青春期撞上更年期第1部

Zhang Qilan was stunned. Soon, she stood up and bowed sideways to Princess Yuyan. “I accidentally touched you. I’m really sorry.”

“Why are you so touchy?” Princess Yuyan stopped arguing and muttered to herself. Her words were not harsh, but everyone was looking at them. Their behavior was indeed suspicious.

Especially when hearing her last sentence, people couldn’t help but think of many things.

“Princess Yue made such a scene because she disliked Princess Chen, right?”

“But I heard Princess Yue had a good relationship with Princess Chen before she married?” Many clan relatives present looked at Zhang Qilan and Princess Yuyan thoughtfully.

Zhang Qilan blushed, though she had tried to look calm. Deep down, she felt resentful and regretful. Obviously, Princess Yuyan caused this trouble to take revenge on her.

“Princess Yue, please sit down and watch the ceremony first!” Princess Yuyan suddenly became well-behaved after muttering these words. Smiling, she reached out and pulled Zhang Qilan to sit with her. Meanwhile, she comforted Zhang Qilan softly, “I have never seen such a beautiful ceremony. You never witnessed such an impressive coming-of-age ceremony either, right? Does it make you think of yours?”

Zhang Qilan sat down and smiled. “It’s indeed appealing!”

Surprisingly, she suddenly became calm, as if nothing had happened. She even watched Shao Wanru enter the hall with a smile.

When they quieted down, everyone’s attention fell back on Shao Wanru again — she was the center of her coming-of-age ceremony today.

Princess Yuyan squinted at Zhang Qilan and curled her lips secretly. “She is burning with jealousy but pretends she doesn’t care. No one would believe it!”

Today, Rui’an Great Elder Princess hosted the coming-of-age ceremony for Shao Wanru. She gave a courteous and peaceful speech to the female guests present. When Rui’an Great Elder Princess finished speaking, her eyes turned red.

The host today should be Shao Wanru’s Mother. It was a pity that her Mother couldn’t make it. The only elder that Shao Wanru could rely on was Rui’an Great Elder Princess. Thinking of her daughter’s broken family, Rui’an Great Elder Princess felt sadness welling up in her heart.

The principal guest was a Princess of the royal family, while Qin Yiyan served as the master of ceremonies.

A girl will tie her hair in a bun with a hair clasp at the age of 15 to show that she has come of age. As a part of this ceremony, Qin Yiyan adjusted Shao Wanru’s hairpin to a perfect position. Then, Shao Wanru retreated to change her clothes. She took off her previous dress in different shades of light green and wore a long piece of lilac gauze. Inside there was an eight-sided silk skirt in pinkish-white like a lotus. Every step she took seemed to have made a lotus flower grow. The scene amazed all the women.

Shao Wanru was good-looking, and so were her clothes.

Some people had already inquired about her clothes. They all had the same idea when they heard they were from Princess Chen’s Butterfly Clothing Shop. Who didn’t want to buy a few sets of such exquisite clothes?

After the final salute, the ceremony was completed, and all the female guests came up to congratulate Princess Chen. Everyone knew it: though Princess Chen had married Prince Chen early, she was the youngest legal wife among the wives of the few Princes.

Infanta Yuan’an and Princess Yuyan got together again. They looked very intimate, talking and laughing as if nothing unusual had happened.

But Zhang Qilan was in a state of preoccupation. She stood aside with her eyes on Shao Wanru. Just like her, Shao Wanru had also married a Prince. However, Shao Wanru still looked dainty and feminine as a young girl. In contrast, she had matured a lot though she had only been married for a few days. Sadly, she did not want to become mature.

No one wanted to become mature overnight, but she had no other choices. She was Prince Yue’s legal wife but not the only woman of her husband in the mansion. But Shao Wanru was the only one in Prince Chen’s Mansion.

“Princess Yue,” Mo Qiuyi smiled and walked up to Zhang Qilan.

“Princess Mo!” Zhang Qilan said with a faint smile.

The competition between Mo Qiuyi and Princess Yuyan for the position of the legal wife hadn’t yet ended. Therefore, Mo Qiuyi was temporarily addressed as Princess Mo. As for Princess Yuyan, others still called her the same way.

Zhang Qilan didn’t feel like starting a conversation with Mo Qiuyi. In the past, she looked down upon those women like Mo Qiuyi. Now, Mo Qiuyi had married Chu Qing and became the most inconspicuous one. Nevertheless, Zhang Qilan, fatigued both mentally and physically, didn’t have much effort to chat with her.

After the brief greeting, Zhang Qilan turned around to leave.

“Princess Yue, do you know why Princess Yuyan is hostile to you?” Mo Qiuyi succeeded in stopping Zhang Qilan from walking away.

Not far away, Princess Yuyan was talking with Infanta Yuan’an. Looking at her, Zhang Qilan asked lightly, “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing serious. I just don’t like Princess Yuyan.” Mo Qiuyi took a step forward and got closer to Zhang Qilan. Then, she lowered her voice and said without reservation.

She and Princess Yuyan married Chu Qing with ambiguous status. Princess Yuyan always had the edge over Mo Qiuyi, whether in or outside the mansion. Thus, it was inevitable that the two of them couldn’t get along well.

“But Princess Mo, don’t you think it has nothing to do with me?” Zhang Qilan asked.

“Of course not. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Am I right?” Mo Qiuyi said with a grin.

Zhang Qilan looked steadily at her in disapproval and smiled faintly with irony. “Princess Yuyan is your enemy, but it seemingly has little to do with me!”

