At this moment, Wang Zhilan looked down at Nian Jiaojiao and felt her "beast blood boil." Her legs trembled with excitement. As the shaking intensified, the table before her was also moved.
The sound of cups and plates colliding attracted the attention of nearby people.
Seeing her daughter like this, Deputy City Lord Wang knew she had fallen into her "old habit" again.
Her words carried a warning: "Zhilan, if you feel unwell, go back and rest. If you disturb our esteemed guest, it will be… not good!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhilan seemed to restrain herself slightly, but a "beast" seemed to roar within her heart.
Nian Jiaojiao naturally sensed the burning gaze from across the way. She felt extreme disgust but showed no displeasure on her face, as if completely unaware of Wang Zhilan's intentions.
Deputy City Lord Wang knew that Nian Jiaojiao was a newly promoted Tong Sheng, new to Fengcheng, and assumed the other party was unaware of her daughter's "notorious reputation."
"Tong Sheng Nian, do you perhaps have a masterpiece from earlier?"
Nian Jiaojiao bowed to the other party and said, "City Lord Wang, I had a flash of inspiration, but it's only the first half."
"Oh, recite it for us to hear," City Lord Wang's spirits lifted, filled with anticipation.
Nian Jiaojiao did not recognize many of the flowers of the Great Moon. Through the "flower appreciation poems" by the scholars just now, Nian Jiaojiao recognized several types of flowers, which were no different from their names in her previous life.
Thus, she walked to a peach tree and said, "Last year today, within this gate, faces and peach blossoms mirrored each other in red."
As everyone waited for Nian Jiaojiao to continue, she stopped and looked at Deputy City Lord Wang with an "innocent" expression.
Deputy City Lord Wang, for the first time, extended her short, thick neck and hurriedly asked, "What comes next?"
Nian Jiaojiao replied innocently, "Replying to the City Lord, that's all…"
"That's all?"
Deputy City Lord Wang's expression was like she was constipated. She had a feeling that if this poem were completed, it would surely be better than any poem she had ever heard.
At this moment, a guest minister in the Wang mansion suddenly spoke, "The first half of this poem speaks of meeting one's beloved under the peach blossoms last spring, and still remembering their face, as radiant as blooming peach flowers… Tong Sheng Nian, you've written a love poem."
Nian Jiaojiao did not reply. Below, discussions broke out, divided into two opposing camps. The men all considered Nian Jiaojiao a "charming" and "considerate" woman. The women, however, scoffed at Nian Jiaojiao. Deputy City Lord Wang had asked them to compose poems to present to the prefect, how could she write such an improper "love poem"? It seemed her creation of that exquisite poem at the Moon Festival poetry gathering was just a fluke.
After hearing the guest minister's words, Deputy City Lord Wang's interest in Nian Jiaojiao plummeted. In the end, the other party was just a Tong Sheng, yet she had harbored such high expectations for her. She shook her head in her heart. It seemed… she had been too hasty…
Nian Jiaojiao calmly returned to her seat. "Others laugh at my madness, I laugh at their inability to see through it." The poem she had recited earlier was from Cui Hu's "Title of a Zhuang in the South of the Capital" from the Tang Dynasty. Furthermore, the latter half: "Where has the face gone, peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze," was the soul of the poem. This line fully expressed the lingering melancholy of having missed one's beloved, evoking eternal resonance. Nian Jiaojiao surmised that no one present could reproduce the latter half, hence she offered the first half of the poem.
After the banquet concluded, Nian Jiaojiao was about to leave. "Tong Sheng Nian, please wait!" Nian Jiaojiao had a bad premonition. As expected, a young servant came chasing after her, panting. Nian Jiaojiao pretended not to see, quickened her pace, and vanished around a corner in a flash. The servant failed to catch up and returned to report with a deathly pale face. What he didn't know was that after he turned, Nian Jiaojiao, avoiding everyone's sight, secretly followed him. With the lesson of Tong Xiaoye, Nian Jiaojiao fully understood the meaning of "nipping a problem in the bud." Even if she escaped this time, how could Wang Zhilan leave her alone? Her four husbands had just settled in Fengcheng, and she would not bring them any trouble.
…
Inside the room.
Everything that met the eye was opulent. Wang Zhilan, at this moment, was clad in revealing attire, sitting carelessly on a bed large enough for ten people. Hearing movement at the door, she excitedly pulled aside the peach-colored silk curtain hanging in front of her: "Hurry in!" However, the next moment, when she saw the servant enter alone, her face immediately darkened: "What happened? Where is she!" The servant hastily knelt, kowtowed several times, and begged for mercy, "My lady, she, I failed to bring her, please forgive me!" Upon hearing this, Wang Zhilan furiously tore down the curtain in front of her and threw it at the servant: "What use do I have for you, a good-for-nothing, if you can't even bring people? Why don't you just hang yourself with this curtain!" The servant's kowtowing grew louder: "My lady, spare me! My lady, spare me!" Wang Zhilan violently kicked the servant, sending him flying into a corner. The servant curled up, enduring the pain without daring to move. Hmph! Men are so dull! Thinking this, Wang Zhilan lost interest in further punishing him and said to him, "Get out of here quickly!" Hearing this, the servant quickly got up and ran out without a moment's delay. "Wait!" Wang Zhilan suddenly spoke. "Go, go bring that woman who just joined the mansion over! Remember to call more people! That woman is quite wild!" The servant nodded in agreement and quickly left. Alone in the room, Wang Zhilan cursed, "Damn it all, everything is going wrong today. I must find that woman to vent my anger!" "And that Tong Sheng named Nian Jiaojiao, I've played with so many women, yet none can compare to her. I swear to have her!" "Hmph! When I get her, I'll have seven days, no, seven consecutive…" Nian Jiaojiao, who was eavesdropping by the window, could no longer bear the unspeakable words. She was now contemplating how to "cut the weeds and eliminate the roots." If it were a man, it would be easier to handle… But a woman… She couldn't just fill her with cement, could she? Just as Nian Jiaojiao was in a dilemma, several servants had already brought that woman over. Nian Jiaojiao peeked through the gap. Wasn't this the "unlucky one" caught at the teahouse last time? The woman had an iron collar around her neck, with a chain about two meters long attached to the front. Wang Zhilan held the end of the chain and pulled hard, causing the woman to fall painfully before her. Wang Zhilan then used her toe to lift the woman's chin and uttered one word: "Lick!" Nian Jiaojiao: !!! That woman, however, had some backbone and turned her head away, as if silently resisting. Seeing this, Wang Zhilan laughed in anger: "Hahaha! Good, good, very good. Today, we'll have some fun!"