Where is the early stage of the marriage alliance?

In the past two years in the State of Chu, as her appearance gradually blossomed, she had become accustomed to such intense and direct stares, and had developed a calm and composed demeanor.

But this is a foreign land, and these people were just talking about her with great relish a moment ago.

One second she was sarcastic, the next she was stunning; this contrast made her feel uncomfortable.

As she hesitated, a crowd gradually gathered around the stairwell, growing larger and larger. They seemed to be looking at some rare treasure, their gazes fixed intently on Ling Xi without any attempt to conceal their stares.

"Princess, what should we do? They've completely blocked this place."

When Ling Xi looked again, the stairwell was already packed with people, and she felt a little panicked.

Today, she had forgotten to wear her veil. The previous two times she went out, it was because the blatant stares on the street were too obvious, so she always covered her face with a veil or hat when she went out, just to keep quiet.

Now, facing each other without any face to face, and being stared at so intently by a group of people, she stood in the middle of the stairs, caught in a dilemma, only lowering her eyelids to hide the barely perceptible unease in her eyes.

Wushuang stepped forward, straightened her body, and firmly protected Ling Xi behind her.

"Get out of the way!"

Having spent too much time by Ling Heng's side, Wu Shuang had developed a chilling aura that was quite intimidating. At this moment, her face was cold and her eyes were deep, exuding a strong sense of awe.

But in everyone's eyes, she was ultimately just a little girl, like Ling Xi.

The group of men and women in front of her were caught up in their emotions and showed no intention of backing down. They stood motionless, their gazes unabashedly fixed on Ling Xi behind her.

Wushuang's brows furrowed even more, and her knuckles clenched tightly, clearly indicating that she had lost her patience.

"May I ask which family this young lady belongs to?"

Just then, some frivolous and audacious person in the crowd asked the question first, and the surrounding area immediately erupted in commotion.

"With such beauty, young lady, you truly resemble a fairy descended from heaven!"

"Yes! In all my years in Jinling, I have never seen such a stunning beauty!"

"Young lady, are you perhaps new to Jinling? Otherwise, none of us have ever heard of a young lady with such beauty?"

......

The praises rose and fell, just as loud as the voices that had just scolded her, which sounded extremely grating to Ling Xi.

"What's all this noise about?"

A cold, deep voice came from behind. Ling Xi turned around and saw several people standing behind her at the top of the stairs. The one in front was Xiao Ce.

He wore a dark robe with cloud patterns, flowing smoothly like ink. The subtle patterns were faintly visible in the light, making his figure appear as upright as a pine tree. A jade belt was tied around his waist, which perfectly outlined his clean lines. He exuded an air of nobility from within, and was imposing without being angry.

But his face, like his robes today, was dark and somber, showing no warmth whatsoever.

Behind him stood two men Ling Xi had never seen before. The one in the plain white robe had gentle features and was refined and elegant; the one in the light blue brocade robe had slightly upturned eyes and was carefree and nonchalant.

It seems they are his friends.

"Isn't this the Crown Prince Rui?"

Those with sharp eyes in the hall recognized the person at a glance.

"It's Prince Xiao, along with Imperial Physician Lu from the Imperial Medical Bureau and Qin Qi, the eldest son of the Minister of War."

A murmur of flattery immediately arose from the crowd, and all eyes turned to those few people.

For some reason, Ling Xi didn't want to see anyone related to Xiao Ce at all. After all, everyone had agreed to keep to themselves.

She simply pretended not to know him, her face indifferent, and turned her head away. But in that instant, the undisguised impatience and slight disdain in her eyes were clearly seen by Xiao Ce.

Suddenly, an uncontrollable sneer came from behind.

"Yizhi, it seems your Crown Princess is going to pretend she doesn't know you?"

Ling Xi frowned and turned her head. She saw the man in blue leaning against the railing with his hands in front of his chest. He was smiling brightly, but it was impossible to tell whether he had any ill intentions.

The man in white glanced at her briefly before gently moving away, as if the situation before him had nothing to do with him.

Xiao Ce's face remained expressionless, but the coldness in his dark eyes deepened.

The crowd below was completely dumbfounded upon hearing the words "Princess Consort".

The faces of the crowd turned pale and then red. The harsh and sarcastic words from before now turned into embarrassment, stuck in everyone's throats.

Who would have thought that the Chu princess, whom they had been mocking and gossiping about for so long, would sit calmly upstairs and listen to every single word?

Even more critically, Prince Xiao was also there.

Although they knew that Prince Xiao was already cold and distant towards the princess who came for the marriage alliance, it was still extremely embarrassing that such gossip behind their backs was overheard by the person in question.

What's more, just a moment ago they were wantonly belittling her, and the next moment they were amazed by her. The contrast was so great that everyone's face was burning with embarrassment at this moment.

For a moment, everyone avoided eye contact, yet couldn't help but steal glances at the Crown Princess, whose identity had just been confirmed.

Before they had seen her, they could hurl insults at her at will, but now, faced with such a face, everyone felt that no bad word should be used to describe her.

Ling Xi was truly embarrassed at this moment. She couldn't leave, nor could she retreat. The three of them, master and servant, stood helplessly in the middle of the stairs.

She simply lowered her head, avoiding the people she didn't want to see; after all, Xiao Ce couldn't stay there forever.

Just as she was thinking this, Xiao Ce started walking downstairs. Pei Lan instinctively stepped aside and respectfully made way for him.

As soon as Ling Xi raised her head, she felt a warm touch on her hand. Her fingertips froze, and when she looked down, she saw that he was holding her hand tightly.

What is Xiao Ce going to do?!

Ling Xi's heart skipped a beat, panic and confusion surging within her. Before she could think it through, she heard his voice, even colder and deeper than before:

"Get out of the way."

Was he reprimanding the people below? He was holding her hand; he probably wasn't telling her to move aside.

Ling Xi blinked, her mind blank, and then he steadily led her down the stairs.

When Pei Lan saw the prince leading her princess away, she was so shocked that her eyes widened and her mouth remained open for a long time.

However, Wu Shuang's expression was not so good. Her intuition told her that Prince Xiao could not possibly have any goodwill towards the princess.

Ling Xi hadn't even come to her senses when she passively followed him out of the teahouse, right under everyone's noses, through a deathly silence and shocked gaze.

Only after their figures disappeared through the doorway did the suppressed commotion inside the hall finally erupt.

Everyone was filled with surprise and speculation, and began to rethink the relationship between Prince Xiao and his wife.

After all, everyone had only heard rumors before, but now that they had seen it for themselves, they were all caught in a dilemma of self-doubt.