Amid a rustling of skirts trailing across the floor.
Before long.
A beautiful woman emerged from behind the peacock screen, her hair piled in cloudlike coils, her makeup lightly applied.
She had sloping shoulders and a slender neck, slim without being bony, like a white peony in autumn, with arched brows, lovely eyes, and a sparkling gaze.
She first approached the seat of honor and gracefully bowed to Ding Xian.
Then she shook her head and said quietly:
"Father, since you already know, why ask? Why deliberately embarrass your daughter?"
Ding Xian gave a surprised "Oh?" and asked:
"What do I already know? Why am I unaware of it?"
"With pearls and jade before them, tiles and stones cannot compare... beside Young Master Chen, I am ashamed of my appearance and feel utterly inferior. That was why I dared not come forward to dance."
Ding Yu sighed softly. Her exquisite, ink-painted brows drew together almost imperceptibly, revealing a trace of wistfulness.
Her words left both Ding Xian and Ding Wei stunned.
After several breaths of bewilderment.
Ding Wei finally broke first. His face twitched, and he sprayed out the wine in his mouth, slapping the table as he burst into laughter.
When he finally managed to stop and catch his breath, he looked up straight into Ding Xian's livid face.
Startled, Ding Wei shuddered inwardly and hurriedly sat upright, eyes on his nose and nose toward his heart, not daring another word.
"Wretch! Wretch! What will ever become of you?!"
Ding Xian first snapped impatiently, then said, both annoyed and amused:
"And what nonsense are you talking? Even if he is indeed pearls and jade, how does that make you tiles and stones?"
"Why make excuses for me, Father? It is only the truth, and I do not mind it