"Who told you to mock Miss and hope she loses, just like them? You have ill intentions, so of course I'm ignoring you," Qiuyue said righteously.
Leng Can said with dissatisfaction, "I prepared all these things. How could I have ill intentions? Besides, whether she wins or loses has nothing to do with me. Aren't you dragging innocent people into this? How come you are becoming more and more like your young lady? You are both so unreasonable."
Qiu Yue gasped and sneered, "You're right. My young lady is the person I respect most in my life. It would be my honor to be like her, and that's what I desire. So what if you're so powerful? A grown man like you has to be controlled by my young lady. If you're so capable, then rebel! I know you're not convinced, but unfortunately, your master doesn't agree. If you're so capable, then rebel against your master!"
Leng Can's face darkened: "I will never disobey my master. Is this what you've been trying to persuade me to think lately?"
Qiu Yue's expression tightened, but she gritted her teeth and said, "So what?"
"So you're the kind of scheming woman I didn't realize you were like that." Leng Can's expression was cold and stern.
Qiu Yue's face paled, and she sneered, "You're only just realizing it? You're not as capable as I thought. I think Miss doesn't need to rely on you anymore. Whether you take the lead in the Beauty Pavilion or not is probably irrelevant now."
"You!" Leng Can was furious, but Qiu Yue had already turned her head, staring intently at the stage, her hands clenched tightly, her fingertips already turning white.
Leng Can turned away angrily, ignoring Qiu Yue. Since Ouyang Yue returned, they had argued countless times. Why was this woman's temper getting more and more stubborn?
Ouyang Yue on stage was unaware of what was happening offstage. She was still performing earnestly, and the thunderous laughter on stage had no effect on her. Ouyang Yue kept swinging her two silk ribbons, drawing beautiful arcs in the air. The laughter from the audience gradually subsided because they gradually realized that Ouyang Yue's performance was not as vulgar as they had imagined.
Wood chips flew from the wooden frame on the right, while black lines on the drawing paper on the left crisscrossed and increased, still without any discernible pattern. Yet, Ouyang Yue began to dance. Sometimes she swung her arms and twirled, sometimes she twisted her waist, her movements as graceful as a snake. She had changed into a white dress. On the stage, against the blue sky, she seemed like a pure, flawless cloud, constantly drifting and changing shapes. Her face was serene as a lotus, possessing the lotus's sacred nobility and an otherworldly grace. In the moment she danced, it seemed as if she were the only one left in the entire world. Although her dance movements were very simple, everyone could feel her soul dancing, and everyone's heart trembled.
Yan Xue'er clasped her hands tightly together, her eyes sparkling with a tender light: "Teacher!"
She had only ever seen such a beautiful dance from her teacher, who was already over forty years old at the time and passed away not long after. This was the second time she had seen such a breathtaking dance, and the person was about her age. She remembered her teacher saying that dance also has a soul, and a dance performed without heart is soulless. When you dance with your heart and soul, the dance can also give birth to a soul. Such a dancer not only needs talent and physical ability, but also hard work. There is no such thing as instant success in this world.
Is Ouyang Yue really that blessed with natural talent? Yan Xue'er sighed. When it came to dancing, she had lost. As proud as she was, she had to admit that she had lost to Ouyang Yue.
Everyone's eyes were glued to Ouyang Yue's dance, as if afraid of missing something, so they had long forgotten that Ouyang Yue's competition performance included two other items. After some time, one of them suddenly exclaimed, "Look!"
"Oh my god, this...this..."
Ouyang Yue's dance gradually came to a stop, and the wooden frame and drawing paper that had long been overlooked had also changed. The excess wood shavings on the right side of the wooden frame had been shaved off, revealing what Ouyang Yue originally wanted to carve.
"Beauty... um, what?"
“Jiao, you’re so stupid, that’s the character ‘jiao’ (娇).
"How would I know what the words are if I only looked at the back of the words? 'Beautiful and charming,' isn't that the name of the beauty pageant winner?"
"Ah, those are seven young ladies."
Then someone shouted something, and everyone looked up. They saw that on the drawing paper placed parallel to the wooden frame to Ouyang Yue's left, where there was originally a messy drawing with no clear intention and full of black lines, there were now seven people. Upon closer inspection of their figures and attire, they were indeed the seven young ladies who had entered the top seven and were competing.
