Chapter 31: Baochai Takes Action

  The music competition ended with Daiyu taking the top spot, while the chess competition concluded with Liu Xiumei coming in first. Ye Jian, who had just caused a commotion, only managed to get fourth place and retreated to the side, feeling embarrassed and resentful. The next round of competitions was uneventful, and the calligraphy and painting were put together. Daiyu sat there listlessly, feeling drowsy after having eaten her meal, and the weather was also becoming somewhat sultry. A beam of sunlight shone directly on Daiyu's position, making her feel uncomfortable and forcing her to lower her head. Suddenly, something blocked out the sunlight, and when Daiyu looked up, she saw Yongzheng sitting on the other side of Kangxi, who had slightly moved to block the sun for her. It was unclear whether it was intentional or not, but a hint of gratitude flashed in Daiyu's eyes as she lifted her head to gaze at his back.

  Yin Zhen sat there motionless, but from a different angle, it was indeed a bit hot, and he actually still had some fear of heat and sun. However, this way Daiyu should feel comfortable, Yin Zhen thought to himself, feeling a bit more at ease. He thought his small actions went unnoticed, but didn't know that Kangxi's eyes flashed with calculation beside him, and not far behind, Yin Xiang's mouth had already curled up into a sly smile. The fourth brother indeed has an interest in Lin Daiyu, this is really good, but it will be six years before he can have a fourth sister-in-law. Such a long time, will the Emperor agree? Can the fourth brother wait? Should he first marry a secondary consort or something? Yin Xiang calculated in his heart, he wasn't a child anymore, and naturally understood these things. However, Yin Xiang overlooked Daiyu's factor, if Daiyu really married Yin Zhen, it would be strange if she could tolerate those people.

  After a while, the contest on the platform ended. One by one, paintings were presented to Kangxi, who was not interested and glanced at them casually. None of them had any new ideas, and the peach blossoms in the paintings lacked charm, looking dull and lifeless. Until one painting caught Kangxi's attention - a woman's back view under a peach blossom tree. The more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed, and Kangxi couldn't help but smile.

  Wang Shuxi, holding up his painting, saw that the emperor was smiling and let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that this time, the top prize for calligraphy and painting would go to this woman.

  "Xue Baochai takes first place." Wang Shuxiu announced loudly.

  Xue Baoqin? Daiyu was taken aback, she had actually forgotten about this person. She hadn't appeared in the first two tests and thought she hadn't come to Yangzhou after all, but unexpectedly showed up at the last minute.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live forever and ever." Baochai was supported by Ying'er as she came onto the stage to thank the Emperor. She didn't have that delicate, fragile feeling of a Jiangnan woman who would be blown away by the wind, nor did she have a plump, stout appearance; rather, she had a relatively slender figure, which complemented her somewhat charming face, giving off a unique flavor.

  Baochai's eyes swept over the crowd, and seeing her own reflection, she felt a sense of pride in her heart. She was already ten years old, and who knows, maybe this was an opportunity to find a good husband. Maybe it was possible. Baochai's gaze fell on several of the young masters, thinking that marrying one of them would be fine too.

  But unexpectedly, these princes were not interested in her at all. They knew that Baochai was from a humble background and had no interest in her, regardless of how beautiful she was. After all, even the concubines of the imperial princes were usually women from noble families or daughters of high-ranking officials. What was Baochai compared to them?

  "Get up." Kangxi glanced at Baochai and then ignored her, but in his heart he was calculating how this woman knew about the scene when he first met Tong Jia's wife, and actually used his nostalgia for Tong Jia to get ahead of him. Kangxi was extremely displeased, or rather, extremely disgusted.

  Baochai, who was still basking in her triumph, did not notice the disgust in Kangxi's eyes and retreated respectfully.

  Xue Baochai saw that Bao Yu had won and didn't have much of a reaction, but still went up to her out of politeness, "Congratulations, younger sister."

  "En." Baochai proudly raised her head and walked past Xue Baoqin. She completely ignored Xue Baoqin, who didn't say anything and returned to her own seat. At this point, the Peach Blossom Festival trial was almost over, and the next few days would be spent touring. However, the Emperor hadn't left yet, so these servants couldn't leave either.

  "Your Majesty, the trial is already over." Yongzheng reminded Kangxi, who was deep in thought.

  "Alright, let's go." Kangxi came to and took his imperial guards, Lin Ruhai, and Daiyu back to the Lin residence, leaving behind a crowd of people kneeling and shouting "Farewell to Your Majesty".

  Baochai triumphantly helped Ying'er into the carriage, but hadn't gone far when it was stopped.

  "It's just a lowly merchant's daughter, yet she dares to steal my thunder." If Daiyu were here, she would recognize this voice as none other than Ye Xiangye, that Ye family's eldest young lady. She really is going around looking for trouble everywhere, trying to prove how incompetent she is, and no matter what, can't even get first place.

  Baoyu poked his head out of the carriage, "Brother, what's going on? I thought Yangzhou was a safe place? Why are there dogs blocking the road and barking wildly?" Baoyu looked at Xiangyun with feigned puzzlement. Some of the onlookers who had gathered around couldn't help but burst out laughing, making Yexian feel embarrassed.

  "You..." Ye Nang was about to say something else, but was pulled back by her maid. "Miss, the master said that His Majesty is in Yangzhou and doesn't want any more trouble." The maid reminded Miss in a low voice, in such a public place, it's still Miss who will suffer.

  Ye Qian took a few deep breaths, suppressing his anger. "You wretched person, I'll let you off this time." Ye Qian grabbed the whip from the coachman and lashed it at the horse pulling Baochai's carriage with all his might, then strode away.

  The horse was startled and became somewhat flustered. It wanted to rush forward, but fortunately Xue Xiao grabbed hold of the reins and stopped it just in time.

  "Big brother, what is her status? How dare she treat us like this?" A hint of jealousy flashed in Baochai's eyes. Whoever dared to cause trouble must have had backing, but unfortunately, she was not in Yangzhou and the Xue family only had some reputation in Jinling. Here, they were nothing. Baochai sighed inwardly.

  "She is the only daughter of the Yangzhou governor, and she's very arrogant. At the Peach Blossom Festival, she first lost to the princess, then to Liu Xiumei, and finally to her own cousin. She couldn't bear the shame, so she came looking for trouble." Xue Ai saw it clearly, but what he didn't know was that when he mentioned the princess, his tone was extremely gentle, which caught Baochai's attention. This useless cousin of hers actually had a crush on the princess - his audacity knew no bounds.

  Baoyu didn't say anything else, she was sent back home by Xue Pan. As for Xue Ping who brought her here, he had long since disappeared without a trace, probably gone to drink flower wine somewhere again. Baoyu felt somewhat helpless about this.

  In the Lin mansion, Kangxi summoned Lin Ruhai alone and the two of them talked in the study for a whole hour without coming out. Daiyu felt very uneasy in her heart.