Naturally, Xiao Tianyi knew this as well. Immediately, he calmed his expression and explained, “Replying to the Empress, this Prince is not ill. My face only became pale because I came over in a rush after hearing that the Empress is here. I was just anxious to greet your Highness.”
The empress heard this and chuckled. “Xuan Prince is eager to see me?”
Many people in the hall looked at Xiao Tianyi with a strange look. Feeling the gaze from the crowd, Xiao Tianyi felt awkward and became more alert. He knew that Empress Chiang was someone witty and smart.
Thinking about this, Xuan Prince quickly replied, “This Prince has lost his mother at an early age. Since then, I have regarded the empress as my own mother. I hope your Highness can understand my heart.”
After saying that, he quickly turned to the old madam Chiang and said, “Old madam Chiang is also my grandmother. Thus I also came to greet you.”
Immediately, Xiao Tianyi bowed toward old madam Chiang.
Saying nothing more, the empress looked toward the old madam Chiang, who laughed and pointed at Xiao Tianyi. “You are a good child.”
Xiao Tianyi breathed a sigh of relief and so did many of the crowd.
Among the crowd, Yun Qianyu felt tired just from watching this exchange. In just a short while, the two had already traded blows against each other.
Instead of picking on Xiao Tianyi anymore, the empress looked at the ladies and asked slowly, “Where is Miss Feiyan from the Su family?”
Hearing that the empress had mentioned Su Feiyan, many ladies present there were stunned. Immediately, many of them thought about the issue of the crown princess.
The fact that the empress came here today and wanted to speak to the ladies must mean she wanted to pick a wife for the crown prince.
Now that the empress had asked for Su Feiyan specifically, this probably meant that she already had a specific person in mind to be the crown prince’s wife.
With that thought, many of the people there became somewhat disappointed.
Su Feiyan’s mother immediately looked at her daughter and motioned for her to come out.
Su Feiyan came out in a respectful manner and greeted the empress, “Your subject greets your Highness the Empress.”
Su Feiyan was not only beautiful but also elegant. The empress was very satisfied with this and gestured for her to come closer. The empress then asked Su Feiyan about how she was and also awarded her with many things.
Without even mentioning it out loud, everyone knew that Su Feiyan would surely become the crown princess.
Even though the Su family was extremely happy about this, Su Feiyan was not very happy. She did not like the crown prince, Xiao Tianyu. Although Xiao Tianyu looked studious and elegant, he was actually a very Machiavellian person.
In fact, Su Feiyan liked Xiao Tianyi, the Xuan Prince. ‘His Highness is not only good-looking but also highly talented. He also loves chess.’ All these things were Su Feiyan’s favorite things.
Su Feiyan couldn’t help but feel bitter in her heart, but she could only accept it.
“Your subject is grateful for the Empress’s generosity.”
After giving thanks, Su Feiyan retreated into the crowd.
Many of the ladies were disappointed, but they felt better when they thought that there were still Huai Prince and Xuan Prince. Even though Xuan Prince liked Yun Qianxue, the second daughter of the Yun family, nothing was set in stone. Who knew what could happen?
Many of the ladies there tried to encourage themselves with these thoughts.
Sitting at the end of the hall, the empress looked around the crowd with her dark pupils. Finally, her eyes landed on Yun Qianyu and she said with a gentle smile, “This must be the eldest lady of the Yun family.”