Chapter 323: Promotional Ambassador (Bonus Chapter)

The seat for His Majesty the King was reserved at the main viewing stand, and Blanche as well as many noblewomen were also there.

Regardless of how the nobles might have gossiped about Blanche behind her back on ordinary days, today was the Princess's birthday, so they all gathered around her, offering praises of her beauty and words of blessing.

Blanche responded politely; only on her birthday each year did she feel like a princess surrounded by stars.

"Your Highness, this shawl on your neck seems... a bit different?"

The eyes of noble ladies and misses were quite discerning, not to mention that clothing was something they focused on daily.

They had long since noticed the difference in Blanche's shawl.

Because this shawl possessed a unique luster in its appearance, while the formal gowns they wore, though woven from high-grade wool and fleece, were relatively lower in luster.

Blanche looked down at the shawl, and two small dimples appeared on her face as she smiled.

She introduced it happily: "This is a birthday gift from Count Luoning of Wushan Territory; it is said to be woven from special materials from Wubei Territory."

"Oh? What material, to be so special?"

This immediately stirred up even stronger curiosity in them.

Enjoyment and beauty were their pursuits, and hearing of something fresh that had also appeared on the Princess, they naturally wanted to obtain it too.

"According to Count Luoning, it seems to be called silkworm silk. He named the fabric woven from silkworm silk 'Silk'."

Silkworm silk, Silk.

The noblewomen heard such vocabulary for the first time.

Suddenly, many people began to ask about the differences between silkworm silk and Silk.

How would Blanche know what silkworm silk was? She had never seen it. As for Silk, she could at least use the shawl as an example to introduce it.

"Besides its high luster, this fabric is also very soft, and the touch is extremely smooth. Moreover, its breathability is quite good, making one feel cool and comfortable."

After this introduction, the nobles' curiosity was pulled to the peak.

"Princess, may I touch your Silk shawl?" Some even made such a request.

Blanche was stunned for a moment, then beamed and took the shawl off her body: "Of course!"

She knew that this Silk would very likely become an economic product of Luoning's territory, so taking the initiative to introduce it was beneficial for Luoning.

If it weren't for the fact that the white cup was engraved with her and Luoning's names, making it inappropriate to take out now, she would have even thought about bringing out the porcelain to introduce it.

Once they touched it, they knew; the feeling was even more intense upon contact.

"It is indeed different from the fabrics we have now!"

"Yes, yes, our shawls could never be this smooth!"

"This cool, refreshing sensation is also very nice..."

They spoke one after another, and exclamations of praise kept coming.

Blanche was very happy to hear this; after all, this was a gift Luoning gave her, and being able to receive such pursuit from so many people showed Luoning's thoughtfulness while also giving her a great deal of face.

"Princess, I wonder if there are more of these shawls?" Finally, someone asked such a question.

Blanche took back the shawl and nodded with a smile: "There are. However, Count Luoning did not bring them; according to him, he will use Silk to make dresses, formal gowns, and all sorts of other clothing."

The eyes of the crowd lit up.

"Then could you introduce us, to see if we can buy Silk clothing?"

Suddenly, the viewing stand seemed to turn into a sales counter.

Blanche had never encountered so many people asking her so sincerely.

She pointed in the direction where Luoning was: "He is currently preparing for the upcoming Martial Arts Tournament. When the evening banquet begins, I can introduce it to everyone."

In an instant, a dozen or twenty noblewomen looked toward Luoning in unison.

"My Lord, they seem to be looking at you!"

Dawei was startled by such a formation and immediately gave a reminder.

Luoning looked over, and he was also very surprised.

However, seeing the way this group of noblewomen was smiling and waving, it seemed Blanche must be introducing him.

Acting on the principle of politeness, Luoning stood up and nodded in greeting.

This gesture made them happy for a while, as if they had already confirmed they could obtain Silk fabrics from Luoning.

At ten o'clock in the morning, following His Majesty the King's arrival and brief opening remarks, and his praise for the generosity of the Four Great Families, the Martial Arts Tournament officially began.

On the plaza, the cheering became intense.

Although there were many types of events for the Knights' tournament, such as horsemanship competitions, archery competitions, spear-fighting competitions, and so on, today's event was close-quarters combat, which could be seen as a competition of swordsmanship, footwork, and Battle Technique.

The list of contestants had long been written on small wooden sticks of equal length, and the host of the Martial Arts Tournament drew lots on the spot; those who were drawn would go up to the stage to fight.

The clashing of longswords and the roar of Battle Technique made the entire arena appear exceptionally boisterous, but the more intense the battle, the stronger the cheers it drew.

Soon it was Luoning's turn to appear for the first time.

His opponent was a young noble named Yar from the Feilunsibao Principality, who was said to be studying at the Royal Knight Academy.

As soon as he appeared, it drew cheers from the group of nobles from the Feilunsibao Principality.

"Yar, beat him hard for me!"

Harrington Grego, who had a conflict with Luoning a few days ago, was cheering and shouting.

Although he knew Yar could not defeat Luoning, he still hoped to leave a few wounds on the latter.

Compared to the opponent's cheers, the only ones cheering for Luoning on his side were Tangmu and Dawei; Lisi, that guy, was like a mute.

It was the noblewomen on the viewing stand who suddenly started shouting, which left Luoning somewhat confused.

Not only him, many nobles were equally puzzled.

Could this be a cheering squad organized by Blanche?

Not very likely; Blanche didn't have such great pulling power, did she?

The battle broke out in an instant.

Everyone recovered from their bewilderment and focused on the Martial Arts Tournament.

Everyone had heard the rumors about Luoning taking on ten people over the past few days.

They also wanted to see what kind of strength this young Knight from the long-silent Wushan Family truly possessed.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The two Knights began to accelerate toward each other, their speed so fast they caused a friction sound against the air.

They did not use Battle Qi for the first move, engaging only in close-quarters combat.

In the stands, Blanche's heart rose to her throat; she clenched her small hands and watched without daring to blink even once.

Clang!

The longswords collided, erupting with a sharp, violent metallic ringing sound.

During the first exchange, the Knight named Yar was sent flying by the immense impact force and slammed heavily onto the ground; the longsword in his hand also flew out of his grip and landed in the distance.

This was a crushing victory.

Tangmu and Dawei watched with boiling blood, shouting wildly.

Seeing such a scene, the other spectators were no longer stingy and gave their cheers.

Yar stood up unsteadily, picked up his longsword, and said, "You win!"

Although he could still fight, there was no need to.

The gap in strength was too great; continuing to fight up there would only result in him being humiliated and potentially suffering a serious injury.

Rather than that, it was better to gracefully admit defeat; after all, being defeated in the Martial Arts Tournament was not a shameful thing.

Next, Luoning went onto the stage a few more times, but he basically won within five moves each time, including against Fakunduo from Screaming Island.

Although the opponent was Bronze-level and stronger than the other few opponents, in front of Luoning, he lost his confidence before the battle even began, and his defeat was very smooth.

Besides Luoning, there were also a few people who kept winning.

Among them were Mixi, as well as the previously introduced Knight Kalada, who was of common origin.

As for Lisi, his strength was not bad, but his luck was not very good; he was matched against Kalada, and after a battle, he was slightly injured and conceded defeat, leaving the stage.

The Martial Arts Tournament continued, but there were fewer and fewer Knights who could take the stage.

By around the afternoon, only four people were left who could take the stage—

Ronin Wushan, Mixi Kaokesi, Falanzi Silva, and Kalada.

The top three would be born from among these four people. (End of chapter)