Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

"Meier knows that she is of low status and is not worthy of wearing such fine jewelry, but this jade pendant is a relic of her late mother, so I dare not give it to my sister without permission."

Lin Xi and Wei Guannan looked in the direction of the sound and saw two young ladies, one blue and one gold, arguing under a lush flower tree not far away. Many young ladies who heard the noise gathered around them. The two looked at each other and stood up and walked towards the source of the sound.

"Don't act so weak. I just think your jade pendant looks familiar, so I want you to take it off and show it to me. If you don't want to, forget it. Don't act like I'm bullying you."

When she got closer, Lin Xi realized that the two people arguing were the heroine Cen Yan and her half-sister Cen Mei. Cen Yan was wearing a golden wide-sleeved shirt and had bright facial features. She was looking at Cen Mei, who was standing opposite her, with disdain.

Cen Mei was wearing a light blue wide-sleeved fairy dress. Although she had a pretty face, her figure was slender and her eyes were full of tears, which made people feel pity for her.

At this moment, her eyes were red and her body was trembling slightly, as if she had suffered a great injustice. She was so weak that she seemed as if she would faint in the next second. Compared with the aggressive Cen Yan standing opposite her, she looked even more pitiful.

"If you just want to take a look, I can just hold it in my hand and let you have a look. Why do you want me to take it off?" Cen Mei still had an expression that looked like she was about to cry, but the fingers that were holding the jade pendant tightly had turned slightly white due to excessive force.

"You're hanging it around your waist, and the sash is so short. Even if I hold it in my hand, do I have to kneel down to look at it?"

Cen Yan continued to press forward, and his arrogant attitude made the crowd unable to bear it any longer. A noblewoman wearing a lotus-colored long skirt and with narrow eyes could not help but say, "Cen Yan, you are too overbearing."

Hearing this, Cen Yan looked at the noble lady who was fighting for justice. After seeing her face clearly, he was stunned for a moment, but then he returned to his domineering look, "Chu Yue, this is my Cen family's family affair, don't get involved."

Seeing someone standing up for her, Cen Mei immediately looked at Chu Yue with gratitude, but soon acted embarrassed and said aggrievedly, "Sister Chu, don't quarrel with my elder sister because of me. I'm used to it at home."

Hearing her words, Chu Yue took a step forward and protected her behind him, comforting her softly, "Don't be afraid." Then he looked up and confronted Cen Yan, "If it happened in your Cen Mansion, it would naturally be your family affair, but now it's in the Princess's Mansion, and all the ladies are here. Are you going to bully my younger sister in public?"

"Oh! What a serious charge! I just thought her jade pendant was very similar to the one I lost, so I wanted her to take a look at it. If it wasn't mine, I would have returned it to her."

Seeing Chu Yue being so rude, Cen Yan also got a little angry and said tit for tat, "It was just a matter of convenience. If she didn't want to, I would have let it go. It's just a jade pendant, not a valuable thing. But now she is trying to cover up and use you as a shield. I have to take a look. My Cen family has always been upright. If there is anyone who has dirty hands, I will definitely not tolerate it!"

After saying that, he signaled his maid to pull Cen Mei away. Chu Yue naturally refused to let her, and Cen Mei's maid also hurried to protect her master.

Seeing the atmosphere between the few people getting more and more tense, Wei Guannan, who was beside Lin Xi, wanted to speak out to persuade them, but she was grabbed by Lin Xi after she took half a step. She turned around and looked at Lin Xi with a puzzled look. Lin Xi didn't say much, but just shook her head at her, indicating that she should wait and see. Although Wei Guannan was puzzled, she had just had a good chat with Lin Xi and knew Lin Xi well, so she suppressed her doubts and returned to Lin Xi's side.

Seeing that the three of them were about to start fighting, a purple-dressed noblewoman with a beautiful appearance and outstanding temperament stood up and said, "You three are all noble ladies from famous families. It is not proper for you to fight in public. Moreover, you are now in the Princess's residence. If the Princess hears about your behavior, you will definitely be severely reprimanded. His Majesty has always respected the Princess. If he knew that you were causing trouble in the Princess's residence, I am afraid that your father and brother's family would be implicated."

Her words were reasonable and she analyzed the pros and cons, causing everyone to nod their heads repeatedly. The three people who were just on edge could not help but stop what they were doing, but their eyes were still full of vigilance when they looked at each other.

The purple-robed noblewoman saw that the three of them had calmed down before she spoke again: "Shuwen just heard everything clearly and knows that the dispute between you three started because of a jade pendant. I think the crux of the matter lies here. If you three can trust me, then I will dare to be your guarantor. Please ask the second Miss Cen to take off the jade pendant and my maid will personally present it to the eldest Miss Cen for inspection. If the jade pendant is not Miss Cen's, please return it intact and apologize to your sister. If the jade pendant is indeed Miss Cen's lost item..."

Having said this, she paused for a moment before continuing, "That is indeed your family matter, but how to deal with it, please wait until today's banquet is over before discussing it among yourselves. Is that feasible?"

"Of course I trust Sister Lou, I have no objection." Cen Yan spoke first without hesitation. Lou Shuwen looked at Cen Mei and Chu Yue again, the two looked at each other, Cen Mei bit her lip and nodded slightly, Chu Yue naturally didn't say anything more.

So, in full view of everyone, Cen Mei took off the jade pendant from her waist and handed it to Lou Shuwen's maid, who bent over and took it with both hands, and then carefully held it in front of Cen Yan. Cen Yan took the jade pendant, stroked it carefully in his hand, and then raised it above his head, looking at it in the light for a long time, and suddenly smiled brightly and looked at Cen Mei opposite him.

All the noble ladies were confused and didn't understand why she suddenly laughed, but they saw Cen Yan holding the jade pendant in his hand and walking towards Cen Mei opposite him.

Chu Yue was afraid that she would harm Cen Mei, so she wanted to block her way, but Cen Yan bypassed her, walked in front of Cen Mei, and squatted down. Cen Mei subconsciously wanted to retreat, but Cen Yan stretched out his fingers to hook the belt. Cen Mei did not dare to move for a moment, and could only watch stiffly as Cen Yan's fingers flew and tied the jade pendant back to her waist.

After doing all this, Cen Yan stood up again, and without waiting for Cen Mei to say anything, she bowed to her. Her actions were humble, but the words that came out of her mouth made Cen Mei so angry that her eyes turned red. Cen Yan said, "It turned out that I was wrong. Such a person should be a good match for my sister. I was so sorry for being wrong." After saying that, without even looking at the reactions of the crowd, she waved her hand and left with her maid.

Her movements were so smooth that everyone did not come to their senses until Chu Yue reacted and stepped forward to comfort Cen Mei. They all thought that the aggressive Cen Yan would still be unreasonable even if she knew that the jade pendant was not hers, but they did not expect that she would admit her mistake so quickly.

But it was not entirely true that she admitted her fault. After all, the sarcasm in her words was too obvious. The noble ladies all grew up in the inner house, so who could fail to hear her sarcasm? But the matter was finally resolved. They comforted the tearful Cen Mei for a few words, and then dispersed in twos and threes to enjoy the scenery.

Lin Xi also took Wei Guannan's hand and was about to go back to the pavilion, but at this time the voice of the female official came from the gate of the garden, "The banquet is ready, please follow me, ladies."