Chapter 34
Chapter 34 – Start of Competition
Yun Shimo was not part of the imperial family but he was crowned Prince Nan by the Emperor and was highly valued, with tons of valuables given to him every year.
Prince Nan was uniquely handsome and attracted women from everywhere. Thus, wherever Yun Shimo went, he was surrounded by the love and pursuit of many ladies. However, for all these years, he did not care for any one of them.
Thus, Princess Huizhen, who loved him before, changed her target to Zhou Zhicheng after she met him.
Behind him, Princess Huiling and Princess Huiya were all staring at him with starry eyes filled with love. Unfortunately, Yun Shimo did not notice any of that.
Naturally, the Emperor sat at the forefront, with his Queen and Concubine Mei next to him. Concubine Lian, who had just achieved the status of Premier Concubine, was next to him as well.
Every single move by Hua Qiyue was seen by the Emperor. He could see her betting confidently with others, and that confidence made the Emperor very confused.
“In the rumors, Hua Qiyue was an extremely cowardly woman. How did she find the courage to participate?”
“Where did her confidence come from? Was she really a coward?”
The Emperor was suddenly interested in Hua Qiyue. He smiled faintly and ordered Eunuch Chu, “Pass me paper and ink. I, I want to bet with the daughter of Hua’s Mansion.”
The queen laughed at the suggestion. “The Emperor does care about the people, playing together with them!”
Concubine Mei agreed. “Hua Qiyue is quite a legendary figure. She was rumored to be useless and cowardice. However, there was that incident of snatching the jade hairpin in Hanyue Temple and the predictions by Master Xuanji too. Those piqued my interest in her too.”
Behind them, Huangfu Xuan opened his eyes in shock. He could barely believe what he heard!
“Even the imperial family is interested? What charm did this lustful woman have for others to value her so much?”
Eunuch Chu passed the paper, ink and writing brush to the Emperor as he wrote his betting promise down. He betted: If Hua Qiyue lost, the Emperor would gift her 50 tales of silver to reward her courage.
If Hua Qiyue won, the Emperor would gift her 500 tales of silver as a reward.
Ever since the Emperor succeeded the throne, Changjing Kingdom had been peaceful for the past thirty years, with stable jobs and housing for everyone. The Changlong Emperor now (Emperor Huangfu Zhao) was well-loved by the people, celebrating every festival with them and caring for them.
Thus, in the eyes of the peasants, it was normal for the Emperor to bet with a small character such as Hua Qiyue.
Of course, the actions of Changlong Emperor were seen by the Ji family. They were seated to the left of Hua Qiyue. When she had loudly proclaimed for people to bet on her, the Ji family had definitely noticed that.
On the seats of the Ji family, their leader Ji Zhong sat in front with his daughter Ji Jing, his nephew Ji Yang and the Medicine Saint Ji Feng.
Ji Feng wore a white coat. His long slim eyes stared at Hua Qiyue curiously.
The girl was looking at the new round of competition on the stage. She was focused, showing none of her cowardice.
“Seems like the rumors are wrong!”
“Bro, look at that Hua Qiyue. She really seemed to be an outstanding woman. Haha, such straightforwardness. Even though people belittle her so much, she still smiled and bet with those ignorant ladies. She is so calm! Bro, do you want to bet too?”
Ji Jing laughed as she talked to her brother. Ji Feng smiled faintly, and his face was like the white snow of early spring, cold and yet elegant. His gracefulness attracted the glances of many women.
“Jing, you can’t judge the book by its cover, this Hua Qiyue… erm, do seem different from the rumors. Looks like today’s tournament will be fun.” Ji Feng laughed lightly.
Ji family was the house of divine medicine. With the outstanding talent of Ji Feng, they produced numerous divine medicines, and thus Changlong Emperor valued Ji family greatly.
However, the Ji family did not want power or wealth so they refused all titles or gifts given to them.
Ji Jing’s huge watery eyes rolled before she focused back on the calm Hua Qiyue.
She liked such a woman that remained unflustered by danger and chaos, by praises and humiliation. Few women had such a temperament.
Indeed, like what her brother had said, today’s tournament would be spectacular!
While Hua Qiyue was calmly examining the results of the competition, Princess Huizhen and Zhou Zhicheng were sitting not far apart. Zhou Zhicheng had given many valuable items to the imperial court and thus was given a VIP seat as well.
Zhou Zhicheng looked at Hua Qiyue. Like the previous day, he recognized that this woman was the legitimate daughter of Hua’s Mansion, Hua Qiyue. Her beautiful looks were not something Princess Huizhen could compare herself to.
Zhou Zhicheng’s heart itched with lust. However, he was scared of Princess Huizhen and thus chose not to stare at Hua Qiyue.
The second round of competition had ended. Some were delighted while others were miserable.
The first five competitions in the morning were of the male category while the next five competitions were by women. It’s the same case in the afternoon.
Thousands of individuals signed up for the competition but Ji family only chose 500 to compete. The competition would last for more than one month.
Sipping her tea, Hua Qiyue observed the individuals competing on stage. Their Qi Art was all of the Oracle Profound standards, with some at the Soaring Cloud standard. But overall, none of them was worthy to be her opponent.
But she was unclear if there are still any masters after them?
Hua Qiyue thought instinctively that masters who had completed the Dragon Diagram standard should be the ones cultivating diligently in the deep mountains, and would be impossible to appear at the tournament so quickly. Most Qi Art masters were oblivious to wealth and prestige and refused to be bonded by a contract. Thus, few masters would appear in the tournament.
