Chapter 453: Making a fool of herself
Xia Yu Yan and the other girls’ expressions changed, their eyes filled with disbelief as they looked at Chen Ning.
Especially Xia Yu Yan. It was like she had been hit by someone, knocking her down.
This kind of poem, not to mention seven steps, even if she was given seven days, she still would not have been able to compose one.
“Miss Xia, it’s your turn now.” Chen Ning turned around and looked at Xia Yu Yan with a smile.
“I……I……I…..” Xia Yu Yan bit her lips until they turned white. She finally lowered her face that had turned red, “I can’t do it, I admit defeat.”
The last three words were so soft that it almost couldn’t be heard.
When Liu Wan Ting saw her make a fool of herself, her heart filled with joy. She deliberately said, “Big sister Xia, what did you just say? Did you say that you are admitting defeat to the Princess Consort?”
Xia Yu Yan raised her head and glared right at her.
Liu Wan Ting revealed a smile as she said to Wu Yue Er, “Big sister Wu, it seems like it’s easy to obtain big sister Xia’s number one talented woman of the capital title, don’t you think so?”
Wu Yue Er smiled and said nothing.
When Xia Yu Yan heard this, she felt her face begin to burn. Thinking of how she mocked Chen Ning, she was suddenly filled with shame, wishing that she could bury herself in a hole.
Empress Dowager Zhou gave a gentle cough and said in a slow voice, “The path of poetry can be filled with spontaneity or it could take deep thought. In terms of thinking on the spot, the Ding Yuan Princess is indeed better, but miss Xia has had her reputation for a long time and it is definitely not false. How about this? This widow will come up with a topic and there will be no time limit. You two can carefully ponder it and whoever’s poem is better will win the contest.”
Hearing this, many people’s expressions changed.
Xia Yu Yan revealed joy while Mo Chuan filled with anger. Chen Ning revealed no expression and Su Jin muttered in her heart, “Playing favourites!”
“Mother, wouldn’t doing this be unfair?” Mo Chuan coldly spoke up, “They clearly agreed that whoever would compose a prose in seven steps would win. Not only did the Ding Yuan Princess compose a prose in seven steps, she even made an exquisite poem. Doesn’t this count as winning already?”
“Emperor, composing a poem in seven steps is competing in wit not poetry. The Ding Yuan Princess is a person that can think quickly and miss Xia cannot compete, but poetry is very deep. If the Ding Yuan Princess is well learned, then why not compete again? Or does the emperor feel that the Ding Yuan Princess does not have the ability?” Empress Dowager Zhou revealed a faint smile.
“Alright, your son will wait and see. Competing once again is just another chance for a certain person to make a fool of themself.”
Mo Chuan impolite words filled Xia Yu Yan once again with shame.
Her face was red, but she was filled with gratitude towards Empress Dowager Zhou. She knew that the Empress Dowager was giving her another chance to get her revenge.
She tightly gritted her teeth. She thought that as long as there was no time limit, she would be able to recite four shocking sentences that would fiercely slap the faces of those that dared to laugh at her!
“Ning’er, will you disagree with this? If you’re willing, then this widow will give another topic.”
Empress Dowager Zhou looked at Chen Ning with a gentle expression.
Chen Ning revealed a faint smile, “Ning’er has no objections, please give the topic Empress Dowager.”
“Alright, this widow will give another topic. Now the spring light fills the air and there are many things to look forward to. How about this, we’ll use ‘mountain climbing’ as a theme and have you two compose a poem about climbing mountains. After you’ve carefully thought it out, then you can write it on the paper and this widow will look them over.” Once Empress Dowager Zhou slowly finished her words, she picked up the tea cup once again and took a sip.
Mo Chuan stared at Empress Dowager Zhou. Very good, his mother would not stop at anything.
She knew that Ning’er’s writing was not good, but she wanted her to write the poetry. Wasn’t this trying to make Ning’er look like a fool?
Empress Dowager Zhou closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. It was like she was resting her eyes, not paying any attention to him.