lips and smiled. “At first, I wasn’t sure if it was Madam Song, but I really didn’t want to go with them.”
The women she was talking about were the other women from the Yuan family who had come to attend the palace banquet.
“That’s good, my mother was invited by Consort Shu to speak. She was worried about Jiajia, so she asked me to come out and look for her.” Xiao Ruoshui came to a realization and explained Madam Xiao’s predicament.
Although Madam Xiao had never seen Shen Yijia before, it was rare for Song Jingchen to ask for a favor. General Xiao and his wife could tell how much he valued this wife.
Back then, when the Song family was implicated in the rebellion, the emperor quickly convicted the Bulwark Duke’s residence. Anyone who wasn’t stupid knew that the emperor was determined to attack the Song family.
It wasn’t that General Xiao didn’t want to help, but he couldn’t. Otherwise, any family member with the surname Xiao would have been implicated back then.
Although there were many considerations, General Xiao had always felt guilty.
Shen Yijia rolled her eyes. Was she that untrustworthy?
The three of them chatted as they walked. There were many noble ladies walking in the same direction.
Shen Yijia asked curiously, “What are they going to do?”
Xiao Ruoshui slapped her forehead. “I heard that there’s a martial arts competition at Wuying Hall. Do you want to go over and take a look?”
A martial arts competition?
Shen Yijia’s eyes lit up and she quickly nodded.
The two of them looked at Yuan Yuwan and asked for her opinion.
Before Yuan Yuwan could speak, Xiao Ruoqian, who had been ignored by the three of them, said, “Speaking of which, Big Brother is also participating in the martial arts competition today.”
Xiao Ruoshui’s heart skipped a beat. As expected, she heard Xiao Ruoqian continue, “Sister Yuwan, you still don’t know, right? My brother has somehow angered my father recently and was locked up in the ancestral hall for a few days. Fortunately, there was a palace banquet today. Otherwise, my father wouldn’t have let him out.”
During this period of time, Xiao Ruoshui had been grounded at home to embroider wedding dresses. Yuan Yuwan had actually not seen her for a long time before today, so she naturally did not know about the Xiao family. Hearing this, she subconsciously looked at Xiao Ruoshui.
Xiao Ruoshui turned around and glared at Xiao Ruoqian guiltily.
Noticing the avoidance in her eyes, Yuan Yuwan’s heart sank bit by bit.
Based on her understanding of Xiao Ruoshui, she would definitely explain why Brother Xiao was punished at this moment and retort Xiao Ruoqian bluntly. However, she did not dare to look at her.
Why didn’t she dare to look at her? This meant that Brother Xiao’s punishment had something to do with her.
And what was related to her was nothing more than marriage.
She thought of what the man had said. “You still have me.”
Yuan Yuwan shook her head to stop her imagination from running wild. Instead of answering Xiao Ruoqian’s question, she smiled and said, “Then let’s go watch the martial arts competition.”
Xiao Ruoqian didn’t get the reaction she wanted.
She was actually too curious about what Xiao Qirui had done to make her father so angry, so she wanted to use Yuan Yuwan as an excuse. Who would have thought that Yuan Yuwan would be so calm? She didn’t even ask.
She bit her lower lip and wanted to say something else. Shen Yijia, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around and glared at her fiercely. She waved her fist at her.
Thinking of the rumors that Madam Song was extremely strong, Xiao Ruoqian’s heart trembled inexplicably and she did not dare to speak again.
Xiao Ruoshui took a few steps before realizing that her reaction just now was wrong. She explained softly, “My brother made a mistake in the military camp, so my father punished him.”
Yuan Yuwan smiled and nodded to show that she understood.
No one mentioned this topic again.
Shen Yijia thought that she might be able to see Song Jingchen later, and her heart had long flown away. If not for her image, she would have flown over.
Yuan Yuwan was a meticulous person. She could tell at a glance that she was anxious. She did not tease her, but she quickened her pace.
There was a huge training ground in front of Wuying Hall. For today’s martial arts competition, an arena had been built in the middle of the training ground, and there were stands and seats around it.
Apart from the imperial guards who stood guard every three steps, there were also warriors brought by the various countries to participate in the martial arts competition.
The warriors of the three countries each occupied one side and were clearly separated.
Song Jingchen was indeed sitting in the stands with the other ministers, but his expression was a little unpleasant. As for the reason…