"This...this...this really was drawn by Miss Ouyang?"
"There are even words carved over there."
"She actually completed two works at the same time, one on the left and one on the right. It's incredible."
"She was just dancing, isn't that multitasking?"
"This isn't just about multitasking, it's about being incredibly skilled!"
"ah!"
"Clap clap clap!"
Chaos erupted in the audience, while those in the main stands stared in disbelief, blinking rapidly. None of the emperors or princes of the Great Zhou Dynasty present had ever witnessed such a peculiar performance. And "peculiar" alone couldn't adequately describe their feelings. What truly amazed them was Ouyang Yue's incredible feat of multitasking and performing each task with astonishing skill.
Take, for example, the woman who wields a dagger to carve with her right hand and a brush to write and paint with her left. Each of these requires meticulous attention to detail to be done well, yet she can do both at the same time. And although it is not yet finished, it looks like it won't be too bad. You can imagine the shock she must have felt at that moment.
Baili Chen's eyes flickered, but then he composed himself. Beside him, Leng Caiwen exclaimed, "This Miss Ouyang is hiding her talent far too well! With this level of ability, who dares to say she's untalented? Those who are truly talented can all go to hell!"
Leng Caiwen was extremely excited, and even Dai Yu, who was usually very calm and composed, showed disbelief on her face: "Left and right hands, mainly the left and right hands, and the two hands are perfectly in sync and can work at the same time. Doesn't that require two heads? Otherwise, how could she allocate the tasks so well? If I use my left hand, my right hand will definitely not move, and if I use my right hand, my left hand cannot do what she does."
“Yes, yes, even I can’t do it. This Ouyang Yue… this Ouyang Yue…” Leng Caiwen nodded hurriedly, discussing with Dai Yu.
The Crown Prince sat on his high seat, but his face was gloomy. The Fifth Prince, Baili Jian, laughed and glanced at the Crown Prince, saying, "Crown Prince, I never thought that our Great Zhou Dynasty had such a talented young lady. Wasn't she a pearl hidden in the dust before? No one had discovered her goodness. Alas, what a pity, what a pity."
Baili Cheng's lips twitched slightly: "Fifth Imperial Brother is right. I didn't expect Ouyang Yue, the daughter of a military general, to be so talented. She is truly impressive. Not bad, not bad."
Baili Jian smiled enigmatically and turned away, but Baili Cheng clearly saw the mockery in his eyes, his fist clenching slightly beneath his sleeve. He hadn't expected Ouyang Yue to have been so cunning; he had truly miscalculated. If Ouyang Yue had fought her way through to become the champion, he would have become a laughingstock, especially Baili Jian, who would surely find ways to ridicule him for being blind to talent. Baili Cheng coldly watched Ouyang Yue, who was shining brightly on the stage, stunning everyone, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
If I had known this would happen, I really shouldn't have implied that Hong Yicheng should go to the General's Mansion to break off the engagement. Now I would have lost even more face.
Xuanyuan Chaohua's face shone with an unusual light. He was so excited that he didn't even realize he had crushed the teacup. It was only when a servant reminded him and brought him a cloth to wipe it that he realized the shards had cut his hand.
On stage, Ouyang Yue remained undisturbed. Her expression grew even more focused, her movements faster and more fluid. With a flick of her left hand, the ribbon touched the table in front of her painting, where a variety of paints and inks lay. Her brush dipped into the blue palette, splashing blue droplets, then swiftly flicked again, dotting the figure in the center. The brush seemed to tremble and slip, but when she removed it, the figure, previously devoid of color and rendered only in black and white, suddenly brightened by the blue stain on its clothing. Ouyang Yue's brush continued to glide through the air, and the woman in the painting donned various colorful garments, bringing her image to life.
Suddenly, Ouyang Yue stood on the ground and began to spin rapidly. The ribbons on her hands swirled in the air, forming arcs. Just as everyone was dazzled, Ouyang Yue suddenly stopped, her left hand poking at a plate of gold powder on the far side and stirring it violently. Then, she spun around, turning her back to the judges, and the wolf-hair brush lashed out at the fully formed beauty. Meanwhile, the dagger attached to the ribbon on Ouyang Yue's right side was already heading towards the painting. Just as everyone was terrified that she would damage the painting, the dagger spun and landed directly on the frame that held the painting, "clinking" as it carved something.
