Chapter 135 Palm off the Spurious for the Genuine

One of the judges was irate, and tapped his fingers on the tabletop yelling, "Do you want to participate or not? If you don't, please get out of the way."

Canglan took two steps back and said with a smile, "Please."

Quite a lot of people were standing on the stage, and of them Canglan was the only woman. The male participants looked down on her. After several rounds, they descended the stairs in low spirits and watched the lady in white on the stage with admiration.

Nearly an hour later, there were less than ten people remaining on the stage. Of course Yang Gezhi and Wu Jin were there.

The bookish judge with a goatee stroked his beard and announced, ''The final stage begins. Since today is the Colored Lantern Festival, you are required to create a verse in thirty minutes, with colored lanterns at the theme.''

After careful consideration, the ten participants jotted their verses on the rice paper in front of them. Canglan stood still. Yun Qin wrote the verse as she dictated. She did so for all the rounds, to ensure no one recognized her handwriting as Mister Night Phoenix's.

Thirty minutes went by, and two men were disqualified because they didn't finish their verses. The other eight handed their poems to the judges. The three judges read the verses, and after considerable deliberation, they elected the old man with the goatee to announce the results. He then recited the best verse with admiration, "Well arranged lanterns and burning fireworks emit dazzling light; many people crowded on the bridges decorated with lanterns from gates unlocked." Then he commented, "This great verse is written by a talented literary lady.''

Canglan was gracious and tender with a smile on her face.

The audience praised Canglan to the skies. There was more than deep admiration in Yang Gezhi's eyes. He was pleasantly surprised, and even Wu Jin felt astonished.

The judge with the goatee announced the five names who passed this round. They were Canglan, Yang Gezhi, Wu Jin and two weak scholars.

Canglan didn't care that the scholars' eyes were filled with desire and admiration.

"Ahem, well then, let's begin the final round. Whoever wins this will play the guqin, and If the winner earns the approval from the audience present, can take this guqin away."

Canglan cursed the judges, 'I have to play the guqin. If someone does not approve of my music, I won't get to take the guqin and my participation will have been for naught.'

The judge with the goatee opened his mouth again, "We all know on the Colored Lantern Festival many have found his or her Mrs. or Mr. Right. You are to write a poem about love in five steps."

"What? In five steps? Do you think all the participants are geniuses."

"The judges deliberately make these challenging."

"The geezer doesn't want to give up the guq

ell in love with Huo Liuyun, Shui Minghan, Feng Gui, I wasn't obsessed with the relationship, and so, I wasn't hurt as much. Why then? The pain has been unbearable, right from first sight of Wu Jin.'

Yun Qin and Yun Qi noticed Canglan growing anxious and struggled, not knowing whether or not they should tell their Mistress the truth. Besides, they were worried about Lei Tianyan. He would be hurt if Mistress took Wu Jin as her lover.

"It's too early to celebrate." Canglan said coldly. Her tender turned aggressive, and she seemed quite different from earlier. She was weak but also wielded infinite power to dominate the world.

This was the real Yun Canglan.

She never surrendered to anyone. Canglan stared at Wu Jin. Her confident eyes hinted that she had a strong desire for him.

'Though you have your lover, you will rid yourself of the spurious for the genuine.'

Wu Jin turned serious as he stared at Canglan coldly. Yang Tianxin soon got over her shock at Canglan's temperament and smiled proudly. Her smile was so sweet and tender, that her arrogance was hardly noticed.

"Lady, Wu Jin can make poems when he was three years old, so even if you are intelligent, you're not Wu Jin's equal, and will fail."

Canglan raised her brow, "Oh? If he was so talented, he would be world famous. Why isn't he one of the Nine Prominent Figures in the world?" 'The one who made poems at age three is Mister Feng Gui.'

Yang Tianxin replied with a soft smile, "Wu Jin is a noble. How could he compare with those meretricious men?"

'Meretricious men? Rumor has it that he who has the Nine Prominent Figures under control will rule the world. If they are such meretricious men, there would be no one to unify the world. "Your Highness, have you heard this saying?"

"What saying?"

Canglan spoke slowly, "Life is a journey, you never know where your carriage turn over."