Shen Yue finished her song and the crowd was enchanted, a woman with exceptional piano skills would be loved wherever she went, especially when she had a pleasant appearance. At least among the men in front of her, Guo Yi's child was too young to mention, but many of the young men from Guo Er and Guo San couldn't help but cast their eyes towards her. Although Qin Qing was more beautiful than Shen Yue in terms of appearance, Qin Qing had a proud personality, which couldn't compare to Shen Yue's gentle and lovely nature.

  "You're quite the sister, playing so well." Feng An Ning said unwillingly: "I don't even know where they invited this zither master from, tomorrow I'll also ask mother to find a famous zither master to teach me."

  It was the time when everyone loved to compete and win. Just like when Shen Miao was newly appointed as the Empress, she was lenient with everything, but extremely strict with Fu Xiu Yi's behavior. As long as Fu Xiu Yi showed a slightly favorable attitude towards another woman, she would become anxious. The imperial harem was full of gossip and intrigue, with people secretly sabotaging each other and stabbing each other in the back. She had a personality that demanded immediate revenge after being wronged, which led to her offending many people. Now, this personality hadn't changed one bit, but it didn't necessarily need to be used to harm herself anymore.

  "It's a pity, Shen family's second young lady is indeed a rare beauty with both talent and looks." Everyone has a heart that loves beauty, Zhou Wang was also taken aback by Shen Yue. He only said: "What a pity."

  Unfortunately, others may not understand, but a few princes can't possibly not understand. Shen Yue's delicate beauty and infinite talent, if there was such a lovely flower by his side, it would also be a great beauty in the world. Unfortunately, she didn't come from Madame Shen's womb, unfortunately, she wasn't the daughter of the Shen family's main house, but rather the third house.

  Shen Xin, who held a heavy sword in his hand, had given birth to such an idiot like Shen Miao. Even if he looked somewhat different today, people's impressions couldn't be changed overnight. They believed that Shen Miao's proper behavior today was only because someone was directing him from behind, and in his heart, he was still the same incompetent fool.

  Pei Lang's mood gradually calmed down after Gao Yan stepped down. This was the first time in his life that he had encountered such a situation, and although he didn't understand it, he tried his best to comfort himself. At this moment, hearing Zhou Wang's words, he couldn't help but glance at the purple-clothed girl on the opposite side of the female seating area again.

  She held the chess piece and tilted her head in contemplation, too far away to see clearly, yet she could sense the scrutiny and depth in that gaze, just like when Shen Miao looked at him. How could such a person be a fool?

  It's impossible for someone to change overnight, so was Shen Miao's previous foolishness all an act? And why would she do that?

  Even someone as clever as him couldn't figure out what was going on.

  The women's group "Xuan" ended with Shen Yue's "Yongyue". Shen Yue naturally won the first prize, but today she didn't feel happy about it, instead feeling a bit embarrassed.

  She glanced at Shen Miao, who was completely absorbed in the chess game and didn't even notice her. Shen Yue knew that Shen Miao wasn't familiar with chess, so she naturally couldn't understand the game. Now, looking so serious was just pretending to give her face. Chen Ruqiu noticed her expression and reminded her in a low voice: "Yue Niang, you're losing your composure."

  Chen Ruoqiu required her daughter to remain calm and composed in any situation, no matter what happened. Whether she was truly calm or just pretending, she had to show a poised side to others. Once a woman is poised, her temperament is superior; being flustered and anxious is not the demeanor of a noble family. To be fair, Chen Ruoqiu's way of teaching her children was indeed good, and she herself did well too. Unfortunately, Shen Yue was still young and had never experienced failure, nor did she understand how to endure hardship.

  Upon hearing Chen Ruoqiu's reminder, Shen Yue slightly retracted the anger on her face. The maid beside her, Shuxiang, handed her a cup of tea: "Miss, have some tea to soothe your throat."

  Shen Yue took the tea and glanced at Shu Xiang, who smiled back at her. Shen Yue's heart was filled with understanding, and her smile became more genuine. She said, "It's getting a bit hot, but I'm really looking forward to the 'duel' later."

  Shen Qing, who had just won the first prize in chess, was in a better mood and smiled: "This year, there is no distinction between men's and women's groups, nor between countries. The competition will be even more intense."

  Originally, "challenge" was the most anticipated of the three. Because "draw" may not necessarily draw the best, and "select" is a display of one's strengths, so "challenge" always occurs between the two most excellent people. In the women's group, the "challenge" was not very intense, because girls generally had to maintain a harmonious and gentle demeanor, and also show that they didn't care about the outcome, taking a calm attitude. But it was different for boys, young men loved to use comparison to determine victory or defeat, this age is when the desire to win or lose is strongest, so every year's "challenge" was the most intense.

  This year, "challenge" is not divided by gender or country, and all students can participate together. As long as you want to challenge someone, you can naturally compete with them. However, although it's said that way, there are hardly any cases of boys and girls challenging each other.

  This year's literary category was indeed unchallenged, and the main event naturally fell on the martial arts category.

  This almost completely isolated the possibility of women participating. Although there were also female daughters of martial arts families on the scene, women naturally had a big gap in physical strength compared to men, and it was impossible for them to succeed.

  But then a man stood up from his seat, and Cai Lin was the first to walk onto the stage.

  The examiner asked him what he was challenging, and he pointed at the shooting sign and said, "Shooting."

  Everyone was impressed. Cai Lin, this little overlord, is completely clueless when it comes to literature, but he's actually quite excellent in martial arts. Among them, his marksmanship is the most outstanding, and he can naturally hit the bullseye every time. He even won first place in last year's school competition for marksmanship.

  Who is he going to challenge today? Looking around the whole scene, there isn't anyone better at shooting than him either.

  Tsai Lin stretched his neck and suddenly pointed at the women's seat with a finger.

  Everyone was shocked to see that he pointed to a woman instead of a man, and when they saw clearly who he was pointing at, their mouths were even more agape with astonishment, and the discussion came to an abrupt halt.

  He deliberately said loudly once more: "I want to challenge her, Shen Miao!"

  The purple-robed girl who was immersed in the chessboard raised her head, her clear and bright eyes staring straight at the person on stage. Her expression did not change, nor did her movements, as if this earth-shattering sentence was just a casual greeting, and she didn't even deign to respond.

  Chen Ruoqiu furrowed her brow, she devoted herself to teaching Shen Yue, but Shen Miao seemed to have learned the art of being calm and composed without making a sound.

  In the distance, a handsome young man who was leisurely tasting tea on a high building suddenly spat out a mouthful of tea, and his playful expression also revealed a hint of surprise: "Has the young master of the Cai family gone mad?"

  Shen Miao stood up, on the chessboard in front of her, a black piece crossed the Chu River and Han border, heading towards her side.

  The first small soldier moved out.

  She picked up the white piece and in one move, the black piece was captured and carelessly thrown into the chess box.

  "Agreed," she said.

  Digression

  The previous chapter was written incorrectly by Shen Yue's personal maid. Tea has been busy with her graduation project lately, sometimes going to school in the morning, so the update time is not stable, but I will try my best to update at 7 am every day. After a week of defense, I can update on time and regularly, thank you for your patience!