Chapter 522: The Thousand-Year-Old (43)
"Young Master, you're right. You have a good chance too. The talent you showed today was no worse than anyone else's," Uncle De said.
Wen Wan: "That's because it's the first time I've seen it, so it's new and exciting."
Gu Li: "Very impressive."
Wen Wan smiled a little shyly after receiving the male lead's affirmation, "Those are just some minor talents of mine, but your talents are truly amazing."
The two exchanged intense glances. Gu Li wasn't stupid; he clearly sensed Wen Wan's sudden change in attitude. He had thought about it countless times, but he just couldn't understand it.
Xiao Cui: "..."
Look at your master.
No, she had to stop it before it escalated into a major disaster.
So, when Gu Li was not around, she looked at her master and said, "Master, this servant has something to say."
Wen Wan: "I like Gu Li."
Xiao Cui: "!!!"
"But he was a eunuch."
Wen Wan: "I know, but I just like him. Even if he's a eunuch, I'll still like him."
"Her Majesty the Empress will not allow it; his status is simply not worthy of you."
Wen Wan laughed, "Then who is worthy of me? My identity will probably never see the light of day in my entire life. I am destined not to be able to marry and have a normal marriage like other people. So I just want to find someone I like. Are you going to stop me?"
Xiao Cui: "But why Gu Li? Why him? Did he seduce Master? I knew he wasn't a docile person."
"Xiao Cui—"
Xiao Cui stopped talking.
Wen Wan said, "He's outstanding and good-looking. Do you think there's anyone in the world who's better looking than him?"
Xiao Cui remained silent. She could say anything bad about Gu Li, but she couldn't bring herself to lie about that face.
"But he's not the only one with a good-looking face."
"But I just like him. If you can't accept it, then you can go serve my mother."
Xiao Cui was shocked. "Master, are you sending me away?"
"I'm not trying to get rid of you, I just don't want you to keep worrying about this. I'm destined to live my whole life as a man, so why can't I choose someone I like who's willing to dress as a woman for me?"
Xiao Cui: "..."
Xiao Cui eventually gave in, and Wen Wan said, "We can't tell Mother about this for now, otherwise I'm afraid she might do something rash."
Xiao Cui: "Yes, Master."
...
In the following matches, Gu Li was a contestant whose popularity soared. Her performance in the first match on the zither was already astonishing, but in the second match on chess, she even defeated the player who was best at chess. In the third match on poetry, she could compose poems on the spot.
The final result was unsurprising: he did not win first place.
It didn't even make the top ten.
When Wen Wan was eliminated, not only was she shocked, but many others were astonished.
"This competition is rigged! There's something fishy going on here!" Wen Wan shouted through a megaphone, trying to rush onto the stage. She was stopped, and two guards cleared a path for her. After all, they were former secret guards, so stopping a few thugs was quite easy for them.
Wen Wan pulled Gu Li behind her and glared angrily at the several officials sitting on the stage.
"It's a conspiracy, you cheated."
"If you can't handle it, don't play it. Doing this kind of thing is shameful."
"What nonsense are you talking about? There's no behind-the-scenes manipulation. This was voted on by the audience themselves. It's fair, just, and transparent."
"Where's the ticket? We need to check it."
"If there's no such rule, who are you? What gives you the right to check tickets whenever you want?"
Wen Yan: "..."
I'm so angry! System!!!
System: [Watch me.]
The next second, the person who had been arguing with Wen Wan suddenly laughed and said, "Who do you think you are? Just an outsider with no connections, and you want to be the champion of the Flower Fairy Contest? So what if you're good-looking? So what if you're talented? You don't want to stay, do you really think you can be the champion? It's your good fortune that our master took a liking to you, but you still refused our Chen family's invitation, and you still want to advance? Don't you even take a piss and look at your own face?"
The audience erupted in discussion.
The people on the stage were shocked, but the man suddenly recovered and, remembering what he had just said, quickly explained, "What I said just now wasn't true. I've been bewitched."
Pointing at Wen Wan, he cried out, "It's you! You're a demon? You cast a spell on me!"
He then ordered his men to arrest Wen Wan, but they were both beaten to the ground by the two guards, who even drew blood.
"Murder..."
The guard grabbed the man, "What do you think you're doing? In broad daylight..."
Wen Wan originally wanted to beat him to death, but seeing how ugly he looked, she really didn't want to dirty her hands.
He ordered the guards to release the man, then whispered a few words to one of them, and the guard left.
Wen Wan pulled out the hairpin from her hair, the one Gu Li had won by advancing in the next round, then broke it and threw it off the stage.
"It's fine not to participate in this kind of competition. It's only a thousand taels, and I don't care about it. But you dare to bully my people."
Soon a crowd gathered, and even the spectators couldn't stand it anymore.
They never expected that there would actually be a conspiracy. Were there any conspiracies in the previous champions' records? Were they just playing a trick on them?
"Are you trying to force a fight?"
Wen Wan's expression was cold and her overall aura was so imposing that it was impossible to look directly at her.
"Is this how you, Liuhua City, treat your guests? It seems I overestimated you."
"Stop talking nonsense, get going..."
A group of people rushed up. Wen Wan only had one guard. Although he was very strong, there were too many people and he couldn't protect everyone. When the people suddenly rushed towards her, Wen Wan stood in front of Gu Li.
As a result, Gu Li pulled him behind her.
Wen Wan then realized that Gu Li was actually a martial arts master; she had thought he was just a scholar.
Just as the two sides were locked in a tense standoff, a group of men suddenly rushed over; they were constables from the yamen.
Everyone stopped.
The other party made the false accusation first, and then, with just a few words, portrayed them as unreasonable troublemakers.
The local officials arrived soon after.
He glared at the group, then bowed before Wen Wan, saying, "I was unaware that the Imperial Envoy had come from afar. Please forgive my lack of hospitality."
Imperial envoy?
Everyone was shocked.
This young master who looks so young is actually an official? And a high-ranking one at that?
"Who are you?"
"Your humble servant is Gu Yuanzhang, the prefect of Liuhua City." Gu Yuanzhang was terrified.
This is the Second Prince! Why would a prince need to disguise himself to participate in the Flower Fairy Competition? This is simply outrageous.
"I'd like to have my ticket checked, is that allowed?"
"Of course, if the master wants to check the ticket, then of course we must check it for the master." Cold sweat was about to break out.
Soon the box containing the tickets was brought up, and then the tickets were checked one by one.
In the end, it was discovered that the number of votes supporting Gu Li was the highest, and by a landslide. Wen Wan sneered at those people, who were almost scared to death, their expressions filled with terror. Lord Gu quickly knelt down, thinking to himself that these bastards had really ruined him this time. He had to cheat, and now he had to do it to the tyrant.
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