The Concubine’s Daughter Came Around - Chapter 38 - A Fair Competition
“Okay.” Replied Dong Ling with a polite smile. She walked slowly to the desk, took up the writing brush and thought about it.
“Fighting! Miss Lin! I support you!”
Suddenly, someone yelled off the stage. Dong Ling looked and saw Lin Zang cheering up for her in the loudest voice.
She smiled and then saw Wu Jitian behind him. Wu Jitian was staring at her eagerly!
No matter how many people gossiped about her, she didn’t care. She would be glad as long as someone she cared supported her. Someone like Wu Jitian!
Then, she calmed down and started to write quickly.
Pan Qiyi watched and felt more worried. Dong Ling looked quite confident, which upset her!
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When Dong Ling finished, she threw the writing brush gently and it fell right on the penholder. Not even any ink was spilled! She must be very great at this.
The crowd was shocked! Someone yelled, “Awesome!”
Many others followed, “Yeah!”
Pan Qiyi held back her anger with her mouth pressed into a thin line. She said, “Awesome, Miss Dong. You must have been practicing this skill very hard! I guess you don’t have time for embroidery or tea ceremony.”
“Thank you for your care. But it’s just a little trick. I don’t even need to practice it. You, however, will not master it no matter how long it takes.”
Wow, Dong Ling had fight back when someone else satirized her, in case people would laugh at her alone.
Pan Qiyi was pissed off! Yet, she pretended to be calm. She replied in a low voice, “Oh, Miss Dong. I heard you had some accident. And when you woke up, you totally changed! And now you’re super strong!”
SUPER STRONG?!
Dong Ling wanted to slap Pan Qiyi in her face! She was on purpose! She wanted everyone to know about it.
Dong Ling replied, “Miss Pan, if you want to fight me, let’s do it some other day. But now we’re in a poetry competition. Don’t spoil it!”
She smiled and fixed her eyes on Pan Qiyi firmly, without any intent of yielding!
Pan Qiyi, however, didn’t expect her to be so eloquent and positive! She was still calm when her accident was exposed! She must be a hard nut!
Seeing their favorite girl humiliated, the great scholars rushed up to help her.
“Why don’t we read the poems directly?” said one of them.
“Long, long is my whitening hair; Long, long is it laden with care.”
Many guys raved at Pan Qiyi’s poem. She no longer felt frustrated. Instead, she looked down on Dong Ling, swollen with arrogance.
Soon, Dong Ling’s poem was put up for the exhibition and it won more and more people’s great admiration!
The poem went like, “Do you not see the Yellow River come from the sky; Rushing into the sea and never come back? Do you not see the mirrors bright in chambers high; Grieve over your snow-white hair though once it was silk-black?”
Everyone was enchanted! They wondered why a mere girl like Dong Ling could write such a heroic poem!
“You must have copied it! You cheated! Dong Ling! That was a mistake!”
Pan Qiyi sounded bitterly sarcastic, which stopped the audience.
They asked, “Yeah. You’re a mere girl. How could you possibly make such a wonderful poem?”
“Yeah! Fake!” yelled another man.
Pan Qiyi laughed grimly and she wouldn’t let go of Dong Ling so easily.
“I heard Mr. Aoxue is in town. Why don’t we ask him to be the judge?” Wu Jitian offered to get a fair judge when he saw the mess.
“Mr. Aoxue is nearly as knowledgeable as Confucius. Let’s have him as the judge.” replied Pan Qiyi happily, because she thought Wu Jitian was trying to help her.
Wu Jitian looked at Dong Ling to ask for her opinion. The latter nodded, but didn’t say anything.
In the cheers of the audience, Mr. Aoxue walked up to the stage with a stick.
Only a few minutes later, he looked up from the poems and said seriously, “I think Miss Dong’s poem is better!”
Her poem Invitation to Wine was made in a short time and it sounded magnificent! It was certainly a masterpiece!
Hearing such a comment, Pan Qiyi jumped to her feet, regardless of her manner! She yelled, “Impossible! Dong Ling, are you trying to fool us! Did you make the poem yourself?”
Mr. Aoxue totally ignored her. He walked to Dong Ling and said, “Miss Dong, I really admire your poem! The lines of describing life’s short duration really enlightened me!”
After he finished, he looked down to read the poem again and again.
Dong Ling was proud. It was a poem of Li Bai, the most famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, all right? It must be great! No one met his match in this place.
Pan Qiyi was pale under such a crushing defeat! She stirred her dress for a long time before she regained consciousness.
As the audience discussed in hushed whispers, Wu Jitian suddenly said, “I trust her!”
He sounded forceful!
Dong Ling looked up at him.
She didn’t care for any gossip at all. Sure, she didn’t dare to compare herself to Li Bai, the most famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. She learnt about his poems in the textbooks.
But the serious look on Wu Jitian’s face and his firm eyes really touched her! She wanted to tell if he had any romantic feelings for her. But all she could see were his frank eyes.
Wu Jitian, as he watched, got more curious about her. What other skills did he not know or did she not want to show him?
He found her more and more interesting. Whenever he stayed with her, he couldn’t even look away!
“I’m hereby to announce the prize goes to Miss Dong!” said the man in charge. He was fair this time. After all, Mr. Aoxue and Prince Jitian supported her greatly!
There were many discussions among the crowd and there came thunderous applause!
At last, everyone believed that Dong Ling was the winner!
“As we agreed, whoever loses will swim back to the bank!” said Dong Ling firmly.
The four great scholars gazed at each other in speechless despair. They just wanted to be lookers-on! If they knew Dong Ling was so knowledgeable, they wouldn’t have interfered! And they wouldn’t have got themselves involved, either!
Then, they asserted, “Miss Pan lost. What does it concern us? We were just looking on.”
They even left directly.
Staring at their back, Pan Qiyi clenched her fists.
“You losers! How dare you leave me alone!” cursed she when she pretended to be poor. Considering she was the most beautiful girl in capital, she didn’t believe anyone dared to kick her into the lake.
Fine. Dong Ling didn’t care for such losers, either. She would just let go of them. Yet, she didn’t want to forgive Pan Qiyi.
She walked up directly to Pan Qiyi. The latter was scared. She trembled, but still argued, “How dare you! Don’t you know who I am?”
Dong Ling turned a deaf ear. She got angry and built up her strength. Quickly, she kicked Pan Qiyi off the boat!
“Ah!” Pan Qiyi cried out! Before others realized what was happening, she fell into the cold lake!
She struggled in the lake while water splashed in all directions! She was so scared that she couldn’t stop screaming!
“Sir! Sir! Help! I don’t swim!” yelled Pan Qiyi when she heaved and choked a few times!
She fell in love with Wu Jitian at the first sight. She did everything she could, just to draw his attention! Unexpectedly, Dong Ling showed up halfway and stole the show!
She hated it! She really hated it!
Wu Jitian heard her yelling for help, but he didn’t reply at all. Instead, he frowned and asked Lin Zang, “Why do I feel so tired today?”
Lin Zang, who had always been standing behind his master, crossed his arms and answered amusingly, “Maybe too many bugs buzzed on the lake and you were disturbed!”
“Puff!” Dong Ling laughed out loud. She was amused, too.
Wu Jitian and Lin Zang used to be poker-faced. But they were still serious even when they made fun of Pan Qiyi. That was really much funnier than expected!
“Fine. Don’t worry. I’ve expelled the annoying bugs!” said Dong Ling. They smiled at each other, with a secret understanding.
