Chapter 14: Shame

After the Prince of Zhaoping left, Shen Wan also walked towards the crowded and lively place.

From a distance, I saw a girl walking towards me with her maid. The girl was pretty, but her eyes were hostile, and she was ready to fight at any time.

Shanhu whispered, "Today, the Third Miss and the Fourth Miss from the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion started arguing again."

Shanhu didn't need to tell her about this, Shen Wan knew it.

In her previous life, when Chen Wu and the fourth young lady of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion had a quarrel, she was right next to them.

The two of them had a grudge over a dispute over jewelry, and their resentment deepened because the second master and the third master of the Weiguo Mansion were competing for an official position. They were already at loggerheads with each other and would fight whenever they met. Naturally, he would not be kind to her, the second lady of the Dingguo Mansion.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Chen Wan actually developed some affection for Miss Wei Si.

As I walked past, a piece of paper appeared on the ground out of thin air.

The two ignored each other and passed each other.

Miss Wei Si saw the note in the middle of the road, turned around to look at Chen Wan, frowned slightly, and bent down to pick it up.

The Peony Banquet began, and young masters from aristocratic families and ladies from prominent families took their seats.

Xiao Yun was there too.

In his previous life, Xiao Yun broke his arm while saving her and was absent. In this life, he saved the maid, but his arm was only dislocated. He had recovered long ago, so it was not surprising that he came.

Shen Wan and Ye Caiwei sat together, sipping tea and waiting to watch the fun.

First, the dancers danced, and then the young men from wealthy families and the ladies of prominent families came on stage to show their talents. It was all voluntary and there was no compulsion to go on stage.

After several ladies from prominent families showed off their skills, Ye Caiwei could no longer contain herself. In order to shine at the Peony Banquet, she had practiced this dance hundreds of times over the past year and had received instruction from Deputy Envoy Li of the Inner Palace. She was confident that she could amaze everyone present.

But just when she was about to stand up, Shen Wan held her down and said, “Don’t worry, you can go on stage later.”

"Why?" Ye Caiwei was puzzled.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have more people to accompany you?"

Ye Caiwei restrained herself.

Chen Wan gave her Fu Guang Jin, asked someone to teach her, and gave her jewelry. There was no reason for her not to trust Chen Wan.

Chen Wu played the zither. In her previous life, she had received instruction from the Inner Court, and her skills had improved a lot. However, in this life, not only did she not improve, but she also slacked off for a few days because she wanted to cherish the opportunity to receive instruction in dancing from Deputy Envoy Li of the Inner Court. Although her performance was pretty good, it was not amazing.

After Shen Wu stepped down, she was very unhappy.

After Shen Wu, Ye Caiwei came on stage, wearing a shimmering brocade dress. In the sunlight, she was dazzling, and paired with purple jade jewelry, she looked even more noble.

Her dancing is light and graceful, with her toes as pens and her sleeves as ink, so beautiful that people can't take their eyes off her.

The dance is over.

Highly praise.

Ye Caiwei enjoyed those admiring and jealous looks very much.

She also truly felt that Shen Wan was thinking about her, because after her, no lady from a noble family would dance anymore, and they would either give up going on stage or do something else.

Shen Wu angrily tore the handkerchief in her hand to pieces.

She had never seen Shen Wan be so foolish. What good would it do for her to praise Ye Caiwei like this? !

She was so angry!

Thinking that there would be opportunities to show off later, Shen Wu suppressed her jealousy.

After waiting for half an hour, a maid finally came over with writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone. Today was the Peony Banquet, and everyone attending the banquet had to write a peony poem. The best one would win the first prize and get a prize.

The limit is one stick of incense.

The maid put the tray down and Ye Caiwei said, "Cousin first."

Shen Wan said, "I'm not good at writing poetry, so you come."

Ye Caiwei was not polite.

Pick up a pen, pretend to think, and then quickly write a poem.

When the incense burned out, the maid collected the poems from each table and gave them to Princess Shunyang and several noble ladies to appreciate and select the best one.

Several of the poems were passed around among the noble ladies, their eyes full of admiration.

Among the young masters from aristocratic families, the best one is Young Master Liu from the Hanlin Academy, and among the ladies from prominent families, the best one is Shen Wu.

Princess Shunyang praised them several times and shared their poems with everyone for everyone to appreciate.

Shen Wu looked very proud.

Shen Wan picked up the teacup, and the mist of tea covered the smile on her lips.

When the poem came into Miss Wei Si's hands, she glanced at it and asked Shen Wu, "Did you write this poem on the spot?"

Chen Wu stood up, looking arrogant, "Of course."

Princess Shunyang asked, "What's wrong?"

Miss Wei Si replied, "I found a poem in the garden that is exactly the same as Miss Shen San's."

Shen Wu's face froze, "How is that possible?!"

Miss Wei Si was also not vague. She took out the paper she picked up and unfolded it.

She showed it to the ladies in front and behind her, then handed it to a maid to deliver to Princess Shunyang.

After Princess Shunyang saw it, her face turned unhappy.

Everything had gone smoothly up to this point in today's Peony Banquet, but when it was almost over, something like this happened. She knew that many people were not good at poetry and would prepare it in advance, but not only did they cheat, they also brought cheat sheets. It was just a few lines of poetry, couldn't they remember them? Did they need to copy them down?

The more exposed you were just now, the more embarrassed you are now.

She swore that she had composed the poem on the spot, but Miss Wei Si found the same verses in the garden, and she had no way to defend herself.

How could this poem be written down and end up in the hands of Miss Wei Si?!

Even if Chen Wu racked her brains, she couldn't guess that this was Chen Wan's work.

In order to gain fame for her talent, Chen Wu wrote the poem in advance, but she was not satisfied with it, so she asked the Second Madam to find someone to polish it for her. She felt that the polish was not good enough, so she asked the Second Master to find someone to polish it again.

A poem.

Twenty-eight characters.

Twenty-seven were moistened.

How could such a carefully crafted work not become famous?

Not only Chen Wu, but Ye Caiwei's poems also came from this.

Although Chen Wu's poem was very good, it was caught forgery on the spot, so it naturally did not count. Otherwise, it would be unfair to others. Then the winner on the lady's side was Ye Caiwei.

Of course, there were also suspicions that Ye Caiwei was lying. After all, Ye Caiwei and Shen Wu were both from the Duke Dingguo Mansion and were cousins, but without evidence, they dared not speak carelessly.

Besides, even if the poem could be faked, Ye Caiwei's dance just now was absolutely genuine. She won the prize, and everyone was convinced.

Shen Wan planned to make Shen Wu embarrassed and Ye Caiwei famous, but what Shen Wan didn't expect was that she neither showed any talent nor wrote any poetry. Compared with Shen Wu's deception, her sincerity and preciousness appeared.