The events unfolded too suddenly. Before anyone could react, Lan Qingqing, still kneeling on the ground, instinctively struck out. Not only did she evade Gu Qianying's attack, but she also retaliated with a palm strike.
A slender hairpin grazed Lan Qingqing's shoulder, tearing her clothes and revealing tender skin. The mark from the palm strike was still visible there.
After being pushed back several steps by Lan Qingqing, Gu Qianying lunged at her again, hairpin in hand.
Seeing Gu Qianying's intent to kill her, Lan Qingqing didn't hesitate. She casually picked up a dagger that had fallen to the ground and thrust it towards Gu Qianying.
Gu Qianying quickly dodged Lan Qingqing's dagger and simultaneously dropped her own hairpin.
Then, she turned to face the crowd and the supervising elder. "Everyone saw, this Miss Lan is quite skilled and not a woman without the strength to even hold a chicken. Of course, these things alone may not prove anything. However, the wound on her shoulder was inflicted by me last night. Besides that, the dagger in her hand and the long sword she used to assassinate me last night are both weapons.
If I recall correctly, weapons are not allowed for participants in the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall. Setting aside whether Miss Lan attempted to assassinate me, isn't carrying weapons a violation of one of the many rules here?"
Gu Qianying then looked at the supervising elder standing before her. "How are those who break the rules punished?"
"Naturally, their participation is disqualified, and they are expelled."
"Oh, in that case, please have the supervising elder enforce the rules."
Gu Qianying settled for the next best thing, using the century-old rules to have the supervising elder punish Lan Qingqing. She would find a way to deal with the rest later.
"Gu Qianying, you are slandering me! This dagger is not mine, it's yours, and I didn't carry any weapons like a sword. Supervising elder, please uphold justice for Qing'er. Miss Gu is falsely accusing Qing'er!"
Lan Qingqing defended herself, adamantly denying carrying any weapons.
Instead, she accused Gu Qianying of secretly carrying weapons.
For the sake of fairness and to avoid wrongly accusing an innocent person, the supervising elder reported the matter to the head of the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall.
After deliberation with the supervising elders, the Hall Master unanimously decided that to clarify the matter, a matron should be sent to search all participants to prove their innocence.
Furthermore, they needed to ascertain the truth of the accusations made by Gu Qianying and Lan Qingqing.
If such an incident had truly occurred, where someone would cruelly poison another solely for the sake of winning first place, they would not tolerate such a ruthless and malicious individual. They would act on behalf of heaven, stripping this person of their title as a doctor and prohibiting them from practicing medicine for life.
Any doctor rejected by the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall would likely become a pariah, pointed at wherever they went.
After the search by the matrons, they thoroughly searched the beds where each participant slept.
However, strangely, the weapon mentioned by Gu Qianying – the long sword – was not found on Lan Qingqing's bed. No other participants were found to be hiding any weapons either.
Moreover, Lan Qingqing had fiercely counter-accused Gu Qianying several times.
The crowd unanimously believed that Gu Qianying had deliberately framed Lan Qingqing because Lan Qingqing was the only young lady residing in the Ninth Prince's mansion.
After all, it was rumored outside that the eldest daughter of the Gu family was the future Ninth Princess Consort, soon to marry into the Ninth Prince's mansion.
With such a status, it was natural for her to dislike a particular young lady living in the Ninth Prince's mansion.
The crowd, seeing the pitiable Lan Qingqing crying and defending herself, and her innocent and harmless appearance, naturally disliked Gu Qianying even more.
Nangong Xuanning watched as the crowd gossiped about Gu Qianying, wishing to brand her as a wicked woman. For some reason, she felt a sense of urgency, worrying for Gu Qianying without realizing it herself.
Beside her, Zi Jin and Zi Yin were even more anxious. After exchanging glances, they both declared that if anyone dared to lay a finger on the eldest daughter of the Gu family, they would escort her out by force.
Just as everyone, including the supervising elders and the Hall Master who had come to handle the matter, unanimously believed Lan Qingqing's account and deemed Gu Qianying's to be false, requiring due punishment.
Gu Qianying slowly walked towards Lan Qingqing. Before anyone could react to what she was about to do.
Suddenly, she delivered a punch.
Ignoring Lan Qingqing's shocked expression, which prevented her from even covering her face, Gu Qianying grabbed Lan Qingqing's arm, executed a shoulder throw, and slammed her to the ground. She then sat on top of Lan Qingqing, her legs clamped around Lan Qingqing's waist.
"Slap, slap!" A few slaps followed.
Gu Qianying felt her mood instantly improve.
Lan Qingqing was stunned by Gu Qianying's assault and forgot to even cry for help.
At this moment, everyone was dumbfounded.
They had never witnessed such rough and fierce behavior before.
Hiss!
Lan Qingqing's clothes were torn.
Something was revealed at her waist.
Gu Qianying raised her hand and yanked forcefully.
The glint of a sword flashed.
A long, slender sword was now in Gu Qianying's hand.
She released Lan Qingqing, stood up, and handed the slender sword to the Hall Master, saying, "The place she hid the weapon was indeed very unusual and difficult to find. Furthermore, the material used for this sword is soft iron, making it a flexible sword that can be hidden anywhere on one's person."
"Someone, bring the assessment form. I will disqualify Lan Qingqing from the remaining assessment here and have her expelled."
The Hall Master, with a dark expression, announced the immediate resolution of the matter.
Lan Qingqing's face changed. "Hall Master, Qing'er did not mean to. Please, Hall Master, give Qing'er another chance."
"Someone, escort this person out."
The Hall Master acted decisively and justly, completely disregarding Lan Qingqing's pleas.
As Lan Qingqing was led away by two young attendants, she glared at Gu Qianying with hatred. If not for Gu Qianying, how could she have suffered such humiliation!
Thus, the news spread that the mysterious young lady residing in the Ninth Prince's mansion, Miss Lan, Lan Qingqing, had her qualification for the entrance assessment at the Poisonous Doctor's Sacred Hall revoked and was expelled for cheating.
At that moment, the way everyone looked at Lan Qingqing changed instantly, filled with mockery, ridicule, and disdain.
Lan Qingqing felt immensely humiliated, like a clown being gawked at.
As she passed by Gu Qianying, she spat fiercely, "You wait. I will not let this go so easily. One day, I will return this humiliation to you a thousandfold!"
"Good, I'll wait. I'll wait to see you eat back every bit of the filth you just spat out!"
Gu Qianying met Lan Qingqing's gaze, unfazed by the provocation in her eyes.