Chapter 158 - Two Butterflies on a Splendid Dress, Rouge was (2/2)

No one would fall behind if they could use such a toy to win Feng Yuran’s goodwill.

Speaking of the sea of lanterns at the lantern festival tonight, it was made of hundreds of thousands of lanterns that were of various shapes. Everyone spoke about it and they talked about the beautiful lanterns and how they were different from the ones outside. These lanterns were crafted by palace craftsmen. They were all different and were elegant and luxurious.

The ladies on the other island were ready to perform then. Because there were too many of them, not everyone can perform. The Empress picked a few ladies. Some of them were going to play on instruments, others were going to dance, recite poetry, and sing. Some of the ladies even pa.s.sed them their poetry for them to critique.

In order to make it entertaining, Feng Yuxuan also asked the gentlemen on the island on the left to each write a poem to send to the ladies for their critique. The palace maids came and went, and one could see palace maids holding on to a stack of paper pa.s.sing by each other.

The way of critiquing was simple. The names were hidden and the papers were pa.s.sed around to all the ladies. If they liked the poem, they would put a tick on it. The poem with the most number of ticks would win. The ladies’ poems would be handled in the same manner. No one would know who had written the poem, but look at whether the poem was stellar or not. The poems were not judged by those on the main table like in the past and this seemed even fairer.

Because of the bustle, the Empress allowed the ladies who ere performing to continue while the other ladies prepared their poetry to be sent to the other island. This would save some from being able to perform while some won’t and feel bad about it.

Mo Xuemin felt uncomfortable. In fact, she felt extremely uncomfortable. She wrung the handkerchief in her hand and almost could not keep the gentle smile on her face. She had always thought that she was beautiful and intelligent, and could be considered one of the more outstanding n.o.ble girls in the capital. However, the Empress had not called on her today, so how could the smile on her face not stiffen?

Almost all the n.o.ble ladies standing with her earlier had all been picked except for her. She was still feeling rather mopey about it when she suddenly heard the Empress suggest that the n.o.ble ladies who had not been picked to write a poem or a phrase. This would be sent to the other island for the n.o.blemen to critique. Mo Xuemin’s eyes brightened immediately.

She did not object and immediately wrote a poem to be shuffled in the pile of poems.

“Eldest Sister, what did you write? Can you show it to me?” Mo Xuetong sat beside Mo Xuemin with a small smile. Her eyes landed on Mo Xuemin’s poem, which she had not yet folded up. Her smiling gaze immediately deepened, and in just a moment, filled with hate and anger. Her fingers stabbed into her palms under her sleeve and her expression turned cold.

“Two b.u.t.terflies on a splendid dress, red rouge was unevenly spread. Standing alone in a colorful dress, waiting for the swallow to come back in the mild rain.”

How could she not recognize that poem? It was just one word away. It was the exact same poem that Sima Lingyun had wrote for her in her past life when they first met. He said that even though she had been disfigured, she was still the most beautiful woman to him. She had been wearing a dress with two b.u.t.terflies on it. Because she had just came out from the mourning period, Mother Xu had insisted that she wore a brightly colored dress. Mo Xueqiong had even mocked her because of that, saying that ugly people always liked to do extra things. She had almost been pushed by Mo Xueqiong into the lotus pond.

Sima Lingyun had entered her heart then. She remembered how he had appeared like a gentleman and helped her up after she was pushed onto the ground by Mo Xueqiong. He brought her to rest at the pavilion by the side and praised her lovingly. He had written that poem right there and then, and that was how she, who had been weak and helpless, had fallen for him at first sight. Then, because of Auntie Fang’s instigation, she insisted on marrying him despite the objections from her grandparents and her father.

She understood everything when she saw this poem in Mo Xuemin’s hands.

In her past life, she had only found out by accident that the poem in Sima Lingyun’s poetry book was not in fact auth.o.r.ed by himself. He had used the fruits of someone else’s labor. Furthermore, this had happened many years ago. Sima Lingyun had claimed to have written it himself with the permission of the original author. It had been done just to make the Duke’s manor look better, so no one knew about it.

However, she did not know how Sima Lingyun would react when he finds out that Mo Xuemin had stolen his poem.

Furthermore, that person was at the banquet as well.

Mo Xuetong’s smile grew brilliant once more, like the flowers that had just bloomed in spring. Her smile was so stunning that Mo Xuemin, who had just turned around, could not actually pick on it.

“It’s just alright. I just thought about it and wrote it down.” Mo Xuemin smiled and answered humbly. She looked around her at the other n.o.ble ladies who were still thinking, and could not help but smile, pleased with herself. She had already gained the upper hand in terms of speed. Furthermore, she felt that the poem was really apt for right now. This scene and these feelings, the splendid dress and the beautiful girl were all present.

There would definitely be many n.o.ble ladies who agreed with her poem.

She covered the poem with her hand, blocking it from Mo Xuetong, and folded it. She handed the paper to a palace maid beside her and then went to the side to wash her hands. Most of the n.o.ble girls had already completed their poems by this time. Mo Xuetong also went to wash her hands and returned to her seat.

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