The Rebirth of a Daughter: My Lord, I Will Never Be a Concubine

Ling Er was stunned. He looked at Xing Jian and hesitantly refused, "I'm really sorry, I won't lend you this sword..."

"Give her—"

His voice was clear, and he spoke slowly and gently.

Everyone was stunned and couldn't believe that the dignified and aloof Mr. Xing would actually lend his sword to a woman.

Ling Er was just like being struck by lightning, he stood there motionless, his eyes filled with shock.

What did he hear? His master actually wanted to borrow a sword from a woman!

Su Yanhua looked at the stunned Ling Er and snatched the sword away.

"Thank you."

She drew out the sword. The blade was made of black iron and was extremely thin. A golden cloud dragon was carved on the hilt. The blade was like autumn frost and extremely majestic.

The pale white figure was as light as a young swallow. Accompanied by the faint sound of the piano, the wrist gradually turned and the sword flashed as fast as lightning.

She thought back to her childhood martial arts days. Back then, unlike ordinary noble ladies who went out for fun and attended banquets, she spent her days practicing martial arts. Because her father hadn't given birth to a boy, he poured all his energy into her.

As a child, she envied Su Ruoxi, who played with the noble ladies, doing needlework, and whose faces were filled with smiles. If she didn't practice well one day, she would be punished by practicing for several days. Sometimes she would cry to her mother, and her mother would only say, "This is your father's expectation of you."

She didn't understand, nor did she want to understand. She practiced martial arts like this without any popularity, day after day, until her mother died. Her father was grieving over her mother's death, and after the seventh day of her mother's death, he no longer cared about her martial arts practice until she met Mo Cerong.

"Sister, I heard that Prince Mo doesn't like women who practice martial arts. He likes gentle women."

With just that one sentence, she stopped practicing martial arts and turned around to learn poetry, calligraphy, guzheng, and embroidery, and she would study for her whole life. However, she never expected that her sincerity would end up in vain.

The woman was seen holding a flying phoenix, and in an instant, the red frost was dancing in the air. The sound of the piano was melodious and graceful. The sword was getting faster and faster, rolling up the petals on the ground. The sword was moving back and forth like a dragon, and the sound of the piano was high and compact. The sword was dancing faster and faster, and the petals were like a silver dragon entwined and swirling up and down, the petals fluttered, and the sound of the piano suddenly stopped.

The sword was raised like a flying blade, with the tip pointing at Mo Cerong.

"ha-"

Everyone was shocked.

The flying petals from the sword splashed into the teacup.

Mo Cerong stood straight, his eyes fixed on her, a layer of darkness covering his eyes.

Su Yanhua smiled and said, "I heard that Rose Tea is easy to make. Your Highness, please try it."

She put away her sword and saluted the Queen.

The Empress looked at Su Yanhua deeply and forced a smile: "This sword dance is as graceful as a flying dragon and as powerful as a startled wild goose. It is truly the best talent at the Hundred Flowers Banquet."

"reward--"

Su Yanhua thanked him: "Thank you, my lady."

She put away her sword, handed it to Reiji, and walked away.

Su Ruoxi looked at Su Yanhua who was walking towards her and forced a smile: "Sister, your sword dance is really good."

Su Yanhua ignored him, sat at her own seat and drank tea.

"Sister, why did you point at Prince Mo just now? It really scared me to death."

Su Yanhua smiled: "It's just a sword show, what are you worried about?"

"Worry about killing your sweetheart."

Su Ruoxi smiled awkwardly, her heart tensing: "Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? The prince is your fiancé, I don't have any thoughts at all."

Su Yanhua sneered and asked no more questions.

With Xu Qing and Su Yanhua's graceful dance at the beginning, the rest of the talents were mediocre and ended in a short while.

The banquet returned to its lively atmosphere. Just as Su Yanhua was quietly waiting, Mo Qinghe suddenly shouted, "What did you say? The Liuli Ring is lost?"

The sound successfully attracted everyone's attention, and the banquet became quiet.

"What's going on? Qinghe," the Queen asked, "how can you yell so loudly?"

Mo Qinghe's face was twisted. He looked at the Queen and said, "Mother, did I lose my glass ring?"

