The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Prime Minister Feng had been harboring malicious intentions, plotting to seize the silver mine.

"If Miss Su fails to invite any of them, then as punishment, the silver mines under Miss Su's name will be handed over to the imperial court for mining."

Zhang Junshi hesitated; he had only spoken up because he was momentarily angry.

But now it seems that this has caused Miss Su a lot of trouble.

If he were to cause Miss Su to lose the silver mine, he would be guilty beyond redemption.

Seeing that Military Advisor Zhang dared not speak, Prime Minister Feng became even more smug: "What, you dare not answer?"

Just then, a clear, crisp voice rang out.

"Who says I don't dare? I agree."

Prime Minister Feng had his back to Su Qianqian, and his palms were sweaty with nervousness.

After such a long period of confrontation, we're finally going to meet today, but I feel like I'm not quite ready yet.

Prime Minister Feng turned his head; this was the first time he had ever seen the legendary Miss Su.

I found that this little girl was really beautiful. Standing under the plum tree, illuminated by countless lights, she seemed to be glowing all over.

Being beautiful is not a good thing for a woman; it can be a source of trouble!

Therefore, Prime Minister Feng's hostility towards Su Qianqian deepened. If this young girl were to become an official, it would be a disaster for the Great Qi!

Since Miss Su had agreed to the bet, Zhang Junshi thought that he had to fight for the greatest benefit for her.

"Prime Minister Feng, since there can't be any punishment, shouldn't there be some reward if Miss Su actually manages to invite either the Murong or Xuanyuan families over?"

Before Prime Minister Feng could even think, Emperor Jing of Qi interjected, "That's for sure."

If Miss Su could invite another family over, that would be wonderful, as it would allow for an additional ten thousand taels of silver in donations.

Ten thousand taels of silver is extremely important to the Great Qi Dynasty.

The question is, what reward should be given to Miss Su? This has greatly troubled Emperor Qi Jing.

Fortunately, Su Qianqian didn't care what the reward was. She knew that the emperor was so poor that he was practically eating dirt, so she wouldn't get anything good from him.

It was getting late, and she needed to go invite the people as soon as possible, otherwise she wouldn't make it to dinner.

Of all things under heaven, eating is the most important.

"No food is allowed until I get back."

Emperor Qi Jing readily replied, "Of course, Miss Su, please don't worry."

After Su Qianqian took her leave, Prime Minister Feng also stood up and took a few steps. When he reached the plum tree, the tree suddenly fell down with a loud "bang".

The unlucky Prime Minister Feng was hit squarely.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, and everyone was stunned.

Prime Minister Feng felt that his legs had been smashed and he could no longer feel them. Oh no, were his legs ruined?

It's infuriating! That little girl stood under this tree for a long time without any problems, but when it was his turn to stand there, the tree fell down.

It's a sunny day today, with no thunder or lightning, so it must be a conspiracy! It must be Miss Su who's up to no good.

Prime Minister Feng pleaded tearfully, "Your Majesty, Miss Su stood under this tree for a long time just now. She must have tampered with it. Please, Your Majesty, do me justice!"

Military Advisor Zhang was speechless: "Prime Minister Feng, everything requires evidence. As the Prime Minister of the country, how can you frame someone so arbitrarily?"

Minister Qin also sided with Su Qianqian, saying, "Prime Minister Feng, your statement is absurd. Although it was nighttime, there were many lanterns in the Imperial Garden, and the light was very bright. Everyone could see that Miss Su did nothing under the plum tree, except say a few words."

Emperor Qi Jing ordered his guards to come forward and carefully examine the fallen plum tree.

The guards quickly discovered that the tree had long been hollowed out by insects.

They were all going to fall sooner or later, it's just that Prime Minister Feng was unlucky and happened to be hit. This has nothing to do with Miss Su.

Minister Qin was somewhat gloating, thinking that it must be because God disliked Prime Minister Feng that the tree fell on him.

Miss Su stood under the tree for quite a while and was fine, but when it was Prime Minister Feng's turn, the tree fell down after he passed by for only a short while.

Minister Qin exclaimed, "Miss Su is indeed a blessed person."

Prime Minister Feng was furious: "Old Qin, you're still making sarcastic remarks here. Quickly help me up!"

Minister Qin wouldn't pull it; his guards would move the tree themselves.

"Prime Minister Feng, you were hit by a tree so badly, do you think I can help you up? You'll definitely need to be carried."

After the guards moved the tree, two men went to help Prime Minister Feng, but they couldn't lift him up because his leg had been broken and he could no longer stand.

Prime Minister Feng then felt the excruciating pain in his leg. However, the pain was a good thing, indicating that his leg could still be saved. If he could feel everything, then he would be doomed.

