Chapter 54: Finding Her Cute

Gu Jiu Ling lowered her head, only waiting for Lin Jingyuan to light the incense and candles used for timing, silently apologizing and kowtowing in her heart to the poetry immortals, sages, and all the great figures, begging them to forgive her shameless plagiarism and help her retrieve her maternal grandfather's belongings.

Unexpectedly, Wen Yuan Zhuo, the old Mr. Wen, slowly stood up; his hair was snow-white, he had reached the ripe old age, and he naturally bore the aura of a lofty immortal with Daoist bones and fairy-like grace.

He turned around but raised his hand, clasping his fist toward Xiao Yin and said, "Your earlier words, Prince Rui, were shocking and thought-provoking, giving rise to many reflections."

"In past years, the poetry gatherings were all about poetry, ci, fu, and songs; this year let's write policy essays!"

As soon as Mr. Wen's words fell, an uproar broke out all around—what… what does this mean?

Who has ever written policy essays at a poetry gathering?

Li Songyue and the other talented ladies were even more dumbfounded; what they usually studied in their chambers was nothing but tender, sentimental poetry and lyric—when had they ever written policy essays?

Even Gu Jiu Ling stood there dazed; all the Tang poems she had memorized before were now useless.

It's like the college entrance exam always testing language, math, and foreign language, then suddenly announcing the day before the exam that this year there will be no language, math, or foreign language test, but instead a Peking opera and football duo performance.

Old Mr. Wen's move instantly left everyone dumbfounded.

But this is also good; upon hearing that policy essays would be tested, fellows like Xiao Wei also wanted to give it a try—even as a prince, he wanted to show off in front of everyone.

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After all, when the princes were young, Emperor Longqing began examining their policy essays; being able to write this is still something they can present.

Xiao Yin's two long legs slowly stretched out, extended, he picked up the brush and ink, lowered his head, and began to write.

Gu Jiu Ling had never written a policy essay before; at this moment she lowered her head and thought for a while, since she had already accompanied Xiao Yin this far, she couldn't possibly hand in a blank sheet—would she be laughed at by Li Songyue and the others?

She focused her thoughts for a while, then actually came up with something; she hurriedly lowered her head and wrote on the snow paper, finishing one sheet early, feeling bored she also silently wrote two more sheets.

The time limit was the duration of one incense stick, but Gu Jiu Ling finished in less than half an incense stick.

She tilted her head sideways, propping her chin, boredly looking toward Xiao Yin.

At this moment the sunlight was strong, shining down, casting a layer of fluffy golden light over Xiao Yin's tall figure; his side profile within that halo gained a touch more resoluteness.

A serious man indeed has some charm.

Gu Jiu Ling then looked at the snow paper before Xiao Yin; the characters were truly beautiful, every stroke full of vigor and bone; as for the essay…

Gu Jiu Ling slowly moved closer, her chin almost resting on Xiao Yin's left arm, she widened her eyes and looked over.

"Little girl, go play over there for a while!" Xiao Yin didn't look at Gu Jiu Ling, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted, his smile very gentle.

Gu Jiu Ling laughed out loud, then hurriedly hid to the side.

Sitting opposite them, Xiao Ting also finished his policy essay this time, put down his brush, and a hint of self-satisfaction flitted across his face.

Among the princes, his talent stood out the most; even the father emperor praised his policy essays as well-written and his literary talent as excellent.

How could someone like Xiao Wei, a mere warrior, compare?

He sat upright there, his gaze falling on Xiao Yin opposite, and thus he clearly saw what had just happened.

Gu Jiu Ling's facial expression looked like a blossoming smile; her cute, delicate face turned slightly toward Xiao Yin, and even her brows and eyes held a smile, as if they could speak.

Xiao Yin is usually stern and unfeeling; even in such a solemn occasion he could smile at Gu Jiu Ling, so gentle it didn't seem like him at all.

Xiao Ting's face gradually darkened; all this woman's smiles, admiration, and affection had always belonged to him, even her foolishness had been his alone.

He despised Gu Jiu Ling's foolish tailing behind him, but now she directed all her gaze toward Xiao Yin, causing his look at Gu Jiu Ling to turn chilly in waves.

Even if he didn't care for her, she couldn't like anyone else; her attitude toward Xiao Yin was like a slap to his face!

Seeing that time was almost up, Gu Jiu Ling sat upright, casually glanced over at the opposite side, and instantly froze there.

Crown Prince Xiao Ting stared at her fixedly, his gaze seeming as if he wanted to devour her.

Gu Jiu Ling blinked, feeling that this person must be eighty percent suffering from some serious illness.

The incense candles finally burned out; this contest compared not only literary talent but also ability.

Writing a good essay isn't particularly rare, but to have a surge of talent and produce a good essay in a short time is impressive; if in a short time one can not only write a good essay but also catch the eye of Mr. Wen, this great scholar, it is indeed quite difficult.

The boy in green robes came over to collect those manuscripts; Li Songyue's expression between her brows was not relaxed, her demeanor extremely cold—she was never good at writing this.

She looked toward the Crown Prince, only to discover that Crown Prince Xiao Ting was actually staring at Gu Jiu Ling; her heart instantly turned cold.

Gu Jiu Ling had previously clung to the Crown Prince's side, yet the Crown Prince had never once directed his thoughts toward her; this time his gaze toward Gu Jiu Ling was unusually attentive.

Li Songyue was furious beyond measure; this idiot, ever since marrying Xiao Yin, felt as if she had been completely reborn.

She laughed loudly: "Princess Consort of Rui has written so much!"

Originally no one had noticed Gu Jiu Ling; after all, this occasion was tense, and everyone was guessing who would be the champion of this poetry gathering.

The atmosphere on site was still somewhat oppressive, making Li Songyue's words sound especially harsh.

Everyone turned their gaze to Gu Jiu Ling, and indeed found that the several sheets of snow paper before her were densely filled with writing; they immediately burst into low laughter.

"Surely she's an idiot!"

"Yeah, being able to write even one piece under these circumstances is already impressive, yet she actually wrote a whole stack?"

"Those few poems she used to scold people with still sound pleasant, but they're still the sort of thing that can't be put on the table."

Crown Prince Xiao Ting also furrowed his brows, heh, having written so much, who knows what nonsense he wrote, wasting paper for nothing, yet that proper, upright sitting posture somehow seemed somewhat cute.

Xiao Ting suddenly panicked; for the first time he felt Gu Jiu Ling was cute? What was wrong with him—could he be ill?

Gu Jiu Ling had originally been just writing for fun, planning to casually hand in one sheet; moreover, seeing that Xiao Yin had come with ill intent today, this man being resourceful and scheming, she feared he had come prepared to seize the Du family's book.

She was merely a foil; handing in one sheet would be enough.

Who would have thought that, just because she wrote a lot and wasted a lot of paper, this could also become a reason for those trolls around to attack her?

Indeed, from ancient times to the present, trolls never have brains!

In an instant, the manuscript boy had arrived before her; seeing the stack of manuscripts before her eyes, he couldn't help but purse his lips and laugh, his mocking intent obvious.

"Princess Consort, are you going to submit them all together, or…"

"Take them all!" Gu Jiu Ling gave a cold laugh, "Who knows, maybe one of these pieces could even win the championship!"

As soon as her words left her mouth, the surrounding laughter grew louder by a bit, without any concealment; even Elder Wen Yuan Zhuo sitting farthest north lowered his head and shook it helplessly.

Xiao Yin, however, didn't mind; how many she turned in, what she wrote— as long as his consort was happy, that was fine.

What the hell does it have to do with you!