A few years ago, the Xing tribe presented high-quality red bead glass as tribute. The color was bright and the texture was translucent. Mo Qinghe liked it very much, so the emperor specially ordered someone to collect it and make a glass ring as a reward for Mo Qinghe when she came of age. Mo Qinghe loved this item very much. Now that it is lost, how can Mo Qinghe not be anxious?

The Empress's face was solemn, revealing a bit of majesty. She asked, "You never take off the glass ring, how did you suddenly lose it?"

"I don't know either. I went to the backyard to rest for a while and took off the glass ring. But when I went to the banquet, I found that I didn't bring the glass ring, so I asked the maid to get it. Who knew that the glass ring was gone." Mo Qinghe's face was full of anger.

The Hundred Flowers Banquet was hosted by the Queen. If something dirty happened at the banquet she organized, and it got out, she, the Queen, would really become the talk of the town. Where would she put her dignity as a Queen then?

Thinking of this, the Queen couldn't help but ask, "Has anyone of you been to the backyard and seen Qinghe's glass ring?"

Everyone was talking in low voices. Most of the ladies had gone to the backyard to rest, but no one dared to speak at this time.

"I wonder when Princess Qinghe discovered that the glass ring was missing?"

Wang Wanning stood up and couldn't help asking.

The maidservant beside Mo Qinghe replied, "Madam, the princess didn't enter until after the banquet had begun. It must have been lost before the banquet."

Hearing this, Wang Wanning couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and said to the Queen, "Queen, before the banquet, most of the noble ladies rested in the backyard. The princess's glass ring was still there at that time. So the princess's glass ring must have been lost during the banquet. The person left during the banquet and went to the backyard to take the glass ring."

After that, the ladies began to ask questions and talk to each other, and the banquet was bustling with activity.

Wang Wanning raised her voice: "Everyone, there's no need to guess. I was paying attention to the banquet just now. There was only one person who left the banquet, and that was—"

"Su Yanhua!"

Su Yanhua raised her eyes and looked at the smug faces.

Su Yanhua, let me see how you defend yourself.

Everyone was in an uproar, and they all looked at the woman who was sitting calmly. Even so, she was not in a hurry and remained upright.

She stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I did go to the backyard."

"What are you doing in the backyard? That's where the ladies rest before the banquet." The queen asked.

"Your Highness, during the banquet, I accidentally spilled some wine on my dress. To avoid being disrespectful in front of you, I asked the maid to lead me to the backyard to change clothes."

"What's the maid's name?"

Su Yanhua replied, "Silver Frost."

Yin Shuang, who was mentioned by name, knelt down hurriedly.

"Tell me, what happened?"

Yin Shuang replied, "The Second Miss of the Su Family asked me to take the First Miss of the Su Family to the backyard to change her clothes. After she changed, she left first, and when I came out, she was nowhere to be seen."

Mo Qinghe stood up angrily: "You are so good, Su Yanhua, you actually dared to steal my things, come and capture me--"

"Qinghe—" the Queen scolded, "How can you detain him when the matter hasn't been thoroughly investigated?"

"Mother, everything is clear now. Su Yanhua was the only one out at the banquet. If she wasn't the one who stole it, who else could have done it?"

Wang Wanning tilted her head and chuckled, "Yes, Queen, and Yin Shuang said that Su Yanhua disappeared after she left the house. So where did Su Yanhua go?"

Now there is only one person who can testify to Su Yanhua that she has never been to the princess's courtyard, but she doesn't want to name that person.

"Your Highness, the time it took me to change clothes and return from the time my dress was soaked by the wine spilled on it was only a few minutes. The princess's courtyard is located directly south of the banquet hall. If I were to steal something, I would have to go around the courtyards of several other noble ladies, and it would take over ten minutes to go back and forth. May I ask, Madam Wang, how would I find the time to commit the crime?"

Wang Wanning glanced at her with disdain. "A few minutes is not much different from ten minutes. If you want to steal, you can find a way."

Faced with such rude remarks, Su Yanhua forced a smile and said, "Madam Wang, what you said is not without reason. Things that used to take more than ten minutes to complete can indeed be completed in just a few minutes if the speed is accelerated."

"So, I should have run to the princess's courtyard, found it accurately, got the glass ring, and then ran back. Madam, that's what you think, right?"