Three Years After Falling Off the Cliff

The queen did not notice the complicated feelings of the other ladies, or even if she did, she did not take it to heart.
With Fu Yi's company, the smile on her face never faded, and she was reluctant to let her go until the lunch was about to begin.

"You've changed a lot."

Fu Yi avoided the crowd and sat under the rockery in a daze. When she heard the words, she turned around and looked at the person who came: "Miss Lu."

Lu Yan lifted her skirt and sat down on the stone next to Fu Yi. She behaved very politely. If Fu Yi hadn't reached out to help her, she would have almost fallen down beside the stone.

"Be careful." Fu Yi was helpless. She noticed that the other person's fingertips were a little cold. She turned around, took the shawl from Xia Yu's hand, and put it on Lu Yan: "It's still cold in mid-spring. You don't even know to wear more clothes when you go out."

The Lu family is a prestigious and noble family with a history of hundreds of years. Lu Yan's father is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Two years ago, he was awarded the title of Guanglu Dafu for his meritorious service in protecting the emperor.
Fu Yi is a well-known dandy in the capital, while Lu Yan is a talented woman with a great reputation.

Lu Yan looked down and saw Fu Yi tying her cloak while complaining. She coughed twice and smiled, "The maid brought clothes with her when she went out, but I got separated from her."

"Okay." Fu Yi pulled the knot of her cloak, stood up and said, "It's windy here, I'll take you back."

"There are too many people over there. I want to sit here and be quiet." Lu Yan sat on the stone and looked at her: "Please keep me company."

Fu Yi sighed helplessly and sat back on the stone.

"You wouldn't have said such flattering words three years ago." Lu Yan turned her head to look at the lotus pond next to her. The lotus leaves had not yet grown out, and the surface of the lake was bare, very cold and desolate.

"How can it be considered flattery? It's just what I say from the bottom of my heart." Fu Yi smiled, and her smile was very free and easy: "It is my blessing to be able to make the queen smile."

Lu Yan hesitated as she recalled her friends' private comments about Fu Yi's flattery. She hesitated for a long time and said, "I'm worried that others will misunderstand you."

"I'm just a playboy, and I don't seek a good reputation, so why should I be afraid of other people's misunderstanding?" Fu Yi looked at Lu Yan's pale face and pulled her up from the stone: "The banquet is about to start, we should go back, don't let your mind wander, thinking too much will hurt your health."

Lu Yan followed Fu Yi obediently. When they were about to reach the main hall of the palace, Fu Yi let go of her hand and said, "You go in first. I have something to say to Xia Yu."

"Okay." Lu Yan nodded obediently.

When Lu Yan entered the palace, Xia Yu asked curiously, "Miss, what do you want me to do?"

"What can I do for you?" Fu Yi raised her eyebrows. "Lu Yan's sisters are all well-educated and talented women. They have never interacted with me. What if they see Lu Yan and I together and they don't want to play with her anymore?"

"Then you can bring Miss Lu to play with you."

"Should I take her to listen to music, or take her to ride horses and play Cuju?" Fu Yi straightened her clothes and said, "Let's go in now."

Before the banquet began, the emperor had the Palace Department send fruits and fine wine, which had already arrived, giving the empress enough face.

Fu Yi had no rank or title, but because her parents were noble, her seat was near the front. Sitting next to her were Lin Xiaowu and the young daughter of a minister.

Lin Xiaowu moved his chair and squeezed in with Fu Yi: "I didn't expect that Princess Ning is so beautiful."

"She is from the Lu family, a prominent family in northern Lingnan. The late emperor arranged this marriage for Prince Ning before he passed away. Given the late emperor's high regard for him, he would naturally choose a beautiful and talented princess for him." Fu Yi gave half of the orange in her hand to Lin Xiaowu: "Try it."

"What a pity." Lin Xiaowu felt a little sympathy for the Princess Ning. If the late emperor was still in power, this would indeed be a good marriage.
Now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne and Prince Ning has lost power, given the Lu family's status, there is still a chance for them to break off the engagement.

Princess Ning's every word and action is a model of a noble lady. Even though her identity is a bit embarrassing, she still feels at ease among the ladies of noble birth, and there is nothing wrong with her.
On the contrary, several ladies from the Lu family in Lingbei treated her indifferently and were not very close to her.

Halfway through the banquet, Lin Xiaowu pulled Fuyi's sleeve and said, "Fuyi, I want to change clothes. Can you come with me?"