The guards carried the person directly to the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Minister Qin looked in the direction where Prime Minister Feng was carried away and said, "Serves you right. You deserved to miss out on this good meal for causing trouble."

I heard that tonight His Majesty has ordered the imperial chefs to prepare the Han Dynasty Imperial Feast, a tradition that has been passed down for hundreds of years, to host a banquet for the five great families.

We're in for a treat tonight!

Su Qianqian rode her horse to the Xuanyuan family, which was the closest to the palace.

Although she was originally from Qinghe County, she had always kept a close eye on news from the capital. Xiangming also told her many unknown secrets of the capital.

Therefore, Su Qianqian knew about the Xuanyuan family.

The Xuanyuan Mansion was also brightly lit at this moment.

The Xuanyuan family had a very close relationship with the Western Xia Kingdom, so the decorations in the mansion were in the Western Xia style.

The lanterns outside the gate didn't depict ladies, but snakes—golden snakes flicking their tongues.

As is well known, the Western Xia Empress was skilled at controlling snakes.

The head of the Xuanyuan family is currently not at home; he is handling affairs within the territory of Western Xia.

Old Madam Xuanyuan, Madam Zhou, the head of the family, and several younger relatives sat around the dining table. If you looked closely, you could see that the hairpins in their hair were all snake-shaped, only slightly different in style.

No one at the table touched their chopsticks; they were waiting for someone—the third young lady of the manor, Xuan Yuan Yue.

The old lady sat in a chair, holding a snake-headed cane, and looked at her granddaughter, Xuanyuan Jing, with a strange expression. "Don't you never wear red clothes? Why are you suddenly wearing red today?"

Xuanyuan Jing was the fifth child in his family, and like the third young lady Xuanyuan Yue, he was also a biological son of Zhou Shi.

Xuanyuan Jing also went to the South Gate to join in the fun during the day. He was dragged there by his friend. He caught a glimpse of Miss Su from afar and was immediately attracted by her attire.

Seeing how gracefully Miss Su wore the red dress, I felt quite envious, and immediately changed into a red dress after returning home.

But I always felt that this red dress was far inferior to Miss Su's; the color wasn't as bright as Miss Su's. So I planned to go to the embroidery shop tomorrow morning to see if they had any brighter red fabric.

A maidservant ran in to report, "Madam, the Third Miss still refuses to eat."

The Third Miss, Xuan Yuan Yue, is getting married next month, and it's a marriage alliance with the Murong family, one of the five great families—a powerful alliance indeed.

Last month, Xuanyuan Yue was bitten by an insect while sleeping at night, and then many spots appeared on her face, like age spots.

Zhou suspected that the concubine's daughters might have done something wrong, but after investigating for several days, she was unable to find any clues.

Although there were countless concubine daughters in the household, the Third Miss was Zhou's biological daughter.

Therefore, Zhou lost his appetite.

She just wanted to heal Xuanyuan Yue's face as soon as possible, but after she had consulted several of the best doctors in the capital and used their medicine, his face not only did not get better, but it became even more serious.

If someone could heal Yue'er's face now, she would be willing to kneel down and thank them.

Zhou pushed the bowl aside, saying, "If Yue'er doesn't eat, I won't eat either."

Old Madam Xuanyuan was a little angry: "What kind of behavior is this? If she doesn't eat, does that mean the whole mansion has to skip meals with her?"

After saying that, the old lady picked up her chopsticks.

The others started eating too.

As the old lady ate, she said, "Letting an ugly woman marry into the Murong family is not a way to build a lasting friendship, but rather to create enmity! Since Yue'er's face is ruined, let's find someone else, let's marry the Fourth Miss instead."

The fourth daughter was born out of wedlock.

With such a good marriage, Zhou was naturally unwilling to let a concubine's son replace her own.

Zhou pleaded, "Mother, let's wait a little longer. There's still a month left. Maybe Yue'er's face can be healed."

At this moment, a servant arrived at the entrance of the dining hall and reported, "Madam, a Miss Su from Qinghe County has come to visit."

The masters of the Xuanyuan family had been living in the Western Xia Kingdom for the past few months, but they only recently moved back to their residence in the capital for the sake of the marriage between the Third Miss and the Murong family.

Therefore, they were not familiar with Miss Su from Qinghe County.

Only Xuanyuan Jing has seen Miss Su.

I was just worried that I wouldn't have a chance to see Miss Su again, but unexpectedly Miss Su came to the Xuanyuan Mansion. This arrangement by God is really too satisfying.

Miss Su's jewelry was particularly beautiful. During the day, she had only glanced at it from afar and hadn't had a good look at it. Now she could finally get a good look at it.

Xuanyuan Jing was overjoyed. "Quickly, quickly invite them in."

Zhou stopped them, saying, "Our Xuanyuan family isn't a place where just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can come in."