"I mean, have you been with King Qin, you know, did you...?"
Xiang Yun’s face turned red and her small, mosquito-like voice trailed off. She was too shy to finish her sentence.
Cai Wei replied with a firm and decisive whisper.
She was upset and thought darkly to herself. She was being scrutinized all because of him. It might be that everyone now assumed they had been intimate, they just didn’t say it out loud. She couldn’t go around explaining the situation to everyone. It was such a damn nuisance!
Xiang Yun sighed in relief, "So long as you didn’t. That scared me! I thought you were mistreated!"
Du Wanqiu was not as naive and gullible as Xiang Yun. She glanced at Cai Wei’s swollen lips, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and giggled softly.
"Congratulations, sister, I’m so happy for you. Being favored by King Qin will surely bring you boundless opportunities. I give you my advance felicitations!"
Du Wanqiu’s voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but enough for the surrounding people to hear.
Upon hearing her words, the other young ladies turned their gazes toward Cai Wei, their youthful faces reflecting various emotions.
Some of them envied her; some sneered, while others were jealous...
Suddenly, Cai Wei felt betrayed. Just as she was about to retort, she heard a mocking laugh.
"What unlimited prospects? She’s merely a plaything for King Qin’s amusement, just like a common courtesan! A scholar’s daughter, presuming high status after just one night. Shameless! She actually thinks she’s the daughter of a Marquis!"
These sharp insults startled Cai Wei. The young ladies were also stunned into silence, taken aback.
This was the inner palace, the residence of the Emperor, where decorum was held in high regard. Who could be so insolent, speaking out such foul words at the Empress’s banquet, showing complete disrespect for the King’s Law?
Cai Wei turned her head towards the source of the voice and saw a young woman dressed in the attire of a foreign tribe, looking at her with an arrogant chin lifted high.
The woman looked like she was in her late teens, dressed in the fashion of the Xianbei Empire. Her skin was fair and she was pretty, but her beautiful face was marred by the haughty and fiercely ruthless look in her eyes.
"That’s Princess Helana from the Xianbei Empire. She has always admired His Highness King Qin. She has a very bad temper, you must be careful,"
Xiang Yun discretely squeezed Cai Wei’s hand, whispering a warning.
Cai Wei nodded at Xiang Yun, smiling slightly. She turned to Princess Helana, asking: "May I ask, Princess, what does the term ’courtesan’" mean? And ’to climb the bed’? This humble one has limited knowledge and does not understand your highness’s meaning."
Helana sneered coldly, "Humph! What a pretender! A ’courtesan’ is a woman like you; ’climbing the bed’ is what you just did in King Qin’s sleeping chamber!"
"A ’courtesan’...is a... woman like me?"
Cai Wei touched her face, deep in thought.
"A woman like me? Does the princess refer to my youthful beauty? Hehe, but the princess herself is very young and beautiful. Since the princess is a ’courtesan’, why praise me unnecessarily?"
Cai Wei spoke with a smile, lazily waving her handkerchief, "Princess, you are clearly a ’courtesan’ yourself!"
Helana was so angry she choked on her words, "Shut up! You are not allowed to insult this princess."
Cai Wei feigned surprise, "Princess, how have I insulted you? I am clearly praising you for being a ’courtesan’, how could this be construed as an insult?"