Mo Qiuyi smiled again. “You’re wrong. The truth is that Princess Yuyan’s biggest enemy is not me but you.”

“Why?” Zhang Qilan frowned.

“Because of a man, of course.” Mo Qiuyi’s voice had sunk to a conspiratorial whisper. In others’ eyes, they looked very close to each other.

Zhang Qilan smiled sarcastically and decided to stop the meaningless talk with Mo Qiuyi. She turned around and was about to leave.

Behind her, Mo Qiuyi’s said in a gloomy voice, “Princess Yuyan likes Prince Yue the most. Don’t you know that? You married Prince Yue. In her eyes, you took away her favorite man.”

So, that was why Princess Yuyan would frame her regardless of the occasion. Like the last incident, she was even involved in it. Zhang Qilan didn’t think it strange when she never thought about it, but on second thought, she found it was true.

Zhang Qilan slowly stopped.

Seeing that, Mo Qiuyi knew her words worked. Thus, she added in time, “Believe me. Maybe it is not just Princess Yuyan’s unrequited love. I think Prince Yue must have had the same feeling for her. You will know it when you go back and sound him out. I also heard that because of Prince Yue, Princess Yuyan is gorgeously dressed like a peony, the queen of flowers.”

“If you talk nonsense again, I’ll report it to the Empress Dowager.” Zhang Qilan said coldly, and her eyes turned sharp.

Mo Qiuyi took a step back. Smiling awkwardly, she squinted at Prince Yue out of the corner of her eye and said, “Just drop the matter if you don’t believe me.”

Then, she turned around and left even before Zhang Qilan walked away.

They didn’t talk long and separated after exchanging a few words. Therefore, they were not as eye-catching and intimate as Princess Yuyan and Infanta Yuan’an.

Unlike in the past, Mo Qiuyi’s status was high enough now. Undoubtedly, some royal family members would come to butter her up. At the very least, her husband, Commandery Prince Qing, was the deceased emperor’s son and the Emperor’s nephew. Compared with those very distant relatives of the royal family, he had an authentic noble status.

There were also lots of people trying to make a connection with Zhang Qilan. Prince Yue was the most likely to inherit the throne in many people’s hearts. In this case, Zhang Qilan would become the future Empress and sit up high in a leading position in this country. They had better take this chance to flatter her. After all, they might not even meet her when she achieved her greatest ambition.

Many people had this idea. Unsurprisingly that some people stopped Zhang Qilan and tried to spend more time with her. However, she looked a little pale, and her servant girl had to reach out to support her.

Seeing how fragile she appeared, these people who came up to have “a little talk” with her dared to surround her any longer. Zhang Qilan excused herself and went to a place with fewer people. At this time, no one came to disturb her.

Prince Yue stood a chance of winning the throne. Then, it was the same with Prince Zhou. Infanta Yuan’an was one of them, so it was more convenient for them to get in touch with her.

As a result, more and more people gathered around Infanta Yuan’an to talk.

Mo Qiuyi seemed to look up inadvertently while chatting with others. Seeing Zhang Qilan’s receding figure, she silently raised the corners of her mouth and lowered her head to talk to a young Madam flattering her.

It seemed that no one paid attention to Zhang Qilan except her.

Zhang Qilan picked a quiet path for a casual walk. Prince Chen’s Mansion was no smaller than Prince Yue’s Mansion, which was not surprising. The so-called “Southern Palace” and “Eastern Palace” were almost of the same size. No other mansions could compare with them.

Sitting down by a rockery, Zhang Qilan reached out to pull the gorgeous clothes on her with a glazed look in her eye. Chu Liuyue had chosen these clothes for her. She had thought Chu Liuyue did it only because he loved and cared about her, but now her face was overcast with sadness.

Chu Liuyue liked gorgeous women dressed in bright-colored and beautiful clothes. They usually looked as outstanding and attractive as peonies. It was a pity that she was not such a beauty. Worse still, she wore this set of clothes that didn’t suit her at all. As a result, she made a fool of herself before Shao Wanru. Just now, several Madams and Misses seemed to have looked at her with sarcasm in their eyes! However, she didn’t need such dashing clothes. As Prime Minister Zhang’s daughter, she had many simple and elegant clothes that suited her well. But she accepted the unsuitable clothes that made her look much less charming to satisfy his taste.

She had known that Chu Liuyue liked Shao Wanru. After the incident in Princess Yuyan’s courtyard, Chu Liuyue had specially come to her door and implicitly explained that he cared about her.

She was full of joy when waiting to get married. She even regretted that she had misunderstood Chu Liuyue and Shao Wanru. Now the pain brought by this regretful feeling was gnawing at her heart.

To let her better understand her situation, her Mother had told her that Prince Yue might be coaxing her.

But in her mind, Prince Yue was gentle and affectionate to her. How could she believe he loved someone else? However, after she married Prince Yue, she noticed several new concubines in Prince Yue’s Mansion more or less looked like Shao Wanru. At that time, she finally understood everything.

Sure enough, Chu Liuyue liked Shao Wanru. Zhang Qilan had regarded Shao Wanru as her best friend, but she and her husband… At the thought of this, Zhang Qilan felt uncomfortable and jealous. She couldn’t stay with others. After all, she feared that she might not swallow the insult and lose her temper in public when seeing Shao Wanru again.

A voice suddenly came from the other side of the rockery. Zhang Qilan shrank back because she didn’t want to see anyone now…