After being reborn, I stole the female lead's cheat ability and raised the empress.

Chapter 84 Zhou Xian is not calm

Zhou Xianjing expressed her appreciation for Xia Li without hesitation, which angered the Second Princess and Xia Wanwan.

The two men looked at Xia Li with such hatred that they wished they could tear her apart, but due to the occasion, neither dared to actually touch her.

After Xia Li noticed the resentment in Xia Wanwan's eyes, her own eyes also became full of provocation, giving off a feeling of "I love that you can't stand me but can't do anything about me."

Soon after, the winemaker arrived. He first poured a small portion into a bowl, observed it carefully for a while, then swirled the wine, fanned the aroma with his hand, and finally took a sip, his face beaming with excitement: "This wine is made with lychee, giving it a unique taste that is sweet, sour, and refreshing. It also has the effects of beautifying the skin, nourishing the kidneys and replenishing qi, as well as nourishing the blood and liver... Most importantly, this is indeed a 500-year-old vintage wine."

"What! It's actually true?"

Many people stood up in surprise and soon surrounded Xia Li, asking all sorts of questions.

"Miss Xia, who made this wine?"

"Miss Xia, where did you buy it?"

"Miss Xia..."

The winemaker, taking advantage of everyone's inattention, secretly drank the remaining wine in one gulp, thinking to himself that this was a rare and excellent wine.

Xia Wanwan watched Xia Li being fawned over by everyone, her teeth practically grinding to dust. Damn it! She'd gotten too smug again. Where did Xia Li get the wine?

The Second Princess was equally furious, annoyed that Xia Li had stolen her thunder again. She couldn't help but reprimand him, "How can the Zhou family tolerate your insolence? Don't you know any manners?"

The surrounding people fell silent instantly.

There was nothing wrong with these words, but the host of the banquet, the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Dongping, was also present. Given the current status of the Marquis of Dongping, she was on equal footing with the princess.

So Zhou Xianjing looked up and said calmly, "The elders haven't arrived yet, and the banquet hasn't started. It's good for everyone to be lively." She then turned to look at Xia Li.

"But you still haven't told me where this wine comes from!"

Although Jin Yu Man Tang did intend to sell wine, Xia Li had not yet developed it, and Yu Yang also had a lot of wine, but it was unknown whether Yu Yang would sell it. Therefore, Xia Li hesitated for a moment and said, "I bought it from Jin Yu Man Tang, but when I went there there was only one jar for trial sale, and I don't know if they will continue to sell it later..."

After all, she hadn't mentioned this to Yu Yang yet.

"Oh, so it's called Jin Yu Man Tang! That's wonderful! Shall we go there sometime tomorrow? Let's drink until we drop!"

"Yes, yes, we were planning to go shopping for clothes tomorrow too. Miss Zhou, Miss Xia, shall we go together?" A young girl asked timidly.

Once someone started talking, others gradually joined in, and soon the lively atmosphere returned to normal.

"But such things are rare and hard to come by, so don't get your hopes up too high," Xia Li emphasized again. After all, nobles and royalty have bad tempers, and it wouldn't be good if they came looking for trouble later because they couldn't buy it.

Let me clarify first, with so many people witnessing this, we can't just shamelessly shift the blame onto ourselves, can we?

While Ah Li was making waves here, two resentful gazes were fixed on her. Soon, Xia Wanwan discovered that the princess also resented Xia Li.

Excitedly she made her way through the crowd to the princess: "Greetings, Your Highness. I am Xia Wanwan from the Marquis of Beiliang. I have some matters I would like to discuss with you."

The second princess gave her a cold look. Upon hearing anything related to Xia Li, she wished she could drag her away and beat her to death. However, she still had some sense and did not immediately punish Xia Wanwan.

"You said."

"Your Highness..." Xia Wanwan glanced around.

Although Xia Li was surrounded by most people, there were also those who were not interested in the Golden Jade Hall and those who were self-conscious about their status who were seated there.

For example, the Second Princess and Xia Wanwan.

The second princess gave a look to several maids, who then subtly shifted positions to form a circle around them, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

"Alright, come closer."

Fearing being discovered, Xia Wanwan spoke frankly: "I've observed that Your Highness dislikes Xia Li, and coincidentally, I hate her too, so I set up a scheme tonight... With Your Highness present, the plan will surely go more smoothly."

Having witnessed many of the dirty tricks in the harem, the Second Princess simply said, "Well, I can lend you a hand and make her suffer an even worse fate. You should go back now."

Xia Wanwan was overjoyed, not only because Xia Li was about to die, but also because she had gotten in touch with the princess.

The meal began quickly, and Xia Li had barely taken a few bites when she noticed Xia Wanwan constantly moving closer to her, calling her "sister, sister" repeatedly. Xia Li narrowed her eyes immediately. It seemed this girl was up to no good?

"Xia Wanwan, what tricks are you trying to pull?"

Xia Wanwan was taken aback, but quickly pretended not to hear and gave her a big smile: "Sister, I've offended you a lot in the past, so I'm apologizing to you today." She poured two glasses of wine, then raised one of them...

Xia Li didn't believe her and didn't even touch the wine glass.

"Sister, why aren't you drinking? Are you still angry with me?" Xia Wanwan's eyes reddened with grievance, and her hand holding the teacup trembled slightly. Suddenly, she lost her grip, and the wine spilled directly onto Xia Li's skirt.

Xia Li was trying to prevent her from poisoning him, but she never expected that the other person's target would be her clothes.

This dress is so expensive!!!

She couldn't help but roar, "Xia! Wan! Wan!!!"

In an instant, everyone around them turned to look at the two of them.

Fortunately, Xia Li didn't care about saving face; she only cared about money: "This outfit is very expensive. If you get it dirty, will you pay for it?"

"Ah, sister, sister, please don't scold me... I didn't mean it, I'll take you downstairs to change your clothes." Xia Wanwan's pitiful appearance instantly won everyone's sympathy.

People began to whisper: "I've long heard that Miss Xia grew up in the countryside and doesn't know any manners..."

Xia Wanwan curled her lips into a smug smile. From today onwards, the image of Miss Xia as vulgar and uncouth will be even more deeply ingrained in people's minds.

But her smugness didn't last long before her face fell.

Xia Li's cheerful and generous personality has already won the hearts of many people, who are willing to befriend her and speak up for her:

"If it were you, and you finally managed to snag a gorgeous outfit, only to have it ruined the moment you put it on, would you be happy?"

"That's right, even if it's a biological sister, let alone an adopted sister, I'd still beat her up to vent my anger!"

"Yes, and besides, Miss Xia only wants compensation."

"It's only right to compensate for damage to other people's property. Why is she acting so aggrieved? Does she not want to pay?"

"..."

Xia Wanwan's face turned pale. How could this be different from what she had imagined?

Never mind, the plan is more important.

She hurriedly prepared to pull the person away from the table, just as she heard Xia Li speak again:

"This dress costs a thousand taels, will you compensate me?"