Chapter 278: A Woman Like Splendid Flowers
Young Master Baiyu saw this and smiled helplessly. He said warmly to the girls, “Alright, alright, stop making a fuss. If you keep it up, others will laugh at me.” His voice carried an irresistible magic, and those pampering, loving words made the girls who had pretended to faint stand up involuntarily. It was as if making things difficult for Young Master Baiyu was a grave sin.
“That’s more like it. Everyone, don’t get excited. I’m right here—look all you want.” Young Master Baiyu smiled contentedly. He then smiled faintly and added, “If you can’t get enough today, come to the West Garden in three days to cheer for my Cui Clan.”
“Mm-hmm!” The young ladies nodded vigorously as if hearing a sage decree, obediently making way and reluctantly watching the Cui Clan’s carriage enter.
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“He’s outshone everyone.” In the restaurant’s private box, a group of noble ladies were also captivated by Cui Baiyu’s boundless charm. Someone sighed deeply, “Compared to Brother Cui, that Lu Yun is just an immature youngster!”
“Exactly, Brother Cui is the one with real charm!” The young ladies nodded in deep agreement. “I’m buying Brother Cui to win—all in!”
“Me too, me too!” The young ladies filled out their betting slips haphazardly and shoved them all at Shang Luojia. They didn’t forget to ask, “How did you bet, Sister Luojia?”
“If the banker bets, won’t the gamblers tear her apart?” Shang Luojia shook her head with a smile and looked out the window. “The Mei Clan has arrived too. All eight clans’ scions are here.”
“Oh no, I wanted to bet on Sister Ruohua to win!” Seeing the four girls in green dresses alight from the Mei Clan’s carriage, the young ladies immediately regretted it. Though the various clans had different standings, these innocent girls couldn’t help yearning for the Mei Clan’s matriarchal ways. They were especially envious of the Mei Clan’s women, who studied literature and martial arts from childhood and would enter officialdom in the future.
Among them, the Mei Clan’s most outstanding young representative, Mei Ruohua, was the idol in the hearts of these noble young ladies.
Right now, this spirited, unyielding girl alighted from the carriage with three clan sisters, naturally sparking waves of cheers from the watching girls. The cheers were no less than those for Cui Baiyu!
“Miss Mei, you must defeat those stinky men! Fight for us women!” The girls shouted excitedly at Mei Ruohua, completely ignoring that the Cui Young Master and Lu Young Master who had them swooning were also among Mei Ruohua’s opponents…
Mei Ruohua ignored them as if deaf, striding straight through the crowd. The youngest clan sister behind her, Ling Xuan, even snorted coldly, “A bunch of idiots.”
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With the arrival of the four Mei Clan women, the somewhat odd atmosphere in the field suddenly became harmonious. The young scions of the various clans put away their arrogant faces, showed their best sides, and smiled as they exchanged pleasantries with Mei Ruohua and the others.
The principle that opposites attract holds true everywhere. Though the Mei Clan was currently in a precarious situation, its women remained objects of admiration for these young masters.
Though Mei Ruohua and the others were cold as ice and gave them no face, it only made these young masters see pursuing a Mei Clan woman as a great achievement, pressing on undeterred.
“Alright, everyone’s here.” Cui Pingzhi, leading the Cui Clan, coughed and stopped the restless young masters. He also held the position of Minister of Rites in the Ministry of Personnel, and today’s registration was his responsibility. “Please have your stewards lead your clan’s scions and follow me inside.”
After Cui Pingzhi spoke, the tightly shut gates of the Ministry of Personnel slowly opened. Cui Pingzhi led the way, followed closely by Lu Wei, Xiahou Bupo, and others with their respective scions, entering the vast courtyard of the Ministry of Personnel.
