CHAPTER 741: CHAPTER 741: IT’S NOT ME

After a good while, Cui Laner managed to compose herself a bit, her eyes trembling as she carefully looked up at the two people who were ignoring her.

At this moment, everyone had just been savoring the idea of fruits and melons abound, filling the courtyard with fragrance, while Lian Hua stuffed a piece of pastry into her mouth.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cui Laner neatly knelt and prostrated herself, beseechingly apologizing to Consort De, "Your servant knows her mistake, and begs for Consort De’s grace. Please do not trouble yourself over your servant’s fault, I plead for your mercy."

"The one you should be apologizing to is not me," Consort De calmly responded, without so much as glancing in her direction.

She had a smile on her face as she watched Lian Hua eat the cake, looking very content, "Take it easy, there’s plenty more; no one’s competing with you for it."

"Mm-hmm," Lian Hua was busy eating her cake and sharing it with others, "Sister, this is delicious, you should have a piece too, Xiao Yinyi, you have one as well." She handed one to each, then stuffed another into her mouth, finishing it just right.

Cui Laner turned her head, her gaze a mix of caution and an attempt to ingratiate herself, pitifully looking at Lian Hua, "Beauty Lian, your servant..."

"What?" What is she calling me for?

With a glance at Cui Laner, Lian Hua remembered, "Oh, I’m not the person you need to apologize to!" She quickly added.

She had no time to deal with Cui Laner and was not angry about Cui Laner scolding her. After all, she had deliberately provoked Cui Laner to scold her, to take hold of something against her. It was Cui Laner who was used to being arrogant, insulting those beneath her without restraint.

Ignoring Cui Laner further, Lian Hua ate her mouthful of cake, her words somewhat muffled, "Sister, quickly finish so you can win some golden melon seeds."

As soon as she finished her current mouthful of cake and washed it down with some water, she would be ready to play. That was of utmost importance.

Consort De, finding it amusing, said that the golden melon seeds were right there and they weren’t going anywhere; finishing eating first and then going wouldn’t be too late.

Lian Hua disagreed, saying she was worried others might win them first.

Consort De said even if they won, they couldn’t win much, and moreover, with her presence, many didn’t dare come close.

Lian Hua found it odd, asking why, since Sister Consort De was exceptionally kind.

The two conversed back and forth, paying no mind to anyone else.

Cui Laner was stunned for a moment, seeing that neither of them spared her any attention. Moving her gaze, she happened to catch Kong Yinyin holding a piece of pastry, eyes on her, thoughts unknown.

Cui Laner’s expression immediately turned to one of anger, glaring back fiercely.

Fine then, this lowly and poor thing thinks she can make her apologize, dreaming in broad daylight! Don’t think that just because you’ve gotten close to Beauty Lian, you can be fearless; Beauty Lian might protect you for a moment but not forever. Don’t forget you’re leaving the palace the day after tomorrow; she has all the time to get even, slowly.

Kong Yinyin understood this look all too well. Swallowing her timidity, she looked away and began nibbling at the pastry, trying to conceal her unease.

Cui Laner’s anger lessened slightly, her mind now exceedingly sharp. She was very clear about her greatest fault—those few words she had used to insult Lian Hua. If Lian Hua could forgive her, put the past behind them, then the issue with Kong Yinyin would be a minor one.

Even though she had bullied Kong Yinyin in the past, mocking and belittling her, abusing her as a slave, concocting schemes for her own amusement, like slapping her face, forcing her to kneel as punishment, upsetting her meals, and so forth, she had done it all. But what of it? In the past, not a peep could be squeaked out of her, and now there was no evidence.

After pondering for a moment, she quickly weighed the pros and cons and immediately crawled on her knees over to them, "This concubine knows she has offended Beauty Lian and begs for mercy from the Beauty. The concubine will never dare to do it again, never dare again..." She then tried to grasp the hem of Lian Hua’s skirt.

Although Xiao Jizi and the others occasionally interjected for fun, they had been on guard since Cui Laner’s arrival. Now, their faces were as cold as frost, and they blocked her path, moving swiftly to stand in front as if three great Buddhas were preventing her way.

Xiao Jizi said unkindly, "Lady Cui, Consort De and our master have spoken already. The person you should admit your fault to is someone else, so please do not disturb the masters’ conversation."

They were all trained by Nanny Qi and would not allow any suspicious person to get anywhere near their master with just a flick of their finger.

Cui Laner subconsciously wanted to scold them, but then she remembered something and stopped, looking aggrieved.

The expression of Consort Xu De turned cold for a moment, then relaxed, and she chuckled teasingly, "Sister, they aren’t bad." Quite alert, indeed.

Lian Hua chewed and swallowed the cake in her mouth, smiling amiably, "Oh, isn’t it ’near vermillion, one gets stained red’? Sister, you don’t look at who they work for. Naturally, they are just like me, quite excellent."

She laughed a few times and, glimpsing Cui Laner through a gap, moved Xiao Jizi out of the way, put away her smile, and sternly said, "It is not that I refuse you a way out. I never said I wanted you dead. Who are you trying to fool by pretending to be pitiful? While your mouth constantly pleads your understanding of wrongdoing, your very actions at every moment suggest to others that it is I who am making things difficult for you."

If it came to acting pitiful and cute, she was the best at it, but she only did so in front of His Majesty and Nanny Qi’s most beloved. Unlike Cui Laner—who could throw her weight around like a fierce mammy tiger and instantly act pitiful when things went south, suggesting that it would be another’s fault if she were not forgiven—as if Lian Hua couldn’t see through such petty tricks, hmph.

Consort Xu De leaned back in her chair, picked up her teacup, and took a sip, leisurely watching Lian Hua deal with the situation. Lian Hua was always docile before her, so it was rare to see this side of her, and Consort Xu found it quite satisfying.

Cui Laner immediately shook her head denying these accusations, insisting, "This concubine did not, the concubine..." her voice trailing off under Lian Hua’s gaze.

Still daring to deny it?

Lian Hua was furious. She purposefully glanced at Kong Yinyin before asking, "Xiao Yinyi, do you still need her to admit her wrongdoing?"

Kong Yinyin, startled, looked up, and seeing Lian Hua’s sincere eyes, felt warmth in her heart. She shook her head, "There’s no need." No longer necessary; it was as if she had found the courage to move forward from now on...

"Alright then," Lian Hua said without further persuasion, and stood up bluntly, "Lady Cui, you have bullied the weak, spoken wicked words, and your vile nature is unchanging. You coerced with kneeling and inverted right and wrong. Today, during the Longevity Event, you deliberately wept and sought trouble, truly revolting. To make matters worse, you aren’t even good-looking, committing eight grave offenses in total!"

After saying all this in one breath, she turned her head to Consort Xu De, "Sister, with so many faults, how should she be punished?"

Her words were resounding, echoing like thunder, silencing everyone present.

Xiao Qing quietly counted on her fingers, coming to the understanding that apparently, being unattractive was also a fault.

Xiao Jizi was taken aback, counted again, and noticed the count fell short of eight faults. After pondering more closely, his eyes widened in realization; oh... was the master... could it be she craved golden melon seeds to the point of madness, thinking the number eight lucky and thus coercing two additional faults?

He hit the nail on the head. That was indeed what Lian Hua had thought and said; she had forcibly concocted eight great faults. Who made Cui Laner continuously disgust her? It was only fair she returned the disgust.

Lian Hua instinctively disliked Cui Laner’s appearance, especially those eyes, which she found extremely repulsive, as if she had seen something similar somewhere, and felt it was very sinister.

At once, those of average appearance touched their faces, their minds and spirits shaken.