Chapter 37 - The Poetry Competition

[Dear readers, thanks for supporting this book all along. I regret to say that the raw materials of chapters 33-37 had some problems, which might have confused some of you. As the editor of this book, I feel really sorry for that. In order to make up for it, our team has decided that these re-edited chapters (Chaps 33-37) should be free of charge. For those who have unlocked them, we will refund you some Spirit Plumes as compensation on Monday. Please clear cache in personal settings first and enjoy the new version of those chaps. Hope this problem won’t bother you any longer. Thanks for your understanding!]

Dong Ling was annoyed! Really? Pan Qiyi not only got in the back door, but also wanted to break the rule! She tried to put the dress on before the competition ended? What a spoilt girl!

In fact, Dong Ling hadn’t realized that she was angry not because Pan Qiyi broke the rule, but because she tried to seduce Wu Jitian.

When Pan Qiyi’s maids were asking the man in charge to bring her the dress proudly, someone shouted, “Wait!”

Pan Qiyi frowned with displeasure. Who? Who dared to oppose her?!

She looked and saw Dong Ling with a cold face.

Dong Ling was in black with long black hair. She was in a plain dress, but still looked gorgeous, bright and charming. Such a perfect figure made her stick out from the crowd.

Pan Qiyi had to admit that Dong Ling was better.

Wu Jitian also heard Dong Ling’s voice. Seeing her, he looked surprised and then happy. He gave a wild smile.

Lin Zang saluted when he saw Dong Ling, too. He was also fed up with Pan Qiyi, the pampered girl! He was so glad to see Dong Ling here. She would definitely teach Pan Qiyi a lesson.

Pan Qiyi took a deep breath and asked in a gentle voice, “Miss, what do you mean?”

Dong Ling smiled politely, but she still replied in a high-pitched voice, “I’m Dong Ling. I’m challenging you and the Four Great Scholars. Are you going to take it?”

Pan Qiyi’s intuition told her that Dong Ling wasn’t a guy to mess up with. Since she dared to challenge them alone, she must be well prepared!

Thus, Pan Qiyi was at a loss what to do.

Meanwhile, the Four Great Scholars, who remained on the stage, were lost in confusion before they sneered, “You? Challenging us? Seriously? That’s the funniest joke we’ve ever heard.”

Pan Qiyi didn’t want to argue with Dong Ling, either. Wu Jitian was still here. She didn’t want any trouble. Therefore, she turned around to the man in charge and winked at him to put an end to the farce.

The man in charge took the hint and replied hurriedly, “No way! Miss Pan is the winner. The competition is over!”

This annoyed Wu Jitian. He was busy with his work. He held some business up and rushed here, just to enjoy the poetry competition. But there were so many shady deals! How annoying!

“Over? Dare you say that again! I’ll see who dares to end the competition. Get Miss Dong on the stage!” ordered Wu Jitian.

After all, he was a prince and he sounded really awing! The man in charge looked ghastly pale immediately and didn’t dare to argue!

The audience, unexpectedly, discuss animatedly.

“The prince lost the battle and went back to hide himself!”

“Yeah! How dare him yell so arrogantly?”

Hearing this, Dong Ling was filled with fury and yelled to stop them! But no one listen to her.

Wu Jitian winked at Dong Ling, trying to calm her down. The latter stopped submissively, but still felt aggrieved!

Pan Qiyi suddenly realized that the man she adored was defending the strange girl! She saw Wu Jitian fix his eyes on Dong Ling ever since she showed up. Hatred grew in Pan Qiyi’s heart.

Then, she smiled in the way of a great lady and said, “Fine. Miss Dong. I accept your challenge. But I’m kind of worn out. Let’s just do one round. All right?”

She had meant to humiliate Dong Ling with the poems and meanwhile she could also show off in front of Wu Jitian.

Hearing that, the Four Great Scholars were interested, too. They discussed heatedly behind Dong Ling and Wu Jitian.

One of them said, “Yeah. We don’t need to compete with you, Miss Dong. If you lose, people think we bully you. If you win, they think we give in!”

Dong Ling narrowed her eyes. Such guys pretended to be considering for her. In fact, they didn’t dare to accept the challenge at all!

“If I defeat your favorite Miss Pan Qiyi, what can I get?” asked Dong Ling with a cunning smile as if she were setting a trap.

“Whatever you want!” they replied confidently! Pan Qiyi would never be defeated!

Good! Very good! That was exactly what Dong Ling expected! She would certainly make such hypocrites make a fool of themselves today!

“Whoever loses will swim back to the bank!” said Dong Ling with a wild smile.

“Fine, then!” agreed the scholars without even thinking about it.

Dong Ling still looked confident.

Wu Jitian stared at Dong Ling with a meaning smile. “Oh, the smart girl! She is doing some trick again! There’s fun to see!” he thought.

Word that someone was challenging the most beautiful girl and great scholars quickly went from mouth to mouth. Soon, the number of lookers-on was doubled!

They gossiped heatedly.

“Even the empress praised Pan Qiyi as a talented girl! How dare someone challenge her! How unwise!”

“Oh, I hear Dong Ling is also a beautiful girl! She’s the daughter of Minister Dong’s concubine. There’s much fun to see!”

Among them, the majority supported Pan Qiyi. Greatly pleased, she stared at Dong Ling proudly with a provocative look.

Dong Ling disdained to reply. In Dong Ling’s eyes, Pan Qiyi was merely behaving like a useless crown.

“I’ll do it first, to get it started.” said Pan Qiyi in a seemingly generous way when she walked up to the stage in the boat.

Dong Ling got into the boat, too. She smiled and stood aside quietly, waiting to see what Pan Qiyi was perform.

The latter walked to the desk and took up the writing brush. Instead of making a poem rashly, she stole a glance at Wu Jitian to check if he was looking at her.

Unfortunately, Wu Jitian was still staring at Dong Ling. This got Pan Qiyi upset. She frowned greatly and held the writing brush harder.

A quarter later, Pan Qiyi hadn’t written anything yet. As the crowd discussed louder and louder, she finally had the inspiration and finished the poem smoothly. She put down the writing brush and walked back to Dong Ling humbly.

“It’s your turn, Miss Dong!” said the man in charge.