Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Targeted at the Victory Banquet
A few days later, the imperial palace blazed with lanterns and bright silk, drenched in festival cheer.
Chu Tian Tian’s victory banquet had been arranged with obsessive care by the Empress—under the Retired Emperor’s “subtle” hints, which were about as subtle as a gong.
The scale was unprecedented, grander even than the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.
Nearly the entire court received gilt-edged invitations. Any household with children of the right age got one.
That day, once court dismissed, officials streamed out in full regalia, dragging along their finely dressed wives and children, and flowed in a loud, bustling river toward the imperial garden.
Inside the Cold Palace, Chu Tian Tian wore the splendid outfit the Empress had ordered the Palace Administration Bureau to rush-make for her.
Her upper robe was shimmering cloud-brocade, embroidered with lifelike butterflies threading through golden blossoms. Her skirt was layered gauze, pale as moonlight—when she walked, it rippled and glittered, as if starlight had spilled along her hem.
A pearl-studded sash cinched her waist. A delicate phoenix coronet of red gold and kingfisher feathers rested on her head.
With it all, her small, jade-pale face looked even more noble—like an immortal child stepping out of a painting.
Consort Li’s eyes were red-rimmed as she smoothed her daughter’s collar again and again.
Her voice caught, thick with relief. “Sweetie, you’re so beautiful—like a little fairy. Even though Mother can’t attend your celebration banquet, I’m happy for you. I’ll keep Her Majesty the Empress’s kindness in my heart. Be good and come back soon, okay?”
Chu Tian Tian rose on tiptoe and planted a loud kiss on Consort Li’s cheek.
Just then, a palace attendant called from outside, “His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived—!”
Crown Prince Chu Cheng Xuan came to fetch her in person.
He wore his solemn apricot-yellow robe as always. The moment he saw his little imperial sister dressed up, amazement flashed through his eyes—then melted into pure doting.
He smiled and offered his hand. “Sweetie, come on. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
The imperial garden had been transformed into a dream.
A grand stage stood beside the waterside pavilion, and faint strings and flutes drifted through the air. Most striking of all was the seating the Empress had arranged across the garden’s widest stretch: soft Persian carpets spread over the ground, low tables set in neat, artful rows.
Around them, rare peonies and tree peonies bloomed in dense clusters, their fragrance lush and heavy.
Chu Tian Tian arrived hand-in-hand with the Crown Prince. Before she could even take it all in, the Eldest Prince stepped forward with his prepared gift—an exquisite famed inkstone.
“Congratulations on entering Sun-Chasing Class, ninth imperial sister.”
Chu Tian Tian hadn’t even opened her mouth to thank him when a sharp, mocking voice sliced in.
Shi Mei You swayed forward, bowed to the Crown Prince and the Eldest Prince, then pointed at the inkstone as her voice rose with open malice. “Eldest Imperial Brother, that fine Duanxi old-pit inkstone of yours—giving it to ninth sister is casting pearls into the mud. What a waste!”
“Who doesn’t know our Ninth Princess grew up running wild among commoners? The characters she writes—tsk, tsk—look ten times worse than chicken scratches in a muddy yard! That inkstone is completely wasted on her!”
The Crown Prince’s expression sank at once. Chu Cheng Yan’s face went cold as well.
Chu Tian Tian had only just begun learning to write. Ugly handwriting was the most normal thing in the world.
But Chu Tian Tian blinked her big, innocent eyes and, in the sweetest baby voice, delivered words sharp enough to draw blood.
“Tian Tian’s writing can be practiced,” she said brightly. “But Mei You sister… you were born ugly.”
“Ugly writing can be fixed. An ugly face? You’d have to crawl back into the womb and get remade.”
She tilted her head, as if thinking hard, then added even more sweetly, “Oh—actually, even a remake might not save you.”
The Crown Prince choked—and then burst out laughing.
He truly hadn’t expected her mouth to be this ruthless.
At least he wasn’t worried she’d get bullied.
“Y-you!” Shi Mei You shook with rage. And when she remembered her recent string of bad luck—choking on water, gagging on food, sores on her tongue—new hate and old grudges surged together until she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She wailed and broke into loud sobs.
