Chapter 19: Stealing Poetry and Inviting Favor, Is Fourth Miss's Character Lowly?

  Wen Yilan wanted to explain that it was because she was in Liu Guifei's palace that she spoke like this, but she found it hard to refute Ye Xunqiu's questioning and became so flustered that her whole body began to tremble. Pei Yuange lightly grasped her hand and suddenly let out a panicked cry: "It's all over! I'm done for!"

  "Now you know you're finished? Too late!" Ye Qun sneered.

  "Yesterday, the maids in my courtyard had a dispute, and I scolded them a couple of times. At first, I thought it was nothing, but now that I think about it, it's extremely disrespectful! Pei Yuange cried with a sad face, counting on her fingers, "My courtyard is in the Pei Manor, and the master of the Pei Manor is my father. I should have reported this to my father for him to handle; the Pei Manor is also in the capital city, under the jurisdiction of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the Emperor is the ruler of Great Xia. That means, my father would have had to report this to the Emperor, who would have made the final decision. But I privately handled it myself... I really didn't think I was overstepping my father's authority, let alone being disrespectful to the Emperor... What should I do? What should I do?"

  Her eyes were brimming with tears, she looked around in a panic, and was on the verge of crying, which only served to make people feel even more sympathetic towards her.

  You fool! Ye Xun sneered: "Who do you think you are? Two maids in the courtyard quarreling, such a trivial matter, and you want to bother your father with it? And even ask the Emperor to make a decision! You're the master of the courtyard, can't even handle this, aren't you useless?"

  "So, I'm the mistress of this courtyard, and I can handle such a small matter as quarreling?" Pei Yuange suddenly realized, and her words took a sharp turn. She gazed at Ye Xunjun and said, "Then I don't understand, the Shengxiang Hall is in Liu Guifei's Changchun Palace, and Liu Guifei is the mistress of one palace. Can't she even handle the quarreling between two maids? Why would it need to be reported to Her Majesty the Empress? Or does Miss Ye think that Liu Guifei is so useless?" She immediately turned the tables on Ye Xunjun.

  Ye Wenjuan only then realized she had been deceived by Pei Yuansong, and was left speechless.

  The people around them all breathed a sigh of relief, they also heard Wen Yilan's words and didn't stop her from speaking out. As Ye Xunqiu said, they would have been implicated too. Now that Pei Yuange had resolved the matter with just a few words, they all put their minds at ease, secretly praising Pei Yuange for being clever, and chatted and joked to cover up the incident.

  "This Miss Pei Si is quite interesting." From the high building, the elegant and refined Liu Guifei smiled as she instructed a few palace maids, then turned to look at the stunningly handsome young man beside her. A hint of subtle color flashed across her charming eyes, "Mo Er, what do you think?"

  Yu Hongmo didn't respond, his phoenix eyes slightly condensed, staring at the slender white figure below the building, a hint of evil and lazy smile rising from the corner of his mouth.

  Miss Pei Si...

  A palace maid in a light blue dress came to Pei Yuansong's side, bowing respectfully and saying in a low voice: "Fourth Miss Pei, your shoes and socks are dirty. The noble consort has ordered me to ask you to go to the side hall to change into new ones, and also invited the imperial physician to take a look at your foot injury. Please follow me!"

  Liu Guifei is so considerate and thoughtful? I wonder if it's her nature or if she has an ulterior motive. Pei Yuange pondered secretly.

  However, the luxurious side hall was empty, and after the imperial physician's examination, it was only a slight bruise. The palace maid followed the doctor's instructions to help her massage away the bruise, and then changed into exquisite new shoes and socks for her. Only then did she lead Pei Yuange back to the main hall of the Xiangxiang Temple. Everyone had already entered the temple, but Liu Guifei had not arrived yet, and the banquet had not officially started, but the atmosphere was already lively, with many people surrounding a painting, enthusiastically discussing it.

  Her eyes shifted and she saw Pei Yuan Rong.

  She was surrounded by the crowd, with a bright red glow on her face, and a spirited appearance. The women's eyes were filled with jealousy, while the men's eyes were full of admiration, as if she had made a big splash. Pei Yuansong found it strange in his heart that apart from Pei Yuanrong's stunning looks, her other talents were ordinary, so why was she so highly praised? What exactly happened? Thinking about this, he walked over elegantly and called out softly: "Third sister."