In that case, she had a 90% chance to win.
The first wave of the tournament had begun. Hua Mengshi would be battling the daughter of a famous sect, Shao Wan.
Tianpi was right in that top Qi Artists could sense others’ Qi Art level. Shao Wan got a lot of cultivation and had the same level of Qi Art as Hua Mengshi, having completed the Oracle Profound standard.
Looks like this competition would be tough.
Shao Wan placed her palm over her fist and said, “I shall begin.”
Hua Mengshi smiled brightly. “Don’t worry. Please strike first.”
Shao Wan snorted knowing that her opponent was merely patronizing her. She focused her spiritual energy in her palm and flew towards Hua Mengshi like a dragon.
Hua Mengshi’s body was like a leaf, evading that spiritual dragon efficiently, her body light and swift.
Hua Mengshi’s body was surrounded by a pure blue aura that protected her body. When Shao Wan’s spiritual energy was returned back to her hand, Hua Mengshi sneered as the spiritual qi guarding her body moved like a piece of fog towards Shao Wan!
The deep murderous intent lying within made Shao Wan shocked. She knew she had to be careful as her opponent had the same level of Qi Art as her.
The rest held their breaths and looked at the scene stiffly.
Hua Mengshi was known for being the top daughter and beauty of the imperial city. Her Qi Art was known to be of a higher standard than most.
Thus, Hua Mengshi was well-known outside. Her pretense also attracted many pursuers from the Wang family. Now, she was dressed nicely and had make-up on, her gracefulness and the murderous intent mixed together to give her a unique charm to them.
“All the best, Mengshi!”
“Miss Hua, I think you can win! Hurry and defeat her!”
The brainless boys from the Wang family started shouting for Hua Mengshi again.
Hua Qiyue sat on the seats, looking at the scene calmly.
On the stage, Hua Mengshi fought with Shao Wan mercilessly. It was hard to see who had the upper hand.
Second Madame and the various maidservants were extremely nervous. They prayed silently as they all knew that the opponent was a difficult character. Shao Wan was the daughter of Cangming Sect and had many elixirs.
After hundreds of moves, the victor was still unclear.
A piercing light flashed across Hua Mengshi’s eyes. She knew that the longer the match dragged on, the more her reputation would be ruined. After all, as the top daughter of the imperial city, Qi Art was included in her expertise too.
If she could not defeat Shao Wan in two hundred moves, her reputation as the top daughter would e ruined.
Thus, she reduced the spiritual qi in her hands. Seeing that, Shao Wan decided that her opponent had little spiritual qi left and thus decided to chase further.
Hua Mengshi smirked. Those below the stage saw her flew up before throwing a soft mist over at Shao Wan. That soft mist was lacking in murderous intent. If that was her last move, Hua Mengshi had definitely lost!
Shao Wan smirked. “So this is the standard of the top daughter in the imperial city!”
As she spoke, she created a blue light ring in her hands, slamming down tough at that murderous mist!
Hua Mengshi pursed her lips. She flew up like a butterfly, pulling herself closer to Shao Wan instead. A pure blue sword appeared in between her fingers. Through the flashing lights, an infinite amount of murderous intent flew towards Shao Wan!
“Be careful, Wan!”
“Wan!”
No one expected Hua Mengshi to have a hidden move. After all, from her previous moves, she seemed to be lacking in both physical energy and spiritual qi.
However, Hua Mengshi was merely pretending, using her tactic to make Shao Wan careless in defending, striking using the light sword when Shao Wan least expected it. This time, Shao Wan would definitely lose!
Shao Wan could only feel a certain chill approaching her. At the end of June, it was summertime, however, she could only feel cold sweat erupting from her palm.
Shao Wan puffed and felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She jumped out of the stage!
Coming out of the stage meant failure!
Hua Mengshi flew down silently, smiling calmly as she clasped her palm on her fist. “There is nothing wrong with using tricks in war. I’m sorry, Miss Shao!”
All men who admired Hua Mengshi clapped, with even the Emperor nodding. “This Hua Mengshi is indeed very cunning. If she was a man, she would definitely be an outstanding general.”
The queen agreed. As Shao Wan fell, her brothers and sisters went forth to carry her as her abdomen was bleeding profusely.
“Hua Mengshi! What a cunning b*tch! You tricked my sister! Hmpt, using tricks now that you have no substance! What a top daughter!”
Shao Wan’s sister Shao Die chided profusely. However, Shao Wan pressed down on her sister’s hand. “Don’t be so angry, sister. She is right in saying that there are no tricks in war, and the rule didn’t ban the use of tactics too… I’m too careless. Let’s go, I admit defeat.” Shao Wan had a big heart as she apologized to Hua Mengshi.
Hua Mengshi smiled slightly, throwing a gentle glance towards Ji Feng. Unfortunately. Ji Feng was staring at Shao Wan, and not her.
Hua Mengshi’s heart trembled but she still left the stage gracefully.
Hua Qiyue smirked. These people were all using old moves. As a cunning b*tch, Hua Mengshi knew how to use underhand tactics. It was Shao Wan’s fault for losing as she was too obedient and did not expect Hua Mengshi to use underhand tactics.
For the past half a month, other than absorbing spiritual qi in the fountain, Tianpi also taught her some moves that were much higher in standard than what Hua Mengshi had used.
Looks like she was blessed to have a master!
Receiving a piece of watermelon from Lv Xin, Hua Qiyue bit into it while enjoying the tournament.
“Look at that useless woman, she is still eating!”