" YANG NING, YOU!! Why are you still standing outside the palace and not going inside? And….what is all this? Why are you wearing this kind of cheap dress?"
Yang Ning who was happily admiring the magnificent beauty of the royal palace, her happy moment was disrupted by a loud-cold voice of a man.
When she turned around, she found the man glaring at her in rage as if she had committed some kind of crime. " Dress?" She looked at the clothes that she was wearing in confusion and then looked at the man, " What's wrong with my clothes?" She blurted out, not knowing why this stranger was pointing at her dress as if she wasn't wearing a dress but a dirty rag to the banquet.
Xiaowei's complexion went pale to see Yang Ning answering back to Lord Yang Luoyang and could feel her end approaching sooner than she had expected. " MY LORD!! You're here." She immediately lowered her head and greeted him, trying to cut off this intense face-off between father and daughter.
" We were just about to go inside." She answered politely.
" Lord?" Yang Ning murmured in a low voice and realized that the man in front of her was none other than the greedy and self-centered father of Yang Ning.
Just now, she failed to recognize him because she doesn't have the memories of Yang Ning and things are especially difficult for her because she isn't aware of who is who and how things work in this world.
It was already hard enough to accept the fact that she is not Fang Li anymore but the villainess in the novel, Yang Ning. On top of that, she was forced to attend this royal banquet before she could understand the workings of this world.
Things are more chaotic because nothing is proceeding as she had read in the novel. The novel started from the later timeline, where the Crown Prince had already acquired the Crown and became the Emperor of the country, meanwhile, Yang Ning was the Empress, the Villainous Empress.
That's why she is solely depending on Xiaowei for everything and her knowledge about the novel and the characters. How amazing it would be if the people in this world would come with a character tag, it would be easier for her to recognize them right away.
**
A frown appeared on Yang Ning's forehead to see Yang Luoyang standing in front of her, who was glaring at her with a gaze of loathing and disgust in his eyes.
'Is he Yang Ning's Father? How can a father look at his child with such a hateful and loathing gaze?' She wondered.
When reading the novel, she hated him the most. More than the real Villainess, Yang Ning. Because he was the core reason why Yang Ning became a vicious and heartless person. Although she was the villainess in the novel, there were times when she pitied her more than anyone.
She simply wanted to come into the good books of her father. That was her only fault. Because of the said reason, she became part of the crimes that she never wanted to happen in the first place.
If he had treated her right and loved her like his eldest daughter, she wouldn't have to face that kind of dreadful and humiliating end.
" YOU!! Didn't I tell you to put on a beautiful dress for today's celebration banquet? Then why are you wearing such a simple-looking dress? Do you want people to look down on the Yang Family? Huh?" Yang Luoyang, who had just gotten off his horse carriage and was about to go inside the royal palace to attend the banquet, was stunned to see Yang Ning standing outside and looking in the direction of the palace.
He had sent Yang Ning earlier to the Banquet so that she could reach earlier and welcome the esteemed guests as the future Crown Prince, who are coming from far away kingdoms to attend the Banquet. However, not only was she wasting precious time by standing outside but was also wearing a simple-looking, ordinary dress that isn't suitable for the status of the Future Crown Princess.
" Chang Ah! Didn't I tell you to arrange a dress for her to wear to the Banquet? Then what the hell is this? How come she is wearing this kind of trash dress to the banquet?" Yang Luoyang lashed out at his wife, who was standing next to him and was frowning to see Yang Ning in a simple, yellow color dress that isn't embedded with any precious gems or had any special handicraft on it.
Chang Ah's face turned pale after being faced by her husband's wrath. Even though his voice wasn't too loud as they were still in front of the palace, she could feel the rage in his words.
"My…My Lord. I do not know anything about it. This…This is not the dress that I prepared for Yang Ning. She is not wearing the dress that I sent for her in the morning." Chang Ah retorted.
She was telling the truth. This was not the dress that she had sent for Yang Ning, to wear to the Celebration Banquet.
The dress she sent was of loud red color with matching accessories. However, the dress that Yang Ning was wearing at the moment was of yellow color that does not have any kind of handwork done on it. She wasn't wearing many accessories as well, just a pair of decent-looking earrings and a beautiful hairpin which isn't the same hairpin that she had sent in the morning.
" Yang Ning, my child. Why aren't you wearing the dress and accessories that I had prepared for you? How can you embarrass your mother like that in front of your father and everyone?"
" Even though I am not your birth mother, I still care for you as my child. I prepared that dress for you just so that you can wear it on a special day like today. How can you not wear it and look down on me as your mother? Huh?" Chang Ah looked at Yang Ning with her moist eyes and sobbed as if Yang Ning had wronged her by not wearing the dress that she had prepared for her.
Yang Luoyang gritted his teeth as he looked at Yang Ning with his reddened eyes in rage.
This girl!! He knew it.
She did it to embarrass him and Chang Ah in front of His Majesty and the Crown Prince. After yesterday, the Crown Prince already has an impression that the Yang family doesn't treat her well.
And not wearing an appropriate dress to the banquet will give everyone a reason to point their fingers at him and Chang Ah, who is the stepmother of Yang Ning.
" Yang Ning, You're so shameless. Were you trying to ruin my reputation in front of the Crown Prince and His Majesty? Huh? Don't you dare to enter the palace looking like that!"
" You! Take her back and get her changed into the dress that Chang Ah had prepared for her." Yang Luoyang turned to Xiaowei, who was getting anxious to see things unfolding in different directions.
That's not the reason why Yang Ning decided to wear a different dress.
" My Lord! The Banquet is going to start soon. If we leave now….." Xiaowei said nervously while hoping he would calm down and listen to their explanation.
The Banquet is soon going to start and if they go back to get changed, they will miss the starting ceremony. If this happens, Yang Ning won't be able to greet his Majesty along with the Crown Prince where both of them are supposed to start the Celebration Banquet by greeting the Emperor and receiving his blessing.
Yang Ning, who was silent all this while and was observing the drama unfolding in front of her, raised her hand to silent Xiaowei. She not only stopped Xiaowei from making excuses but glanced at Chang Ah before turning her attention to Minister Yang.
" We are not going anywhere. Since I am already here, I will only go back after attending the banquet, or if I were to leave this place now, I will not come back to attend the Banquet. Now you can make a decision. Either attend the Banquet in this dress or sleep peacefully at home?" Yang Ning announced while looking into Yang Luoyang's eyes with confidence.
The kind of confidence that she never had in herself when facing Yang Luoyang.
Everyone: "..."
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