Chapter 204 Coming out on top
As soon as the host finished speaking, the people in the audience began racking their brains to think of poems.
Everyone wants to go up and give it a try. If they win first place, getting a free meal is not the most important thing. The key is to be able to show their faces in front of everyone in Beijing and win a good reputation.
Half an incense stick of time passed, and Zhao Yanran had already prepared a poem in her mind, but she just sat in her seat and couldn't hold back.
It’s not that she didn’t want to go up, but she didn’t want to appear too anxious.
After an incense stick of time had passed, some people had already come up to the stage and started writing their own poems.
The Ninth Princess couldn't help but ask anxiously, "Yanran, you are the best at writing poems among the three of us. Have you come up with a poem? Whether our table can get a free meal depends entirely on you."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also looked at Zhao Yanran expectantly.
Zhao Yanran smiled confidently, "Princess, Your Highness, I have already thought of a poem. I will write it right away."
The Ninth Princess smiled and said, "That's great, Yanran, I knew you wouldn't let us down. Go up and write it."
"Well, Princess, Yanran will go right away."
Zhao Yanran stood up and prepared to walk onto the stage. She could obviously walk directly from her table to the stage, but she deliberately went around to the Young Master's table before walking onto the stage.
When she passed by Teng Yu's table, she stole a glance at the prince.
Seeing the prince's exquisite and cold face, Zhao Yanran couldn't help but feel her heart beating faster.
The prince almost never participated in activities such as poetry gatherings, so she had no chance to perform in front of him.
It was a rare occasion that the prince was present today, so she must get first place so that the prince would look at her with new eyes.
Princess Ningjia saw all of Zhao Yanran's sneak glances at the prince, and she felt very unhappy, "This white lotus is so shameless that she actually sneaked a glance at Brother Yu."
Seeing Zhao Yanran go up on stage to compose a poem, she ordered Qian Yuying, "Qian Yuying, this princess orders you to quickly compose a good poem. You can't let that bitch Zhao Yanran steal the limelight today no matter what."
Qian Yuying had actually composed a poem in her mind. She had originally planned to wait for the princess to go on stage first before going up herself.
Unexpectedly, the princess didn't move at all, as if she couldn't compose poetry at all.
Qian Yuying couldn't help but feel secretly anxious. It was so hard for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to be here today, and she wanted to get first place so that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would notice her.
But the princess hadn't gone up yet, and she couldn't leave her alone to write poetry. If the princess thought she was too eager to steal the limelight and became displeased with her, then all her efforts in establishing this connection would be in vain.
Just when she didn't know what to do, the princess suddenly asked her to go on stage. She quickly said, "Princess, don't worry. Yuying will definitely do her best today."
Having said that, Qian Yuying hurried onto the stage.
The Ninth Princess also came up with a poem. She happily said to the Crown Prince, "Brother, I have also come up with a good poem about tea. Brother, do you want to join me in writing a poem?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, "Royal sister, I am not interested in this kind of activity. You and Yanran can just go up and write."
When the two incense sticks were up, the host took all the poems in his hands and said to the audience,
"I have more than 20 poems in my hand. I will read them one by one. After I finish reading a poem, if you think it is good, please raise your right hand to vote. If you think it is not good, you don't have to raise your hand. The poet himself can also raise his hand to vote for himself."
The first poem goes, "Sitting and drinking cold water, watching the tea brewing in the dust. I have no reason to hold a bowl, so I send it to the tea lover."
"Next, please vote for this poem."
The Ninth Princess quickly raised her right hand and said mischievously to the Crown Prince and Zhao Yanran, "Brother, Yanran, this is the poem I wrote, raise your hand quickly."
The prince and Zhao Yanran quickly raised their right hands.
The prince also commented, "Well, not bad, my sister, your poetry writing has improved."
When the Ninth Princess received the praise, a big smile immediately broke out on her face.
A small number of people in the audience also raised their hands to vote for the princess. The waiter counted the votes and reported them to the host.
The host read aloud, "This poem signed by Miss Shiyao received a total of 58 votes."
"The second poem is: I don't have a cup of wine, I just brew two bowls of tea. You must know that the noble intention is different, and I use this to describe the plum blossoms."
"This poem was written by a friend named Chu Lan'er, and it received 66 votes."
Chu Yichen and Du Shaoqing had no interest in writing poems, but Chu Lan'er wrote one for fun.
Although she only got 66 votes, Chu Lan'er was still quite satisfied with her result.
After the host finishes reading a poem, the votes will be counted.
When he read the twentieth poem, "A boat reaches the end of the world, spring brings the plum blossoms to the south of the Yangtze River. Don't say there is no wine to talk about when we say goodbye, I will light candles and brew tea with you at night."
The crowd in the audience suddenly became agitated, "What a good poem! What a good poem! We must vote on this one."
Seeing that the number of people raising their hands was much higher than when she read other poems before, Zhao Yanran felt proud.
