After Mrs. Lü finished speaking, the flower hall fell silent.
Li Wanming heard whispers around her.
"Lady Cheng? Who is Lady Cheng?"
"Don't you know? Lady Cheng is the third young lady of the Li family who tried to marry a scholar right after the spring imperial examination and then went to beat the drum of grievance!"
"So it's her? I heard she's gone into the wine business. Why is she at the princess's flower-viewing banquet?"
"Who knows how she managed to get in with the princess? It's probably just those kinds of tricks..."
Li Wanming really wanted to ask them, what kinds of tricks! Huh? What kinds of tricks!
If Princess Chengping were a man, she might be able to seduce him and climb into his bed.
But the princess is a woman. What can she do? Recognize her as a godmother!
At this moment, Lü Songyuan had just presented her flower crown and was receiving unanimous praise from everyone. She was feeling extremely smug.
She glanced at Li Wanming and said with a light smile, "Lady Cheng is always so ingenious. Since she can brew such unique wine, she must also have a unique touch in flower arrangement. Hurry up and show us your work!"
Here we go again!
She was clearly praising her, but actually belittling her as a wine-seller.
Hearing this, Mrs. Lü also cast a sidelong glance: "Lady Cheng, hurry up and show us your return gift. I'm quite curious to see what great work it is."
Li Wanming hesitated. The scroll in her hand was painted by Xiao Yingchu, not her own work.
Although Pei Yanqi's rubbing fan was novel, the method was not difficult and could barely pass as her own.
But Xiao Yingchu's painting showed great skill in both brushstrokes and colors. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was not the work of a beginner.
Her reputation for being idle and unlearned had long spread in the capital. If these noble ladies suspected that she was faking it and asked her to paint another one on the spot, what should she do?
It's no wonder Li Wanming was being so suspicious.
Thanks to Princess Chengping, these noble ladies in the capital now seemed like a bunch of troublemakers in her eyes!
After pondering for a while, just as she was about to speak, Guo Xinyue in front suddenly stood up.
"Princess, Mrs. Lü, it is an honor for us to come to the princess's mansion for the flower-viewing banquet today and present gifts to the princess with flowers as the theme."
"However, who would have thought that some sisters, in a moment of confusion and in their eagerness to outdo others, would try to pass off someone else's work as their own."
"If it were just a simple helping hand among sisters, that would be fine. But some people have had improper contact with a man outside and actually brought in a fan painted by a man and tried to present it to the princess as their own..."
"Such behavior will damage the reputations of all the young ladies here. So after much thought, I dare not hide it and have come to report it to the princess. Please, princess and all the ladies, look into this carefully and clear our names."
When she first said "try to pass off someone else's work as their own", Fang Zhi's eyebrows shot up.
Was Guo Xinyue coming after her?
At Zangshan Academy, she always liked to ask Xiao Yingchu to do her work for her. Everyone in the academy knew about it. It was just that no one dared to say anything because her father was the chief councilor.
Now Guo Xinyue was bringing this up in public. Was she deliberately trying to cause trouble for her?
But later, when she heard "a man outside" and "fan", Fang Zhi's expression became confused.
What man outside? She didn't understand...
Li Wanming, however, immediately understood.
A man outside, a fan... Who else could it be about? Of course, it was about her!
Guo Xinyue was coming after her.
This... was she completely crazy??
Just an hour ago, Guo Xinyue had deliberately tried to befriend her, but the next second, she turned her back on her?
These high-born debutantes must have studied Sichuan opera! They're so good at face-changing!
Sure enough, they were all a bunch of crazy, unpredictable people...
However, after hearing Guo Xinyue's words, Li Wanming wasn't that anxious. Instead, she calmly sat back down.
—The fan wasn't in her hands now. What did she have to be afraid of?
Princess Chengping frowned and asked, "Is there any young lady whose return gift is a fan?"
Although the atmosphere in the Dacheng Dynasty was relatively open, the gender divide was still not completely broken.
At the princess's banquet, openly using a fan painted by a man outside as a gift for the princess was, if taken seriously, a matter of deception and improper interaction!
Most of the people at today's banquet were young ladies from good families. If this got out, it would affect the reputations of all the girls. So it couldn't be taken lightly.
Wang Gongling replied softly, "I haven't seen a fan. Maybe it hasn't been presented yet..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Fang Zhi stood up boldly: "My return gift is a fan! So what?"
She kicked aside the cushion on the soft couch beside her and threw the rubbing fan in front of Guo Xinyue: "What do you mean? Are you trying to say that I've had improper contact with a man outside!"
She had just thought that the fan she got from Li Wanming was a bit plain, so she asked for some paint and was planning to add some colors. Who would have thought that just as she was concentrating on painting, she heard Guo Xinyue stand up and say those high-sounding words.
Guo Xinyue was instantly stunned, and the color drained from her face: "I didn't... It's not..."
How could it be Fang Zhi?
Wasn't it Li Wanming...
Fang Zhi took a step forward: "Then what do you mean?"
She was the daughter of the chief councilor, and her father held the position of the left prime minister, truly second only to the emperor.
Since she was born, except for Lü Songyuan, no one had ever dared to show her disrespect.
Was Guo Xinyue out of her mind today? As the daughter of a minor official, how dare she cause trouble for her!
Guo Xinyue's mind went blank.
What was going on?
She clearly saw Li Wanming grabbing Pei Yanqi's fan, but now the rubbing fan was in Fang Zhi's hands?
Oh no...
Even if she had twenty times the courage, she wouldn't dare to provoke Fang Zhi!
Fang Zhi's gaze was menacing, almost devouring her: "I'm the only one at today's banquet who painted a fan. If you weren't talking about me, then who were you talking about?"
She could have said that the fan was exchanged from Li Wanming, but the problem was that Guo Xinyue had spoken too confidently before.
Asking for someone else's work had become "a moment of confusion" and "eagerness to outdo others", which made it impossible for her to admit that the work wasn't her own at this moment.
She could be lazy on normal days, but today was Princess Chengping's banquet, and everyone was watching. Moreover, Lü Songyuan and her mother were also present... She had to defend her honor!
Even if the king of heaven came today, this fan had to be her own work!
Looking at Fang Zhi's angry face, Guo Xinyue was extremely scared, and the words just blurted out without thinking.
"I clearly saw Li Wanming and Scholar Pei flirting on the back mountain just now. She even snatched Scholar Pei's fan. How did it end up in your hands?"
During this period, she had shown her affection to Pei Yanqi twice, either openly or secretly, but the other party always pretended to be stupid and ignored her feelings.
So, Guo Xinyue was both ashamed and angry, and gradually, her love turned into hatred.
Just now, seeing Pei Yanqi talking and laughing with Li Wanming made her anger reach its peak!
So, she came up with this poisonous plan to kill two birds with one stone.
On the one hand, she could frame Li Wanming for being unchaste and seducing a man in broad daylight. On the other hand, she could also pour dirt on Pei Yanqi and say that he was having an affair with a married woman...
But who would have thought that this incident would drag Fang Zhi into it.