Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 239 - 237

Xiao’er instinctively reached out to help Li Yunning, but Shangguan Xuanyi immediately pulled her hand back and moved her a few steps away: "Be careful not to catch her sickness."

Xiao’er: "..."

Di Shaowei: "..."

Shangguan Xuanhao: "..."

Isn’t this too cruel!

Li Yunning, who had only pretended to faint, was so aggravated by these words that she had a heartache and truly fainted!

The Prime Minister’s wife was so furious at these words that she forgot to react. She didn’t know that Li Yunning really fainted out of anger and failed to support her properly, which resulted in her falling full-length on the ground.

Even after she regained her senses, she thought Li Yunning fell to make her act look more realistic.

"Ning’er, Ning’er, wake up...the ground under the Sixth Prince is cold, and the chill is too heavy, please save Ning’er, Sixth Prince. Sob sob..." The Prime Minister’s wife pleaded urgently, her face full of grief.

But she seemed to be overacting. She just fainted, not died, there was no need to exaggerate.

Xiao’er was speechless looking at her exaggerated expression and tone.

"Only the Second Prince is skilled in medicine." Di Shaowei stood with his arms crossed, seemingly enjoying the drama.

Unfortunately, the performers’ acting skills were somewhat lacking.

"Who do you think I am? Because of my extraordinary medical skills, I can’t just let anyone see them. Hasn’t a royal doctor been called?" Shangguan Xuanhao glared at Di Shaowei.

As for the vixen who disregards her own body, trying to seduce people by pretending to be ill, she isn’t even qualified for him to treat her.

"Sixth Prince?" Hearing these words, the Prime Minister’s wife felt humiliated, but she still looked at Shangguan Xuanyi with a glimmer of hope.

Her husband said she could subtly probe the intentions of the Sixth Prince.

At this moment, the eunuch and the maid arrived, escorting little Prince Chengguan Xuanhao and Xi’er back.

"Let’s go! The banquet is about to start." Shangguan Xuanyi whispered to Xiao’er, ignoring the Prime Minister’s wife as if he hadn’t heard her words.

So they left, taking the two little ones with them, without sparing the two women a glance.

As he left, Shangguan Xuanhao casually ordered a maid, "Help the Prime Minister’s wife and assist Miss Li to rest. Also check if the royal doctor has arrived."

After all, she is the daughter of the Prime Minister. Not arranging for someone to take care of her, the Prime Minister would not dare to say anything, but if the Emperor knew, he would rebuke them for their lack of manners.

"Yes!" The maid bowed and went to help.

Upon seeing this, the Prime Minister’s wife felt a deep resentment. Even when her daughter, who was so beautiful that it would make anyone’s heart ache, fainted, she couldn’t attract the slightest attention from these people.

So many people came to propose marriage that her doorstep was nearly broken! She couldn’t understand it no matter how much she thought about it.

At this time, the maid who had been dismissed by Li Yunning earlier returned. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"Madam, the pearl hairpin could not be found."

"Is that so? Let it be. Help Ning’er up first."

Women cannot endure the cold.

The two of them helped Li Yunning away.

The Prime Minister’s wife kept an eye on Shangguan Xuanyi’s reaction and noticed that he really didn’t care about Yunning at all.

It felt as if even if Yunning died in front of him, he wouldn’t care.

Her daughter wouldn’t be happy married to a man like this, would she?

The Prime Minister’s wife was startled by her own thoughts, but thinking of her husband being the sole Prime Minister, and both the First and Third Princes trying to ingratiate themselves to her family, she relaxed again.

Just as her husband said, the Sixth Prince is very cunning. The Emperor is in his prime, and if the Sixth Prince shows any ambition for the throne too soon, he will never ascend to the throne in his lifetime.

And to achieve that position, with her husband’s status in the court, which prince would not want to marry Yunning and gain this support? With such a powerful family behind her, how could Yunning ever be unhappy?

Thinking this way, the Prime Minister’s wife ignored the gut feeling that something was not right and relaxed. After all, the Sixth Prince is so wise that he would naturally ignore them.

The end of January marked the birthday of her husband. It would be a good opportunity to invite the Sixth Prince to their home and then, to allow him and Yun Ning to...

Besides, the Sixth Prince would surely take the hint and go along with the plan...

...

The court banquet had begun.

The table was laden with a rich variety of dishes, enticing in color, aroma and taste.

The main dish changes every year, last year it was bear paws, and this year it was lobster; a feast of seafood was served.

All these delicacies were premium-grade food items purchased from Xiao’er’s supermarket, needless to say, their taste was exceptional.

The Imperial Capital is a place filled with nobles where you could potentially hit one by randomly tossing a pebble.

However, the Imperial Capital is an inland city, and due to its backward transport and food preservation technologies, access to seafood is mostly limited to winters, but winter is actually the season when seafood is least available.

Summer would have a higher availability, but by the time the seafood is transported to the Imperial Capital, it would have already spoiled.

Thus, even for the Emperor, feasting on fresh seafood on a sweltering summer day is a luxury not easily attainable.

As a result, throughout the year, it is nearly impossible for the wealthy elites in the Imperial Capital to enjoy a hearty meal of fresh seafood at their doorstep.

However, tonight’s banquet is entirely composed of fresh and exciting seafood, with an intriguing variety of dishes on offer.

Ignoring the fact that these seafood items are specialties from another dimension, the sheer freshness and liveliness of the seafood itself guarantee that they are in a league of their own.

Seafood is all about freshness. The fresher it is, the tastier it will be.

The royal chefs personally prepared the dishes, and their flavor was simply beyond words.

Under such delicious circumstances, many people forgot about their sense of restraint and etiquette. Though far from wolfing down their food, but apart from this phrase, no other descriptor would be appropriate.

However, even the sight of beautiful women gorging enthusiastically was elegant and pleasing to the eye.

Since Xiao’er’s family could often enjoy such meals, they didn’t find it too remarkable.

Others, on the other hand, weren’t so fortunate. Many ladies and young misses secretly regretted being so engrossed in an extra piece of lobster that they missed out on the taste of sea cucumber.

Or perhaps they were indulging in a crab, only to find the entire plate of sea urchins gone.

...

In short, everyone felt the pinch of picking up a piece of sesame but losing a watermelon in the process.

The banquet had a great array of dishes, but owing to the virtue of frugality, each dish was served in small quantities. Yet still, a lot of food was usually left over from the yearly court banquets.

However, this year, each plate was cleaned out, with only the sauce left behind.

Seeing all the empty plates, the beautiful women collectively blushed before reaching for their stomachs unconsciously.

"Empress, the dishes tonight were so delicious that I couldn’t help but eat more than I usually do," the elderly Madam of Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion quickly interjected, seeing everyone’s slightly embarrassed looks.

The other madams quickly nodded in agreement.

Many people confessed that the food was so delicious they just couldn’t stop eating.

Some of the more straightforward ones even admitted that they were completely stuffed.

Upon witnessing this, the Empress couldn’t be happier. She already wanted to prepare a sumptuous seafood feast for next year’s banquet.

Following the scenic indulgence, the Empress instructed the maids to bring out the desserts and fruits.

The maids served everyone a glass of golden juice in a cup made of colored glaze.

"This juice is extracted from sea buckthorn fruit collected from the depths of the desert. It helps with digestion and getting rid of stagnation. Aren’t you all worried about overeating? Hurry up and drink some," the Empress suggested with a reassuring smile.

The sea buckthorn was a new tribute from the country of Xihua, and quite limited in quantity. It was all used up in making juice for tonight’s banquet.

.