Chapter 889 - 891: It’s Her Own Lack of Competence_1
That evening, Bai Ruozhu didn’t join the others from the Study Palace for dinner, simply because she was too exhausted by someone’s torment to get up. Yet that very person went out to dine energetically with child in tow, and even brought back some food for her.
Because of this, Bai Ruozhu felt a bout of sullenness stirring within her. After eating, she tried to struggle to her feet and seek out Tu Ying, but ultimately lacked the strength and, feeling sore and limp all over, went to sleep deeply.
The next morning’s competition involved painting, which both Bai Ruozhu and her second brother skipped since neither seemed to have a talent for it.
Ultimately, when the results were announced, Tang Feng claimed the first place again, to Bai Ruozhu’s surprise. She had originally thought that the people of Jiangnan had crowned Tang Feng as the foremost among the four great talents largely because of his looks. However, seeing this, she realized he indeed surpassed Lin Xufei, another of the four great talents, by far, especially with his repeated victories in the Eight Academy Competition.
The chancellor of the Jiangnan Academy was immensely proud; it seemed this time the first place surely belonged to the Jiangnan Academy.
The second place went to someone from Chang’an Academy, while the most skilled painter of Beiyu Academy, Yan Mingzhi, took the fourth place, which was considered a good result. Nevertheless, upon learning he hadn’t made the top three, there was a hint of dejection in him, and his master quietly consoled him.
In the Eight Academy Competition, talented individuals abounded. To secure a place in the top three was indeed no easy feat.
During the midday break, everyone went to the Restaurant again, anticipating the upcoming highlight of the event—the poetry competition in the afternoon.
This time at the Restaurant, the group, unable to secure a Private Room again, occupied two tables in a corner of the hall, chatting and laughing over their meal. But Bai Ruozhu distinctly felt a shift in the attitude of the people sitting nearby compared to before; she couldn’t help but find it amusing internally, realizing that those two hundred elite soldiers had indeed intimidated the Jiangnan people.
Jiangnan favored the literary while the Northwest favored the martial. Even though the people of Jiangnan might secretly think of the Northwesterners as uncouth and boorish, they nevertheless regarded their martial prowess with great wariness.
This time there was no troublemaker; instead, a man came to express his gratitude.
"Miss Bai, my name is Gu Huai, the elder brother of Gu Xue’an." The gentleman introduced himself and respectfully bowed to Bai Ruozhu. "Thanks to Miss Bai’s compassionate skills that day, my sister was saved. After hearing the whole story from her, I felt very remorseful. I didn’t want Miss Bai to be implicated because of treating my sister."
Bai Ruozhu was momentarily taken aback before realizing the people from the Gu Family thought she had offended Xu Panrui by helping Gu Xue’an, which led to her being slandered by Xu Panrui and others yesterday, nearly tarnishing her reputation.
"Young Master Gu, you are too kind. This matter has nothing to do with Miss Gu. My conflict with that person was not the first or second time; she simply looked down on people from the Northland, and I retorted a few times, that’s what led to this trouble. So, please tell Miss Gu not to worry about it anymore; it’s all in the past," replied Bai Ruozhu as she stood up to return Gu Huai’s greeting, smiling as she spoke.
Jiang Yichun eyed the man who had suddenly appeared, his face full of scrutiny as if anyone who came near his wife was up to no good.
After a few more words of thanks, Gu Huai bid his farewell and left. Curiosity piqued, the others asked Bai Ruozhu about it, and she explained with a smile, "During the Competition the other day, I happened to bump into Xu Panrui and her group hurting Miss Gu when I went to the restroom, so I helped her with her injuries and notified Gu Family servants to take her home."
Having heard the explanation, everyone understood that Bai Ruozhu had simply been kind-hearted in helping someone, and Xu Panrui and her crowd were truly too arrogant and domineering.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for the afternoon poetry segment. The poetry Competition was open to all team members, and by now the spectator stands were packed, with even more onlookers standing at the back, which showed just how much the people of Jiangnan loved poetry.