The prince looked at Zhao Yanran and asked, "Yanran, this poem should be written by you."
Zhao Yanran nodded shyly, and the Ninth Princess immediately raised her right hand, "Brother, raise your hand quickly, we must support Sister Yanran."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also quickly raised his right hand.
Princess Ningjia looked at Qian Yuying and asked, "Did you write this song?"
Qian Yuying shook her head, "Princess, this is not written by me. I haven't read what I wrote yet."
Princess Ning Jia immediately said unhappily, "It must be the poem written by that bitch Zhao Yanran, so both of us should not raise our hands."
Qian Yuying nodded, "Yeah."
The host counted the votes and read aloud, "This poem written by Zhao Yanran received a good score of 148 votes, currently far ahead of the other poems."
"Yanran, you are amazing. You actually got 148 votes. You must be the first place today."
Although Zhao Yanran also thought so in her heart, after all, there were only about twenty people who went up to write poems, and only a few were left to be read. The first 19 poems did not even get half of her votes.
But she still said modestly, "Princess, there are still a few poems that have not been read. Maybe there will be better poems than mine."
"Yanran, the poems written by those people are definitely not as good as yours, brother, don't you think so?"
The Crown Prince looked at Zhao Yanran with admiration, and he also praised, "Yes, Yanran, don't be so modest, the first place today is definitely yours."
Zhao Yanran was praised by both of them and felt very happy.
Princess Ning Jia was feeling depressed, "Qian Yuying, are you sure that the poem you wrote can win over Zhao Yanran?"
Qian Yuying didn't dare to guarantee it, so she could only answer carefully, "Princess, Yuying really put a lot of effort into writing this poem. Yuying feels that her poem is no worse than Miss Zhao's, but whether she can win depends on whether the audience likes it."
At this time, the host began to read the next song. After Zhao Yanran, the following songs were poorly written and did not receive many votes.
It seemed that if nothing unexpected happened, Zhao Yanran would become the winner today, but sometimes accidents would happen even if nothing unexpected happened.
The host said, "The following is the last poem, Who remembers the cold west wind? The rustling yellow leaves close the sparse windows, and I stand in the setting sun, thinking about the past. Don't be surprised by the heavy spring sleep caused by wine, and the fragrance of tea is lost in gambling on books. At that time, I thought it was normal."
When the poem was read out, the audience couldn't help but cheer, "Oh my god, this poem is so poetic, it's so beautiful."
"Yeah, I don't know which talented person wrote this poem. I have to vote for him for this poem."
Qian Yuying quickly said to the princess, "Princess, I wrote this song."
Princess Ningjia said to all the servants, "Raise your hands quickly."
After the host counted the votes, he read out, "This poem written by Qian Yuying received a total of 152 votes."
Princess Ning Jia was overjoyed when she heard this, "Qian Yuying, you did a good job this time. This princess will remember your achievement."
Qian Yuying said quickly, "Thank you, Princess. But Yuying accidentally overpowered Miss Zhao today. If Miss Zhao is unhappy, what should I do if she comes back to trouble Yuying?"
"Her father is the prime minister, and your father is also a general. Their official positions are similar. Even if she causes trouble for you, there is no need for you to be so afraid of her."
"Princess, although my father's official rank is similar to that of the Prime Minister, Miss Zhao still has the support of her aunt, the Empress."
Princess Ningjia patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, even if she goes to complain, the Queen can't punish you for no reason. If she really makes trouble for you, come and tell me, and I will deal with her for you."
This is exactly what Qian Yuying wanted to hear. She quickly bowed and thanked him, "In that case, thank you very much, Princess."
When Zhao Yanran heard that Qian Yuying actually had a few more votes than her, her face suddenly changed.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince couldn't help but glance at Qian Yuying's table a few more times, "I didn't expect that the daughter of this great general is actually so talented. It's really impressive."
Zhao Yanran tried to calm herself down, and then pretended to be indifferent and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is right. This Miss Qian really made a big splash today."
Then she changed the subject and deliberately said, "It's just that when we held poetry gatherings before, I didn't see Miss Qian's poems being outstanding. But today she was able to write such beautiful lines. I guess she must have been hiding her talent before."
The Ninth Princess disliked these women being too complicated, so she immediately said dissatisfiedly, "Yanran, maybe she was lucky today and wrote a good poem. She may not be able to write it next time."
At this time, the host read out on the stage, "The winner of our Half-Day Qinghuan Garden Poetry Competition today is Miss Qian Yuying from the General's Mansion."
"Congratulations, Miss Qian Yuying. All tea consumed at the table you reserved today will be free. Let's give Miss Qian a round of applause."
Qian Yuying felt excited. She just saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince looking at her table. It seemed that she had successfully attracted His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's attention today.
As long as she works harder, there is still hope for her to become the Crown Princess.