Nan Xun quickly interfered to resolve the dispute when she saw that a fight was about to break out. She said, “Young master Zu, this request is rather difficult. How about we change it to something else?”
Zu An looked troubled and replied, “But what if we change it, but young master Yu still refuses to do it out of a bad mood?”
Yu Nan harrumphed. “Do you take me for a three-year-old child? I’ll do it as long as it’s not an unreasonable request!”
Zu An said with a smile, “But that’s what you just said earlier.”
Yu Nan choked. “You merely said what you said to try and eliminate me. That’s not something a noble man would do. Of course I wouldn’t choose to agree.”
If he really left and went home, that would spell the end of this competition over Nan Xun for him. Obtaining the courtesan was already secondary. Now, the most important thing was winning. If he could bring the beauty back, he would recover all the dignity he had lost because of Zu An. The only thing others would say about the event would be good things about him. If he lost, especially to Zu An and Bi Ziang, his reputation would be utterly crushed.
“Fine, then as a favor to Lady Nan Xun, I’ll change the dare. But this time, I have nothing left to say if you still refuse to do it,” Zu An said while asking Nan Xun to fetch a paper and pen. Nan Xun thought that he was going to write another poem. Her eyes lit up and she quickly brought them over.
Zu An wrote something on the paper with long strokes as Nan Xun watched from the side. She couldn’t help but sigh, thinking that even though he was good at writing poems, his handwriting wasn’t anything special. But as she saw what he was writing, her expression grew stranger and stranger. It was as if she were doing her best to hold herself back.
Yu Nan and Bi Ziang were both curious as to what Zu An had written. However, they both had sensitive statuses, so they couldn’t move over like Nan Xun. They both pretended to be calm.
“Alright. Young master Yu, please follow these instructions.” Zu An handed the paper over once he finished writing.
Yu Nan pretended to receive it calmly, but once he got it, he impatiently looked at the contents. His entire body began to shake. “You… You…”
You have successfully trolled Yu Nan for +666 +666 +666…
The instructions were for him to sit on Bi Xiang’s lap, and then say the following words:
“Hmph! It’s all your fault! You don’t care about me (??ˇ?ˇ??), I’m really going to cry, you know? I’m going to hit you, you bad guy!!! (￣^￣)ゞHmph! QAQ, I’m hitting your chest, take that! You’re so annoying (=?w?)? I want a hug~~~… I’m going to hit you with my little fists!!!(?? ︿???) I hate you, I’m going to hit you to death(つд?)!”
Bi Ziang moved over out of curiosity. Yu Nan’s expression changed and he quickly crumpled up the paper. Wouldn’t he die from embarrassment if Bi Ziang saw it?
Zu An remarked with an ambiguous smile, “Didn’t young master Yu make a solemn vow that you would definitely do it if you could? What’s wrong?”
Yu Nan’s expression changed several times. “How can I do something as absurd as this?!”
Zu An’s smile faded as he said, “I’m quite speechless. Would it still be called a dare if it were easy? We might as well just play house then. If young master Yu doesn’t want to participate, you can choose not to.”
Bi Ziang didn’t know what was going on, so he also chimed in and said, “You’re right. Even though brother Yu is normally a nobleman, why do you keep embarrassing yourself today?”
Yu Nan was so angry he almost erupted into curses. Why the hell are you helping him? You’d want to kill him too if you saw that he wanted me to sit on your lap! He shuddered when he imagined that nauseating scene.
“I’ll drink!” Yu Nan’s face was overcast. Even though he was about to pass out, he still chose to drink in the end. He felt his stomach churning after three more cups went down. He felt as if he were going to throw up at any time.
The game continued. After the previous lesson, no one chose a dare again.
After a few more rounds, however, Yu Nan finally couldn’t take it anymore. He had no choice but to choose a dare again.
Zu An picked up the crumpled paper that had been thrown aside with a big smile. It was the same prompt.
Yu Nan would definitely have refused if it had been earlier, but he really couldn’t keep drinking now. Furthermore, the alcohol was messing with his mind. He was so drunk that he didn’t have much rationality left. Bi Ziang was kicking him while he was down too, so he felt something surge within him. As such, he went for broke.
“I’ll just do it then! There is nothing that I, Yu Nan, don’t dare to do!” As such, he stood up and sat down on Bi Ziang’s lap under his shocked gaze. He hit his chest while saying, “Hmph! It’s all your fault! You don’t care about me (??ˇ?ˇ??), I’m really going to cry, you know? I’m going to hit you, you bad guy!!! (￣^￣)ゞHmph! QAQ, I’m hitting your chest, take that! You’re so annoying (=?w?)? I want a hug~~~… I’m going to hit you with my little fists!!!(?? ︿???) I hate you, I’m going to hit you to death(つд?)!”
Zu An carefully put away the recording stone he had prepared beforehand. At the same time, he was actually impressed. Does this Yu Nan really have such an orientation? This kind of tantrum throwing ‘aegyo’ really was performed too well.
Bi Ziang was stunned and speechless. How could he have expected such a thing to happen? It was to the extent that he didn’t even react at first.