Bai Ruozhu joined the members from Beiyu Academy on stage, but the organizing committee had ruled that participants had to draw lots and then stand according to the numbers drawn, scrambling the Academy members and thus preventing any chance of cheating on another’s behalf.
It wasn’t unheard of in past years for influential competitors to collude with others to write poetry for them, thereby securing their own reputation.
Bai Ruozhu found her seat and, to her surprise, she was seated next to Lin Xufei. Since they were acquaintances, they greeted each other and exchanged a few words.
"I heard you helped Gu Xue’an?" Lin Xufei suddenly asked.
Bai Ruozhu was somewhat startled. Could it be that Lin Xufei wanted to thank her on behalf of his fiancée? Hadn’t Xu Panrui and the others mentioned Lin Xufei didn’t like Gu Xue’an? Moreover, Gu Xue’an didn’t object at that time, and there was even a hint of loss in her eyes, as if what Xu Panrui said was true.
"I just looked at her sprained ankle and gave her some medicine," Bai Ruozhu responded.
Lin Xufei, however, smiled and said quietly, "Thank you."
Well, look at that. It seems Mr. Lin doesn’t dislike his fiancée after all, Bai Ruozhu thought. Remembering Gu Xue’an’s demeanor, she couldn’t help saying, "Everyone outside is saying that Mr. Lin doesn’t care for his fiancée. Miss Gu can only feel sad upon hearing this. Perhaps she doesn’t even know how much Mr. Lin truly cares for her?"
In saying this, Bai Ruozhu partly wanted to help Gu Xue’an by reminding Lin Xufei to protect his fiancée. Of course, there was also a teasing element, wanting to tease Lin Xufei, whose skin was even finer than a woman’s.
Unexpectedly, Lin Xufei frowned slightly, his face flashing a helpless expression, "It’s because she herself is not striving enough."
After speaking, he turned his head away and stopped talking, clearly not wishing to continue the conversation with Bai Ruozhu.
Bai Ruozhu was taken aback. What did he mean by that? She hadn’t thought Lin Xufei to be so ill-tempered before, and that comment seemed to show some dissatisfaction with Gu Xue’an.
At this moment, the judge announced the start of the competition, and she quickly gathered her thoughts. Although she had many fine poems in her head, if she couldn’t concentrate, recalling an appropriate one would be futile.
"The first round is object description, with the theme being rivers. The top twenty will advance to the next round!" the judge declared loudly.
Many contestants sighed. Why had the first round become so difficult this year? Though it was an object description poem, "rivers" demanded grandeur, surely requiring expression of deeper meanings, not just a simple description. If they didn’t express the deeper meaning well, they couldn’t advance to the next round.
Thus, many began to ponder earnestly.
The judge set an hourglass. If one didn’t submit their work before the sand ran out, it would be considered a forfeiture.
Bai Ruozhu’s mind started spinning quickly. Rivers...
Once she had a clear thought, she lifted her pen and wrote on the paper: A friend from the west departs from Liuxian Building, with gilded July descending upon Yangzhou, lonely sail fading into the vast azure, all that remains is the Yangtze flowing to the horizon.
She had modified Li Bai’s poem. She remembered that there was no Yellow Crane Tower in Jiangnan at the time, but there was the notable Liuxian Building. Since it was July, she naturally couldn’t write "in the flowering March." As for the poem about rivers, who set the rule that it had to reflect grand ambitions? Longing for someone was also an emotion, and it quite suited the theme.
When time was up, everyone hung up their poems. To allow the onlookers to better appreciate the poetry, the organizing committee arranged for people with good voices to read them aloud, announcing everyone’s poems in the order of the lots drawn.
Bai Ruozhu pricked up her ears to listen to her elder brother’s poem. It should be enough to make the next round, but it wasn’t exceptionally outstanding. She looked at her brother’s face but couldn’t discern any emotions. Perhaps this was him concealing his strength?