"Your eyes are sick, your whole family is sick!"
Lu Yiyi crossed her hips and cursed the other person fiercely. This person was simply incomprehensible. Did she really think her senior sister was the most beautiful person in the world?
"Beauty sister is a hundred, a thousand times more beautiful than your senior sister… If you haven't seen the world, read more books. The world is vast, not just this small corner."
"You're spouting nonsense, who are you calling uncultured!"
"It's you, it's you, it's you!"
"You…"
"Alright, Yuyao!"
Dai Zhiqian held back Huang Yuyao, who was about to make a move. Although their Yunyi Hall was skilled in medicine, their martial arts were mediocre. Their sect leader was merely a first-class expert, let alone disciples like them. With the martial arts convention approaching, one never knew what hidden masters were among the crowd. It was not advisable to cause trouble at such a time.
Dai Zhiqian stood up and apologized to Lu Yi, "My junior sister is ignorant. I hope this young lady will not take offense. It's just about appearance, mere skin deep. In a thousand people's eyes, there are a thousand kinds of beauty and ugliness. There's no need to hurt each other's harmony over this matter."
"You are beautiful and speak nicely, so I won't pursue it. However, there's one thing I don't agree with. Although one should not be fixated on appearance, if one is born exceptionally beautiful, one should not be confined by it. Although you keep saying 'a thousand people, a thousand faces,' in the end, you still think I have no taste, rather than admitting that you yourself are not as attractive as others."
Lu Yiyi's words were blunt, but such directness could easily provoke embarrassment and anger.
The smile on Dai Zhiqian's face faded slightly, while Huang Yuyao's eyes widened with fury. There was no one more beautiful than her senior sister in this world. Was this girl implying that her senior sister was narrow-minded or arrogant?
"What do you mean by that? Heh, hey, girl over there, since you're so beautiful, dare you turn around and compete with my senior sister?"
Huang Yuyao believed that facts spoke louder than words; who was more beautiful was for everyone to judge.
Old Du chuckled, his gaze towards Nan Shiying filled with amusement, as if to say: See, you insisted on changing back to female attire.
Xuan Yi picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea, using it to mask the slight curve of his lips.
'Impossible! How can someone in this world dare to compare beauty with the Princess Consort? It's simply laughable!'
Nan Shiying pressed her brow, a flicker of impatience in her eyes.
Seeing that she did not turn around for a long time, Huang Yuyao sneered, "Heh, girl, could it be that you're afraid to turn around, afraid that…"
"Enough, Yuyao!"
Dai Zhiqian interrupted Huang Yuyao again.
"Senior Sister!"
Huang Yuyao stomped her foot hatefully, "Are you just going to let them bully you like this?"
Lu Yiyi couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't understand why, as fellow individuals of the martial world, they weren't competing in skill but in looks. What, for women, was it only about comparing faces and figures? Was there nothing else? Besides, who was bullying whom!
"Bully? Are you kidding me? You've been causing trouble from the very beginning, haven't you? Since you say 'a thousand people, a thousand faces,' what business is it of yours if I call someone 'Beauty Sister'? Why is there someone like you who is so hypocritical? You want to control what others say, and you want to control what others do. Just because someone has a different opinion than you, you refuse to let it go. You say all the good and bad things, and now you claim to be the one being bullied? It's truly unreasonable."
"And you, sister, if you truly feel your junior sister is in the wrong, then discipline her properly. You only stopped her after she said everything. Although I like beautiful people, I'm not a fool. You're using your junior sister as a pawn, treating her like an idiot, but you shouldn't treat everyone like an idiot. You might have gained many advantages and praise because of your face, but it's not your weapon. Enough said. I hope you will return to your true self and not get lost in the praise and admiration."
Nan Shiying turned her head slightly. From this angle, only the young girl's profile could be seen. In this world, women, especially noble ladies confined to their homes, had limited spaces to reside. Even if they could study, they were ultimately confined to the inner courtyard to raise their children and serve their husbands.
Society demanded women to be virtuous, gentle, and agreeable, framing them within strict doctrines. Any deviation was considered rebellious. The reason women clung to the men around them was simply because they could not venture out; they could not see the vast, boundless grasslands; they could not feel the biting wind of the northern frontier snow; they could not climb the majestic, towering mountains.
Their thoughts, aspirations, and the rights they could secure were all tied to their husbands' livelihoods. Therefore, they exhausted all means to gain love, to obtain the meager and shallow affection that trickled from men's fingers. What they truly sought was power and status, granted as a result of their husband's favor.
The noble ladies of the capital, at this moment, paled in comparison to the heroines of the jianghu.
"You have an opinion of me, so what you see is merely your subjective imagination. I apologize again for my junior sister's rashness, and I also advise you not to be so self-important."
Dai Zhiqian's voice was veiled with hidden sharpness, a hint of annoyance coloring her face, perhaps from her thoughts being exposed or from being misunderstood.
"Qi Xianzi of Yunyi Hall."
A clear, cool voice brushed past like a gentle breeze. Dai Zhiqian looked towards the figure that had not turned around all this time.
"Does the young lady have any guidance for me?"
"I dare not!"
Nan Shiying turned her head and looked at Dai Zhiqian.
"I just hope you truly understand the words 'appearance is just an external thing,' and not just shallowly on the lips, but from the heart." If Dai Zhiqian was the bright moon in the sky, distant and unattainable, then Nan Shiying was the brilliant sun hanging high in the sky, radiant and dazzling, blinding the eyes. One could not look directly at it, dare not look. Only by being scorched by the sun's rays, with its brilliance reflected in the water's surface, could one catch a glimpse. Yet, even that was enough to shake the heart.
Huang Yuyao's准备的嘲讽话语尽数哽在了喉中。她原以为这世上，上天入地，唯师姐一人可称倾国倾城，她根本就没有想过，这世上竟有人能美到让人失语。
与她相比，师姐便如尘埃，美与不美，对尘埃而言又有何意义？
黛芷柒垂在身侧的手微微攥拳，所以刚才众人的注视并非是因为自己，而是为了那时站在自己面前的她？
在她及笄之后，便无一人能盖住她的光彩，这么多年来，黛芷柒已经习惯了被人注视，被人赞叹，习惯了自己站在哪里哪里便是人群中央，如今忽然冒出来一个比她还要美艳的女子，黛芷柒一时说不出自己的内心感受——大概是我站在山巅，接受世人的顶礼膜拜，却在转头之间，瞧见了立于更高山峰上的身影。
那身影光芒万丈，照出我藏匿起来的不能被世人窥探到的阴暗角落。