Fu Yi put down the silver chopsticks, stood up and accompanied Lin Xiaowu to change clothes. Halfway there, she heard people talking in low voices by the lake.

"As expected of the Lingbei Lu clan, they are willing to marry such a good girl to Prince Ning."
"A gentleman cultivates his mind and nothing is better than sincerity. A family with such character as the Lu family will naturally not do anything that goes against their promise."
"The Lu family is a model of gentleman."

"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here." Fu Yi nodded to Lin Xiaowu, pretending not to hear what they said.
"Okay, I'll be back soon." Lin Xiaowu ran away in small steps, holding up the hem of her skirt.

The people who were talking heard their voices and hurried away with their sleeves covering their faces in embarrassment.

A faint sound came from behind the rockery. Fu Yi pretended not to notice and walked away.

"She knows I'm here." Princess Ning walked out of the rockery and looked at the receding figure. It took her a long time to come back to her senses.
The girl saved her from embarrassment by being kind.

"Princess." The maid supported her worriedly, "Please don't take the words of irrelevant people to heart."

"They praised our Lu family as a model of gentleman. What else can I be dissatisfied with?" Princess Ning placed her hand in the maid's palm, straightened her back and walked down the rockery: "Let's go back to the palace."

Princess Ning returned to the banquet, and she was very well behaved, and no one could find fault with her. Princess Kangyang, who was sitting next to her, saw that she was suddenly staring at Yun Fuyi and Lin Xiaowu who had just entered the palace, and introduced them to her: "They are useless playboys in the capital, playing with cats and dogs all day long and doing nothing. They don't look serious. If you meet them, stay away from them."

Thinking of the affection between Prince Ning and Fuyi, and her fat grandson who was bullied by Yun Fuyi, Princess Kangyang said, "The one with the flying fairy bun is the daughter of Minister Yun. She is the most annoying and troublesome."

"Aunt, you are joking. The reputation of Minister Yun is well-known throughout Dalong..."

Princess Kangyang interrupted Princess Ning and said, "Yun Wanggui is indeed a man that everyone praises, but his daughter... Humph!"
She maintained her last bit of dignity as a princess and didn't curse out loud on the spot.
Her obedient and fat grandson had been bullied countless times by this naughty girl.

"Princess Kangyang seems to be glaring at you." Lin Xiaowu noticed Princess Kangyang's gaze and asked Fu Yi secretly, "Have you bullied Liu Xiaopang again recently?"

"He came here to get scolded. It has nothing to do with me." Fu Yi didn't care how Princess Kangyang scolded her in her heart. She waved her chopsticks and ate happily.

"Fuyi, I remember you didn't like this duck flower soup pancake before." Lin Xiaowu was a little surprised when he saw Fuyi pick up a piece of duck flower soup pancake. Fuyi ate it in two or three bites: "It's not bad actually."
It was her fault in the past. She was picky about what she ate. Later, she fell off a cliff with injuries and had to endure hunger and hardship with the villagers who rescued her. Only then did she realize how ungrateful she was.

Hearing this, tears flashed in Lin Xiaowu's eyes, and he held Fu Yi's hand tightly: "Fu Yi, you have suffered."

What a suffering this was that he could even eat the soup noodles that he didn't like before.
In the past, Fu Yi in her family was a very particular person. She would burn incense in the house before eating, and all the snacks and meals were exquisite and particular.

Seeing Lin Xiaowu's tearful eyes, Fu Yi touched her hair bag helplessly and said, "Enjoy your meal."

"Please forgive me, Miss Yun. The servant below was ignorant and brought you the wrong soup noodle. I will give it to you right away..." The eunuch holding the lotus cake hurried to Fu Yi's table, wanting to replace the duck flower soup noodle for her. However, there was only an empty plate in front of Fu Yi, and the soup noodle inside was gone.

He knelt down in panic: "I am guilty."

"Hurry up and get up." Fu Yi saw that the eunuch was only twelve or thirteen years old, so she took an orange from the table and stuffed it into his sleeve: "Take the fruit and go down to eat."

"Thank you Miss Yun for the reward." Seeing that Fu Yi was not angry, the young eunuch held the fruit in his pocket and thanked her repeatedly.

The lotus cake was sweet and tempting, and it must have been served to her right after it came out of the pot. Fu Yi picked up a piece and tasted it. It seemed to taste the same as before, but also a little different.

"The manager of the Food Bureau is quite thoughtful. He remembered what you like to eat." Lin Xiaowu took the lotus cake and took a bite. "The taste hasn't changed. It's still the same craftsmanship as before."