Pointing at Chu Tian Tian as if she’d been wronged by the heavens, she cried, “Waaah… Crown Prince Brother! Eldest Prince! Look at her! I was kindly reminding her that ugly handwriting should be practiced, and she—she humiliated me in public and even cursed me to die!”
“Just because His Majesty favors her, she can bully people like this?!”
The crowd stirred.
A few noble ladies whispered behind their handkerchiefs. “She really was raised among commoners. What a crude mouth…”
“At such a young age, throwing her weight around—she even dares insult a commandery princess…”
“Prince Gong Manor’s face is being trampled…”
“Who dares bully my lord?!”
A clear, ringing voice cracked through the noise.
Qin Rui charged in like a small cannonball and planted himself between Chu Tian Tian and Shi Mei You, his little face drawn tight. “Demon! Is it you causing trouble again?!”
Shi Mei You heard him and, thinking reinforcements had arrived, cried even harder. “Qin Rui brother! It’s her! She called me—”
Chu Tian Tian opened her mouth to explain, but Qin Rui suddenly flung out a hand, puffed up his chest, and shouted as if he were onstage.
“Hah! My lord, no need to speak! With my Old Sun’s fiery golden eyes, I’ve already seen through this white-boned demon’s true face! I’ll smash this menace in one blow and send her to the West to meet Buddha!”
He lifted an imaginary staff and roared, “Take my staff—!”
Then, right in front of everyone, he began swinging his self-invented “golden cudgel method” around Shi Mei You with loud whooshes, striding in circles like he meant to vanquish evil on the spot.
It looked absurdly convincing—like a child who truly believed he could beat demons into submission.
A wave of laughter rolled through the guests. Even stiff-necked court officials had to clamp their mouths shut, shoulders trembling.
Shi Mei You nearly exploded. Her face turned a dark, ugly red. “Qin Rui! Are you sick?!”
“Children from martial families really are vulgar,” someone muttered with a sneer.
Old General Qin’s face darkened. He stepped forward, clearly ready to drag his embarrassing grandson away by the collar.
“Old General Qin, wait.”
A calm, steady teenage voice rang out.
The crowd parted as Li Zi Yu—eldest son of the Li family of the Hanlin Academy, a famed child prodigy—walked forward with unhurried steps.
He wore a simple blue robe. His temperament was cool and upright like bamboo, and the moment he appeared, attention snapped to him as if hooked.
Li Zi Yu bowed slightly to Old General Qin. “Young Master Qin’s heart is pure. He saw injustice and stepped in. His manner may be lively, but his intent is praiseworthy and his courage worth encouraging. Old General, there is no need to blame him harshly.”
Then his gaze cut to Shi Mei You. The softness vanished. His eyes sharpened like a blade, and when he spoke, each sentence landed clean and hard.
“The Book of Rites says, ‘A gentleman does not lose himself in step, face, or tongue.’”
“Commandery Princess Mei You spoke out of turn first—and with far too little propriety.”
“The Ninth Princess has been in school for how many days? Unsteady handwriting is only natural. To mock her for it is no act of a gentleman—it sounds like the wagging tongue of the marketplace.”
“And worse, you twist black into white and accuse the Ninth Princess of bullying by status?”
“The Analects says, ‘When you see the unworthy, examine yourself within.’ The Ninth Princess pointed out that the commandery princess’s appearance is flawed. Her words were blunt, but they were true.”
“Yet the commandery princess refuses to reflect, and instead wails in public, hiding behind tears to muddy the truth. How is that any different from Dong Shi copying Xi Shi? Such behavior makes scholars ashamed to share a room with it.”
When Li Zi Yu finished, the entire garden dropped into dead silence.
The noble ladies who’d been whispering moments ago felt their faces burn. Handkerchiefs twisted so hard they nearly tore.
Shi Mei You froze completely. Even her tears seemed to jam in her throat, forgotten before they could fall.
She stared at Li Zi Yu, shock and humiliation flooding her proud eyes.
This child prodigy—so lofty that even her elder brother’s personal invitation couldn’t move him—had just publicly carved her to pieces with words meant to kill the heart.
For Chu Tian Tian.
For that “crude little brat.”
Why…?
Why?