It's the third of March and the city of Xiling is buzzing with the annual Hundred Flower Fair.
Emperor Xiaorui, in celebration, specially held a Hundred Flower Banquet in the palace. Concubines and princesses, royal relatives, as well as officials over the second rank in the capital were all invited.
As the banquet commenced, people were merrily eating fruit and enjoying music and dance.
At this moment, a discordant figure suddenly interrupted the banquet swiftly.
It was a woman, dressed in tattered clothes, with disheveled hair and full of grime. She was skinny, with black and red stains on her face, seemingly blood and mud mixed together, she looked heart-wrenching.
Regardless of her appearance, she only ran straight towards Crown Prince Xiaomuqing, and excitedly exclaimed, "Your Highness, I've found it! I've found the Thousand-Year Ghost Orchid!"
Xiaomuqing looked at her, an obvious disgust flashed on his handsome face. He stepped back and said sternly, "Gulan Yi, how dare you attend the Hundred Flower Banquet in such a state? Where's your respect for the royal dignity?"
Upon hearing these words from Xiaomuqing, the crowd was taken aback. They did not realize until then that the filthy woman was none other than Miss Gulan Yi of the Gu Family.
They had heard that Gulan Yi wasn't the brightest, but they didn't expect her to be even worse than a beggar.
Gulan Yi seemed not to grasp the meaning of Xiaomuqing's words. She innocently replied, "Didn't you say, Your Highness, that if I brought a Thousand-Year Ghost Orchid to the Hundred Flower Banquet, you would immediately fulfill our marriage agreement and marry me? This orchid grows atop a steep cliff, and I almost fell to my death while getting it..."
"What nonsense!"
Xiaomuqing was extremely upset. Indeed, he had made such a promise to Gulan Yi before, but only to deceive her into risking her life for it.
Gulan Yi wasn't just silly, but essentially good for nothing. To ask her to locate the Thousand-Year Ghost Orchid was practically a death sentence.
Yet, he could not believe that she had managed to return alive.
Just then, a petulant figure briskly approached. She held Gulan Yi up, and in a sweet voice said, "Sister, how did you manage to mess yourself up like this? How did you tear your clothes? Did you encounter some bad people?"
Gu Youlian's face was full of worry and tension. While her hands seemed to be tidying up Gu Lanyi's clothes, she was actually pulling down the section of Lanyi's garment that had been torn by a branch on her shoulder, revealing patches of her fair skin.
Everyone gasped in surprise.
In a public setting like this, being inadequately dressed was disgraceful. Combined with Gu Youlian's provocative remarks earlier, whispers began to circulate about whether the eldest Miss Gu had been violated.
"What an outrage! Youlian, take your sister away immediately!" Gu Changqing, the old general, was enraged seeing his granddaughter making a fool of herself, but he couldn’t publicly scold her. He was forced to endure his anger and ordered them to retreat.
Xiao Muqing, on the other hand, was not willing to let go of this opportunity. He fell on his knees towards Xiao Rui and loudly said: "Father, Gu Lanyi’s clothing is disheveled, and her behavior is unruly. She has brought shame to the royal family’s prestige. I earnestly request to dissolve the betrothal with Gu Lanyi and I hope father will consent!"
Gu Lanyi felt like she had been struck on the head.
Her clothes were disheveled, her behavior erratic, not abiding by a woman’s code of conduct, and thus tarnishing the royal family’s dignity.
These heavy accusations were placed upon her head.
While she did have a head injury that made her a bit slower than the average person, she was not genuinely mentally-impaired. Naturally, she knew that Xiao Muqing's words could completely ruin her life.
She would forever carry the label of not following a woman's moral code, and be subject to people's criticism.