Just as his thoughts were drifting, he suddenly heard Emperor Shun, who was on the high throne, speak, "I have recently heard that you have made bets and contests with others. Is this true?"
Su Ruanruan suddenly came to her senses and replied with a look of horror, "Your Majesty, you actually knew about this? I am extremely ashamed!"
"I...I acted impulsively and spoke recklessly. The words are out, and there's no going back. But I can't be a traitor...so I can only grit my teeth and do my best in this competition..."
Emperor Shun smiled slightly, seemingly finding it amusing, and continued to ask, "So, have you gained anything during this time? Are you confident of winning this competition?"
Su Ruanruan lowered her head.
Seeing this, Consort De said, "Your Majesty, today is New Year's Eve, a time of celebration for the whole country. Why not have Princess Yongning perform a dance or sing a song to add to the festive atmosphere, and let us see if her days of seclusion have yielded any results?"
Su Ruanruan feigned panic, "Your Majesty, I can't do it."
The virtuous concubine beside Emperor Shun glanced tenderly at Su Ruanruan, then said softly to Emperor Shun, "Your Majesty, please don't make things difficult for the child. Young women are easily embarrassed."
Consort De glanced at her and said, “What Consort Xian is right. Appearance is innate, but poetry, music, calligraphy, painting, etiquette and manners must be cultivated from childhood. It’s useless to try to learn them at the last minute.”
She added, "Your Majesty, Qingyu is preparing a new dance, just waiting to present it to you and Rui'er on New Year's Eve. Why don't you take a look? Let the Lady of Yongning County also take a look and learn from it?"
Consort Xian curled her lip, while Consort De made a veiled insult, implying that her family had been martial artists for generations and lacked any refined literary skills.
Her father was a military general, her brother was a military general who died for his country, and even her nephew Huo Yan was a great general.
They were all her pride. She had been a woman who held a red-tasseled spear since she was a child, but she had never touched such things since entering the palace, and she missed them a little.
Consort Xian had no interest in watching Su Qingyu, who was dancing gracefully below the stage. She was Consort De's daughter-in-law and had nothing to do with Consort Xian.
Her gaze fell on Su Ruanruan. The child was really beautiful, but she was destined to be unlucky and not Huo Yan's good match.
He was the only son in the Huo family, and she didn't want anything to happen to him.
Su Qingyu truly lived up to her reputation as a well-bred young lady raised by Jingyi. Her exquisite dance effortlessly captured the attention of countless people, leaving men mesmerized and women envious.
Prince Zhennan stole glances at Princess Jingyi for a while, coughed a few times, and only then did Chu Ran's eyes move away from Su Qingyu.
"Did you do the thing in the side hall?" the Prince of Zhennan asked in a low voice.
Chu Ran remained silent, seemingly acknowledging her father's words.
Seeing this, the Prince of Zhennan snorted coldly and said softly, "I really don't understand how I could have given birth to such an extremely stupid thing as you! Listen to me carefully, you are absolutely not allowed to provoke that woman again, and you must not let her or anyone else know that we were the ones who captured her!"
Chu Ran nodded quickly in agreement, indicating that she had kept it in mind.
At this moment, the Prince of Zhennan turned his gaze to Su Ruanruan, who was standing to the side. This was the first time he had seen Su Ruanruan in person.
It must be said that the woman in front of me is even more beautiful than the one in the painting, but as beautiful as she is, she is just a pretty face with no substance.
However, Su Ruanruan didn't care at all how others viewed her. Because this was exactly the effect she hoped to achieve—only by letting more people see her "ignorance" would more and more people bet on her losing.
Only when tonight passes and more people bet on her to lose can she win big!
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