He Lan Tianxia

"What are you doing here?" Hong Xiuying didn't give Yan'er any face at all.

"Help my young master Wang find a blind date." Yan'er waved the embroidered ball in her hand.

“He should come up, not you.” Hong Xiuying was indeed a martial arts practitioner.

"But I caught the embroidered ball."

"So what? I like him, not you, and I don't like being a concubine." Hong Xiuying angered Yan'er. She had only gone on stage to have some fun, but her good mood was met with a cold shoulder. So, she decided to fight this arrogant and ignorant person a few rounds. But in terms of martial arts, she was definitely no match for her opponent. Her mind raced, and a little scheme came to her.

"Let's compete in terms of knowledge, not martial arts." You should have nothing to say now.

"Who made these rules? Are you choosing a husband or am I?" Hong Xiuying felt that Yan'er was deliberately trying to cause trouble, probably because her embroidered ball hit her husband.

"You dare not compete?" Yan'er still insisted on her opinion.

“Why wouldn’t I dare to compete? Let’s compete in literature, do you think I’m afraid of you?” Hong Xiuying said, and then waited for Yan’er to give her the topic.

"How many rounds will it take to determine the winner?" Hong Xiuying asked.

"One round. Oh, to be fair, two rounds, one literary and one martial, I'll set the questions." Yan'er thought to herself, she must seize the opportunity to set the questions to win.

"Why are you such a domineering woman?" Hong Xiuying was very dissatisfied.

"Me, domineering? You hit someone with a hydrangea and then say you're interested in them? Who's domineering?"

Hong Xiu stammered in English, "You..."

Yan'er glanced at Murong Junlan below the stage and deliberately posed a question: "The first question is a martial arts competition, a contest of scrambling steamed buns."

Hong Xiuying frowned: "How should we compare them?"

Yan'er explained, "It's just about taking a bunch of steamed buns and swiping them from one side to the other. Whoever is faster wins."

Hong Xiuying said, "You're so boring."

Yan'er retorted, "How is it boring? You wouldn't be, would you?"

Hong Xiuying scoffed: "A trivial skill."

Yan'er ignored it. Anyway, it wasn't her who would get married if she lost, and besides, if the prince didn't want to marry her, he should come up on stage himself. But what about the steamed buns? Just as Yan'er was about to run down from the stage to buy steamed buns, Murong Junlan had already bought a bag of steamed buns and tossed them onto the stage with a wave of his hand.

Hehe. Yan'er was delighted. Since the prince supported her martial arts competition, she would have a good time today.

"In that case, I'll go first." After saying that, Yan'er put all her effort into showing off the turtle-scraping skills that Murong Junlan had taught her. Since her skills were still lacking, it took her five or six tries to barely scrape all the buns from left to right.

After finishing washing the steamed buns, Yan'er smiled confidently at Hong Xiuying and said with a proud look, "I'm done washing them, it's your turn."

Hong Xiuying glanced at Yan'er, then at the pile of buns on the ground. She pulled out a whip from behind her and flicked it a few times in the air. With a left turn and a flick of her right hand, she sent the pile of buns flying into the air. With another pull of the whip, all the buns flew straight to the spot on the left.

My goodness! What kind of martial arts is this? Yan'er couldn't help but shout down, "Hey, Young Master Wang, she's even better at slaying turtles than you!"

Upon hearing this, Hong Xiuying was secretly delighted. Since this refined young man was no match for her skills, that made sense; it seemed that today's martial arts contest to find a husband had been the right decision.

Hong Xiuying was in a great mood, and she let Yan'er go first for the next round of writing.

"Hehe, the prince has already lost half of his money," Yan'er stuck out her tongue and glanced at Prince Murong below the stage. Prince Murong didn't seem to be in a hurry at the moment, and even nodded at her with interest. Yan'er waved to him, but Murong Junlan refused to go on stage. He was just accompanying his beloved concubine out for fun today, and he let her do whatever she wanted.

Hehe. Your Highness, if you don't go on stage soon, don't blame me if I accidentally throw you out. While thinking about how to compete, Yan'er was also looking for the fastest way to escape from the stage.

Hong Xiuying seemed to see right through her, and stood motionless on the steps.

Seeing this, Yan'er made a firm decision: she refused to believe that she, a top student from the 21st century, couldn't beat an ancient girl. She quickly searched her memory. "Alright," she thought, "I'll recite Su Shi's 'Ode to the Red Cliff'—'Nian Nu Jiao.'" She walked a few steps on the stage, head held high, tossed her hair, and waved her right hand forward, reciting in a seemingly serious manner:

"The great river flows eastward, its waves sweeping away countless heroes of the past..."

