Next, everyone's attention was quickly drawn to the next girl to take the stage, and they temporarily forgot about the farcical voting that Xiang Wan had caused. Xiang Wan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling immense pressure from the teasing and stares of so many people. The instigator remained calm and composed, even occasionally toasting her, as if she wouldn't stop until everyone knew, leaving Xiang Wan feeling resentful and deciding to ignore it altogether.
An unconventional competition was in full swing. The exotic princess's solo dance was quite daring and provocative. The women condemned it as indecent, while the men watched intently, their eyes seemingly glued to her. The young women wanted to watch but seemed shy, occasionally glancing at her before averting their gaze as if startled, only to look again moments later. Xiang Wan found this amusing, spending more time looking at those around her than at the competition itself.
Unsurprisingly, the masked men watched intently, yet hesitated and wavered when casting their lots, glancing left and right, revealing their inner thoughts: no matter how many fantasies they harbored, they had to appear upright in public. In modern dramas, such people are commonplace, and Xiang Wan was used to it. This princess, who had exerted all her strength to seize this opportunity, was probably crying her eyes out in the bathroom.
The group of young men were completely captivated, making the composure of a few stand out starkly. Yuan Feng was obvious, and the one dancing with Qin Rong was also among them. Xiang Wan only recognized him because of the way he kept glancing at Qin Rong. Xiang Wan had paid close attention to Qin Rong here, and many had invited her to dance, but she had only interacted with one person. If anyone could be so memorable, it couldn't be him.
More and more girls were being tossed with bamboo sticks, while the young men were running out of sticks. It was rare for someone like Yuan Feng to throw all their sticks at one person, but Xiang Xia and Qin Rong were exceptions. Xiang Xia performed a piece on the zither, and after a long, unhurried performance, the hall was unusually quiet until enthusiastic applause broke out. The sound of sticks being thrown in was incessant, and one man threw all his sticks at her, making her blush and too shy to look up. Qin Rong, on the other hand, earned many sticks with her solo dance and graceful figure; two men even put their remaining sticks into a bamboo tube for her.
As the performance drew to a close, Xiang Wan could already tell that either Xiang Xia or Qin Rong would win, with Qin Rong likely having even more lots. The attendants had already recorded the names and lot numbers of each girl who had been chosen and were waiting to proceed.
"Congratulations everyone, the skill demonstration has come to an end. Now His Majesty will announce the results!"
After the king's attendants took away the list of names, they invited out King Yuan Yunlie.
"I keep my word. The girl who wins first place may make one request, but only today. This lucky girl is—Qin Rong!"
Everyone was clearly surprised by this outcome and sighed with regret. Qin Rong was extremely excited, her face flushed. She stepped forward, knelt to thank the king, and then looked up at the middle-aged monarch with hope, saying, "Rong, Rong'er never expected to receive such an honor. Could you grant Rong'er one wish?"
The king looked at the frail young girl, who was gazing at him with a mixture of nervousness and expectation. He smiled slightly, pulled her up, and spoke in a much gentler tone: "Tell me, what is your wish?"
"I, Rong, have met a young master several times before, and I have a feeling that he is here. Could you let me try to remove that young master's mask and see if my feeling is wrong?"
"Oh!" Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in cheers, causing the king to burst into laughter. Qin Rong blushed deeply, lowered her head, and felt extremely embarrassed.
The Queen Mother frowned, sighed softly, and shook her head. Xiang Wan and Xiang Xia exchanged a glance, their eyes equally grave. Xiang Wan thought to herself, "This is bad." It seemed Qin Rong had already set her sights on Yuan Feng. If things continued this way, and Yuan Feng's mask was removed, the King's earlier words about a preordained marriage might truly come true. At this moment, she could only hope that Qin Rong had mistaken her target, otherwise… Xiang Wan dared not think any further. If it were truly as she feared, the grand drama Yuan Feng had mentioned would likely begin.
"Young lady, you're quite earnest, but I've already stated that the young master you've chosen must remove his mask himself. If he's unwilling, I can't force him. So, would you like to give it a try?"
The smile in the king's eyes had not yet faded, and judging from his tone, he seemed to be very much looking forward to what was to come.
"Hmm, I... I want to try!"
Qin Rong nodded emphatically, a fleeting hint of shyness passing through her.
"Good, good, commendable courage! That's how young people should be—do what you think of and not let yourself regret it. Go!"
A group of young men, dressed identically, of the same height, and wearing identical masks, stood in the center of the hall, as if awaiting inspection.
The king looked at the group of pillars of the nation with satisfaction, his gaze occasionally sweeping over the masks, but he didn't seem to linger on any of the young men.
Judging from the king's reaction, no one could tell which was the prince, leading them to wonder if the king was simply an excellent actor or just as unable to recognize his son as they were. The latter explanation was merely a thought, not taken too seriously, since no father would fail to recognize his own son, even if that son was the king.
However, everyone misunderstood. When his son proposed this strange idea, the king couldn't help but want to punch him, suspecting that his son had come up with this terrible idea just to prevent him from recognizing him. The king's inherent face blindness was acutely felt by his son; how could he not be furious? How could he not want to resort to violence? However, the prince's next words extinguished the king's anger. Nonsense! His son promised to find his future daughter-in-law at the ball and promised to give him three grandchildren within two years; only a fool would refuse.
At this moment, the smile on His Majesty's face was the prelude to his future daughter-in-law finding his son. How could he not be happy? How could he not support her? But since he couldn't contradict himself by directly asking Yuan Feng to take off his mask and come to be a match, he could only pretend for a while.
Qin Rong thanked the king with gratitude before slowly walking to the group of young men. She moved from one end to the other, pausing briefly in front of several young men whose gazes were clearly fixed on her, before shaking her head and moving on. Xiang Wan watched with trepidation, constantly hoping that she wouldn't stop, but Qin Rong eventually stopped in front of Yuan Feng.
She stared at Yuan Feng's chin for a long time, then looked into his calm eyes. She stopped and said, seemingly coy and shy, "Young master, may I remove your mask?"
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