Liu Lanyi

Beauties of Nations

Chapter 26

Liu Lanyi

As fast as she could, Liufei greeted the many noble's wives and daughters as they come up to make conversation with her. Her eyes have been on the Zhang sisters since the incident. If her royal mother hadn't glared at her in warning, she would have push through this crowd of people and join them. When a chance to break free from the crowd finally came, Liufei quickly make her way over to the unsuspecting Zhang sisters.

"The two of you are perhaps the only ones who are here to actually view the flowers," Liufei spoke up, startling the two sisters who had their back to her.

The Zhang sisters turn their attention from the peonies flower to the person that approaches them. Realizing that it was the princess, they both bow to her in greeting. Liufei wave away their formalities, "There's no need to be so formal. My name is Liufei, what are your names again?"

"Your Highness, I am Zhang Yueyin and my sister is Zhang Meiyin. Is there something we can help you with?" Yueyin inquired, wary that some of the crowd is now looking their way. They were all probably wondering why the princess is talking to the two people that everyone is trying to avoid.

"Drop the formality, call me Liufei. I'll just get to the point. I like the two of you, let's be friends."

"Huh?" the two Zhang sisters stare at the princess, confused.

"What? Is it so surprising that I want to be your friend?" Liufei asks.

Meiyin quickly recover and reply, "Uh… yes, after what happened earlier… why do you think everyone is avoiding us?"

Liufei glared in the crowd's direction and they all immediately turn their attention elsewhere, pretending as if they weren't trying to listen in. "Do I look like I care about what those shallow people think?"

"But what about the Empress?" Meiyin asks.

Liufei snicker at her question, "You didn't care about what the Empress think earlier, why care about it now?"

Meiyin laugh out loud, "Oh I think we're going to be very good friends."

Yueyin shook her head at the two of them but then let out a smile. She thought that as long as they're happy, who is she to stop their path from crossing. She has heard quite a bit about the princess and how different she is from the empress. Yueyin is happy that despite what happened, the princess still chose to be friends with them. She only hopes that this newly found friendship won't start bringing them unwanted trouble. She looks towards the crowd and saw hateful and jealous glances being sent their way. She could only sigh and make sure to warn the princess and her sister, "Princess, it is our honor to be friends with you. However, I hope that someday when all of us truly come to value this friendship, we'll also realize how to protect it better."

"I might seem spontaneous but this wasn't a spontaneous decision. I don't offer my friendship to just anyone. Since I offered it, I will surely protect it," Liufei reply, hoping to ease Yueyin's worries.

"Just ignore my sister. Sometimes she's too uptight and forget to just enjoy the moment. If it doesn't work out later on then it doesn't work out," Meiyin loop her arms around Liufei's, "For now, why don't you share with me some fun and interesting things in this palace?"

"Why don't you tell me what you were doodling on the table earlier instead?"

"Oh, you saw that?"

Just like that, the two of them started chatting happily as Yueyin trails behind them.

---

Qin Chunhua angrily crushed the chrysanthemum that she passed by. After witnessing the princess befriending the Zhang sisters, Chunhua couldn't stand it and left the main event ground. She made her way to a more isolated part of the imperial garden and vented out her anger on the flowers she passes by. Xiaojing, Chunhua's personal maid, follow behind her and making sure that traces of the destroyed flowers were hidden away.

"What is wrong with that Princess?!" Chunhua asks angrily. She doesn't understand why the princess didn't approach her. She stood out the most amongst all the candidates there, and even some of the consorts were vying for her attention. Chunhua have heard of how loved the princess is by her brothers and she had hope to befriend the princess due to this. She was hopeful when the princess said that she was looking forward to her performance, but it turns out she was just being used as a distraction.

Thinking back at what happened, Chunhua became even more furious and she kicks the at the ground. Unfortunately, the movement cause her to lose balance and she was about to fall backwards. Xiaojing was busy cleaning up after Chunhua's mess, by the time she heard Chunhua's surprised yelp she was too far away to catch her.

Suddenly, someone rushes forward and reaches out to save her from the fall. The person grabs onto Chunhua's arm and pull her forward to steady her. Once she was stable, the person let go of her arm. Chunhua looks up to thank the person but only to be at a lost for word. She had met her fair share of handsome men, but this guy was different. She can feel blood rushes to her cheeks and know that it's rude to keep staring, but she just couldn't look away.

"What was it about the Princess? Did something happen?" The person asks but Chunhua didn't answer.

"Second Royal Brother, I think she might still be too dazed after almost falling. Let her calm down before inquiring her about Feifei," Chunhua finally noticed the other man that was standing behind the one that saved her.

Xiaojing quickly bow down to the two men, "Greetings Your Highnesses, thank you for saving our young miss."

