Chapter 4
As for how I had offended Princess Leyi, that had been a disaster I did nothing to deserve.
It all began because she fancied the young lord of the Cui family and kept trying to entice him.
The Cuis prided themselves on their impeccable conduct. They wanted nothing to do with a woman as dissolute as Leyi.
At a banquet, she once again asked Madam Cui about her son’s marriage prospects.
Madam Cui dared not voice her anger.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. All we hope is that he finds a modest, dutiful wife.”
Then she turned and noticed me sitting at the far end of the tables.
“Minister Li’s girl seems quite suitable.”
How could she speak so casually of a girl’s marriage? Whether anything came of it or not, such talk could damage her reputation.
Driven into a corner, Madam Cui had chosen me as her shield: an adopted daughter raised in the countryside, with no standing of her own in the capital.
From then on, Princess Leyi considered me an enemy.
For the first time in my life, I received an invitation to a palace banquet hosted by the empress dowager.
Before it began, maids led me into a palace room to change. They said every female guest was required to put on palace attire.
I recognized the clothes at once. They belonged to a palace dancer.
Leyi thought a country girl like me would know nothing. She meant to make a fool of me and humiliate me thoroughly.
The maids urged me on. They would not let me leave until I changed.
Without betraying a thing, I put on the dancer’s clothes and even turned in a little circle for them.
“Do I look nice, sisters?”
They covered their mouths and giggled.
“Beautiful. Wear that to the banquet and you’ll outshine every other lady there.”
Pretending not to hear the mockery, I followed them out in apparent delight.
Halfway there, we encountered Princess Qingping, the empress dowager’s own daughter.
The maids quietly drew aside, trying to hide me behind them. But I suddenly pointed at Qingping and called out cheerfully.
“Sister, are you going to change into palace attire too? You’d better hurry, or you’ll be breaking the rules!”
The maids went white. They tried to drag me away, but it was too late.
Qingping frowned at me.
“Who are you? Why are you wearing a dancer’s clothes? And why haven’t you bowed to me?”
I dropped to my knees in alarm.
“I am Li Rujin, Minister Li’s adopted daughter. I didn’t know you were the princess. Please forgive me, Your Highness. These maids gave me these clothes. They said wearing palace attire was a rule for the banquet!”
Qingping glanced at the familiar faces now kneeling on the ground and understood at once.
She had never been on good terms with Leyi and particularly detested her bullying arrogance.
She immediately ordered her own maids to help me change, then took me straight to the empress dowager.
“Mother, Leyi has gone too far! Miss Li may be adopted, but she’s still a minister’s daughter. How could Leyi trick her into dressing as a dancer?”