Chapter 0215: A Beautiful and Gentle Older Sister Isn’t a Poem Written by Humans

After entering the chamber, the two sisters hastily closed the door behind them, unaware that they had already caught Sheng Yiren’s attention.

They cautiously surveyed the interior of the room, where a rather plain-looking woman dressed in coarse Linen Clothes—typically worn by commoners—stood. She appeared equally nervous and immediately rose to her feet upon their entry, stammering, “W-who are you?”

The younger sister gripped her older sister’s sleeve tightly, while the older sister clenched her fist slightly. Seeing that the other party was also a woman, she relaxed a bit and replied with relative composure, “We’re here to buy the goods.”

Hearing the correct answer, the woman also breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up a heavily patched bundle from the earthen bed, retrieved a tightly sealed envelope from it, and handed it to the older sister. “Th-this is the merchandise.”

Just as the older sister reached for it, the stammering woman suddenly withdrew her hand. “P-payment first.”

The older sister had no choice but to nudge her younger sister beside her. “Give her the silver.”

Only then did the younger sister unclench her tightly held small hand, revealing a tiny piece of silver, damp with sweat. “Here you go…”

The stammering woman took the silver, finally relaxing, and handed the envelope to the older sister. “Th-the goods are sold. Y-you can’t stay here.”

“Understood.” The older sister carefully concealed the envelope and, holding her younger sister’s hand, opened the chamber door and stepped out.

Sheng Yiren, who had been crouching beneath the window eavesdropping, immediately stood up and pretended to be just passing by. The sisters glanced at her, momentarily stunned by her beauty. Sheng Yiren promptly offered a warm smile. “Excuse me, do you know where the monastery’s latrine is?”

The two sisters stared blankly at her for a long moment before responding, “I-it should be at the very back.”

“Thank you.” Sheng Yiren nodded and gracefully headed inward.

Behind her, the sisters’ hushed conversation drifted over.

“Older sister, does such a beautiful and gentle older sister also… defecate?”

“…All people defecate. Don’t ask such foolish questions.”

Sheng Yiren: …

She turned back to look at the two sisters, her thumb and index finger lightly rubbing her chin.

Earlier, she had overheard them mentioning they were buyers of goods. What kind of goods required such a clandestine transaction within a monastery?

It didn’t seem like ordinary merchandise; otherwise, why would the sisters be so tense? And the stammering woman inside the room was equally suspicious.

Moreover, how could these young girls, dressed in coarse Linen Clothes and clearly impoverished, afford regular goods?

Sheng Yiren narrowed her eyes, glancing at the chamber and then at the receding figures of the sisters, momentarily uncertain which path to follow.

One trail could lead to the source of the goods, the other to the buyers. Yet, she had already promised Shen Yuan to assist at the Peach Blossom Banquet. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to promote the Imperial Academy. Missing it would make persuading those Esteemed Daughters to attend school much more troublesome later…

Rubbing her temples, Sheng Yiren ultimately decided to head to the Peach Blossom Banquet first.

After all, her suspicion about the unusual nature of this transaction was merely speculation. Perhaps the truth wasn’t as strange as she imagined. Better to focus on the task at hand.

In any case, she had memorized the voices and appearances of these three individuals. At worst, she could just spend more time tracking them down later.

Thinking this, she turned back the way she came and headed toward the Ancient Pavilion where the female guests were gathered.

His Highness must have been waiting for a while. She wondered if the Second Prince, who usually kept his distance from women, would feel uncomfortable being left alone in the Ancient Pavilion to deal with so many ladies. Or perhaps he’d be blushing and shy—hee hee hee~

…

No more hee hee.

Seeing Xie Chengze raising his teacup high, passionately proclaiming that “women can hold up half the sky,” while the Esteemed Daughters grew restless with ambition to study at the Imperial Academy and achieve fame that would endure through history, Sheng Yiren felt as if her own half of the sky had collapsed.

How could she have forgotten? Her Second Prince was a master at “bewitching” hearts and painting grand illusions for people!

