Bai Qingzhou was dumbfounded—wasn't the legendary "skinny horse" supposed to learn music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? Although Mianmian told him that her type of "skinny horse" relied on her beauty and smooth talk, he just thought she was being modest.

Surprisingly, she really couldn't do anything!

It took Bai Qingzhou a while to accept this shocking fact. He swallowed hard. "So, you deliberately fought to avoid the competition with Liu Xiangning?"

Shen Mianmian nodded obediently, "You're half right. One reason is to avoid today's competition; the other is to avoid future competitions. I think that since we caused such a big mess today, those noble ladies will definitely not include us skinny girls in their banquets in the future, and then I'll be safe."

Bai Qingzhou's lips twitched, "You...this...that..."

He stammered for a long time, but couldn't come up with anything.

Chen Mianmian hung her head and said, "I know my behavior is too rude and unreliable, but what can I do? I have no talent. It's too late to learn now! By the way, can you have a calligraphy competition? My regular script is pretty good. Maybe I can practice some more and then compete with her in calligraphy in the future?"

Bai Qingzhou felt sorry for the woman when he saw her pitiful appearance. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. "It's my fault. Don't blame yourself."

Chen Mianmian nestled in the boy's arms, both amused and exasperated—it was all her and Liu Xiangning's fault, what did it have to do with him? Idiot.

Bai Qingzhou said, "Do you like attending banquets? If you don't, I'll tell my mother that I won't take you anymore."

"I don't like it!" Chen Mianmian said hastily.

"Okay, I'll go over and talk to my mother about it in a bit."

"That's great!" Chen Mianmian snuggled against the young man's chest, then suddenly remembered something. She struggled to get out of his arms and said seriously, "Young Master, are there any female martial arts instructors in the capital? Could you invite one to teach me some martial arts?"

Bai Qingzhou asked in confusion, "Why are you suddenly learning kung fu?"

"Don't even mention it. I thought I was going to win today, but I lost. The more I think about it, the angrier I get! I'm afraid that if I encounter this situation again, I don't want to get beaten black and blue again."

As he spoke, he pitifully pointed to his panda-like eyes.

She was actually lying.

She wanted to learn martial arts, not because of Liu Xiangning, but because she suddenly realized that in the event of an accident, a weak woman would be utterly helpless to protect herself.

Moreover, she was no ordinary weak woman, but an unparalleled beauty!

Before, when she was at the Marquis of Anning's residence, she didn't feel much. But today, when she went to the banquet, everyone who saw her, whether male or female, master or servant, had their eyes glued to her.

Some men, in particular, had such greedy eyes that they frightened her.

Better safe than sorry, she wanted to learn some martial arts.

Bai Qingzhou said with difficulty, "No women in the capital learn martial arts. Even in families of military officials, they learn from their fathers, brothers, and the family's martial arts instructors. There are no female martial arts instructors. It's just that with your status... it might be a little... inconvenient to find a martial arts instructor."

Chen Mianmian understood perfectly—it was fine for a young lady to learn martial arts from a martial arts master accompanied by her maids and nannies, but she wasn't a young lady; she was someone's concubine, and shouldn't even see men outside the family, let alone learn martial arts from a martial arts master.

Then she came to terms with it—since she was just cannon fodder anyway, and wasn't even afraid of death, what was there to be afraid of? She'd just be more careful in the future, and if things really didn't go well… well, whatever.

Seeing the woman's disappointed look, Bai Qingzhou felt a pang of sadness. After much deliberation, he struggled to say, "If... you don't mind, I can teach you."

"Well!?"

Chen Mianmian suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with surprise, "Can you do it?"

Bai Qingzhou awkwardly looked away. "I have studied it, but I didn't study it well."

Yes, he didn't even pass the county-level examination for the military examination.

"It's okay, teach me! Please, you have to teach me, I'm going to beat that little bitch to death next time!" Shen Mianmian happily grabbed the boy's hand.

Bai Qingzhou sighed helplessly, "You probably didn't understand what I meant. I mean, I'm not doing well in my studies."

"Not learning well doesn't mean being taught poorly. I believe the young master can definitely teach me well." As she spoke, she even shook the boy's hand affectionately.

Looking at the woman's adoring expression, Bai Qingzhou felt both happy and guilty, and began to secretly recall the moves he had learned back then.

...

In contrast to the tranquility of the Marquis of Anning's residence, another Marquis's residence was in complete chaos.

First, the Lady of Xuanping Marquis flew into a rage, beating the second son's family mercilessly before kicking them out.

The three of them returned to their own courtyard, and Huo Rang and Zhou Shi started arguing.

"Zhou Miaoyin, can you stop being so mean? You argue with me at home, and then you pick fights when you go out. Can't you live a peaceful life? Are you a poisonous woman?"

Zhou Miaoyin also jumped up and argued, "Me, a poisonous woman? I was the one who actively harmed Prince Bai? You tried to harm him, but not only did you fail, you were also investigated and forced my mother and me to shamelessly apologize to the Marquis of Anning's mansion. Now you call me a poisonous woman? Do you have the right?"

Besides, why would I specifically target the Marquis of Anning's mansion instead of others? Isn't it to help you vent your anger? You bought a skinny horse from Yaotai Workshop, and she's skilled at playing the zither. What's wrong with me having her dampen the Marquis of Anning's mansion's reputation?

"We raise an army for a thousand days to use it for one day. Why not use it if we've bought it? You've made us lose face, so what's wrong with us retaliating?"

"You..." Huo Rang was speechless because he was in the wrong.

Seeing that Huo Rang remained silent, Zhou Miaoyin knew that she had won.

Just as he was feeling smug, he suddenly noticed Liu Xiangning in the corner and realized—no, today is different from usual. Before, no matter how much they argued, they would always make up before they got out of bed. But now that there's this "skinny horse," if she and her husband have a conflict, wouldn't that just benefit the "skinny horse"?

Thinking of this, Zhou Miaoyin said, "Xiang Ning, I kindly took you to see the world, why did you hit someone? It's all your fault, now our Marquis's mansion has become a joke!"

Liu Xiangning hurriedly explained, "Young Madam, please let me explain. I struck Shen Mianmian because it was for your sake."

Zhou Miaoyin sneered, "Ha, you hit someone, and you think you can pin it on me?"

Liu Xiangning was so frightened that her face turned pale. "It's like this, that bitch Chen Mianmian forced you, young mistress, to compete in the zither with the young mistress of the Anning Marquis's mansion. If I hadn't hit that bitch, you would have lost!"

Zhou Miaoyin's face stiffened, then she exploded in anger, "Are you saying my piano skills are inferior to Jiang Yinjin's?"

Liu Xiangning's face was pale—wasn't it obvious? The young mistress of the Anning Marquis's mansion was skilled in playing the zither. Even if she, who was skilled in playing the zither, were to play, she could only manage a draw at best. Moreover, the young mistress used poetry to compose music, and her thoughts were exquisite. How could the young mistress compare to her?

She looked at the young mistress's furious and distorted face with confusion, wondering if the young mistress really couldn't tell who played well and who played poorly, or if she was unwilling to admit it.