“Miss Yun is sure to win this round; all three of her poems are masterpieces,” a noblewoman said.
Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue slumped weakly onto the stools.
Yun Qingran looked at Liang Jingxue's chest, feeling puzzled. Her chest wasn't even that big; how could she be so brainless? She had clearly composed three excellent poems at the palace banquet, yet Liang Jingxue dared to compete with her in poetry.
"Have the rankings come out yet?" Yun Qingran asked the maid who was keeping track of the scores.
The maid glanced at Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue, and mumbled, "They're out."
"Who came in last?" a young lady asked anxiously, fearing she might be the last one.
"Let me take a look." Yun Qingran walked up to the maid, took the thin wooden board she used to keep score, and looked at Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue in surprise after reading it. "Miss Liang, cousin, you two are tied for last place."
After Yun Qingran finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue.
“Miss Liang, you just said that the punishment for the last place is to climb this big tree. You two know how to climb it, right?” Ning Jitang looked at the two of them and said with a smile.
“Of course, Miss Liang and my cousin are both people who abide by the rules, how could they not climb?” Yun Qingran grinned and chimed in.
In other words, if you don't climb the tree, you're someone who doesn't follow the rules.
"Please, Miss Liang, cousin." Yun Qingran gestured for them to enter without waiting for Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue to speak.
The young men next door and the ladies present all stared intently at the two of them. If they cheated, they could forget about ever working in this circle again.
"Climb, of course I'll climb." Yun Xiyue gritted her teeth inwardly, but on the surface she looked like she was taking it easy, and took a deep breath to prepare to climb the tree.
“This tree…” Liang Jingxue was speechless, unable to say anything that the tree had been tampered with.
"Miss Liang, aren't we starting yet?" Ning Jitang urged.
Liang Jingxue glared at Ning Jitang fiercely, then started climbing the tree.
The two were dressed in elaborate and expensive clothes today, and being delicate young ladies, they climbed the tree with great difficulty and their movements were quite unrefined.
"Miss Liang, good luck to your cousin!" Yun Qingran cheered them on, acting as the mood-setter.
"That bitch!" Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue cursed Yun Qingran in their hearts.
After struggling for a quarter of an hour, she finally climbed to the middle of the tree. Liang Jingxue glanced at a spot in the middle of the tree where it had been sawed; it would break with the slightest force.
She glanced at Yun Xiyue, who was crawling ahead of her, a calculating glint in her eyes. She would let Yun Xiyue fall first, then she would be safe.
Yun Xiyue didn't notice that Liang Jingxue had slowed down and continued climbing. When she reached that spot, the branches suddenly creaked under the weight.
I immediately looked down and saw that the branch had broken.
"Ah!" Yun Xiyue screamed in fear. As she fell, she touched Liang Jingxue's sash and grabbed it like a lifeline. Liang Jingxue, who was already unsteady on her feet, fell straight down from the tree when Yun Xiyue grabbed her.
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
Two people fell into the icy water.
"Oh no! Someone has fallen into the water! Help!" the noble ladies screamed in alarm.
The people of Beiyin were martial and not particularly conservative. Upon hearing this, the young masters from next door quickly climbed over the wall to prepare to rescue the person.
They had just jumped over when they saw Liang Jingxue and Yun Xiyue stand up, their heads covered in mud mixed with excrement. In an instant, the stench assaulted their nostrils, and everyone hurriedly stepped back, covering their noses and looking at the two with disgust.
"Ah~" Liang Jingxue couldn't take it anymore and screamed in a shrill voice, "Yun Qingran, you bitch, you ruined me."
"Tsk tsk tsk, may I ask how I have harmed you? Did I tamper with your arrows, this tree, or the pond?" Yun Qingran asked, arms crossed, her tone leisurely and cold.
Liang Jingxue was speechless.
“I admit that I deliberately knocked over your bronze pot during the first round, and I also caused the wind to blow the paper you had written on during the second round.” Yun Qingran pursed her lips and continued, “Liang Jingxue, I have no grudge against you, and we should have lived in peace. But you have repeatedly persecuted and provoked me, and I was just retaliating.”
"Ranran, why are you trying to hurt me too? I'm your cousin." Yun Xiyue asked Yun Qingran pitifully.
"Pah, my dear cousin?" Yun Qingran laughed sarcastically. "Who secretly took me to the brothel? Who secretly took me to the casino? Who taught me to anger my father and brothers? And who secretly spread rumors and slandered me behind my back? Don't you have any idea how much you've harmed me over the years? And you still have the nerve to cry foul."
"I don't……"
"Shut up." Yun Qingran interrupted Yun Xiyue's attempt to argue, glanced around at everyone, and said in a gentle tone, "I'm not interested in your scheming and backstabbing. I've already done my best to put on this show. If you do this again, I'll smash your dog heads in."
Yun Qingran remained relaxed and natural throughout, without any hysteria or forceful outbursts, yet every word she uttered exuded an aura of pressure.
"Game over! Good luck everyone." Yun Qingran released her arm, took the jade vine as a matter of course, turned and left. After taking three steps, she stopped, did not turn back, and said again, "By the way, don't invite me to these stupid gatherings in the future, because they are really stupid."
This attitude was incredibly arrogant, but for some reason, no one felt angry. Instead, they thought she was cool and domineering!
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