Hearing Xiaojing's voice, Chunhua recovers herself and also bow to them, "Greetings Your Highnesses."

"Young miss, are you alright now?" The one behind the second prince asks. Chunhua nodded, eyes still on the prince that saved her. "We were on our way to the flower viewing event when we overheard you mention something about the Princess. Did something happen?"

Chunhua shook her head, she couldn't tell the two princes how stupid she thinks their sister is and risk leaving a bad impression.

The two princes look at her confused and decided to just go see for themselves. They bid her farewell before continuing on their way to the event space.

---

Liufei was called away by the empress awhile later to introduce her to some people. She didn't want to go as she was not interested in knowing anybody else besides the Zhang sisters. She wasn't afraid of being on her royal mother's bad side and would have ignore the summoned if Yueyin hadn't insist. Liufei reluctantly left to join the empress and the crowd.

The Zhang sisters were left to themselves in their own corner. Meiyin was complaining to her sister about having to attend this boring event. Suddenly, three of the young misses from different families approached the sisters.

"What's so good about being famous when you act like a disgraced," one of the young misses (young miss one) direct her comment at the Zhang sisters, then turn to her two friends, "Let me tell you, this is prime example of decent on the outside but rotten on the inside."

Her two friends join her in laughing out loud. "Oh, I feel so bad for Madame Zhang. This is the first time she takes them anywhere, and yet ended up so embarrassed that she has to kissed up to others to not be excluded," young miss two said.

"Maybe this is why they've never attended any social events before. It's because they're such an embarrassment that the Zhang clan doesn't dared to show them to anyone," young miss three said. The three of them continues to laugh at the sisters.

Meiyin turns to her sister, "Jie, do you hear something?" Yueyin smile and shook her head. "Maybe it's better if you don't. I wonder why the imperial garden would have so many ugly and stinky bees. They keep buzzing annoyingly thinking they're so great when in truth they can't even be compare to a beetle," Meiyin said, not caring to even look their way. Yueyin let out a light laugh at her sister's comment.

"Zhang Meiyin! How dare you call us ugly and stinky?!" the three young misses shouted angrily.

Meiyin finally look towards them. She shrugs, "What? You can insult others but doesn’t allow others to insult you back? Besides, I said the bees were ugly and stinky. I didn't say it's you. It isn't my problem if you just want to self-claim that you're ugly and stinky." She then let out a sarcastic sigh, "Don't you know that true treasures are kept hidden and only fake things are displayed outside for people to see? It's very disgraceful and immature to be so jealous of others. You should just accept what you don't have." She then turns back to Yueyin, "Jie, I feel so bad for the three of them. At least we have good looks going for us. What are they going to do when they're rotten from inside out?"

Yueyin pats her sister's shoulder and say in a regretful tone, "Meimei, we can't save everyone."

The three young misses were red with anger. They flew into a rage and raises their hands, wanting to slap the Zhang sisters. Meiyin didn't think they would dare to be violent inside the palace, caught off guard, she was a bit slow when blocking them. She managed to catch the hands of young miss two and three but couldn't reach young miss one in time. She didn't want to make a big scene but she was not about to watch her sister get hit. While still holding onto the hands of two of them, she raises her leg and was about to kick young miss one away. However, someone appear in the nick of time and block her kick and grab young miss one's hand.

"Are you sure you want to conduct violence inside the palace?" the stranger ask young miss one. The three young misses went pale and angrily yanks their hands back. They left just as quickly as they came.

Yueyin looks at the stranger that had just saved her. She gave the person a look full of gratitude before turning to her sister. Meiyin straightens herself out while Yueyin checks her for injuries. Meiyin assures her sister that she was fine before turning to face the stranger. She didn't use her full strength but for this person to be able to block her kick, this person definitely knows martial arts. The Zhang sisters bow politely to the stranger that had helped them, "Thank you for your help."

The young miss that had came to their rescue nodded at them, "Anyone would have help if they witness injustice."

Meiyin glance towards the crowd and said, "Not everyone would."

"May we know the name of our benefactor?" Yueyin asks.

The young miss waves her politeness away, "I am Liu Lanyi and please don’t think too much of it. I only stopped a scene from breaking out and possibly making this event longer than it needs to be. There's personal gain involve."

"You are the daughter of General Liu?" Yueyin asks once she heard Lanyi's name.

Lanyi nodded, "You knew my father?"

Yueyin smile and nodded, "General Liu is a good friend of my father. I've the honor of meeting him when he visited our residence."

"I see, I hope he wasn't too much of a bother."

"Not at all. General Liu is always pleasant company."

While Yueyin and Lanyi were chatting, Meiyin was wondering why Lanyi's name is so familiar. She's pretty sure she hasn’t met the person before. Then suddenly she remembers and excitedly surprising the other two, "You're that Liu Lanyi! The fourth rank on that fairies list!"

