"What did Wang Dazhuang say? Did I hear that right? Who is he looking for? My hearing must be broken. Is there anyone willing to lend me his ear so I can hear more clearly?"

"He's looking for Miss Shen."

"What girl?"

"Miss Chen!!"

"What's sinking?"

"Miss Chen! Miss Chen!! Go away, go away, go away, you're so annoying, go and rest somewhere else."

"Fine, I'll get out then."

You're acting weird, bro. You can talk about serious things a hundred or a thousand times and you still won't hear me, but you always manage to pick the exact words to insult me.

All around, people were talking at once, like the aunties haggling over prices at a market. They were all talking to themselves, ignoring each other, and their voices were so loud that even the golden sun overhead seemed to dim a bit from the noise.

The soldiers still found it hard to believe.

"Has Wang Dazhuang gone mad?"

"He's not crazy, he's probably possessed. How can he bully a young lady like this in front of His Majesty? Isn't he stupid? Isn't he afraid of being punished?"

"Besides, this is an internal competition. Who could he have chosen? Why did he have to pick a defenseless girl? Isn't that blatant bullying? He just hurled the most offensive insults and shamelessly stepped forward. Even the girl didn't mind, and now he's so petty and ungrateful. I've learned something new." This person was indignant, a hot-blooded young man. As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately retorted without hesitation.

"You're probably just defending her because she's pretty, aren't you? If it weren't for her, Brother Dazhuang wouldn't have scolded her, and if he hadn't scolded her, why would His Majesty have been angry? In the end, isn't it all Miss Shen's fault? If she hadn't come to Langya Pass, none of this would have happened."

"Exactly, actually she could come. The other dancers are all dead, why doesn't she go die? How can she live on alone, clinging to life? She's shameless."

"If it were me, I wouldn't have the face to live in this world. In the end, it's just that girls are afraid of death."

"Besides, isn't she General Chen's student? Now that she's learned the moves, she should show them off."

The crowd recognized that the people speaking were close friends with Wang Dazhuang. Seeing that the topic was getting further and further off track, the third faction quickly spoke up to seize a place.

"Calm down, everyone, calm down. It's not like you're competing. Why are you reacting so strongly? Although Wang Dazhuang's actions were ill-considered, rules are rules, but people are flexible. If Miss Shen just admits defeat, everything will be fine, right?"

"Have you gone mad too? How can His Majesty's woman be so easily defeated?"

"His Majesty and His Majesty's woman are two different kinds of people! If she's smart, she should admit defeat. Most of us can't even beat Wang Dazhuang. Does she think she can beat him after learning a few days of rudimentary skills? Dream on! She's utterly overestimating herself! Absolutely unreasonable!"

The scene was in complete chaos. Chen Bao and Zhou Hu were so disturbed by the noise that their faces turned as black as ink, looking extremely unpleasant.

...

With the tyrant's natural cooling effect around her, Shen Jiao unknowingly fell into a deep sleep. She dreamed that she was surrounded by the fragrance of ripe rice in a bountiful year, with countless spirited frogs all around her. They croaked on the left and right. Upon closer inspection, she realized that all the frog heads were actually the faces of her hater, Wang Dazhuang!

What?!

This is outrageous!

Taking charge of her own dreams, Shen Jiao immediately started heating oil in a wok, preparing to show off her skills by cooking a sizzling, oily pickled pepper frog dish to offer to the tyrant.

Just as everything was ready, suddenly, the mountains collapsed and the earth shook violently, with howling winds disrupting her carefully prepared plans, and both the frog and the pot were destroyed.

The frog is dead, but the croaking continues in a trio that should have brought peace to the countryside. Do you really think she won't go deaf?

Not only that, why is the ground still shaking? Is it an earthquake? She's so beautiful, she can't die!

Shen Jiao jolted awake, suddenly opening her eyes. Meeting the tyrant's outrageously handsome face, she felt inexplicably at ease.

"Hey, wake up! Someone's challenged you to a fight."

The tyrant held her shoulders and swayed her back and forth with great interest.

Ji Yanshuang's cold and ruthless long eyes flashed with a bright light, curving into crescent moons.

Shen Jiao remembered that look. Back then, when the tyrant disguised himself as a eunuch to fool her, he had the same foolish look of self-righteousness.

Otherwise, how could someone as intelligent as her be deceived!

However, she seemed to have eaten too much shaved ice, as she could vaguely hear gurgling sounds coming from inside her stomach.

After shaking her for a while, she was about to burst from the overwhelming urge to urinate.

Shen Jiao panicked and held his well-defined hand, "Your Majesty, stop shaking me, you're making me want to go to the outhouse."

Ji Yan narrowed her eyes. "Hmm? You still want to go to the outhouse to continue sleeping?"

He covered his nose, looking as if he was being choked to death by the stench, making her feel as if she herself was reeking.

Shen Jiao: "..."

Don't get angry, don't get angry, anger gives the devil a foothold. Don't get angry, don't get angry, anger will make you sick and no one can take your place.

She casually changed the subject, "Your Majesty just mentioned a fight? Are you kidding me? As a civilized child who vowed to earn the 'Good Boy's Red Flower' since I was three, I stopped fighting when I was three."

Actually, there was another reason: she was physically weak and couldn't develop properly. The other guys were either as big as half her face or much taller than her. She wouldn't dare to mess with her big, burly peers who were always snotty.

Ji Yan stared intently into her clear, deep eyes. "How could that be? I don't believe it."

The third daughter of the Marquis of Anbo's mansion could be said to have never fought before the age of three, but it cannot be said that she never fought after the age of three.

"How could it be impossible? Really, Your Majesty, you must believe me. I swear on the character of my future husband that if there is even a single lie, may he be struck by lightning." Shen Jiao blinked at the tyrant, her sincerity overflowing. This was no ordinary oath.

Upon hearing this, the light in Ji Yan's eyes vanished completely, and she suddenly became a little irritated. "Aren't you afraid he'll get struck dead?"

Shen Jiao: "That only shows that he has a bad character. There are thousands of men in the world. If this one doesn't work out, we'll find another one."

She didn't know what the tyrant was thinking, but he gave a charming smile that was both strange and undeniably beautiful.

Ji Yan affectionately cupped her face and said these gloomy words with a smile, "No need to change, let's die together, let's go to the underworld together to find him, okay?"

Shen Jiao: ? ? ?

You incredibly big-headed devil.

Is it to go to the underworld and blow my man's head off?

Is it true that in a group of three, there must be a tyrant among them?

The thought of the tyrant descending from the sky and taking her to the rooftop to be exposed to the wind while the couple were making love makes her feel like she has a heart attack. She thinks it's better to give up. If you love, love deeply; if you don't love, don't hurt. Perhaps a nunnery is her final destination.

Reason told her that this topic could not be continued, otherwise, Ji Yan, that capricious and brain-dead woman, would make her play the game of regicide in front of all the soldiers.

Then her only nine casual fans would vanish, and she couldn't bear to lose them.

Shen Jiao continued the original topic, utterly puzzled, racking her brains but unable to figure out the reason, "But Your Majesty, there is something I don't understand, with so many strong men here, why would he challenge me, a delicate and frail woman, to a duel?"

Ji Yan rested his elbows on his knees and said slowly, "Maybe he doesn't want you to sleep in the outhouse. Go and fight him. If you win, I'll let you go."

Shen Jiao: "..."