An Jin and I finally managed to calm the furious sister down. General Shen had already turned and gone to Southern Rui’s seating area. Jiang Yunqiao pulled me aside, apologizing for the parrot’s usual lack of propriety and praising my sister as beautiful and straightforward.
I apologized for my sister wrongly accusing General Shen, but Jiang Yunqiao didn’t mind, saying, “This is the first time I’ve seen Danding so angry. Your sister is indeed extraordinary.”
“The general was angry?” I couldn’t tell. That sculptural face clearly showed no expression at all.
Jiang Yunqiao glanced at the back of General Shen and said mysteriously: “He actually spoke to a strange girl, using idioms, and twice at that! I bet he definitely has a good impression of your sister.”
I felt my eyebrow twitch. Well, “overestimating oneself” and “making a fuss over nothing” were indeed idioms, but how did that relate to having a good impression…
My little sister angrily tugged at her handkerchief: “Stupid bird! Stupid blind man!
“An Jin and I looked at each other blankly until the competition’s signal drum was struck, and we hurriedly returned to our seats to reunite with our parents.
Twelve wooden houses were already occupied by machine technique practitioners wearing white gauze caps and blue-green robes. Among the twelve contestants, Xiliang, Nanrui, and Qi Country each had four representatives, yet it was impossible to distinguish which four belonged to which country.
The machine technique competition had three rounds, involving unlocking three increasingly difficult mechanisms and retrieving hidden items. The first round would eliminate six contestants, the second round three, and the final round would determine the top three. Two judges stood before each wooden house, carefully monitoring the contestants’ movements. Once a contestant finished, one judge would immediately record the time on a red-silk-covered wooden plaque, while another would strike a bronze gong.
The Crown Prince stood on the high platform, raising the gilded dragon hammer to strike the peace drum, instantly silencing White Crane Plain.”
After the music ended, the Minister of Rites, Su Quan, bowed and received the imperial scroll from Crown Prince Xia Zhiyuan, then stepped forward to loudly read the competition’s procedures and explain the first round’s content.