Then, he finally realized what was going on and quickly pushed Yu Nan away. He wanted to curse the other party, but a wave of nausea filled him when he recalled how the two of them had been in each other’s arms a moment ago. He crawled off to the side and began to retch. Yu Nan found it even harder to hold himself back when he saw that. He rushed off to the side and began to vomit too.
With how close they were to each other, Bi Ziang could smell the vomit. He couldn’t hold himself back anymore and also threw up as the alcohol stirred inside of him.
Even though the mysterious woman on the other side couldn’t smell anything, she subconsciously fanned herself with her hand. The maid next to her said, “That Zu guy really is disgusting.”
The mysterious woman was curious and amused. She had never expected two of the capital’s most popular ladykillers to be in such a sorry state today.
…
Suddenly, there was a large ‘thud’. It turned out Yu Nan had drunk way too much. Due to how angry he was, there were too many emotions running through him. His body’s defense mechanisms made him faint.
Nan Xun quickly found some maids to bring Yu Nan away to get some rest. She also arranged for some women from the brothel to tend to him.
No one had expected someone to wash out this way! And yet, Bi Ziang couldn’t bring himself to feel happy at all. His expression was extremely strange as he looked at Zu An. He actually now felt a bit of regret… Now that Yu Nan had been eliminated, that meant he had to face Zu An alone! Who knew what kind of nefarious plots he would have to face?
They couldn’t keep playing the game now that one person was missing. Nan Xun ordered some people to wrap up the feast and clean up the mess.
If this had been Zu An’s previous world, it would be really hard for them to clean things up quickly. However, this was a world of cultivators, some of whom had the wind and water elements.. Everything was quickly tidied up.
Nan Xun said to Zu An and Bi Ziang, “Thank you, young masters, for your great kindness. Normally with my status, I would not have the right to evaluate you, but one girl cannot have two husbands, so I have no choice. I ask for your understanding.”
Bi Ziang said indifferently, “It’s no bother.”
Zu An pointed toward the window and said with a smile, “It would be best if we speed things up. Otherwise, if we use up this much time for each round, the sky will already brighten. Then, we won’t have the time to do anything anymore.”
Bi Ziang cursed Zu An inwardly for being vulgar, but he shared similar thoughts. Now that the selection process had gone on for so long, his patience was wearing thin too.
Nan Xun blushed and said, “It won’t be long. There will be a result soon.” She clapped her hands. A new maid came in with a flower basket. There were many beautiful flower petals in the basket.
Nan Xun received the flower basket and said gently, “In order to thank the two of you for your love, this humble one will dance for the two young masters. These flower petals will be scattered through the air during the process. Whomever states the correct amount of flower petals will win. If neither of you gets the answer correct, the one who is closest will win.
“Furthermore, in order to prevent the second person who speaks from using the first person’s answer to their advantage, if the answer is the same, the one who said it first will win. Do the two young masters have any objections?”
Bi Ziang said with a smile, “Lady Nan Xun’s test is truly elegant. I naturally have no objections.”
He now knew that the first test was about background and wealth, the second was about literary skills, and the third was about cultivation, which was naturally the most important. That was something he had great confidence in.
Zu An chuckled and said, “I don’t have any either.”
“That’s good. Young masters, please get ready.” After speaking, Nan Xun began to dance while carrying the basket.
They had witnessed her exceptional and stunning dancing before in the main hall. Now that they were watching her closely, they were able to appreciate her gentle and exquisite beauty even further. Her curves were elegant and lithe.
But Bi Ziang wasn’t in the mood to admire her body. Instead, he stared at the flower basket in her hands.
Sure enough, Nan Xun used a dance movement to raise the flower basket into the air. Flower petals rained down from above, bathing her figure within. She was as stunning and gorgeous as a flower goddess.
Bi Ziang’s eyes swirled with light. Then, he was the first to give an answer. “There are a total of 2047 petals!”
He didn’t even seek confirmation from Nan Xun and instead looked at Zu An confidently. “Brother Zu, I must apologize. The World Creation Sword stresses the competence of sight. One of its training exercises is to penetrate all of the descending petals with a single sword thrust. I’m afraid I’ve had an unfair advantage in this bout.”
There was nothing wrong with his attitude, and he instead seemed even more refined and courteous, as expected of the young master of one of the capital’s greatest clans. But the fact that he hadn’t said that before the bout and instead waited until afterward made him seem a bit insincere.
Zu An chuckled and said, “But my answer is different from yours. There are a total of 2048 petals.”
Nan Xun nodded. “Indeed. The correct answer is 2048 petals.”
Bi Ziang’s smile immediately froze. He cried out, “That’s impossible! There’s no way I counted incorrectly!” He had absolute confidence in his own sight. He had counted all the petals that landed on the ground!
Zu An walked over to Nan Xun’s side and removed a flower petal from inside her beautiful hair, saying, “There’s one more over here. Lady Nan Xun asked us to count all of the flower petals, not the number of petals on the ground.”
Nan Xun was stunned and said, “That is indeed the case. I did my best to avoid the flower petals, but I did not expect one of the petals to have landed on me.”
Zu An smiled. He had actually used a strand of ki to send a petal into her hair. He had only done that just in case, but it had ended up being the deciding factor.
Bi Ziang’s expression changed. He hadn’t expected to actually be defeated because of this!
