Feng Linyuan gave a faint smile. "The last time I heard a tune of this level, I paid ten taels of silver. I'm really grateful to Miss Bai the Second for letting me enjoy it for free today."
"Cough! Cough!"
Hearing this, Bai Zheng tried hard not to laugh and choked on her tea.
Bai Di's face turned green in an instant.
"What do you mean!" Feng Jingyang was the first to roar. "How dare you compare Di'er to those entertainers in the music houses? Di'er is the daughter of the general's mansion!"
"Your Highness the Fourth is right. If Miss Bai the Second wants to charge for her performance, I'm willing to pay twenty taels. This shows that in my heart, Miss Bai the Second is more precious than those entertainers in the music houses."
"Feng... Lin... Yuan!"
Feng Jingxuan's face had turned extremely ugly.
Tears welled up in Bai Di's eyes like pools of water. On the verge of crying, she said, "I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere while the young masters were taking a break. My younger sister doesn't know how to play the musical instrument, so as her elder sister, I did it for her. I never thought that in the eyes of the marquis, I would be regarded as an unseemly entertainer..."
Bai Zheng lowered her head, hiding the sneer on her lips.
Zheng Yan had already had an unpleasant encounter with Feng Linyuan before. Now seeing Bai Di looking so aggrieved, she immediately roared, "If Miss Bai the Second hadn't been so considerate to relieve Miss Bai the Third's embarrassment, it should have been Miss Bai the Third who played the piano just now. Does the Marquis of Dingyuan only appreciate Miss Bai the Third who can't play the piano, and look down on Miss Bai the Second who is so talented in music?"
Feng Linyuan curled his lips. "What I fancy about Miss Bai the Third has never been her musical skills."
"Yes, what the Marquis of Dingyuan fancies is Miss Bai the Third's birth date! No matter whether Miss Bai the Third is talentless, immoral and good-for-nothing, as long as she has this lucky birth date, the Marquis of Dingyuan wants to marry her home and worship her!"
Bai Yinan and Mrs. Lin couldn't help frowning. Especially Bai Yinan, who was protective of his children, immediately said, "Although my daughter doesn't have Di'er's outstanding talent, she is not talentless, immoral and good-for-nothing. Miss Zheng, please watch your words."
Feng Jingye was happy to watch the show. Now seeing Zheng Yan once again speaking without thinking and turning the fire on Bai Zheng, he also said, "Miss Bai the Third doesn't need Miss Zheng's concern. Miss Zheng should take care of herself first."
Seeing that Zheng Yan had offended everyone again, the Marquis of Gaochang broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly said before Zheng Yan could speak, "Miss Bai the Third is gentle and low-key, while Miss Bai the Second is outstanding in talent and skills. Both ladies have their own charm and are rare and wonderful women in the world."
"Yes, different people have different preferences. Yan'er, you're still young. If you don't understand these things, don't talk nonsense. Hurry up and shut up." Princess Pingyang also said.
Zheng Yan opened her mouth, but was glared at by Princess Pingyang. She had no choice but to snort and turn her head away.
Seeing that things had turned out like this, those who had praised Bai Di just now all fell silent, with different expressions on their faces.
A look of shame and anger flashed in Bai Di's eyes. She looked around and found that no one was speaking for her. She bit her lips tightly and glanced at Su Muxiao imperceptibly.
Su Muxiao understood and said leisurely, "Di'er, don't be sad. After all, it's your own fault that you were born at the wrong time. You don't have such a lucky birth date as hers. Naturally, everything you do is wrong."
Hearing this, Bai Di looked at Bai Zheng embarrassedly, then lowered her head and slowly walked back to her seat.
"You! You only know how to study poetry and play the piano obediently on weekdays. You don't even know how to learn from others how to be charming!" Seeing that Bai Zheng was unperturbed and ignoring her, Su Muxiao said in a sarcastic tone.
As soon as these words were spoken, Bai Yinan was so angry that his beard almost flew up. Bai Zheng gave a faint smile and then said, "Cousin should know that the Marquis of Dingyuan is deeply in love with me. In this world, once a man falls in love with a woman, he will only have eyes for her and won't tolerate other women. With such a passionate and loyal man pursuing me, I'm sure that Sister Di should be happy for me. She shouldn't blame the marquis, right?"
Bai Di bit her lips until they were bright red. There was a hint of blood in her eyes. She looked at Bai Zheng for a long time and then slowly nodded. "Naturally, I won't."
"Sister Di, don't take it to heart. The marquis is just infatuated with me, so he behaves like this. When it's Sister Di's turn for the matchmaking banquet, it might be me who will be bullied. By then, the man who likes Sister Di will not only bully me for her, but might even kill me without blinking an eye!"
A glint of light flashed in Feng Jingxuan's eyes. He looked at Bai Zheng sharply.
Bai Di's face changed slightly. She took a deep breath and forced a smile. "How could that be? I love you so much. How could I allow them to bully you?"
A cute smile appeared on Bai Zheng's lips. "I knew that Sister Di loves me the most."
Bai Di nodded stiffly and said no more.
The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.
The Marquis of Gaochang and Princess Pingyang glanced at each other and said awkwardly with a smile, "The two Miss Bais are really affectionate sisters. It's really enviable."
As if to cover up the previous embarrassment, everyone quickly echoed, "Yes, yes. Both ladies are so sensible. It's really a blessing for the Bai family."
"The old general and the old madam have really good family education!"
"Brotherly and sisterly love is nothing more than this. The deeds of the two ladies are really admirable."
When everyone's praises had run out of new words and they were just repeating the same few sentences over and over again, the Marquis of Gaochang finally raised his right hand to signal everyone to be quiet.
"Thanks to Miss Bai the Second's wonderful music, the young masters should have had enough rest. How about we continue with the next competition?"
After this incident, everyone had come to their senses from their admiration for Bai Di. In order to make up for the impression they had lost in front of Bai Zheng when they praised Bai Di just now, almost everyone jumped up at this moment and rushed to show off their skills.
Bai Zheng raised her eyebrows, picked up a bright yellow orange on the table, peeled it and watched the show.
If the previous competition was as intense as a martial arts convention, then the current competition was like a circus. After witnessing Feng Linyuan's one - move victory just now, these young masters had learned their lesson and completely changed their way of fighting. They showed off all their skills.
Some imitated Song Yiqing, posing a few stylish moves and then doing a few somersaults. Some were like they were set in slow - motion, poking at their opponents tremblingly and then running away carefully. Some even seemed to have discussed it in advance and performed a set of swordplay together. Their movements were smooth and their postures were extremely elegant. If you ignored their winking expressions, it was quite pleasing to the eye.
However, no one was willing to be defeated by their opponents in just half a move like Song Yiqing.
It seems that the young masters of the Great Zhou Dynasty still lack a sense of teamwork, Bai Zheng thought to herself and stuffed a piece of orange into her mouth. Suddenly, she found that Feng Linyuan was looking at her with great interest, so she smiled at him with an orange in her mouth.
The sword - fighting competition started with tension and ended in a farce.
"The first place in the sword - fighting competition is the Marquis of Dingyuan, the second place is Young Master Zhou from the Ministry of War, and the third place..." The Marquis of Gaochang announced the results loudly.
Feng Jingyi didn't participate in the competition because no one challenged him this time, so he lost his score in the end. But he didn't care at all. He just raised his wine cup to Feng Linyuan with a smile. "Congratulations, Marquis of Dingyuan."
Feng Linyuan smiled slightly. "Thank you."
In the following competitions, no matter how the rankings of the others changed, Feng Linyuan always firmly held the first place in an indescribable way.