After announcing Yang Ning and Jiang Yi as the winners, Guo Yurong stepped down from the porch with Madam Liu and walked towards where Yang Ning and Jiang Yi were standing. Following them, the other ladies also descended from the porch to see what was going to happen next.
Guo Yurong and Madam Liu stood next to Yang Ning and Jiang Yi, while the other ladies formed a circle in front of them.
Guo Yurong faced all the ladies and then turned her attention to Yang Ning before she spoke, "Now that Princess Yang Ning and Lady Jiang Yi have emerged as the winners, it's time for their rewards. Keeping my earlier promise, I will personally design dresses for Princess Yang Ning and Lady Jiang Yi."
Her words caused an uproar among the ladies, and they started clapping and moaning in envy. Everyone in the capital knows that, aside from owning boutiques and being a businesswoman, Lady Guo is an exceptional designer who creates the best, unique, and beautiful dresses for the ladies.
"Oh, how I wish I could have Lady Guo design a dress for me!"
"And for free? Unbelievable! This is truly a royal reward!"
"Those dresses are like treasures. I envy them so much!"
"Argh! I should have joined Princess Yang Ning's team. If I had done that, this reward would have been mine."
"I feel jealous. I feel stupid for believing in someone's misleading words and judging Princess Yang Ning's capabilities wrongly."
The ladies couldn't help but express their envy and regret as they witnessed the incredible reward being bestowed upon the winners.
Until now, Guo Yurong has only created and designed a limited number of pieces that have gained huge applause and respect from everyone. Not everyone can get Guo Yurong to design dresses for them.
Having Guo Yurong as their designer was impressive, but to be gifted a dress by her was an even bigger reward. After all, the dresses designed by Guo Yurong were highly valuable, both in terms of monetary worth and reputation.
Yang Ning smiled at Guo Yurong and gladly took the scroll from her. "Thank you, Lady Guo, for this great reward. I only played for fun but hadn't expected that I would get such a precious reward in return. Thank you so much again for your kind generosity." Explore more stories with m,v l'e-novelhall.net
Lady Guo shook her head politely and said, "You're embarrassing me, Your Highness. You deserve it."
___
After announcing Yang Ning and Jiang Yi as the winners and handing out their gifts, everyone moved inside the residence.
Inside, everyone took their seats at the table, and the servants served them with cut fresh fruits and candied nuts to snack on with their teas.
While the ladies were sipping their teas and enjoying the fresh and sweet fruits, discussing the game and Yang Ning's outstanding performance, along with the special reward she received, Guo Yurong looked at everyone. "Attention, everyone!" she said, hitting a spoon against the teacup to get everyone's attention.
"Thank you to everyone for coming today and making this tea party a success. Also, I would like to sincerely thank everyone for their gifts; I appreciate your kind efforts."
She then turned to Yang Ning, who was sitting on her left, and smiled, saying, "Princess Yang Ning, it was my honor to have you at my residence. Thank you for coming today and showing your outstanding archery skills to everyone. You have elevated the level of archery games in tea parties," she said with a smile.
While all the ladies nodded in agreement to Lady Guo's statement, Zhu Yating clenched the teacup she was holding, controlling herself from breaking it in her hands.
The praises and attention that Yang Ning was getting should have been hers. The special reward and the dress designed by Guo Yurong exclusively should have been hers as well. How could she lose to Yang Ning, who was nothing but a pretty vase?
'She must have used some trick. There is no way a novice player like her could hit a bullseye for all five shots,' she reasoned and frowned in her mind.
While Zhu Yating was contemplating ways to bring Yang Ning down from cloud nine and put her in what she deemed her right place, a maid hurriedly came running to Guo Yurong and whispered something.
Guo Yurong stood up in surprise, looked at everyone, and then fixed her eyes on Yang Ning, exclaiming in disbelief, "What? His Highness has come?"