It turns out that nothing has changed.

Fu Yi took a sip of the fragrant drink on the table and sighed softly. It was true that people would change. For example, she became less of a jerk.

"The Lu family is a gentleman who keeps his word. Some people are just following the trend. She doesn't feel ashamed. I feel ashamed for her."

"How can you talk about family etiquette at a royal banquet?" Fu Yi put down the cup and said without looking up, "The Ning Wangfei is so elegant, and some of you here haven't learned a thing or two from her?"
She did change some of her bad habits, but not many.

The person who spoke did not seem to expect Fu Yi to talk back directly in such an occasion, and blushed as he said, "I'm not talking about you, why are you taking it so personally?"

"I'm not talking about you, so what are you answering?" Fu Yi asked back.
"Yes, what do you want to say?" Lin Xiaowu snorted and laughed: "Does it have anything to do with you?"

The people around her tried to persuade and coax her, fearing that she would really quarrel with Fu Yi.

Someone whispered in her ear: "You haven't drunk anything, why are you saying that?!"
Others said: "Why did you mess with her when she was fine? Are you crazy?"
"Isn't it because of her that your brother was beaten a few days ago? If he hadn't accompanied Wang Yanhe to tease the commoner girl, why would your father have beaten him?"

Miss Chen did not expect that the young ladies who were on good terms with her would now start to criticize her. She was so angry that her face turned red and even her eyes were filled with heat.
Yun Fuyi is not a princess, so what is there to be afraid of?

"Didn't you beat up some obscene bastards a few days ago and complained to their elders?" Guessing that Fu Yi might not know this person, Lin Xiaowu explained: "She is the sister of one of them. Her surname is Chen. The Chen family was transferred to Beijing two years ago."

"No wonder."
No wonder he could be sarcastic to her in such an occasion, it turned out he didn't know her well enough.

Seeing that the little girl's neck turned red with anger, Fu Yi smiled at her calmly with her head tilted.

"Look, she is still laughing at me." Miss Chen was furious and pulled her sisters to complain again.

"You misunderstood. She smiled at you because...she loves to smile."
"Yes, yes, yes, she just loves to laugh. Don't think too much about it."

Someone forcibly turned Miss Chen's head back to stop her from staring at Fu Yi.

Fortunately, at this time the jugglers from the Music Bureau entered the palace and performed for the ladies, separating the two sides from each other.

For the safety of the nobles, many things could not be brought into the palace, so the acrobatic performances were very conventional and not as thrilling and interesting as the wild folk performances. For example, the dandy young men like Lin Xiaowu and Fu Yi were not interested in watching them.

It was not until an old man came in and performed a peacock show that Fu Yi suddenly became energetic and stared at the two peacocks with burning eyes.
Lin Xiaowu was puzzled. Her family had raised several peacocks before, and she didn't seem to like Fu Yi very much. Why was he staring at the peacock today?

After the peacock finished dancing, it suddenly shook its tail feathers, spread out its colorful tail, and kept nodding and bowing in the direction of the queen.
“The peacock is honored to see the true face of the phoenix. We pay homage to her and wish her a thousand years.” The old peacock knelt down and paid his respects. The two peacocks beside him also knelt down. Everyone was amazed at the moment.

At this moment, a sharp whistle was suddenly heard outside the palace, and the peacock, which had originally opened its flyer, flew towards the queen like crazy.

"Escort!"

A red shadow flashed in the hall, and a slender hand pressed the peacock flying in the air to the ground. The peacock only had time to make a "click" sound before it fainted.
She also dodged and picked up another peacock in her hand. The peacock struggled desperately, and its feathers flew all over the sky.

Fu Yi shook the two peacocks in her hands, tied them tightly with her shawl, turned around and looked at the queen with concern: "Your Majesty, you are frightened."

"I'm fine." The Queen stood up and walked towards Fu Yi: "Are you injured?"

"Your Majesty, catching this flat-haired beast is a piece of cake for me." Fu Yi patted the feathers on her body.
There is nothing special about it, it’s just a matter of practice.

After falling off the cliff, she didn't know how to do farm work. In order to prevent the villagers from thinking that she was a freeloader, she helped the villagers watch over chickens, catch ducks, geese and dogs every day. So now when she sees these furry creatures flying away, she can't help but want to catch them back.

It was the cruel life that tempered her strong and unyielding will!
(End of this chapter)