Wang Xue looked around curiously as her tranquil ocean-blue eyes went through the items laid out on the table. A moment passed as everyone held their breaths waiting for her to move.
Suddenly, her eyes narrowed as she spotted something sparkling. Then she made a baby noise that sounded much like a surprised gasp.
As if intoxicated by the shining object, Wang Xue abruptly moved on the large table, cutely crawling on its surface as she slowly began making her way to the shining object.
Seeing this, the people watching couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Haha! It seems to be true that all females like jewelry, it doesn't matter if it's a grown woman or a newborn infant! Hahaha!" A voice echoed softly, garnering everyone's attention.
When Lady Wang looked over in the direction of the voice, she saw a man with a hearty smile on his face. The man had long black hair, and black eyes and he wore a violet robe. He was the patriarch of the Guo Clan, Guo Jun.
Following his playful remark, the crowd burst into laughter, sparking a new conversation among the men in hush whispers.
The item Wang Xue seemed to be going for was an expensive jade hairpin. It was a gift from the Guo Clan showing goodwill toward the Wang Clan as neighbors.
The various items laid out on the table were, in fact, all precious gifts from the guests who had come. This was a tradition and a way for allies to show their goodwill.
"Look!"
Suddenly, someone exclaimed, turning everyone's attention toward the altar once again.
As everyone looked, The scene of Wang Xue seemingly staring at the beautiful hairpin entranced by its glimmer reflected in their eyes.
Slowly, Wang Xue extended her arm as if to grab the item and a smug smile appeared on Guo Jun's face.
Just as it seemed like Wang Xue was about to grab the hairpin, her expression suddenly turned uninterested as she drew her hand back and turned away from the ornament entirely.
Everyone who was holding their breaths suddenly releases air from their nostrils as everyone gasped in disappointment while keeping an eye on Wang Xue. While Guo Jun's smug smile turned into an awkward one, seeing him, the ladies giggled.
Wang Xue once again began crawling. She did not even look at the wooden sword or the book, scripture, peacock feather, or quilt. She was ignoring everything with a stoic face as if nothing interested her.
Suddenly, she spotted a beautiful orange-red flower among the items and for the first time in a long while, showed interest.
Seeing this, a prominent voice sounded in the hall as another warlord spoke proudly, "Ah, The Phoenix Flower that I specially brought after winning it in an auction!"
Hearing this, the people gasped and someone asked, "Lord Zi, Is- isn't this flower very rare? It's really the Phoenix flower?"
In a flattering tone, Zi Chen, one of the neighboring warlords replied, "Of course!"
"Chhe!"
At this moment, more gasps sounded as the people muttered in low voices among themselves seeing that Wang Xue had once again not grabbed the item. She had only sniffed its scent momentarily and sneezed, then turned away from it in disgust.
This absolutely slapped Zi Chen's pride as he laughed awkwardly while Guo Jun began snickering uncontrollably.
"Hah! This lass is so picky! What does she want?" The elders said awkwardly, however, their eyes smiling with kindness.
More time passed and eventually, Wang Xue turned away from every top-notch item. It seemed like nothing had piqued her fancy. From her eyes, the poor girl looked like she was about to break into loud sobs.
Just then, as everyone was expecting the grabbing ceremony to end in an awkward stop, Wang Xue turned her head and her moist eyes stumbled upon Shijie who was still curiously looking around the hall with an expression of awe on his face.
Suddenly, their gazes met and a sweet, genuine smile floated on Wang Xue's face as if she had found the solution to her predicament.
Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, she suddenly moved and began crawling toward Shijie, giggling and stumbling as she did so.
Shijie looked at her with his innocent eyes in what seemed like bafflement as if he didn't know why the girl was reaching him all of a sudden. In response, he too made some incomprehensible toddler noises and moved about his limbs.
For the record, since both children were having their grabbing ceremony at the same time, Shijie was also placed on the huge surface of the altar as Li Yan stood guard behind him, ensuring he wouldn't fall over.
Before anyone could stop it, Wang Xue had already reached Shijie. Her oceanic eyes brimming with some unexplainable glint, she grabbed Shijie's tiny hand with hers and mumbled as if saying, "Ay Chuus U!"
…
…
The entire hall suddenly became silent. Pin-drop silence. The scene before them was like nothing else they had a scene.
How ridiculous was this? On the 1st birthday grabbing ceremony, Wang Xue, the princess of the Wang Clan grabbed the Li Prince's hand. Was anything more ridiculous than this?
Seeing this sudden development, Wang Fang absolutely maintained a stoic face. He couldn't show any emotion at this moment as everyone was looking. But inwardly he was laughing and crying at the same time thinking, "Aiya! This lass will be the death of me!"
Lady Wang also had just about the same reaction but her brows were actually twitching. She was contemplating whether to reprimand her daughter or praise her for excellent taste. But she as well couldn't show her feelings.
On other hand, Li Yan couldn't help but feel proud of her son as she looked at him with love and affection.
At this moment, a loud, amused laugh resounded in the hall jolting everyone awake as Guo Jun began laughing in hysteria as he mumbled coherently, "Ha… Hahaha! How amusing… interesting… Prince Li oh Prince Li… how impressive! Hahaha!"
Smiling awkwardly, the grand elder finally tapped his stick, discreetly demanding silence as he said sternly, "Looks like Princess likes the broach on Prince Li."
Understanding that the elder was trying to defuse the situation and the first-hand embarrassment; everyone played along with flattering smiles on their faces. However, it was obvious that no one believed the broach story. At this point, the wild rumor in the streets was bound to be set in stone to blow off to an absurd degree.
While everyone was busy secretly laughing and enjoying, one particular man sitting across the hall had a worrisome expression as he looked at Shijie. His eyes narrowed as he abruptly stood up, making everyone stop in their tracks.
The man stood up from his seat, he had a domineering and awe-inspiring presence, sharp eyes, broad shoulders, a bulky physique, and long hair in a ponytail with a crown on his head.
The man had a confident and almost arrogant air around him. It could be said that he was definitely a big shot seeing that everyone spontaneously shut their mouths when he stood up.
"Lord Wu Guanting," Wang Feng stepped forward and greeted politely.
"Congratulations, my best wishes to the princess. I am certain that she will grow up into a beautiful flower with all virtues of sun and moon." Wu Guanting said with a smile.
"Thank you for the wishes…" Wang Fang said. But then at the end of the sentence, his eyes flinched as he suddenly remembered something he had long forgotten.
"Lord Wang, I have come all this way for one thing…" Wu Guanting said with a smile as his hand moved into his robes, he then brought out a sealed scroll.
"....This! The marriage agreement between our families, decided by our ancestors!" Wu Guanting stated matter of factly as he held the scroll in his hand in front of him for everyone to see.
With this sentence, it was as if someone had suddenly dropped a bomb. The hall once again stirred and then fell into utter and eerie silence. All gazes turned to the center of the hall in unison.