Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 61: Whoever Wants to Be the Princess Consort Can Be One

It was supposed to be a simple inspection, but I didn’t expect Yan Wen to be here too, with a tagalong in tow.

"Heh, Second Miss. We meet again."

Su Huaqing still had that rakish, unrestrained air about him. He greeted her with a warm smile, a folding fan in his hand.

"Good day, Mr. Su." Song Lianhe beamed, looking for all the world like an old friend, without a hint of unfamiliarity.

Yan Wen glanced back, his eyes landing on her smiling face before shifting to his friend. He felt an indescribable sense of unease.

Song Lianhe spoke unhurriedly. "Mr. Su, you certainly seem to have a lot of free time. How is it that I see you everywhere?" She took a step forward, cupped a small hand to her lips, and leaned close to Yan Wen’s ear to whisper, "A dignified Fourth-Grade Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry is so idle he’s taken to wandering the streets? Is the Court this casual with its appointments now?"

Yan Wen froze for a moment, then cleared his throat twice. "Second Miss," he said hurriedly, "you must not speak so presumptuously of the Court."

"Oh, oh, right, right."

As if nothing had happened, Song Lianhe turned back to Su Huaqing with another dazzling smile. "It is Lianhe who is ignorant. I hope Mr. Wanzhang can forgive me."

It was hard to tell if she had done it on purpose, but that "Mr. Wanzhang" made Su Huaqing raise an eyebrow. His eyes, tinged with a slight smile, turned toward her.

Waving his fan, Su Huaqing was quite magnanimous, not at all minding her overt and covert jabs about him being an idle official.

He chuckled. "The Empress is hosting a Hairpin Flower Banquet in the Imperial Palace today. Prince Ling has gone to attend, which left me with some free time. And since I heard Rongbai was coming to check on the shops, I decided to tag along. Heh, I trust the Second Miss doesn’t mind? After all, I am just... far too idle."

He chuckled softly as he looked at Song Lianhe, clearly not minding that his words revealed he was one of Prince Ling’s men.

As for his identity, Song Lianhe had known all along.

She was just more interested in something else.

’A Hairpin Flower Banquet...’

Song Lianhe remembered. There was indeed a scene like this in the original novel.

’This Hairpin Flower Banquet is actually a matchmaking event set up by the Empress for Zhou Cangyan. The female lead is among those invited. At the banquet, many people mock and ridicule the female lead for her status. Come to think of it, that’s probably the only stain on her record.’

’But the female lead resolves all of these conflicts one by one, displaying her high emotional intelligence and extraordinary talent. On top of that, with her protagonist’s halo, the Empress is extremely pleased with her and verbally backs her up. With such a powerful supporter, the female lead’s path is smooth sailing from then on.’

’The Empress takes a liking to Song Xilan and intentionally creates opportunities for her to get closer to Zhou Cangyan.’

’Everyone knows Zhou Cangyan has no interest in women, so someone at the banquet teases him about it, and it’s the female lead who cleverly helps him out of the awkward situation.’

’The development that follows can be summed up by the classic line, "Woman, you’ve successfully captured my attention."’

’How could Song Xilan not know how he felt about her? In Song Lianhe’s eyes, as a reader, the female lead just uses the excuse that the "villain" never confessed, so she plays dumb and keeps stringing him along.’

’After Song Xilan and Zhou Junlin get together, Zhou Cangyan—who had gradually given away his heart—meets a tragic end, shot to death by a volley of arrows.’

’As for her—the villainess—upon learning that the male and female leads are secretly meeting in the Imperial Palace behind her back, she gets so angry that she storms the palace! Her maternal grandmother had once given her a token that granted free access to the Imperial Palace. So she shows up at the Empress’s Hairpin Flower Banquet, furious and disheveled, causing the Empress to frown repeatedly. However, out of respect for the Marquis and Marquise Xuan Chang, the Empress doesn’t make things difficult for her.’

’The original Song Lianhe arrives uninvited and, ignoring the stares of others, sits right next to Zhou Junlin, claiming her position as his fiancée.’

’After that, the female lead shines at the banquet, and the look Zhou Junlin gives her is overflowing with tenderness. How could Song Lianhe stand it? So, instigated by Zhuang Qiaoyue, she impulsively challenges the female lead to a competition. The result is predictable: with her own ignorance and foolishness, she once again serves to highlight the female lead’s virtue and talent. Compared to Song Lianhe, *this* is the perfect candidate for a Princess Consort in the Empress’s eyes...’

’Thinking it through, it all made perfect sense. Mrs. Liu tried to stop me from leaving the estate because she was afraid I would go and cause trouble!’

The old Song Lianhe would have stormed over without a second thought, but the current her couldn’t be bothered.

’Whoever wants to be the Princess Consort can have the title. I don’t want it, anyway.’

But when Song Lianhe recalled the description of Zhou Cangyan’s miserable fate in the book, she felt a faint sense of pity.

’Even though he’s a villain, compared to the so-called male lead, Zhou Junlin, Zhou Cangyan treated her much better. At the very least, he saved her from peril several times.’

Seeing her fall silent with a conflicted expression, Yan Wen assumed she was upset because she’d heard Prince Ling was attending the banquet.

He found himself blurting out in a low voice, "He’s just attending a banquet. It doesn’t mean anything."