"Meiyin!" Yueyin scolded. She knew her sister hadn't meant to be rude but such a thing said can be misunderstood. Not everyone will be happy with someone who rank higher exclaiming their lower rank in excitement, even if it's rankings for a nonsense list.

"Sorry…I hadn't meant it that way…" Meiyin bite her lower lip nervously. That nonsense ranking list, as Yueyin always calls it, was a fun little discovery by Meiyin when she overheard Xiaolan and the other maids talking about it. Since then, whenever she's bored, she would have Xiaolan update her on the rankings of the list.

Liu Lanyi smiles, not at all bothered by it, "It's alright. I am aware of such a list circulating the city as another form of pastime for the people. So, I am ranked fourth? Who is ranking first?"

Meiyin look towards the crowd as young miss Qin and her personal maid rejoins the crowd. Lanyi follows her gaze, "Ah, so it's Qin Chunhua."

---

Just when Liufei was about to leave the empress' side to rejoin the Zhang sisters, she spotted two of her brothers in the distance. She ran over to them excitedly, "Lu ge! Xing ge!"

"Slow down Feifei or you'll fall," Yixing reminded her.

Luhan flicks her forehead lightly when she reaches them, "You should at least act properly during social events."

She sticks her tongue out at him, "You're one to talk, you don't even show up at all for social events."

"Guilty as charged," Luhan admitted. "Is everything alright? On our way over, we overheard…" before Luhan could finish asking Liufei an eunuch announce loudly the arrival of the emperor and the other princes.

Everyone gathers up and they all bow down to greet the emperor, "Greetings Your Majesty! Greetings Your Highnesses!"

Emperor Taizao walk over and gently eases empress Ziyi from her bow. He then addresses the crowd, "At ease."

After both the emperor and empress settle into their seats, Taizao once again spoke up, "Is everyone having a good time?"

"Yes, thank you Your Majesty," the crowd replied.

Taizao nodded, "Continue on then, don't mind me. I'm just dropping by to show support for the Empress since it's her first Flower Viewing event."

Ziyi smile gratefully at Taizao and the emperor return it with a quick smile of his own. Some people in the crowd started to chatter about how loved the empress is and how the emperor care for her just as much as he cares for the former empress. Hearing such words, Liufei frowned and glanced warily at Luhan. She knows these kinds of chatters is why he hates attending social gatherings. She just feels so guilty every time she see the sadness in his eyes at the mentioned of his late mother.

After greeting her royal father and her other brothers, she grabs Luhan's and Yixing's hand and drag them through the crowd. She wanted to drag Yifan along too but unfortunately, he was already taken away by their royal mother.  Her fifth and seventh brother were also dragged away by their mothers. Her sixth brother is a natural with the ladies and he weaved himself around the crowd with no problem. She looked sadly after Yifan knowing that he'll be introduced to bad candidates. She let out a sigh and then with a determined look she drags her second and third brother away. If she can't save her other brothers from a bad match, at least she can save these two.

"Yueyin! Meiyin!" Liufei calls out to the Zhang sisters once she reaches the spot that they had retreated to after greeting the emperor.

The sisters look towards her and when they noticed who she had with her, they immediately bow again, "Greetings Your Highnesses."

"What did I say about formalities?" Liufei reprimanded them, "Here, I want to introduce my brothers to you."

Four pairs of eyes look questioningly at Liufei, but she just ignores them and continue excitedly, "This is my Second Royal Brother, Luhan. This is my Third Royal Brother, Yixing." She turns towards the two princes, "Lu ge, Xing ge, this is my new friends Zhang Yueyin and Zhang Meiyin."

The two princes were greatly surprised since this is the first time their sister ever introduces anyone to them as her friends.

The Zhang sisters were also surprised. They're not sure what the princess' intention is but they wanted to make sure she understands something. They pulled her aside and Yueyin whisper to her, "Princess, while we do know the intention behind this event but that's not why we're here."

Meiyin also whisper, "We're just here to represent our clan. What are you doing introducing your brothers to us for? Do you feel that people don't hate us enough already or something?"

Liufei pouted. So they weren't here to get marry…

She glances back towards her two brothers who stood there awkwardly waiting for them. Liufei smile brightly after making up her mind. The sisters don't want to get marry now doesn't mean they don't want to later on. She's sure that her charming second and third brother can win their heart.

"That wasn't my intention at all. Nothing is wrong with having more friends, right?" Liufei said to the sisters.

The Zhang sisters narrowed their eyes suspiciously at her. Yueyin think to herself and let out an internal sigh just having you as friend is already a world of headache on its own princess. They didn't want to keep the two princes waiting so they went back to them.

"Are the two of you Official Zhang's daughters?" Luhan asks.

