Usually, banquets for foreign envoys are arranged at the Fuerong Pavilion, and this time, when the envoy from Ganli Kingdom arrived, there was no difference from usual.

The last time this happened was six months ago when Shen Meng was still a sixth-rank official. Now she was promoted to a fifth-rank official, with a slightly higher position compared to last time.

Shen Meng sat in her seat early, chatting and laughing with her colleagues before the banquet began in earnest. Her gaze remained fixed and did not wander.

Of course, this was only the surface appearance. Despite maintaining her composure, she had already checked the specific arrangements of the venue before the envoy from Ganli Kingdom arrived.

The treatment of Ganli Kingdom seemed no different from that of other visiting small countries, except for one thing.

In the past banquets, each country sat separately, far apart from each other, fearing that others might overhear their conversations.

But today was different. The envoy team sat together, and the officials of our dynasty also sat together. Next to the young and beautiful prince of Ganli Kingdom sat two princesses of our dynasty.

Having been married, the eldest princess, who had already been titled as the Crown Princess, sat below the Empress. The second and third princesses sat on either side of her, becoming the protectors of this flower-like beauty.

When Shen Meng looked over, the young prince sitting between the two princesses happened to meet her gaze.

He smiled charmingly at her, his long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings, or like a small black brush that tickled the heart. Although Shen Meng wasn’t interested in this type of young boy, she couldn’t help but admit that he was indeed beautiful.

In addition, he was still very young, with a youthful face that could be pinched to produce water. Besides having a good figure, he was healthy, energetic, and truly captivating.

It’s just a pity that despite the prince’s charming gaze, Shen Meng remained unmoved, instead turning her eyes away as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have. It was as if she threw those flirtatious glances to a blind person.

No, even a blind person wouldn’t avoid him like this. With this thought, he couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated, but looking at the two people beside him, both considered the most noble in this self-proclaimed supreme kingdom, he regained his balance.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t outstanding enough; it was just that Shen Meng was indifferent. Although she didn’t look directly, Shen Meng could still understand his current thoughts without needing to look.

She wasn’t afraid that her actions would annoy him. In fact, the more he thought she wasn’t a suitable partner, the better.

After the Empress announced the start of the banquet, one after another, beautiful men presented graceful dances. Some were from their dynasty, and some were arranged by Ganli Kingdom.

Although only a few ministers present were truly lascivious, everyone appreciated beauty. Moreover, the performances were indeed wonderful, captivating the attention of many.

Shen Meng glanced at the dancers on the high stage, each draped in thin red veils, their breasts adorned with red dots, their makeup charming, their eyes shining with allure.

Among the sea of red, there was a touch of white—the lead dancer. Unlike the other dancers with revealing attire, his body was tightly wrapped. While others revealed their fair arms, he only exposed a pair of slender jade hands.

With black hair and white clothes, he wore a thick white mask covering most of his face, leaving only a pair of deep black eyes, cold yet tinged with allure.

The only bright spot on him was a silver bell tied to his right ankle, emitting a clear sound with each step he took.

With tinkling sounds, like the plucking of heartstrings, Shen Meng felt that the lead dancer in the middle seemed somewhat familiar.

But as her gaze lingered for a moment, she felt an extra glare directed at her.

Following the intense gaze, she found it coming from none other than Liang Rong, Liang Jue’s elder sister. She always had this demeanor. In her past life, when Shen Meng mistreated Liang Jue, Liang Rong endured it for Liang Jue’s sake, just to ensure Shen Meng treated her brother better.

Later, when Shen Meng and Liang Jue divorced, if Shen Meng hadn’t been firmly established in the court, she would have been in a very miserable situation because of this former sister-in-law.

Seeing her glance over, Liang Rong didn’t avoid it at all. Instead, she stared straight at Shen Meng, her eyes filled with anger and condemnation.

Liang Rong cherished Liang Jue so much that she almost treated him like her own son. It could be said that she valued Liang Jue more than her own husband.

