Everyone blushed with shame at Chu Qing's words. Although some were dissatisfied in their hearts, they couldn't say anything to retort.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be like admitting that they had ganged up to bully her!
The Duchess of the State tried hard to calm herself down and said, "Since it was all a misunderstanding, let's cut the chitchat and start climbing the mountain, shall we? This mountain isn't very high. With everyone's physical strength, it should be no problem."
Chu Qing looked up. Sure enough, the mountain wasn't very high.
Only those who were weak and sick would have trouble climbing it. For those in good health, they would just feel a bit tired after the climb.
However, she always felt something was off...
Right! Weren't they saying that Shangguan Zhen would also come? Why hadn't she seen this girl yet?
Thinking of this, Chu Qing squinted her eyes. Her voice showed no emotion as she said, "Duchess of the State, are all the guests you invited here?"
The Duchess of the State frowned slightly in dissatisfaction. Then she looked around and said slowly, "Some ladies and young misses are still on the way. It's okay. Let's go to the octagonal pavilion halfway up the mountain and wait there. There's a place to rest. We'll take a break and have lunch there."
After hearing her, Chu Qing nodded thoughtfully.
There was actually a place to rest on this mountain.
...
Since everyone knew what the Spring - Retaining Banquet was about, the ladies and young misses were all dressed simply. Everyone wore clothes that were convenient for movement.
Chu Qing was no exception.
After her physical constitution had changed, she clearly felt that climbing the mountain was effortless for her.
So, Chu Qing, who had been deliberately left behind by everyone, quickly overtook them all and walked to the front. Soon, she reached the octagonal pavilion halfway up the mountain that the Duchess of the State had mentioned.
Chu Qing squinted her eyes and looked around carefully but found nothing wrong.
Then she turned her gaze to "Liuxin", who had been silent all the time. "Well, did you notice anything strange?"
"Liuxin" bowed her head and replied, "No, my lady."
Hearing such a concise answer, Chu Qing could only shrug helplessly.
At this time, Lvluo had just caught her breath. Looking at Chu Qing with admiration, she said, "My lady, your physical strength has improved so much! Could it really be the effect of that pill from Young Master Wuya?"
Hearing the envy in Lvluo's voice, Chu Qing's eyes curved into a smile.
She unconsciously ignored the second half of Lvluo's words.
...
"The Princess of Ning sure has a fast pace!" Finally, some people arrived one after another.
The one who had just spoken was Zhong Yi, the second young miss of the Duke's Mansion.
Zhong Yi gave a sideways glance with her almond - shaped eyes and pouted. "The Princess of Ning sure has good physical strength."
"Thank you for the compliment." Chu Qing smiled brightly. She had no interest in arguing with this young girl.
But Zhong Yi continued to sneer, "It seems that the Princess of Ning does a lot of work! It shouldn't be the case in the Prince of Ning's Mansion, but in the Chu Mansion... it's hard to say... Otherwise, how could the Princess of Ning have such good physical strength?"
At this time, Xu Xin helped the Duchess of the State up the mountain slowly.
Chu Qing naturally saw the mocking smile on Xu Xin's lips. An idea popped into her mind. Suddenly, she gave a mysterious smile and said, "My good physical strength is all thanks to the Prince. The Prince has good physical strength, so I've also improved. Otherwise... hehe!" As she said this, Chu Qing covered her mouth and giggled.
As an unmarried girl, Zhong Yi naturally didn't understand what Chu Qing meant. But the Duchess of the State, who happened to hear this, understood immediately. Her face flushed red, and she whispered a curse, "Shameless!"
Xu Xin didn't react at first. But when she saw the Duchess of the State blushing, she suddenly understood what Chu Qing meant.
Xu Xin's face turned as white as a sheet.
She never thought that Chu Qing would be so brazen as to show off her intimacy with the Prince of Ning.
Chu Qing was very satisfied with this effect. She wasn't a naive young girl. Originally, she hadn't planned to say such words, but when she saw the arrogant look in Xu Xin's eyes just now, she immediately decided to anger her.
And what better way to do it than by using the Prince of Ning!
...
Before long, all the ladies and young misses had arrived.
A group of people walked towards the pavilion together. The servants had cleaned the place and prepared the food long ago.
Not only the whole pavilion but also the entire mountain had been cleared by the people from the Duke's Mansion in advance. Moreover, there were guards stationed at regular intervals. So there was no need to worry about the safety of these ladies and young misses.
Just as Chu Qing was about to put the almond cake in her hand into her mouth, the Duchess of the State said slowly, "While we're waiting, why don't we play some games?"
Chu Qing stopped her movement. A dark look flashed in her eyes.
Interrupting her meal was really unforgivable.
Moreover, playing games again? These people's methods of trying to make things difficult for others were really the same.
After the Duchess of the State finished speaking, Xu Xin said softly, "Auntie, how about we compose poems on the spot?"
"Oh? Is Xin'er suddenly inspired to write poems?" The Duchess of the State looked at Xu Xin with approval.
"I'm stupid, Xin'er. I can't say I'm inspired. I just feel that with such beautiful scenery in front of us, if we don't compose one or two poems, something seems to be missing." After Xu Xin finished speaking, her eyes casually fell on Chu Qing.
Chu Qing naturally felt Xu Xin's provocative look. So she said with a smile, "What's this, sister? You suddenly look at me. Could it be that I'm the beautiful scenery you mentioned? Do you want to compose a poem to praise me? Sigh... Sister, you wouldn't be... Don't dare to think so. I only have eyes for the Prince."
Hearing Chu Qing's shameless and arrogant words, Xu Xin felt a tightness in her chest and almost spat out blood in anger.
Taking several deep breaths, Xu Xin managed to calm down her impulse to kill Chu Qing. Forcing herself to smile politely, she said, "Sister, I know you've always been talented. How about you compose a poem on the spot to liven things up?"
This sounded almost the same as asking a singing girl in a restaurant to sing a song to liven things up.
When the others heard this, they all became interested.
After all, they had never heard that the Princess of Ning was talented. And the Chu family was just a merchant family. How outstanding a daughter could they educate?
Thinking of this, everyone was looking forward to seeing Chu Qing's reaction, like they were waiting to watch a good show.