"It's done, it's almost done."
"Ah, what is it!"
Suddenly, the audience gasped. Ouyang Yue tucked her arms in, turned, and swiftly swung her right-hand dagger towards the "Beautiful Beauty" character. It landed precisely in the middle of the "woman" radical with a "snap," and a piece of wood fell right off the "woman" radical. The "Beautiful Beauty" was complete. On the other side, she flicked her wolf-hair brush, instantly picking up gold powder. With a flick of her wrist, she painted the canvas, making it vibrant and dazzling. The audience's hearts skipped a beat. At that moment, Ouyang Yue stretched out her legs, straddling the stage, as if time had frozen at that instant.
"..."
"Ah, that's great, that's great."
"Beautiful, beautiful, so beautiful!"
"What talent! What talent!"
The people in the stands were shouting like madmen. Two judges rushed up from the stands out of control. They were Mr. Li, who was obsessed with calligraphy and painting, and Mr. Qi, who had traveled to five countries. One of them looked at the paintings and the other at the sculptures, and they kept nodding.
"Hmm, although the painting technique isn't quite divine yet, the most important thing in painting is capturing the spirit. This painting has captured the spirit, very good, it can already be called a masterpiece." Mr. Li sighed with emotion, unaware that he was fanning his face so much with his fan that it was almost distorted, his eyes only on the painting.
"The craftsmanship is top-notch. Although the wood is extremely thin, allowing for precise carving even from a distance with a dagger, carving with a dagger is something few can achieve, especially considering it was done while simultaneously focusing on one side and the other. Moreover, the three characters '美人娇' (beautiful woman) are written with flowing, elegant strokes, each a unique style. Excellent, absolutely a masterpiece." Mr. Qi couldn't help but reach out and carefully touch the wooden frame. It was clear that the wood was thinner than ordinary wood, but even for an average person, carving a piece well on such wood would be difficult.
The two kept exclaiming in praise, their words reflecting the thoughts of the audience.
The entire scene was filled with constant chatter, mostly praising her. Even the people from the Black Teeth Kingdom and the Great Gan Kingdom, though not as loudly or fearlessly praising as the citizens of the Great Zhou Dynasty, showed expressions of disbelief and longing. In truth, everyone knew that Ouyang Yue's performance was undoubtedly the best. The others only performed one skill, but she performed three at once. While none of them could be considered top-tier masterpieces, they were all excellent, and even these excellent performances were worthy of praise. To perform three simultaneously directly surpassed the other six of the top seven.
Yan Xue'er was excited, but Jiang Huan's face was dark. She wanted to say something derogatory, but she couldn't find the words to express it. She gritted her teeth in hatred but was helpless.
Mu Cuiwei was the most astonished of all. Her eyes widened, her face still bearing the strange expression she had used to mock Ouyang Yue. Ning Xihe, sitting to one side, had her handkerchief crumpled into a mess. How could Ouyang Yue, who was considered good-for-nothing, possess such talent? She remembered that her aunt hadn't paid much attention to Ouyang Yue. Was her aunt deliberately saying that to deceive the Ning family, while secretly finding the best teachers to instruct Ouyang Yue? The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. A cold glint appeared in Ning Xihe's eyes. Her aunt's actions were truly inappropriate. She hadn't taken Ouyang Yue seriously at all during the beauty pageant, hence her initial indifference. Who knew Ouyang Yue possessed such talent? Ning Xihe felt something in her chest, an uncomfortable ache that made her heart ache slightly.
"Alright, please bring out the other six ladies. Now we'll hand it over to the audience. The final five in this seven-to-five round will be decided by your votes. Whoever you think is better will be in the top five," Mr. Qi said with a smile.
Jiang Huan, Baili Nan, Mu Cuiwei, Ning Xihe, Yan Xueer, and Zi Si stood in a row with Ouyang Yue on the stage. Upon hearing Mr. Qi's words, a quarrel immediately broke out below.
"Is there even a need to choose? Of course, Miss Ouyang is the best."
"Yes, yes, of course it's Miss Ouyang."
These words from the audience caused the ladies on stage to change their expressions. Just then, someone in the crowd said, "Oh, if Miss Ouyang wins, won't I lose everything? I bet all my savings on Miss Ouyang losing. If she wins, I'm finished."
