His Rui

The Emperor praised Yi Junjie and rewarded him with a large number of presents. After that, the competition moved ahead.

The maidens gathered in front of the stage to perform. Everyone presented different different skills. Li Na and Li Caihong also participated in the competition.

Li Caihong sang a beautiful song. After her, it was Li Na's turn.

As she set her dress right, Li Na couldn't help but move her eyes towards Xi Ying.

A flash of frustration passed through her eyes when she saw that his whole attention was just Li Rui.

'When I will perform, his eyes will only be on me..'

With this thought, Li Na stepped on the stage as soon as Li Caihong finished.

After performing a bow, she started singing. Her voice was clear and sweet. Everyone was hearing the song very carefully, however, the next moment they saw Li Na taking out a ribbon from somewhere.

On the wide stage just in the middle of the hall, she danced very beautifully with the ribbon that was following her every move.

Standing below the stage, a trace of envy couldn't help but flash in Li Caihong's eyes.

Her sister was good at doing ribbon dance. No one in the Imperial City can defeat her till today. At the same time, she was happy for her sister. So she clapped with others when Li Na finished her performance.

On the other hand, Li Na was very satisfied with her own performance. She could feel the men's gaze filled with admiration on her. She proudly looked in the same direction she had looked just before stepping on the stage.

However, her pride was shattered away when she saw that the man she wanted to win with her skilled dance was not looking at her at all.

Slightly propping his chin on the wooden table placed in front of him, he was lovingly gazing at Li Rui who was eating something. From time to time, he would move his fingers to wipe the crumbles of the food from her lips with his thumb.

A fire seemed to be burning inside her heart.

How could he behave like that and not notice her longing gazes and efforts? She questioned herself.

But all the malice that arose from her question inside her heart was pointed towards Li Rui only…not Xi Ying. Because in her heart, it was not Lord Xi's fault…it was Li Rui's fault for attracting his attention…for trapping him in her innocent acts.

Her eyes filled with hatred glanced at Li Rui faintly as she came down from the stage.

'I can't wait for tomorrow. I can't wait anymore.

I need to implement my plan as soon as possible.'

Looking back at Li Rui, she smirked as she thought.

She will snatch everything from Li Rui just like Li Rui had snatched everything from her since childhood.

.

.

.

Princess Wenling was also not behind in performing something when it was a competition of the maidens.

The servants placed a painting stand on the stage and a few moments later Princess Wenling stepped on the stage.

She picked up the brush and just in a few minutes, she painted a very beautiful scenery of the ginkgo and the ground that was coated with yellow leaves. It was exactly the beautiful scene that everyone had seen when they had entered the Imperial Palace while passing through the Imperial Gardens.

A loud sound of claps echoed in the banquet hall as everyone praised the beautiful painting and Princess' skills.

Although she had already expected, when Zhao Wenling looked towards Xi Ying and found that he didn't look at her painting even once, she still felt very hurt.

With a tight smile on her lips, she accepted all the praises and came down from the stage.

In the end, Li Na and Princess Wenling were announced as the winner and were rewarded with praises and presents by the Emperor.

After the second competition, now there was a guqin competition. Girls, whether married or unmarried, could participate in the competition.

A very beautiful guqin was placed on the stage. Soon maidens and women started to gather in front of the stage in a line.

One by one everyone played a single musical instrument in different tunes and created a very different atmosphere in the banquet hall.

All this while Xi Ying was busy in his serving Li Rui. When An Ju brought the lunch, he faintly glanced at her. Only when she lightly nodded her head, he served it on Li Rui's plate.

Li Rui's eyes went slightly wide as she saw him filling her plate again. She had just finished eating some deserts that An Ju brought from somewhere she doesn't know because no one's table doesn't have the deserts her table had. And now he was filling her plate again.

"Don't put any more."

She held his arm to stop him seeing that he was still filling it. There was a frown on her forehead. Xi Ying knew that now he really can't force her so he took back his hand reluctantly.

Looking at her plate, Li Rui sighed. She knew that she won't be able to finish everything.

However, in the next few minutes, she herself was surprised when she finished everything on her plate that too very fast.

Her brows were knitted in a frown again as she rubbed her bloated stomach and thought that she had eaten too much while Xi Ying was very satisfied seeing the empty plate. He even raised his hand and patted her head to praise her to which Li Rui looked at him condescendingly but he only smiled widely at her behavior.

This joyful atmosphere was interrupted by an annoying sound which Xi Ying only paid attention to because Li Rui's name was being mentioned.

On the stage, a woman was kneeling in front of the Emperor. Her head was lowered as she said in her clear voice.

"Your Majesty, this one wishes to compete with Lady Li Rui."