After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

"It seems the theme here is literature. I wonder where my eldest and second brothers went?"

They went to the backyard to pick some peaches and apricots, but the two Ye brothers were not with them.

"There are only so many things to do. My cousin is sure to find something fun. Why don't we go look for them?"

Liu Langyue felt that since she was already there, she should find something fun to do to make the trip worthwhile.

Everyone agreed to the suggestion, but they were stopped by someone when they were about to leave.

"The talented young lady from the Ye family has arrived."

"Miss Ye, we're composing poetry, why don't you join us?" a young lady warmly invited.

"No need for poetry, we..."

Before Ye Xiyao could refuse, the young lady continued:

"The two most famous talented women in the capital are Miss Zhao and Miss Ye. Miss Zhao even left behind a poem before departing."

Miss Ye, you must compose a poem before you can leave!

Ye Xiyao and Zhao Wanxi are equally talented, making it difficult to determine who is superior.

The two people involved didn't care, but others didn't think so. Whenever the two appeared at the banquet at the same time, they would definitely ask them to show their talents so as to determine which one was better at writing.

"Miss Ye, we just met a new friend. I heard you're cousins. Why haven't you brought her out before?"

"Yuan Ru is such a talented writer, is Miss Ye perhaps afraid that Yuan Ru will steal her thunder?" someone said sarcastically.

"Don't joke around, I'm not even a fraction as good as Cousin Xiyao."

Ye Yuanru walked towards Ye Xiyao with a smile, her words humble but her eyes revealing a hint of pride.

"Cousin, we used to study and learn to paint together when we were young. It's been so long since we've been together."

Ye Xiyao frowned as she looked at Ye Yuanru. She was referring to the time in Old Madam Ye's courtyard when she was punished to copy scriptures, and Ye Yuanru happily accompanied her to practice calligraphy.

When she was being punished, Ye Yuanru would plead for her. Later, she realized that if Ye Yuanru spoke up for her, she would be in even worse shape, so she distanced herself from her.

[System, it seems Ye Yuanru imitated her sister's handwriting, right?]

[Host, this is indeed the case.]

[She's been imitating other people's handwriting for no reason; she's probably using her sister's handwriting to do something bad.]

Ye Xiyao gritted her teeth, her gaze turned cold, and she remained expressionless as she calmly replied:

"Yes! Cousin Yuanru, you used to love sitting next to me and copying my handwriting. How is it now? Is it so good that you can't tell the difference between the real and the fake?"

“Yuanru is even practicing calligraphy by copying Xiyao’s handwriting. Your sisterly bond is truly enviable.”

The young lady, unaware of the situation, looked on with envy, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two women.

Ye Yuanru's expression instantly became unnatural, her smile froze, and her eyes darted around.

Did Ye Xiyao tell others about this because she was afraid that she was doing something with the imitated words?

"When I was young, I saw that my cousin wrote beautifully. No matter how hard I tried, I could never write as well as her. I wanted to practice writing like her, but no matter how well I wrote, I could never imitate her style."

Ye Yuanru smiled shyly, trying to compose herself and feigning embarrassment.

"Since you two are so familiar with each other, why don't you use the topic we just discussed and compose a poem for each other?"

“Okay, I’ll go first,” Ye Xiyao said with a smile.

Ye Yaoyao was somewhat looking forward to seeing what kind of poem she would write, but Ye Xiyao didn't have time to think and just blurted it out:

"The rich and powerful fawn upon the poor, while no one comes to my humble abode."

They fawn over the powerful and wealthy, but turn their backs on them when they are in dire straits.

Gold and silver blind the eyes, conscience is abandoned; power corrupts the heart, morality is buried.

A woman with lofty aspirations would rather shun associating with vulgar people and mingling in the dust.

After Ye Xiyao finished reciting the poem, no one cheered as usual. The surroundings were quiet. The poem was well-written, but it was not a very good poem.

The young men and women present looked at Ye Yuanru and saw that her face was pale and her eyes were full of grievance and on the verge of tears. Ye Xiyao had actually humiliated her in front of everyone.

"Cousin, after all these years, don't you still believe me? I really didn't say anything bad about you in front of Grandmother."

Tears, as large as beans, kept falling from Ye Yuan's eyes, a sight that evoked pity in onlookers, and many condemning gazes fell upon Ye Xiyao.

"Ye Xiyao said she was abused by her grandmother when she was young, so she must be jealous of Ye Yuanru and has held a grudge for so many years."

"A talented woman indeed! She's so petty."

“I don’t think Miss Ye would humiliate people so easily. Ye Yuanru might be the kind of person she’s talking about,” a young man said, speaking up for Ye Xiyao.

"We haven't met that girl, so it's best not to jump to conclusions."

"However, given her background, she wouldn't have been able to come here without currying favor with Princess Chang Le."

"We've met Ye Xiyao so many times, her character is impeccable."

"Enough, stop talking." Mu Ningyan glared at Ye Xiyao. "You sisters ganged up on Yuan Ru, it's truly vicious."

"I have something to tell you all. Ye Yuanru risked her life to save me. How could such a person be the kind of person Ye Xiyao described?"

[System, show me that life-saving clip.]

Ye Yaoyao knew that Ye Yuanru would not give up the opportunity to get close to Mu Ningyan, but she did not expect her to act so quickly.

[Host, please look!]

Mu Ningyan went to the shop to choose a birthday gift for Old Madam Mu. When she got off the carriage, she was kidnapped by a fugitive. Ye Yuanru passed by and wanted to take Mu Ningyan's place as the fugitive's hostage.

The fugitive wasn't stupid; why would he choose a commoner over a princess? When the officials couldn't negotiate with the fugitive, they wanted to kill Mu Ningyan to accompany him in death.

Disregarding his own safety, Ye Yuanru took advantage of the fugitive's inattention and knocked him down. The officers used this opportunity to re-arrest the man.

Is Ye Yuanru really that strong? She's so powerful that even the fugitive with the knife couldn't harm the two frail women.

Ye Yaoyao found this somewhat absurd.

[System, is the fugitive a fake?]

[He's a real fugitive, the kind who kills without blinking an eye.]

[Is this scumbag father so powerful that he can get someone to release a fugitive to put on an act for Ye Yuanru?]

Ye Yaoyao didn't believe it was a coincidence.

"Oh! Princess, you mean you were kidnapped by a fugitive, and Ye Yuanru rescued you on the street and became your savior."

Ye Yaoyao looked at her as if she were a fool, speaking casually.

Mu Ningyan thought that Ye Yaoyao and she didn't get along, so Ye Yaoyao must have known in advance that she would be in trouble and be saved by Ye Yuanru, and told her to be wary of Ye Yuanru.

"So you really knew, and what was with that look in your eyes?" Mu Ningyan was even more certain of her thoughts.

"It's nothing, I just think Ye Yuanru is too amazing, she was able to save you from a ruthless fugitive."

Then you must repay their life-saving kindness.

Ye Yaoyao's tone was calm, but some people sensed something was off.

"Hmph! You don't need to tell me." Mu Ningyan snorted coldly. "Ye Xiyao, you embarrassed Yuan Ru in public. This princess wants you to kneel down and kowtow to her to apologize."