Cui Pingzhi first led everyone to the Minister of Personnel’s duty room in the center of the courtyard. The Great Xuan Minister of Personnel, Grand Tutor of the court, and Duke of Rongguo Cui Yan personally received this group of elite scions sent by the various clans. He warmly encouraged them, saying, “This time, to pray for blessings for the Empress Dowager, His Majesty has specially decreed to advance the Grand Competition to this winter. It’s indeed a bit rushed for you.”
The scions of the noble clans nodded one after another. They had thought the Grand Competition would be next spring and hadn’t finished their planned preparations. Of course, even if delayed to the year after, they’d still complain about insufficient time when it came.
“But it’s no matter, because everyone has the same time, so it’s still very fair.” Cui Pingzhi paused, then smiled and said, “Moreover, His Majesty has specially decreed to increase the Second Rank quotas from the original eight to twelve. For you, it’s a heaven-sent opportunity!”
“Really? Great!” The scions of the noble clans were overjoyed. Even the four icy Mei Clan women couldn’t hide their delight. Standing here as one of their clan’s top four picks, the worst they’d get was Third Rank. First Rank was always seen as Sage Rank and rarely granted lightly, so Second Rank was everyone’s goal.
Originally, only eight could stand out, while the other twenty-four had to settle for Third Rank. But now with four more Second Rank quotas, how could they not be ecstatic?
“Heaven bestows and you do not take, you will receive blame.” Cui Yan put away his smile and said in a deep voice to the jubilant youths, “Do not fail His Majesty’s grace. Give your all to bring glory to your clan and the Imperial Court!”
“Yes!” The thirty-two scions of the noble clans responded in unison, their voices reaching the clouds.
“Go on, quickly go through the motions, rest well back home, and see you at the West Garden in three days!” Cui Yan smiled and waved his hand.
“Thank you, Your Grace. This junior bids farewell.” The thirty-two bowed respectfully and withdrew. Ministry of Rites officials led them separately to verify identities and register. Though just procedure, as the Great Xuan Dynasty’s highest-level talent selection, it was very tedious and took half a day before Lu Yun and the others completed registration and left the Ministry of Personnel.
“I’m starving!” Lu Lin clutched his growling stomach and said with a bitter smile, “If I’d known, I’d have eaten more for breakfast.”
“Did you eat little?” Lu Song rolled his eyes.
“Of course little.” Lu Lin counted on his fingers. “I only had four jin of rice, eight large pancakes, two cans of meat soup, two jin of beef, two jin of mutton, two fried fish…”
“Glutton!” A cold snort came from behind. Lu Lin’s face fell as he turned to see the four Mei Clan women emerging, the speaker being the youngest, Ling Xuan.
Seeing the petite Ling Xuan with a disdainful face, Lu Lin swallowed the curse on his tongue and stood there at a loss.
“Make way.” Ling Xuan glanced coldly at him. Lu Lin obeyed like a decree and dodged aside, accidentally slamming hard into the Ministry of Personnel’s door frame, nearly knocking down the plaque hanging over the lintel…
Patter patter, a shower of dust fell from the lintel, dumping right on Lu Lin’s head…
Lu Song, Lu Yun, and the others hurried as far away as possible, lest others think they were together…
“Not just a glutton, but an idiot too.” Though Ling Xuan harbored ill feelings toward the Lu Clan, Lu Lin’s stupidity made her chuckle.
“…” Lu Lin stared blankly at Ling Xuan’s flower-like smile until the four Mei Clan women boarded their carriage and left, still not coming back to his senses.
“My god, your drool’s down to your neck.” Lu Song came over, feigning shock.
“Oh?” Lu Lin hurriedly wiped his mouth, only to realize he’d been tricked. His face flushed red, and he dashed to the carriage, sneering at Lu Song, “If you’ve got guts, don’t get on.”
“Damn, is this guy really dumb or just playing dumb?” Lu Song was speechless.
“Depends on the situation.” Lu Yun laughed heartily, ignoring the threatened Lu Song as he and Lu Bai boarded the carriage.
