Du Xiaoli smiled. She assumed that the news had been spread by Han Ming Yi’s people. Although he didn't directly reveal Han Minghong’s inability to do ‘that’, this was already enough to trouble him!
Moreover, quite a lot of effort would need to be put in if he wanted to return his body to normal. In addition, there was also the matter of him mitting murder. Those would be enough to keep him busy for a long while!
“Mistress, are we visiting the petition site today?” Xia Yuan asked, seeing that Du Xiaoli was in a good mood.
“We’ll go. There’s nothing else to do anyway. It’s not a bad idea to go see those gifted scholars pete,” Du Xiaoli said and placed the face towel back into the basin. She breathed in deeply and remarked, “ Today’s weather is great!”
Everything became pleasant to look at when her mood was good!
pared to the cheery atmosphere on Du Xiaoli’s side, Prince Ren’s manor was shrouded in a gloomy ambiance. When the matter of him killing two concubines was spread outside by someone, it instantaneously ruined Prince Ren’s image. The file room in the manor had been set alight, and many important documents such as the account books had been burned to ashes. Most importantly, Han Minghong discovered that he really couldn’t have sexual intercourse anymore! No matter how ‘it’ was appealed to, ‘it’ stubbornly remained unwilling to stand up.
That was not all. He had been called into the palace and was chastised by the Emperor and Empress Dowager. With such a rumor floating around, it would reflect badly upon the entire imperial family! The Empress Dowager directly forbade him to set foot outside his manor for a month. During this month, he was prohibited from attending all events. If he dared act otherwise, he would be stripped of his princely title!
In the past, the Empress Dowager would always dote on Han Minghong. For her to rage like this, she must have been immensely angered by Han Minghong.
However, even if the Empress Dowager didn’t place him in confinement, Han Minghong wouldn’t have gone out during this period of time anyway, given his current mood. As a man that was unable to make his ‘little brother’ rise, what face did he have left to go outside?!
Consequently, Han Minghong—as expected—had no interest in anything else. Anyone who cared to notice would realize that during this period of time, there was an unprecedented number of physicians entering and exiting the manor.
Nevertheless, this all happened later on.
The Academy petition was still ongoing. When Du Xiaoli arrived at the site, the petition had already started for some time. She randomly found a seat and sat down. Looking at the stage, the contestants were all writing down their works in concentration.
On one side of the stage, Du Xiuheng was peting against a person from Northern Yuan. His brows were tightly furrowed. He must’ve met a difficult situation in their game of chess.
The drawing petition menced in the afternoon. Du Xiaoli also went to the site to have a look. All the contestants participating in the petition had strong foundations in art. There was little disparity in the final scores.
Originally, the Men’s Talent petition was supposed to go on for three days. Nonetheless, because the calligraphy petition and drawing petition were placed on the same day, two days were enough to finish the petition. Then on the second day, the Women’s petition would start.
“Princess Yu.”
Du Xiaoli visited Beiling Yu’s room before Beiling Yu headed to the petition site. Seeing that the other was already prepared, she said, “Princess, before you head to the petition site, let me check the condition of your body first.”
“Alright, then I’ll trouble you,” Beiling Yu replied with a smile.
Du Xiaoli took her pulse. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with her, she let her go to the petition.
“Miss, why are you so considerate toward Princess Beiling Yu?” Xia Yuan asked Du Xiaoli a bit puzzledly while they were on the way to the petition site.
“She grew up in the imperial household, yet she still managed to retain an innocent personality. If she were to die prematurely, wouldn’t it be a pity?”
When the two of them arrived at the petition site, the petition had already started. The petition being held this morning was the calligraphy contest. This contest was not much different from the one in the men’s petition; all the contestants had to create a piece of work on site. However, the women’s calligraphy contest differed slightly as it had a slightly longer time limit.
Du Xiaoli observed some people that she had already taken notice of previously. For example, Zhao Zhirui from Northern Yuan. It was said that she was the most talented woman in Northern Yuan. She was proficient in the four arts. Especially
when it came to calligraphy and painting, it could be said that she was unmatched in them.
Lu Junqi was also a strong petitor. Not only were her dancing skills unparalleled in the world, but her calligraphy was also pretty good.
The person who surprised her was Fan Min. Du Xiaoli’s impression of Fan Min was limited to how the latter had led the crowd to mock her outside of the Academy. Who knew that Fan Min was also a calligraphy expert!
When afternoon came, the results for the calligraphy contest were announced. Zhao Zirui from Northern Yuan won first place, Lu Junqi won second place, and Fan Min won third place. There were no particularly outstanding calligraphies from Northern Qi, so none of the top five contestants were from Northern Qi.
Du Xiaoli didn’t attend the drawing contest in the afternoon. After all, she wasn’t peting, so there was no need for her to go to every contest. However, she headed out early for the music contest on the second day. The reason was that Fu Yalan was peting today.
As per usual, the contest was held in two rounds. Contestants would be assigned a piece of music to perform in the first round, and during the second round, the contestants were allowed to freely perform a piece of music.
Before Fu Yalan went onto the stage, Du Xiaoli acpanied her the entire time. The two of them watched the contestants who went first. From time to time, they would lower their heads and discuss with each other the skills of the person playing on stage.
Du Kexin was ahead of Fu Yalan by a few people. Showcasing her skillful techniques, she managed to smoothly secure a spot for herself in the finals. Du Xiaoli noticed that when Du Kexin was leaving the site, the latter tossed her a smug smile.
“Isn’t it just entering the finals? Just what is she flaunting?!” Fu Yalan was right beside Du Xiaoli and spoke angrily when she saw Du Kexin’s expression. “I just don’t understand. You're both daughters of Prime Minister Du, yet how can the two of you be so different?!”
Hearing Fu Yalan’s words, Du Xiaoli smiled. They were both Prime Minister Du’s daughters? As if!
There were only twelve people participating in the afternoon’s finals. Knowing that Fu Yalan had entered the finals, Meng Jiangzhuo, Ji Liuxia, and Han Mingxiang all came to support her. For this round, Du Kexin chose to perform the piece that she had played during the Mid-Autumn Banquet. pared to last time, she played the piece even more remarkably this time around. Despite that, perhaps it was because she had never considered integrating her own emotions into the song… but no matter how well she played, it always felt like something was missing, like a person missing a soul.
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