As a woman, she could understand Shen Meng’s thoughts, but as a sister, seeing her sister-in-law’s eyes fixed on the beautiful dancer without any reaction was unbearable.

Shen Meng understood but didn’t pay much attention to Liang Rong. Her gaze lingered on the Ganli Kingdom prince for a moment.

Although his expression remained composed, there was a hint of satisfaction in his eyes, as if he was pleased with the beauty presented by the officials and ministers present.

The two princesses by his side—one watched the dancers on the floor, occasionally exchanging glances with the robed man beside her, while the other occasionally glanced at the floor and then back at the Ganli Kingdom prince beside her.

There was a look of fascination on her face, but her eyes were very clear, and the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curve up to a degree familiar to Shen Meng, based on her understanding of each other from both this life and the previous one over the past fifty years. This eldest princess must have something under control.

With confidence in her heart, Shen Meng shifted her gaze back to the dancer. Seeing her so captivated, Liang Rong’s intense gaze almost seemed capable of burning a hole in her clothes.

Shen Meng knew what she was thinking. Even if she had been attracted to the dancer before, Liang Rong was still overly concerned. She didn’t deny that she had wronged Liang Jue in her past life, but she had never wronged Liang Rong.

When she was reborn, she had thought of being kinder to Liang Jue, but she had not decided to be kinder to Liang Rong. It was her right and freedom to look at whoever she wanted. If Liang Rong was upset, it was her own narrow-mindedness, and it had nothing to do with Shen Meng.

Whether it was because Shen Meng’s gaze was too intense or because Liang Rong’s reaction was attention-grabbing, the lead dancer, spinning and spinning, ended up circling towards the spectators sitting below the high platform.

As the dancer spun closer to Shen Meng, his bell anklet jingled. Just as it seemed like he would fall into Shen Meng’s arms, his foot slipped, and the half-hidden beautiful youth was about to fall straight into Shen Meng’s embrace.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Meng tilted her body several degrees to the side, creating just enough distance to prevent the dancer from falling into her arms.

Liang Rong breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Shen Meng deliberately avoid the dancer. Shen Meng could sense her elder sister’s changing expression, but she had already made up her mind to ignore her. Despite Liang Rong’s approving gaze, Shen Meng didn’t even glance back.

However, the dancer wasn’t so easily deterred. But if he insisted on staying, his motives would become too obvious.

For his own purposes, he deliberately spun several more times, causing several accidental incidents. If it weren’t for his initially captivating dance, people would have surely suspected how he managed to infiltrate the scene.

During this time, he also accidentally fell onto Liang Rong, who had thwarted his plans. Despite her dislike for the dancer and her disdain for him due to the threat he posed to Liang Jue’s position, when faced with his eyes that seemed to reflect the starry sky, she found herself unable to say anything unpleasant and instinctively reached out to help him up.

After helping him up, she felt ashamed, her face turning red. It wasn’t because she felt guilty towards her husband, who managed the affairs of the household, but rather because she felt like she had betrayed her own brother, hence the shame on her face.

But before her embarrassment could fully register, the veiled man fell again in front of Shen Meng, seemingly quite severely. The thick veil that had been securely in place also fell, revealing a face stunning enough to captivate the entire audience.

Shen Meng once again rejected the advances of the dancer, and this time Liang Rong’s feelings shifted. From anger, she now felt worried. Could Shen Meng be frigid? If so, her beloved brother would be in for a tough time.

The whole banquet was becoming lively, but the Empress seemed to think it wasn’t enough. She commanded her confidants to bring up the matter of marriage for the prince of Ganli Kingdom.

Soon enough, the prince proposed to find his own wife.

To everyone’s surprise, he didn’t choose anyone but the somewhat indifferent eldest princess.

Just when everyone thought the matter was settled, no one expected the Empress to stir up more trouble in the realm of marriage.