Commandery Princess Luochuan felt as if her heart had been overturned, like a bottle of five-flavored spices spilling all at once.
In all her years of living, it was only now that she truly understood what it meant to feel a mix of emotions.
She had originally thought that Qi Yuan was just a harmless little white rabbit, but now, looking back, she finally realized—what white rabbit?
She was a wolf!
A wolf with green light gleaming in her eyes.
Thinking about it now, when Qi Yuan had specifically asked to compete with Liu Mingzhu first, she must have already planned everything out in advance.
The commandery princess didn’t know what kind of grudge existed between Liu Mingzhu and Qi Yuan.
But Qi Yuan had won—completely and utterly.
The “Jewel of Shengjing”?
From today onward, that title would cease to exist.
Qi Yuan had personally shattered this “jewel” that the Liu family had carefully crafted.
And the impact of this event went far beyond this.
Liu Mingzhu losing the competition wasn’t actually that important—in the end, it was just a match. Winning or losing was common, and after some time, no one would even remember it.
But Liu Mingzhu couldn’t afford to lose. She retaliated in public by striking Qi Yuan’s horse’s leg, causing Qi Yuan to fall.
That was now a matter of character.
The worst part was—she didn’t even succeed in her revenge. Instead, Qi Yuan once again showed off her superb equestrian skills in front of everyone, dazzling the crowd.
Immediately after, Madam Liu also lost control and publicly argued with Qi Yuan.
And Qi Yuan directly called her out as shameless.
Qi Yuan could afford to not care about saving face—she wasn’t someone of importance anyway.
But the Liu family couldn’t.
With their status, the Liu family cared about face and reputation more than anything.
Yet this time, their pride had been ruthlessly torn off by Qi Yuan and trampled into the ground.
Commandery Princess Luochuan, as part of the royal family, understood very well—Liu Mingzhu’s future was now limited.
Even with her powerful maternal family, even with Noble Consort Liu backing her, her prospects would go no further than this.
The best outcome now would be for her to marry into a family of similar status, far away.
Of course, for ordinary people, this would already be considered a great result.
But the issue was—the Liu family had gone to such lengths to build Liu Mingzhu’s reputation precisely to prepare her for marriage to Qi Wang.
Now, it was all over.
She couldn’t help but look at Qi Yuan—was she truly acting recklessly?
Or was it all deliberate?
Surrounded by a crowd, Qi Yuan, seeing that the effect was about right, directly turned to Commandery Princess Luochuan and asked, “Does the reward Your Highness promised still stand?”
When the question was suddenly directed at her, Commandery Princess Luochuan, for once, actually hesitated.
It was true she didn’t like Liu Mingzhu and very much enjoyed seeing her humiliated.
But the problem was—they were genuine maternal cousins. Her mother was Liu Mingzhu’s aunt.
If she now stepped up and confirmed the reward, wouldn’t that be publicly admitting that Qi Yuan had won?
When that happened, her mother and aunt would surely blame her.
She remained silent.
Qi Yuan smiled faintly. “So, this is what the competitions set by Zhou Wang’s household are like…”
At this point, Zhou Wang had no choice but to step in.
He laughed and declared loudly, “Of course it counts! How could it not? Miss Qi fell from her horse just now and was injured. Let’s have the imperial physician take a look at her first. I’ll have the Ferghana horse delivered to you shortly. How does that sound?”
Zhou Wangfei seemed like she wanted to say something else, but Zhou Wang gave her a look, and she could only angrily turn her head away.
Madam Lu was so furious her chest hurt.
So frustrating!
Why is this girl so shameless, yet things still keep going so smoothly for her?!
At this point, Second Madam Qi was no longer even shocked.
She was already numb.
Everything that had happened today had completely exceeded her understanding.
Looking at Qi Yuan, she finally understood why Old Madam Qi’s expression had been so complicated back then.
It turned out that when she told her to “watch over Qi Yuan,” she didn’t mean to take care of her…
Qi Yuan nodded, very cheerfully knelt and kowtowed to Zhou Wang. “Your Highness is truly wise and brilliant! May you live a thousand, ten thousand years!”
For some reason, Zhou Wang felt that Qi Yuan’s kowtow was a little too smooth and natural.
Given this girl’s fierce, sharp-tongued attitude, he had thought she would say something like “there’s gold beneath my knees.”
But unexpectedly, she knelt more decisively than anyone.
He stroked his beard and finally nodded. “Miss Qi, no need for excessive courtesy. Go and get changed.”
Wang Chan immediately ran over and grabbed Qi Yuan’s hand.
As soon as she touched it, she realized Qi Yuan’s palm was damp. When she lifted her hand to look, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Cousin, your hand is injured!”
It was from when she had clung tightly to the reins while nearly skimming the ground.
Qi Yuan waved it off casually. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go get changed.”
Wang Chan’s eyes turned red. “How can you say it’s nothing? The wound is so deep…”
Zhou Wang’s gaze also grew more serious.
When Qi Yuan left, he turned to ask Xiao Yunting, “This girl—what’s her background? Did you see that wound on her palm? How did she keep racing as if nothing happened, and even hold on until she made Liu Mingzhu fall from her horse?”
Ordinary girls would make a huge fuss over just a scraped knee.
But Qi Yuan—she was simply too different.
Xiao Yunting’s eyes darkened.
Of course, he had seen it. And deep inside, he felt a faint anger.
Qi Yuan had known from the beginning that he was there, but from start to finish, she had never once shown any intention of seeking his help.
Instead, she would rather gamble her own life just to drag Liu Mingzhu off her pedestal.
Just as she herself had said—her life, even a hundred of them, wasn’t worth as much as the life of a noble.
She didn’t value her own life at all—every single thing she did, she was staking her life on it…
Qi Yuan didn’t know Xiao Yunting was angry. But even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared.
Because she only ever trusted herself.
When they entered the room, seeing Wang Chan’s reddened eyes on the verge of tears, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but gently laugh. “It’s really nothing. Back when I lived in the countryside, I accidentally cut my hand with a wood-cutting knife, stepped on a nail that went right through my foot—didn’t even need to see a doctor.”
It would’ve been better if she hadn’t said that—once she did, Wang Chan completely broke down and burst into tears, hugging Qi Yuan tightly around the waist and sobbing, “Cousin, you’re so pitiful! How did you make it through all that when you were little?”
Qi Yuan had never been this physically close to anyone before. For a moment, her back stiffened, her lips pressed together nervously.
She had never thought much of those injuries in the past, but now, with someone showing concern, she suddenly felt a surprising wave of grievance.
She shook her head, trying to push away these useless feelings, and was just about to speak when she suddenly heard breathing behind the screen.
There was someone else in the room!
That thought flashed in her mind, but she kept her expression completely still as she gently patted Wang Chan’s back. “Ah Chan, can you go and call my second aunt? I’m feeling a little unwell.”
Wang Chan immediately nodded and, wiping her tears, ran out in a hurry.
As soon as she left, Qi Yuan suddenly kicked the screen hard.
At that moment, a black shadow leaped out from behind the screen, lunging straight at her.
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