The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

Before dawn the next day, everyone in the palace had already started to get busy.

Lu Yun sat in front of the dressing mirror, letting the lotus and tung blossoms play with her hair. Her hair was neatly piled up in a bun, and hairpins and jewelry were symmetrically arranged on either side. In the center was a jade hairpin with a blue phoenix in its mouth, and behind her hair was a fist-sized peony flower made of gold thread and translucent pink gauze.

She applied a light amount of rouge, lightly drew her eyebrows, her eyes were moving, and her demeanor was graceful.

Lu Yun picked up the bracelet on the table, put it on her wrist, and helped Cai He stand up. She said softly, "Let's go." After taking two steps with her proper demeanor, she lost her composure and winked at Cai He and the others, "Did I look decent just now?"

Cai He was helpless: "Master, it's getting late, let's go."

Lu Yun sighed. "I feel bad when I think about sitting with a bunch of strangers for a whole day, but I do have something important to do today. Let's go."

It was past midnight when guests began arriving one after another. When Lu Yun arrived at Mingde Hall, many ladies and young ladies were already seated inside, chatting and chatting with the princess.

"Princess Ning'an is here!"

As the voice fell, the chatter and laughter in the hall died down considerably, and everyone's eyes turned to the door. A cyan figure walked into the hall slowly and leisurely. Her hair was like clouds, her skin was white, her lips were cherry-like, her eyes were bright, her nose was beautiful, and her face was so perfect that there was no flaw to be found. Her beauty was far more beautiful than any other. Even more remarkable was her aura, which was definitely not what a teenage girl should have.

Mrs. Hui had a complicated look in her eyes. She was obviously the same age as many people present, but she was able to make others look worthless.

"Greetings, Princess Princess. Long live the princess." Lu Yun knelt and saluted. Her movements were smooth, steady and impeccable.

Everyone had only one thought in their minds: this was the noble lady of Kyoto. Born in a marquisate, personally conferred by the late Empress Dowager, she was close friends with Princess Roujia, and it was even rumored that she had some friendship with the current emperor.

Princess Gao smiled warmly. "Come, sit next to me." Lu Yun sat down as she was told. From the moment she entered the room, at least a dozen eyes had been scrutinizing her, either overtly or covertly. The most obvious was the girl in red behind the second woman from the lower left.

Lu Yun took a moment to glance over while sipping tea, and she knew it was her. Listening to the surrounding discussions, jealousy burned in her chest. Gong Jinjin's face was pale as she stared at her sleeves. A concubine's daughter from a lowly marquisate was worthy of being called a Kyoto noblewoman. She was just lucky to have been crowned a princess. She couldn't even compare to her in terms of jewelry.

Jiao Ying arrived neither early nor late. When she arrived at Mingde Hall, she saw the princess sitting at the top seat. She walked forward, paid her respects, and then sat aside.

"Yingying." A voice came from her ear. Jiao Ying took a deep breath and turned her head to look at her with a normal expression. "Miss Gong is here early."

Gong Jinjin didn't care about her alienation at all. She sat down beside her affectionately and took one of her arms. "Yingying, you are the only one in Dali City who has received a letter from the Princess. Can you introduce her to me?"

Jiao Ying endured the discomfort and tried to push her hand away, but she found that no matter how hard she tried, the hand on her arm would not leave, as if it had decided to take advantage of her today.

Gong Jinjin remained calm and said softly, "Yingying, please, just consider it as helping me this time."

But Jiao Ying could see some viciousness in those bright eyes, and she couldn't help but shudder. "Gong Jinjin, you——"

"Just take it as your agreement." Gong Jinjin pulled the person up from his seat. Some people had already noticed the commotion here and cast curious glances.

Jiao Ying's eyes turned slightly red. She took a deep breath to suppress the humiliation in her heart and walked forward step by step.

Lu Yun put down the teacup and placed her hands on her knees.

"Gong Jinjin, I greet the Princess." Gong Jinjin rushed to pay her respects and before Lu Yun could speak, she stood up and said jokingly, "Yingying didn't know that I had already met the Princess before, and she insisted on bringing me to see you."

In front of the princess and other ladies, Jiao Ying could only nod.

"If Miss Gong hadn't told me, I would have forgotten it."

Gong Jinjin felt that the person before her was completely different from the one she had seen on the mountain. The only thing that remained unchanged was his eyes. Ignoring the ominous feeling in her heart, Gong Jinjin tilted her head and raised a hand to touch her hair. Layers of sleeves fell away, revealing a green jade bracelet on her white wrist. It was moist and translucent, with an icy feel.

It attracted the attention of almost everyone in the hall.

Even Princess Gao couldn't help but take a few more glances at it, exclaiming in admiration, "Jinjin, this bracelet is truly rare. I seem to have seen it somewhere before."

Gong Jinjin said softly, "Your Majesty, I am truly humbled by your compliments. I am simply lucky. In terms of precious jade, no jade in all of South Vietnam can compare to the Chunzi jade in your hand."

Princess Gao smiled and turned around to continue listening to the ladies talking.

Gong Jinjin achieved her goal and turned to leave. Jiao Ying lowered her eyes, her fingers trembling beneath her sleeves. Gong Jinjin had gone to great lengths to uncover this secret just to steal the princess's limelight. How would she face the princess again? How would the princess view her if she knew?

Jiao Ying felt despair.

"Miss Yingying."

Jiao Ying looked up and stammered, "Princess?"

Lu Yun got down from her seat and brought her to her side, smiling brightly, "Please sit for a while."

Jiao Ying was nervous, but she did as she was told.

Lu Yun looked forward and said, "Miss Gong, could you please come over here for a moment?"

Gong Jinjin, who was surrounded by several people and flattered by them, had no choice but to stand up and walked respectfully to the princess. Everyone's eyes fell on the nobleman in front of them again.

The princess stretched out a hand and pulled up Miss Gong's wrist, pushing aside her sleeves to reveal a full green jade bracelet underneath. Just as everyone was puzzled, the princess slowly lifted her own sleeves, revealing a full green jade bracelet that was as bright as Miss Gong's.

Everyone's eyes widened in astonishment. What was going on? Nanyue was rich in jadeite, and the ladies present were all either wealthy or noble. Naturally, they understood that only jade bracelets taken from the same piece of material could be identical in both quality and color!

Gong Jinjin was horrified. She subconsciously looked at Jiao Ying, furious. How dare you, bitch, lie to me!

"What a coincidence." Mrs. Hui stood up in surprise, looked at everyone and smiled with her hands covering her mouth. "I never thought that my Jinjin would have such a fate with the princess. It's really a great blessing."

Princess Gao's eyes darkened slightly, and she said nothing.

Gong Jinjin also reacted and tried to retract her hand but found that her wrist was firmly clamped and she could not move at all. So she forced out a tearful look and looked at Princess Gao, saying, "My Lady Princess, you hurt Jinjin."

Lu Yun let go of her hand, a look of guilt on her face. "Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment." She turned her head to look at Princess Gao and dropped a bombshell. "Your Majesty, actually, these bracelets of mine are a pair."

The sound is neither too loud nor too soft, but it ensures that everyone can hear it.

"This son and I share a deep bond. After obtaining this pair of bracelets in Nanyue, I kept one for myself and sent the remaining one to Kyoto seven days ago." His voice was unhurried, yet several people broke into cold sweats. "My eldest sister will be entering the Imperial Palace next year. This is barely an advance congratulations."