The sisters finally take a good look at the two princes. Yueyin was surprised when she realized that he's the person she met on the bridge at the lantern festival. She chuckles internally, thinking how mischievous the royal siblings are. Neither the prince or the princess seems to follow the rules very well.

Seeing that Yueyin didn't answer, Meiyin nodded.

"Official Zhang used to be our mentor and we respect him greatly. It is an honor to finally meet his daughters. How have he been?" Luhan said.

"Father is well and it is our honor to meet the Royal Princes," Yueyin reply.

While Liufei is wondering which sister matches with which brother. Yueyin is just glad that the second prince hadn't recognized her. Meiyin just can't wait for the event to be over, while the third prince just watches everyone's interaction with a smile.

 


Author's Notes:

Wah! 2 more upvotes! Thank you Fireflies123 and LetterK318 for the upvotes!

This story reached 30 subs now! I'm so happy. Thank you everyone :)

Remember that both last time and this time, Yueyin had a face veil on.

Ahh, I think I'm finally done with key character introductions. That sure took a while. Hopefully we can move on to some big plots now.

Don't know if any of you are affected by the Coronavirus situation that's currently going on, but I hope that all of you and your love ones are safe. Please pay close attention to your physical and mental health. Stay safe and take good care of yourselves.

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Comments

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SelSelss2001 #1
Chapter 45: Thank you for this update~ we really appreciate your effort author-nim!
MissMong24 #2
Chapter 44: Oh my god please take your time to recover fully!!
Fireflies123 #3
Chapter 37: I’m glad that Yueyin in her own subtle way isn’t letting the cutthroat harshness in the imperial palace defeat her. She always shown that she was a bright woman who’s strong suit is strategizing. I’m also happy that when I’m doubt Liufei always has her back. I can’t wait to see how she might turn the palace upside down and give Ziyi a run for her money.
I kind of feel a bit bad for Yifan. I know it’s good to put your guard up especially when the position of crown prince and king is a competitive and life threatening gamble as their are always people willing to do anything to get your spot but I feel as if he does need to learn to trust a bit more and not turn Luhan and Yixing away as much.
Thank you so much for the update, I really enjoyed reading this chapter. Stay safe.
Fireflies123 #4
Chapter 35: Yueyin best and strongest girl. I know she’ll do great things. Now for who she’ll end up between Yifan and Luhan is still a bit ominous but I know she’ll do well in either of their hands despite Ziyi's plans. Tao and Meiyin..... absolutely beautiful but what will happy when she finds out that Tao is a guard for the third prince. I wonder if Kai and Sehun will ever face a point of reconciliation but to be very honest it’s probably not going to be anytime soon. Chanbaek's relationship is very rocky...my guess is maybe there was a betrayal.

Thank you for another great chapter. Stay safe.
Velvetbubble
#5
Chapter 3: I’m on the third chapter and I’m just wondering. Is there two female protagonists? Like for Exo? all of its kind of confusing right now
Fireflies123 #6
Chapter 34: Wow even with the slight heads up I truly do not see that coming either from Ziyuan. A lot of people want the emperor dead huh. Also my heart aches for the Zhang sisters and everyone else at the house. Was Ziyaun actually trying to do something good when he proposed Weiman's daughters should reside in the palace or was this another way although a bit unconventional for him to get closer with his ploy against the emperor? Also I’m guessing Ziyuan isn’t working with the Junmyeon.

Thank you you for the update. Stay safe.
Velvetbubble
#7
Chapter 2: Soooooo...Mulan? Or maybe her charade won’t last long Or it’ll last til she meets everyone and then they’re like ‘oh a girl’
MissMong24 #8
Chapter 33: Ngl when i read the title I thought the emperor was the one who’s gonna go...

So it seems like now the zhang sisters are gonna be taken into the palace. Wonder how Liufei will play a part in this whole story now!
Fireflies123 #9
Chapter 33: I feel bad for Liufei hopefully one day she’s able to figure out from her mother why she treats her that way. Lanyi is an interesting character too and I’m glad she didn’t give in to Mis Qin.

This last part made me tear up. Poor Yueyin and Meiyin they’re gonna be devastated. Weimin truly was the best father and even though we didn’t see much of him he was one of my favorite characters. Tbh for some reason I was expecting Ziyi to pass off first so this was a bit of a surprise. I wonder what this will mean for the Zhang sisters naturally I’m assuming they will they go to live with their uncle or will the Emperor intervene and take them to the palace as way to make it up to the late Weimin ( May he Rest In Peace). But then again Weimin never wanted his daughters to get involved in the palace life so if the Emperor will take them it’d probably have him rolling in his grave. Hopefully they go to their uncle but I hope they don’t get married off especially to the wrong men. Good luck to the Zhang sisters.

Thank you for the update. I really enjoyed both chapters. Stay safe.