The time was up, and the judges asked someone to collect the contestants’ works.
Facing Yang Mengchen’s ultimate skill, the judges naturally evaluated her work first. While the other judges were somewhat composed, Old Hai and Song Bochao suddenly stood up.
"You, Princess Chen, you really infuriate me to death!" Song Bochao shouted loudly.
Old Hai, too, wore an aggrieved expression: "Princess Chen, you’re truly too unscrupulous!"
Everyone was taken aback. What could have happened to make Old Hai and Mr. Song so agitated? Could it be that Princess Chen was only good at pretense and actually bad at calligraphy? Known for being upright, Old Hai and Mr. Song could very well get angry upon seeing Princess Chen’s poor calligraphy.
"Don’t be angry, Old Hai and Mr. Song. Even if Princess Chen is not good at calligraphy, possessing such an ultimate skill is remarkable in itself. When you have time, you can give her more guidance," persuaded a judge who hadn’t seen Yang Mengchen’s work.
The always free-spirited Song Bochao couldn’t help but curse, "Give guidance to Princess Chen? Guidance my ass!" He seemed to be quite upset.
What was going on? Everyone was confused.
Yang Mengchen raised an eyebrow, "Hurry up with the judgment. I still need to retrieve my belongings, and there’s another contest to attend later." freēwebnovel.com
"No way! All of these are mine!" Old Hai and Song Bochao exclaimed in unison, snatching up the remaining papers on the table.
The continuous surprises left the crowd too slow to react, staring blankly at Old Hai and Song Bochao as they fought red-faced.
Yang Mengchen asked, "Will the judges be unfair?"
"Of course not," answered the other judges, looking towards Old Hai and Song Bochao, "Let us have a look."
Seeing everyone staring intently at them, Old Hai and Song Bochao reluctantly passed the papers to the other judges.
Upon receiving the papers, the judges’ eyes instantly rounded in astonishment, every single one of them visibly thrilled.
The six sheets of paper displayed six different calligraphic styles, whether meandering and majestic, ethereal and elegant, clear and beautiful, spirited and fluid, powerful and grand, or simple and refined—it was simply astonishing and irresistible.
One of the judges, stuttering with excitement, said, "This... this..." Princess Chen’s work had given him a shock that was a hundred times more intense than in the morning.
"Old Hai was right; Princess Chen, you really are unscrupulous!" another judge said, looking at Yang Mengchen with accusing eyes.
What was this all about? Those who couldn’t see became anxious, all except Chu Dieyi, who sat there, calm and collected.
Yang Mengchen urged lightly, "Hurry up with the judgment."
In truth, without judging, it was indisputable that Yang Mengchen was the well-deserving first place. Still, the other contestants’ works needed to be evaluated. After discussing among themselves, Elder Hai announced loudly, "First place, Princess Chen; second place, Princess Yashuang; third place, Hai Ruofeng. Later, the contestants’ works will be available for your viewing." As per the competition rules, each piece would be publicly displayed.
Someone helped to clip the contestants’ works onto a string for display.
Of course, what everyone was most curious about were Yang Mengchen’s works. Initially, the crowd was divided into four groups to take turns viewing, but the people who saw Yang Mengchen’s work upfront didn’t want to leave, causing the others behind to urge them on, leading to some chaos. It was fortunate that the Imperial Army was there to maintain order, or else the situation would have surely spiraled out of control.
"Oh my, these are Yu Xi’s characters!"
"So Yu Xi is actually Princess Chen!"
"Princess Chen, you are the idol of my heart!"
"Princess Chen, I admire you!"
...
"Yu Xi is Ninth Sister?" Hua Ziyu stood dumbfounded in place.
It was only then that Nangong Lingfei had a sudden realization, "No wonder Ninth Sister gave me so many paintings and calligraphy works all at once. It turns out they were all made by her. I’m such an idiot!"
Every time a Drunken Immortal Tavern reopened in various locations, Ninth Sister would give him several mounted paintings and calligraphies to hang in the tavern for the customers to admire, and if anyone wished to purchase them, naturally, it would be by auction, with the highest bidder winning. Afterwards, that tavern never presented new works, and as the rebuilding Drunken Immortal Tavern had not yet opened, people were already eager to book the paintings in advance, resulting in ’Yu Xi’s’ calligraphies being hyped up more and more. Eventually, one set of calligraphy fetched as much as ten thousand gold and became priceless.
He had once asked Ninth Sister who ’Yu Xi’ was, but she always just smiled without answering. He even tried to persuade Ninth Sister to acquire more paintings, but she refused. So it turned out Ninth Sister was Yu Xi; she had hidden it so deeply, even deceiving all of them.
Luo Jingrui showed off leisurely, "I received a set of paintings and calligraphies from Ninth Sister when I got married."
"I have one too," Luo Jingyao followed up. Luo Jingfan said nothing, but his expression made it clear he had one as well.
With a blush, Long Yingtong said, "Ninth Sister promised me that when Chengbin and I get married, she will also gift each of us a set of paintings and calligraphy."
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