Hong Xiuying pushed her aside: "West of the old fortress, people say, is the Red Cliff of Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms... Let us pour a cup to the moon over the river."

Yan'er was startled. Wait, what era is she from? How does she know Su Shi's works? So she slapped Hong Xiuying's shoulder indignantly: "Hey, how did you finish reading before I did?"

Hong Xiuying retorted, "You didn't say I couldn't accept it?"

Yan'er wasn't having any of it: "No, that's a foul. It doesn't count, let's go again."

Hong Xiuying wasn't angry: "Come on then, I'm not afraid of you."

Yan'er thought to herself, "I knew you weren't afraid of me, but I am afraid of you." She racked her brains, thinking, "You know a poem from the Song Dynasty, so let's try one from the Tang Dynasty." Yan'er tossed her head and recited the poem again: "Li Bai was about to set sail when he suddenly heard singing on the shore."

Hong Xiuying: "The water in Peach Blossom Pool is a thousand feet deep, but it cannot compare to the affection you showed me, my lord."

Yan'er got angry and pointed at Hong Xiuying, asking, "What era are you from?"

Hong Xiuying glanced at her, then turned her gaze to Prince Murong below the stage, and said smugly, "It's the era when we met Prince Murong."

Run! Without a second thought, Yan'er fled. She had completely sold Prince Murong out in the marriage proposal; what else could she do but run away?

Strangely, Hong Xiuying stopped chasing. Yan'er ran all the way to Prince Murong's side, grabbed his hand, and ran all the way back to the yamen gate before stopping and exhaling heavily.

Prince Murong Junlan couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at his beloved concubine's disheveled appearance: "Why are you running away? It's not like you're the one holding a marriage contest."

Yan'er clutched her aching chest, waving her hands, "This is terrible! That Hong Xiuying isn't just a martial arts tyrant, she's also a top student. What can I do besides run away?"

Murong Junlan reached out and patted Yan'er to comfort her, saying, "Don't worry, I'll hold up the sky if it falls."

Yan'er reminded him, "Your Highness, I've already sold you out."

Just as the two were chatting happily, suddenly there was a commotion of gongs and drums and the sound of suona horns from behind. A wedding sedan chair was being carried towards them in a ostentatious manner.

Yan'er rubbed her eyes, then rubbed them again, and asked suspiciously, "Your Highness, could the person sitting in that sedan chair be Miss Hong Xiuying?"

Murong Junlan nodded seriously at this moment: "It seems so."

"run!"

Murong Junlan grabbed Yan'er's hand and ran into the yamen in a flash.

The wedding sedan chair stopped at the yamen (government office), and the gongs, drums, and suonas continued to sound, as if the person who was going to take a bride was the county magistrate.

After a long while, a squad of constables ran out and stood on both sides. Finally, the county magistrate came out, raised his sleeve to wipe his forehead (which he couldn't tell was sweating), straightened his posture, and loudly proclaimed:

"You audacious scoundrel, daring to make a scene in broad daylight in the government office."

Hong Xiuying, dressed in her wedding attire, stepped out, lifted her red veil, bowed to the magistrate, and said, "Your Excellency, today is my wedding day. I did not mean to disturb you, but my husband is hiding in your yamen. Please do me the favor and let me go in to look for him."

The magistrate was displeased: "You audacious scoundrel! The yamen is a place for judging cases, how can it allow people to come and go as they please? Besides, since today is a joyous day for the girl's wedding, the sedan chair should be carried to your husband's house, not to the yamen. This is utterly absurd."

Hong Xiuying wasn't angry: "Fine, since the magistrate is unwilling to do me a favor, then don't blame me for being impolite."

The magistrate thought Hong Xiuying was about to start a fight with a stick and was about to retreat when he saw Hong Xiuying walk to the door and start beating a drum.

The magistrate was furious: "You, you, you... Guards, throw her out!"

Hong Xiuying was also furious: "Throw me out? I haven't even accused you of harboring my husband yet. If you dare to throw me out again, I'll tear down your government office!"

The magistrate groaned inwardly: "Have I been cursed these past few days? Those two big shots inside are already troublesome enough, and now another one is coming to get married. Of all places to go, she has to come to the yamen. What's even more outrageous is that she even brought her wedding sedan chair to the yamen. Doesn't she know how much love those two people have for each other? Alas, what a miserable life."

The magistrate had no choice; someone beat the drum and he was about to begin the trial, so he swayed his official robes and sat down at the table.

"mighty."

With a slam of the gavel, the magistrate spoke: "You audacious scoundrel, why are you beating the drum?"

Hong Xiuying threw down her red veil and stepped forward, saying, "I'm going to sue you."

"Sue me?" The magistrate was taken aback.