Chapter 638 - 264 Beauties of the Capital (Part 1)
A gentle breeze wafted by, and the delicate fragrance of the lotus blossoms suffused the air, tantalizing the noses of all present.
Guan Qiong grew impatient and declared, "If you can’t beat Sister Qinglian, then just concede defeat. It’ll save you the embarrassment."
Yueyao glanced at Mingzhu and sighed softly. If she refused, the one who would truly be embarrassed was Mingzhu. The words had come from Mingzhu herself, but Yueyao had publicly denied them at Mingzhu’s birthday party, which would be the same as slapping Mingzhu in the face in front of everyone. If she didn’t accept Mu Qinglian’s challenge, Mingzhu would become the laughing stock of the young ladies in the Capital City.
Mu Qinglian was furious to death, this fool! With those words spoken, even if Lian Yueyao had no desire to compete, now she would be compelled to. Mu Qinglian was no fool; Luo Mingzhu had changed too much within a year, and a detailed analysis would reveal that these changes all originated from Lian Yueyao. Therefore, it stood to reason that Lian Yueyao did indeed possess real talent.
Yueyao smiled at Mu Qinglian and said, "Since Miss Mu has this interest, naturally, I will keep you company." In her past life, she had been completely exploited by Mu Qinglian, and now, in this life, she had to confront Mu Qinglian for Mingzhu’s sake. Yueyao didn’t know if Mingzhu was worth doing this for. But she knew that even if she broke off her friendship with Mingzhu, she should still help Mingzhu through this situation.
Princess Wanhe clapped her hands in approval and said to everyone, "Let’s be the judges today, what do you say?"
Yueyao was very surprised. How had Mu Qinglian managed to offend the Princess Wanhe so grievously? This shouldn’t be! Wasn’t Mu Qinglian always popular with people? Strange.
What Yueyao didn’t understand was that, while Mu Qinglian, with her renowned talents and her gentle and understanding nature, was very appealing to men, she inadvertently garnered the dislike of women.
Since things had reached this point, Mu Qinglian naturally wouldn’t lose her nerve. She had always felt a certain reluctance to accept her status; all her fame had come through hard work. If Lian Yueyao did have talent, by what right should she be demeaned by a few words from Luo Mingzhu? To use her as a stepping stone, one had to see if they were worthy.
Mu Qinglian asked softly, "Miss Lian, since you are younger than I, you should propose the subject,"—thereby demonstrating her magnanimity. It was common for the challenger to choose a topic of their own proficiency.
An Ning interrupted the conversation and exclaimed, "There happens to be a pool of lotus flowers right here. Why not use the immediate scenery and paint this pond of lotus flowers? What do you think?"
Mu Qinglian’s heart leapt with joy; painting lotus flowers was her strongest suit. She believed that, as long as it was painting lotus flowers, Yueyao would definitely not be her match, and suggested, "If Sister Yueyao doesn’t mind, I have no objections."