It didn't matter to Shen Jiao which round she played in. It wasn't that she was too confident in herself, but rather that she thought Old Nan had no reason to lie to her.

Liang Heng has always been unable to control his mouth. He's fine when he doesn't speak, but once he starts, he wants to ramble on and on.

A flash of silver light appeared, coming with great force. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a large sword half a meter long.

"Your Majesty! Calm down! Calm down, Your Majesty! I'm leaving right now, get out of here as quickly as possible!"

Liang Heng was so frightened that he ran away as fast as he could.

Even at such a critical moment, he remained steadfast in his duty, never forgetting that he was a "woman" at that moment.

Take a few steps, then twist your body.

Take a few steps, then twist your body.

Shen Jiao sighed, at a moment's moment, she really didn't know what to say.

Wang Fu finally managed to clear his mind and return, intending to see the faces of His Majesty and Empress to cleanse his eyes. However, by sheer coincidence, he bumped into Liang Heng, who was fleeing for his life.

Meeting is fate. Liang Heng raised his hand, pouted, and blew a tender kiss: "Eunuch Wang~"

If Wang Fu had hair all over his body, it would probably all bristle into spikes by now. He shouted again, "So ugly! I'm blind again!"

He turned around and ran away at top speed.

Liang Heng: "..."

Shen Jiao: "..."

Ji Yan: "..."

...

The Four Flowers Banquet is a competition of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The ladies who are eliminated in the first round of the music competition cannot participate in the second and subsequent rounds of the music competition, but they are qualified to participate in the first round of the chess, calligraphy, and painting competitions.

Of course, if you are eliminated again, you will not be allowed to participate in the corresponding competition again.

Inside the room, there were four chairs, two on each side, and incense smoke curling from a burner. Old Nan and the others were sitting and drinking tea, seemingly bored.

Unlike their unfathomable demeanor in front of outsiders, the musician Xian Le and the calligrapher Ling Xiao showed the utmost respect to Elder Nan and Elder Qi. Only after Elder Nan and Elder Qi had taken a sip of tea did they dare to drink.

After all, the two elders and their master were of the same generation, and proper etiquette could not be disregarded!

Since the morning's competition was the home turf of the celestial musicians, he casually mentioned a few ladies who had performed well.

The musician playing the zither remarked, "Murong You is quite intelligent."

He had only intended to make a casual remark, never expecting anyone to agree with his pointless attempt to break the awkward silence.

To everyone's surprise, Old Nan said expressionlessly, "It's alright."

Old Qi said indifferently, "How about that?"

Lingxiao, a calligrapher who has devoted his life to calligraphy, knows nothing about playing the zither. He would only make more mistakes if he said anything more. He nodded in agreement and said, "Same as above."

It's strange. It's normal for Elder Nan to not know Murong You and to make such an evaluation, but I heard that Elder Qi has given Murong You some guidance and can be considered a half-acquaintance. Why is he so strict with him?

The musician playing the celestial zither was puzzled, but then thought of the phrase "distinguishing between public and private matters."

He then laughed and said, "And there's the Empress! She's exceptionally gifted!"

This statement is a higher evaluation than that given to Murong You; it is expressed with emotion and is more sincere.

Old Nan said proudly, "Of course!"

Old Qi said smugly, "Absolutely!"

Lingxiao the calligrapher nodded in agreement as always, saying, "Same as above."

Upon hearing this, the musician playing the celestial zither suddenly fell silent.

No, no, why did the two elders' attitude change so drastically? He began to doubt whether his understanding of the separation of public and private matters from the previous quarter of an hour was correct.

So he tentatively said, "Silent words..."

"This woman is wicked!" But before he could finish speaking, Old Nan interrupted him.

Old Qi could hardly disagree: "Extremely bad!"

Lingxiao the calligrapher didn't know Shen Yu, wasn't familiar with him, and didn't understand him, but out of respect for his elders, he continued to nod: "Same here!"

Seeing this, the musician guessed something was amiss and, unable to contain himself any longer, yelled at the person next to him, "Can't you say anything more than 'the same as above'?"

Lingxiao the calligrapher pondered for a moment and said, "Same as above, same as above."

Celestial Musician: "..."

...

We played chess in the afternoon.

Since Shen Jiao was in the first round, she didn't wait in the waiting area. After the rules of the game were announced, she went directly to the stage and took her seat.

The opponents hadn't arrived yet, but both sides had already placed each other's name tags on the ground.

Upon seeing this, Shen Jiao's eyes crinkled with delight: "It's actually Sun Mengyao? I thought she would try to find someone powerful to deal with me."

After being recognized, Ji Yan didn't bother to put on the eunuch's clothes. He changed back into his original clothes and sat down casually behind her.

He smirked and said, "How could that be? Sun Mengyaoqin was led by the nose by you, making a fool of herself. She was unwilling to accept it, so naturally she would try to find a way to regain her dignity."

Shen Jiao said, "If it were me, I would rather find a powerful person to settle the score."

This isn't cowardice; it's striving for protection.

“She won’t be you, and you won’t lose.” Ji Yan suddenly reached out and gently brushed away the dust that had somehow gotten stuck to the frizzy hamster cloak.

Shen Jiao feigned surprise and asked, "Your Majesty trusts me so much?"

Ji Yan replied with a smile, "Always believe."

This person's mouth is getting more and more pleasing to the ear; nine out of ten sentences make one's heart pound.

Who would have thought that this tyrant, who shouts for war and bloodshed all day long, could be just as capable of sweet talk?

There are four groups of eight people in one round of chess. As the conversation continued, some people began to sit down.

However, due to the tyrant's imposing presence, they sat upright as if nailed to their seats, not daring to look around. The more timid ones had even turned pale.

On the other hand, Ji Yan sat there with the air of a great Buddha, his gaze cold and sharp, seemingly unapproachable. However, Shen Jiao knew that he did not intend to intimidate them.

She propped her head up and continued, "Losing one match doesn't mean the final result. Sun Mengyao isn't preparing properly for the other three competitions. I have no grudge against her, but she's targeting me every day. I don't know what she's trying to do."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!