Leaving him here with the female guests was like releasing a starving hound into a pile of meat—how could he resist persuading these Esteemed Daughters to attend the Imperial Academy?!

But this was supposed to be her task!

How was she going to explain this to Shen Yuan? If she had known this would happen, she would have gone to investigate that strange transaction earlier!

Out of the corner of her eye, Cheng Wuxue spotted Sheng Yiren approaching and immediately stood up. “Sheng Yiren, why are you only coming now?”

Hearing this, all the Esteemed Daughters turned to look at Sheng Yiren, who had arrived late.

“Yes, why are you so late? We just heard this young lady’s speech, and it was truly enlightening!”

“You’d never guess—this young lady just solved the Yi Province flood problem that has stumped countless scholars. If word gets out, those young masters will surely flock to us to buy the answers.”

“No, no! Buying and selling exam answers is against the law. We mustn’t touch that forbidden fruit,” one Esteemed Daughter quickly disagreed, shaking her head.

“If we can’t sell them, then we’ll teach for free,” another Esteemed Daughter said playfully. “Let this young lady get a taste of being a tutor to the gentlemen~”

“Hahaha, what a great idea!”

As the Esteemed Daughters laughed and bantered, Sheng Yiren quietly sat down beside Xie Chengze and said to him, “You’re really something… I was only gone for a short while.”

And he had already won over all the Esteemed Daughters.

Xie Chengze coughed lightly, somewhat embarrassed. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, just a whim.”

Sheng Yiren secretly rolled her eyes. Only His Highness the Second Prince, with his masterful skill at painting grand illusions, could achieve such success in his persuasive endeavors even on a mere whim.

Really, was there no chance her prince could ascend the throne?

Just as Sheng Yiren was feeling regretful, a maid hurried over. “Young ladies, the first round of poetry topics has been sent over from the male guests’ side.”

The Peach Blossom Banquet was divided into three segments: Acquaintance, Gathering, and Understanding. During the Acquaintance segment, the male guests would send over poetry-themed challenges. The female guests would compose poems on paper and send them back for the male guests to appreciate their literary talent and calligraphy.

The winner would get to set the topic for the male guests, who would then compose poems in response. If a lady had a favored candidate and there were competitors, they could compete in skills for the right to meet. The same applied to the male guests.

Thus, it was not uncommon for three-way meetings to occur at the Peach Blossom Banquet.

This time, the poetry topic sent by the male guests was “Ascending the Heights.”

In previous years, poetry competitions had always used themes like “emotions” or “objects,” but this year proved rather interesting with “ascending heights” as the central motif. The Esteemed Daughters, having just undergone a thorough reevaluation of their values, now faced these two characters and found countless sentiments welling up within them, eager for expression. They promptly ordered their maids to fetch brushes and ink, then took up their pens and sank into contemplation.

Even Sheng Yiren and Cheng Wuxue wore unusually solemn expressions.

Xie Chengze, a pure science student through and through, had no talent for composing poetry—he could only modify existing verses. Not wishing to be selected for a meeting, he deliberately strayed from the theme and penned a cloyingly sentimental poem in hopes of slipping through unnoticed.

As soon as he finished, Sheng Yiren leaned in, eager to take a look.

Xie Chengze hastily covered the paper. “You can’t see it!”

“What’s wrong? Afraid of embarrassment?” Sheng Yiren flashed a mischievous grin. “Your handwriting is atrocious. Should I rewrite it for you? Otherwise, it’ll stand out far too much!”

Xie Chengze considered this and realized she had a point. Straying from the theme was conspicuous enough—if anyone were to lay eyes on his hideous scrawl…

Shen Yuan would surely mock him for it.

So he relented and released his grip. “Fine, rewrite it for me then.”

Sheng Yiren snatched the paper at once, as if fearing he might change his mind, and her eyes swiftly scanned the contents. Then her lips twitched involuntarily.

What kind of human being could possibly write such a poem?