"Ah...yes, I also bet that she would lose."
"Me too, what should I do?"
"I...I secretly took some money from home to bet without my father's knowledge."
"Then...how about we choose Miss Ouyang?"
"..."
Suddenly, the stands fell silent. Ouyang Yue was still breathing slightly, her eyes half-closed, no longer caring about anything else. In fact, she had taken a gamble with this performance. In her previous life, she had put in a lot of effort to practice with both hands. Whenever she had free time, she liked to practice with both hands holding something. Her original idea was to be able to hold weapons in both hands, so that she would have more means of survival. She had also taken a great risk with this performance. No matter how many times she practiced, the chance of success was still not high. Unexpectedly, she had succeeded in doing it in one go today. Even she was breathing slightly with her eyes closed, savoring the feeling she had just experienced.
She hadn't initially planned to do this performance, but she hadn't forgotten the bet she'd made. The further she went, the more money she won, and for the sake of money, she shouldn't give up this opportunity. The odds of her losing were over 20 to 1.
"Alright, start voting. Each of you has a flower in your hand. Vote for whoever's performance you like." At Mr. Qi's command, some audience members began to go up on stage to throw flowers. However, unexpectedly, according to the competition order, Ouyang Yue was ranked seventh, and those people, each holding a flower, directly threw at the top six. For a moment, not a single person voted for Ouyang Yue. Not only that, these people didn't even dare to look at Ouyang Yue. Ouyang Yue frowned, but then she immediately thought of something, smiled silently, and stood on the stage very calmly.
"Big sister, you're so pretty, can I touch you?" Suddenly, a soft, sweet voice rang out on the stage. Ouyang Yue was stunned for a moment, then looked down and saw a small girl with two braids and three missing front teeth when she smiled. She looked at Ouyang Yue with her big, expectant eyes. Ouyang Yue smiled and said, "Sure, but why do you want to touch me?"
The little girl grinned and said, "Big sister was so beautiful just now. I thought she was a fairy who descended to earth. My mother told me stories about fairies, and the big sister just now looked exactly like the fairy in the story."
Ouyang Yue couldn't help but laugh at the little girl, so she squatted down. The little girl immediately beamed and shyly reached out to touch Ouyang Yue's face, blushing as she said, "Big sister is really a real person."
“Yes, it’s true.” Ouyang Yue said, both amused and exasperated.
"Big sister, I don't have any flowers, but how about this hair tie?" Little Ya Ya suddenly opened her hand, revealing a red hair tie inside. Ouyang Yue smiled: "But what will you use if I give it to you?"
"It's okay, Yaya can buy it herself when she grows up. I think big sister will look even prettier wearing this." Yaya looked at Ouyang Yue with anticipation.
Ouyang Yue reached out and took the gift, her eyes flickering slightly. "Okay, Ya Ya gave her big sister a gift, so big sister will give you one too. Now that we're friends, Ya Ya can wear this." As she spoke, Ouyang Yue placed the only white jade hairpin in her hair, with gold trim and densely packed red and green gemstones, on Ya Ya's head. Ya Ya felt it was heavy, but thinking that it was a gift from her beloved big sister, she was very happy. "Thank you, big sister."
"Ya Ya, how could you take someone else's things? Miss Ouyang, I'm so sorry, Ya Ya is just a little girl and doesn't understand. This thing is too valuable, Ya Ya can't accept it." At this moment, a middle-aged woman with a dark complexion walked over and hurriedly tried to take the thing off Ya Ya's head, but before she could touch a pair of jade-like white hands, she pressed it back: "I like Ya Ya, sister-in-law, please don't refuse. This is a competition, sister-in-law, please take Ya Ya down."
The woman wanted to say something, but seeing that everyone in the audience seemed to be watching them, her face turned bright red, and she picked up Ya Ya and started to walk away. The voting continued. Ya Ya's actions earlier made those voting later noticeably hesitant. After a few more people, a handsome young man suddenly said, "Miss Ouyang, when your reputation was already infamous, I was one of those who mocked you. It's truly shameful to admit, Miss Ouyang, that I was blind back then. Miss Ouyang is undeniably the most talented. I vote for you."
"I'll vote for you too..."
"Miss Ouyang, you're amazing..."
