C37

Yao Sisi stared innocently at the empress dowager and said, "Empress Dowager, you promised Sisi that you would only be competing in the top three. How can you go back on your words now?" The empress dowager smiled compassionately. "Alright, this one was wrong. I forgot about that. You fourteen can compete now!"

"Heheh … thank you, Esteemed Empress Dowager. You're so kind." Yao Sisi giggled. As the saying goes, you can't wear even if you wear thousands of clothes. Yao Sisi calmly returned to her seat, reaching out her hand to tug her big brother's chin and said, "Big brother, you're back to reality!"

"Hehe, little sister, was it really you just now?"

Yao Sisi took a bite out of an apple and said, "Of course, it's not me but you. Seriously, now you see how amazing I am." Yao Jiajia looked enviously at Yao Sisi and said, "Little sister, your singing sounds very beautiful. Can you teach me how to sing it in the future?"

"Of course it's not a problem. However, I'm too tired now. Third sister, you have to work hard and notify me when you choose the Champion team." He then looked at Yao Jiajia with a puzzled expression. Helplessly, he stuck out his tongue and explained, "So you'll just call me when the top three contestants come out."

Yao Jiajia nodded. "Alright."

Yao Sisi was lying prone on the table. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, completely disregarding the people on the stage. Occasionally, the audience below the stage would let out a loud cheer. She only frowned slightly, then fished out two small dates from the fruit plate and stuffed them into her ears.

Elder Brother Yao Shichang laughed, "I really can't do anything about Little Sister. This is the first time Big Brother has seen a girl sleeping in such a lively banquet. Third Sister, what do you think Little Sister doesn't know?"

Yao Jiajia pondered for a moment and said, "It should be chess. Otherwise, if you think about it, she might not be prepared for anything else. Instead, she allowed her father to find a few chess books and study them."

Yao Shichang shook his head, "That shouldn't be the case. Think about it. If my sister is really not here, why would I need to look for some chess pieces that are deciphered by a few people?"

Yao Jiajia felt that this made sense, but she still felt that playing chess was Yao Sisi's weakness. She suddenly realized that Zuo Rulan's gaze was directed at her and timidly averted her gaze to the high platform. She was not going to discuss what Yao Sisi was not capable of.

After listening to Yao Sisi's singing just now, Zuo Rulan felt that she didn't want to look so simple on the outside for a moment, but after seeing that she didn't know how to appreciate things, she felt even more contemptuous of her.

Yao Sisi was fast asleep, her nose was wet. Yao Jiajia turned around and hurriedly took out her handkerchief to wipe it off for her. The performance in the stands was almost over, so she nudged Yao Sisi and said, "Sisi, wake up. It's your turn now."

Yao Sisi did not move. Yao Jiajia raised her voice and said, "Wake up!" Finally, under Yao Jiajia's relentless attacks, Yao Sisi opened her eyes and looked at the stage with a straight face. She then closed her eyes and raised her right hand to stop Yao Jiajia from shaking again.

Yao Jiajia confirmed in disbelief, "You're really awake?"

"Yes, wake up!" Can you not wake up? "

At this time, Xiao Shun Zi reported the opinions of the underground ministers, "First place, Zhao Wanhui, the daughter of the Han Lin Institution's cultivator, and second place, Meng Qinglian, the daughter of the great official, Lord Meng. The third place will be given to the Prime Minister's daughter, Yao Sisi, and the daughter of Censor's daughter, Zhang Mengmeng. "

When it was Yao Sisi's turn to go on stage, the crowd looked forward to her performance and most of them wanted to see her make a joke of herself. Yao Sisi slowly walked up to the high platform, then said to Zhang Mengmeng in a friendly manner, "It's hard to tell the difference between each other. How about you and I set a question for each other? If someone can't answer the question, it's considered a loss.

Zhang Mengmeng was delighted. She easily fell into Yao Sisi's trap. She was so happy that she almost jumped up in joy. Yao Sisi walked into Zhang Mengmeng and let out a mischievous laugh. She said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Miss Zhang, please be careful later on. That guqin of yours is extraordinary!"

"What did you do to the guqin? Aren't you afraid of getting beheaded? " Zhang Mengmeng's voice was low as she berated. Yao Sisi smiled evilly and whispered into Zhang Mengmeng's ear, "Of course I'm not stupid enough to ask others to find out. Hehe, what a pity that you have such a pair of small hands. Tsk tsk!"

Zhang Mengmeng lowered her head and stared at her ten fingers, faintly feeling a bit of pain. She actually believed a third of what Yao Sisi said, but she was unwilling to accept it. She said rather stubbornly, "Do you think I'll fall for your trick?"

Yao Sisi spread out her hands with a look of pity on her face. "Pity these hands that can play the zither. After that, I won't be able to play anymore."

"You are so sinister!"

"Thank you for your praise!" Yao Sisi accepted all of them without any trace of politeness.

"Let's begin, the two of you!" Little Shun Zi's voice cut in at the right time. Yao Sisi said loudly, "Please, Miss Zhang, if there's anything you need, please play a song!"

Zhang Mengmeng was stunned for a moment. She only recovered from her stupor after Little Shun said 'invite' three times. She then agreed with Yao Sisi with an extremely unfriendly expression in her eyes.

The crowd looked at Zhang Mengmeng with doubt in their eyes. Everyone could clearly see her talent. Although she was not as talented as the first two, she was still lacking. Yao Sisi was not the least bit nervous. On the contrary, she was a little nervous. All the court ladies thought that she would be able to play some good melody. They all laughed when they heard only a few sparse sounds without any pattern.

"May Esteemed Empress Dowager and the emperor forgive me. My fingers were injured a few days ago, so I played music for a long time today. The old wounds were torn and so I've taken advantage of them. My daughter pleads for punishment."

The emperor swept a glance at the empress dowager's eyes and said regretfully, "It's fine, get up. However, Sisi has won this match."

Zuo Rongyi's words were obviously a flood, but the officials who called him the emperor were too angry to speak up. None of them could tell that the emperor and empress dowager were doing this to protect each other, so none of them said a word. Zuo Lifan could no longer sit still. He stood up abruptly and said sharply, "Your majesty, how can you be like this? She didn't even compete. How can you judge Zhang Mengmeng's loss?"

"This is the first time you, Chendi, call me that. However, what you say makes sense. Alright then, Yao Sisi, can you play a song as well?"

Yao Sisi threw a grateful glance at Zuo Liyi, her heart also gaining some understanding of the emperor. He was indeed an expert, these two problems had turned into a simple problem for her, she could not help but admire the ancient people's idea of changing concepts.

Just as everyone was laughing happily, a beautiful sound of a zither was heard. Looking back, he saw her lightly waving her jade fingers, revealing her slender white fingers, caressing the surface of the zither, condensing Qi into thought, the zither music suddenly resonated in the hall, the zither music was euphemistic yet resolute.

Compared to Zhang Mengmeng's previous playing, it was much better.

The zither music stopped. Looking at the dumbstruck Zhang Mengmeng, Yao Sisi absent-mindedly smiled. It was just a small matter. She was the favorite of future generations, < < High Mountains and Running Water > >. It was a song that was so famous in the twenty-first century. If it was just any song from the ancient times, it would be the creation of a heavenly being. How could they not be attracted to it?

It was only after playing a song that the audience reacted. There was endless applause. Indeed, they had never heard such a beautiful tune before! Yao Sisi once let her tease people to the bottom of their glasses. This game for Yao Sisi a complete victory for the rest of the game.