Chapter 1428 - 247, Overheated (44)
"Miss Yao is really too polite. Aren’t we all good friends? Why bother with such formalities? Please, get up!" Lin Yuan said with a happy smile, casually asking her to stand.
Looking at her charming and joyful expression, Yao Hanai felt stifled inside, but her face remained flawlessly impassive.
"As a County Master, Miss Lin commands respect, and naturally, I must observe proper etiquette. Moreover, we are in the palace; if others saw, wouldn’t they gossip about me being ignorant of the rules?"
Lin Yuan laughed lightly, looking at Yao Zhilan’s face, which was almost bursting with indignation. She felt amused and gestured, saying, "Miss Yao, please come over and have a seat. We’re enjoying some pastries and admiring the flowers. It’s very hot outside; don’t get burnt by the sun."
The palace garden had many pavilions for resting, some furnished with a stone table and four stone stools, others with five stools arranged in a plum blossom pattern.
Lin Yuan’s group was large, so they naturally chose a pavilion with five stools. Now, with Xiao Linshuang off playing, there were precisely five people left, each seated on a stool. Lin Yuan then invited Yao Hanai and her sister to join them. But where to sit?
It would have been proper for Tian Xuan, Lin Wei, and Xiao He—the three younger ladies—to stand and yield their seats. Yet, one was sipping tea with her head down, while the other two chattered away, none showing any intention of offering their places.
Even someone as composed as Yao Hanai had trouble keeping face at this point.