First it was Ya Ya, then the handsome young man, and then everyone else suddenly swarmed around throwing their flowers at Ouyang Yue. Ouyang just smiled slightly and nodded politely to those who threw her flowers. Everyone who saw this felt happy and their hearts were bubbling with joy as they ran off happily.
"Oh, upon closer inspection, I find that Miss Ouyang is quite beautiful."
"Are you blind? Of course Miss Ouyang is beautiful."
"Miss Ouyang is only fourteen years old now. In a few years, she will definitely be even more extraordinary."
“What that young lady said is true. When she was dancing before, I really thought Miss Ouyang was a fairy descended from heaven. What is a few taels of silver to bet on her? It’s just a drop in the ocean for me.”
"That's right. Although it cost me several months' wages, my family still has some savings, so we're not short of food and clothing."
"Hmm, that makes sense. Otherwise, if Miss Ouyang hadn't made it into the top five, I probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep in the future."
"..."
The murmurs continued, but the seven people on the stage had different expressions.
Jiang Huan gritted her teeth inwardly. Quite a few people had voted for her earlier, but now very few even lingered in front of her. How hateful! Her musical skills were also superb. Ouyang Yue was just a bit unconventional. In terms of proficiency in one area, Ouyang Yue was definitely not as good as her. Were these people blind and deaf?
Ning Xihe's face was also pale, her eyes flickered slightly, and she kept looking at the seven people in front of her, secretly counting how many flowers they had thrown. But the more she counted, the more confused she became, and the less she could count.
Mu Cuiwei's face was grim. That damned little girl had ruined her plans. Mu Cuiwei had also participated in the gambling at the casino, betting on Ouyang Yue to lose, spending a thousand taels of silver. She never expected Ouyang Yue to make it this far. However, because she had also gambled, she knew exactly how many people had bet on Ouyang Yue. Before going on stage, she had her maid spread the word. She hadn't expected those people who usually valued money above all else to be so willing to risk everything for Ouyang Yue. How hateful! Otherwise, no matter how well Ouyang Yue performed, she wouldn't have had a chance to make it into the top five. But now, basically seven out of ten people going on stage were voting for Ouyang Yue, and the other three were mostly citizens of their respective countries. Of course, they would vote for their own country's representative. Without even looking, anyone knew that Ouyang Yue was guaranteed a place in the top five.
Another failed attempt!
Time passed slowly. Later, because there were too many people, Mr. Qi directly asked the people in the stands to come up from four directions to throw flowers, which speeded up the process considerably, but it still took a full half hour.
After another half hour of tallying, and a full hour later, Mr. Qi finally went on stage and said, "The talent show for the top seven to top five contestants has ended. Everyone has chosen the best performance. After tallying, I now know the final number of votes for these seven ladies."
"First place: Miss Yan Xue'er from the Black Teeth Kingdom, 150 votes. Second place: Princess Huan from the Great Ginger Kingdom, 250 votes. Third place: Ning Xihe from the Great Zhou Dynasty, 50 votes. Fourth place: Princess Baili Nan from the Great Zhou Dynasty, 300 votes. Fifth place: Zi Si from Miao Jiang, 260 votes. Sixth place: Miss Mu Cuiwei from the Great Zhou Dynasty, 190 votes. Last place: Miss Ouyang Yue from the Great Zhou Dynasty..." Mr. Qi suddenly stopped, smiling, and said, "Guess how many votes Miss Ouyang got?"
"What are you keeping me in suspense for? Just tell me already, I can't wait!"
"Yeah, what are you keeping me in suspense for? Hurry up and tell me, or I'll hit you!"
"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
The crowd had already shouted it out, and Mr. Qi was starting to feel embarrassed. He had only wanted to add some suspense, but were these people in such a hurry? Even the judges were glaring at Mr. Qi with some dissatisfaction, especially Mr. Li. When people are in such a hurry, he wants to hear it too.
Mr. Qi cleared his throat and announced in a loud voice: "I hereby announce that Miss Ouyang Yue of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who is seventh in the competition, has received 1,103 votes. With just over 100 more votes, she will be able to tie with the other six contestants. This is the highest number of votes ever recorded in the history of the Langya Continent Beauty Pageant. It can only be called a miracle. Miss Ouyang Yue is undoubtedly the number one in talent."