  Unexpectedly, Pei Yuanyong saw that she didn't change color, but instead smiled and beckoned to her: "Fourth sister quickly come over, everyone is reciting poetry for this painting, fourth sister you have always been talented, you must be able to win first prize!" Originally she was still worried, Pei Yuange had been following her, would ruin her good deed, didn't expect her to suddenly leave, giving her spare time, it's really heaven helping her!

  Bai Yuange, even if you just showed off, it was only a fleeting moment of glory. Next, you'll be so humiliated that you won't be able to show your face at home and will never be able to hold your head up again!

  Pei Yuansong was cautious in his heart, but still smiled on his face: "Third sister's praise is wrong, my younger sister's learning is shallow and I don't dare to show my ugliness!"

  "Fourth sister, don't be so modest. Besides, even if it's really not well-written, it doesn't matter, it's just a game after all!" Pei Yuange said with a flattering tone, how else could she implement her own plan? After the previous shocking scene, Pei Yuanrong now more urgently wanted to trample Pei Yuange into the mud, never to be able to turn over again.

  "Yes indeed!" The crowd echoed in agreement, all wanting to see Pei Yuange's talent.

  He coldly sneered at Pei Yuange, "Don't embarrass Miss Pei anymore. General Pei is a military general, skilled in deploying troops and formations. When it comes to reciting poetry, isn't that like Zhang Fei holding an embroidery needle? With such family skills, I think it's better to let Miss Pei perform her dance with guns and sticks, maybe she'll be good at it!" He had always been narrow-minded, and Pei Yuange was his former fiancée who he had rejected. Now, she was making a stunning appearance, which made him feel even more resentful towards her. His dislike for her was no less than his dislike for Pei Yuanrong, and he couldn't wait to see Pei Yuange humiliated.

  He heard a sarcastic remark and also mentioned Pei Zhucheng, Pei Yuange's eyes turned cold, he glanced at him lightly and stepped forward.

  On the exquisitely mounted rice paper, a painting of border scenery unfolds: distant skies, dry riverbeds, solitary and majestic fortresses, bare willow branches swaying in the wind. Although the scene is desolate, it does not evoke sorrow or despair; instead, it conveys a sense of solemn grandeur and vastness. The brushstrokes are bold and powerful, clearly the work of a man's hand. The painting is excellent, but given its theme of border landscapes, such a solemn and majestic atmosphere would be difficult to capture in verse, not just for women, but even for most men present, who are mostly wealthy and pampered.

  But for her, it was just right... Pei Yuange smiled slightly.

  Pei Zhucheng returned from the border this time, and had told her about the interesting things on the border. She also brought back a large glass screen with a landscape of the vast desert and yellow sand on the border. She had previously written a poem on this subject, and today she used it here, which was just right.

  Slender jade fingers lifted the brush, flowing slowly on the fine silk fabric.

  As soon as she began to write, the entire hall suddenly fell silent, with all sorts of eyes fixed on Pei Yuange, some in surprise, some in disdain, and others in disbelief.

  "Miss Pei, you're indeed lacking in talent and learning. However, no matter how lacking, it's not right to plagiarize Third Miss's poem! Not being able to write poetry isn't a big deal, but since you can't, you stole your sister's poem to gain favor and attention. Your character is truly despicable. A person like you is an insult to the Imperial Concubine's flower appreciation banquet!"

  Poetry of Pei Yuanyong? Pei Yuanyong's hand holding the brush stopped, and he suddenly raised his head to meet Pei Yuanyong's sharp and complacent smile.

  So that's how it is!

  No wonder she smiled at her just now and strongly invited her to write a poem... She must have obtained her poetry collection from the group of people in Jingyu Zhai, written this poem before her, and then waited for Pei Yuange to fall into the trap. The border-themed poem was originally difficult to write, and Pei Yuange happened to have written one that had not been circulated, and it just happened to be on topic. In this situation, she would naturally use it with ease, and thus fell into her trap...

  Due to the broken engagement and various rumors, Pei Yuange's reputation was already precarious. Now with the addition of stealing poetry to curry favor, from now on, she would no longer have a foothold in the capital city's circle of high-society women...

  How despicable! How vicious!

  Digression

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