The others naturally had nothing to say; since even the prefect's wife was going to personally take charge, they had no reason to refuse.

Anyway, I usually learn a thing or two about music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Even if I'm not top-notch, it won't be too embarrassing.

As agreed, the prefect's wife would lead the way, and that was a given. Once they were all dressed and ready, the performance would begin.

He Jiuniang leisurely munched on a duck neck, watching the prefect's wife, with a stiff face, dance gracefully in the middle of the hall.

Perhaps because they hadn't danced in many years, they were no longer very skilled and even made mistakes. Apart from He Jiuniang, almost everyone kept their heads down and ate their own food, not daring to look over there, for fear of accidentally offending the prefect's wife.

He Jiuniang, however, was different. She stared intently at the prefect's wife, and when she saw her make a mistake, she would smack her lips in disgust. If it weren't for the loud music, everyone would have heard her smacking her lips.

This is taking slacking off and arrogance to the extreme.

Yueyan asked her with some worry, "Madam, this means we've completely offended the Prefect's wife. What are we going to do now?"

He Jiuniang waved her hand dismissively and said, "You all saw it just now. They provoked me first. I just wanted to eat quietly and go home when it was time, but they wouldn't let me have my way. So I won't let them get away with it. This is what I told you before: we don't bully others, but if others dare to bully us, we'll get our revenge, and we'll get our revenge double! Understand?"

The two maids nodded repeatedly. They had witnessed the madam's domineering presence today. They had thought the madam would be bullied, but they never expected such a reversal. It was truly admirable.

The dance itself wasn't very long, but it felt like centuries had passed, and the Prefect's wife couldn't bear it any longer.

When the music finally ended, she could barely stand. Luckily, her daughter rushed over to support her, otherwise she would have fallen to the ground.

"good!"

He Jiuniang was loudly cheering and clapping, looking no different from the men who frequented brothels.

The prefect's wife had a livid face, wanting to get angry but not daring to, and swallowed her anger as she sat down in her seat.

He Jiuniang couldn't help but urge Madam Li, "Sister Li, hurry up and come on up! What are you standing there for!"

Madam Li froze for a moment, not expecting that she would also have to go up.

With all that extra weight, dancing was definitely out of the question, so she said somewhat awkwardly, "Then I'll paint a picture instead."

As she spoke, she instructed her maid to prepare writing materials. At this moment, she dared not look at the prefect's wife's expression, keeping her head down the whole time and trying her best to make herself inconspicuous.

But in fact, she had completely offended the prefect's wife today, and also the previous Madam Lu.

What's most troubling is that she still doesn't know who Madam Lu is. However, seeing how obsequious the prefect's wife is, she's probably someone she can't afford to offend.

But she ended up offending them all.

Her palms were damp with sweat as she pondered how to salvage the situation, but it seemed there was no good solution at the moment.

The maid quickly brought over a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, placing them in the center of the hall. Madam Li stepped forward and began to paint.

Her painting skills were not good, and could even be described as below average. Moreover, due to nervousness, her hands were shaking, making it impossible for her to produce any good works.

He Jiuniang, however, added fuel to the fire by deliberately saying, "Why is Sister Li so nervous? Madam Qian said we're all family. Why are you so reserved in front of your own people?"

Seeing her rebuke Madam Li like that, the Prefect's wife felt inexplicably relieved. At least He Jiuniang had praised her when she was dancing, instead of kicking her while she was down like this.

As expected, she still disliked Madam Li more, but she just didn't want to show it.

The prefect's wife was filled with regret. She had thought that since he was a newcomer, even if his husband was of a higher rank than hers, he would not dare to act too wildly out of consideration for so many of them. She never expected that he would not take them seriously at all.

What's even more infuriating is that Lu Baichuan holds a third-rank official position and works in the Huoyun Division, which is the most trusted agency of Prince Chen. Compared to the Huoyun Division, their husbands seem utterly useless.

After He Jiuniang said that, Madam Li's hands trembled even more. No one knew what kind of flower she wanted to draw, but she only drew a few incongruous petals before stopping.

She raised her head and said to everyone with great embarrassment, "I haven't painted for many years, and my skills are rusty. I really can't paint it, so I won't embarrass myself in front of you ladies."

She has finally toned down her sharp edge and is speaking much more politely now, which seems to indicate that she truly knows she was wrong.

But He Jiuniang didn't want to let her off so easily. She wiped her hands, stood up, walked to the center of the hall to look at the painting, and then started clicking her tongue in front of everyone again.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Sister Li's painting skills are truly something I've never heard of or seen before. I've really opened my eyes today."

These words were truly merciless, yet Madam Li dared not utter a single word in her defense.

Unfortunately, there was that foolish woman who, taking advantage of her good relationship with Madam Li, wanted to curry favor with her and stood up to speak on her behalf.

"Madam Lu, Madam Li both said that they are out of practice and that's why they can't paint well. Why are you being so aggressive?"

He Jiuniang turned her gaze to the woman, who was about the same age as Madam Li. Moreover, the two were sitting at very close tables, so it seemed that they had a good relationship. No wonder she was willing to be the one to take the lead.

He Jiuniang replied, "So you know the word 'aggressive and forceful'? I thought you didn't! Wasn't that how you forced me onto the stage just now? Have you forgotten so quickly?"

The woman immediately wanted to retort, but after thinking about it, she didn't know what to say. They had indeed asked her to perform a talent with a certain mindset.

He Jiuniang continued, "What, do you think you have nothing to say? Is this all you are capable of? Do you want to see me make a fool of myself? Since this lady is speaking up for Madam Li, then you will be the next to perform a talent show. Let us see just how capable you are."

"you!"

The lady was furious and about to swear when Madam Li pulled her back.

She's completely making things worse now. The more excited she is now, the more miserable her own death will be later. It's pointless.

At Madam Li's prompting, Ruowei finally went to the center of the hall and danced. This lady was thinner and her movements were not as stiff as the prefect's wife's. Surprisingly, she performed the best among the three.

He Jiuniang generously praised the person, but the person rolled their eyes, indicating that they did not need such praise.

Afterwards, He Jiuniang glanced into the crowd and selected a few more people who had just been fanning the yin wind and lighting the ghost fire to come out and perform their talents.

He Jiuniang was overjoyed to see them all displaying flashy but ineffective martial arts skills.

After everyone else had finished performing, someone became unhappy and asked, "We all performed, what about you?"