The Fourth Lady

In Qingyan's mind, she clearly understood that in this kind of situation, no one was going to give up the opportunity to get into good favors with Su Qingyuan, and as for who, when Qingyan thought of this the corner of mouth curled up.

After scanning the crowd with her eyes, she set her sight back on the textbook. In her former life as Qilian Qingyan, she was one of Nanchen's greatest female talents; not only excelling in the four arts, but even horseback riding and archery weren't a problem for her.

Su Qingyan glanced at Cui Hanqun, who was heading towards her. She knew that this Cui Hanqun was Donghe's Minister of Justice's younger son.

According to Zizhu, this Cui Hanqun was regarded as Bogu Hall's number one little tyrant. And since the one he liked the most was Su Qingyuan, he probably wanted to use this opportunity to show off to her. "Hey, I heard that you were seducing men, because you couldn't handle the loneliness." Cui Hanqun walked up next to her and said while looking down on her.

Qingyan flipped through her book without even sparing a glance at Cui Hanqun's face. Instead she lightly said, "Oh, I didn't expect that young master Cui would know something this secretive."

Seeing Qingyan talking to him so nonchalantly, he spoke out in discontent, "Am I not wrong?" As he spoke, he lifted her by the collar, "Su Qingyan, what do you mean by that?"

Although Su Qingyan is already 14, her shriveled body could still be easily lifted by this chubby brat.

Cui Hanqun originally just wanted to have Qingyan yield to him, but instead he kept hearing her nonchalant voice enter his ears, "Young master Cui, my father is the current Dingguo General. What do you think will happen to you, if you try to kill me now?"

Reluctantly, Cui Hanqun could only put down Su Qingyan. After all, if he tried to kill her now, it'll be difficult to explain when he goes home later.

When the crowd saw this scene, no one was concerned. Furthermore, no one even came forward to help out Su Qingyan. In their eyes, Su Qingyan was just the laughing stock of Bogu Hall.

However, before the crowd could even react, Cui Hanqun, who was originally standing, had knelt down all of sudden. That appearance of his, with his legs up to the sky, caused the whole room to roar into laughter.

"Heh" Qingyan coldly laughed as she watched Cui Hanqun get up. But who knew that as soon as her words came out, Cui Hanqun was once again on the ground.

"Young master Cui, although your behavior just now was inappropriate, you didn't have to go so far as to kneel down." Qingyan looked Cui Hanqun, who was on the ground, and said expressionlessly, "I wouldn't be able to bear it."

"Su Qingyan, when did I ever kneel to you!?" As soon as Cui Hanqun tried to get up, he fell down again.

Seeing Cui Hanqun on the ground, Su Qingyan quickly pulled the corner of her sleeve to her mouth and made a mocking expression.

"Young master Cui, men have gold under their knees*, there's really no need of you to bow to me so formally." With that said, she returned to her seat and sat down.

(*TN: It's an expression meaning that men shouldn't kneel easily to others because men should have dignity.)

Cui Hanqun was also confused as to why he had kneeled before Qingyan. It was like as if he was unable to control his knees. When he turned his head, he saw Su Qingyuan happily laughing at him. Seeing Su Qingyuan's smile, Cui Hanqun immediately felt energized again, despite embarrassing himself before his goddess.

However....

Cui Hanqun looked to Su Qingyan with a harsh glare. There were plenty of ways to torture this girl, no need to be impatient.

Meanwhile, in a certain corner building of Julongzhai*, a young man dressed in white took a glance at the young man in purple, who was tasting the tea, and puzzlingly asked, "Jingxuan, wasn't that Fengqing your bodyguard? When did he become so close with the Su's fourth miss?"

(*TN: The name of the place; it roughly means 'Assembly of the Dragons')

Murong Jingxuan didn't seem to hear him. However, his eyes were certainly affixed to the Bogu Hall, not far from where he was. He had witnessed everything that had occurred there. This Su fourth miss was becoming more and more interesting.

He clearly just saw her secretly giving hand signals to Fengqing in the dark and yet she could still act so innocently as she watched her own handiwork.

"Jingxuan, are you even listening to me?" The young man in white looked to him as he reluctantly said this. When he followed his gaze, he saw the maiden dressed in green.

He couldn't see the maiden's face; it was just that the green stood out too much among the brightly multicolored outfits. One could easily spot her with just one look.

"Xiu Ran, do you know the Su's fourth miss?" Murong Jingxuan lifted the teacup before him and slowly began to taste it, "Ah how can my tea here at Julongzhai be so refreshing?"

Xiu Ran listened to Murong Jingxuan's voice and smirked. The Su manor's eldest daughter, Su Qingyuan, not only was skilled at the qin, but was also Donghe's unparalleled beauty. However, the Su manor's fourth daughter, Su Qingyan, was the laughing stock of Diqiu.

Not only was Su Qingyan rude and foolish, she was also extremely arrogant. And most importantly, at the 'talent conference' the previous year, she had made a fool of herself in front of the Second Prince. This Su Qingyan wasn't just an idiot only in name.

"Why are you suddenly bring up that idiot young miss." Xiu Ran looked to Murong Jingxuan in confusion. Moreover, this good friend of his, although looked like a frivolous man that frequents brothels on the outside, in the inside he was still a man that wasn't close with women at all.

"Idiot?" Murong Jingxuan raised his eyebrow at Xiu Ran. Stroking his chin, he playfully said, "If you've met this beauty, then you wouldn't think she's an idiot lady."

Able to play the tune of [Thousand Beasts and Phoenix], could speak the language of beasts, and even has control over all animals, how could these be the feat of an idiot young miss?

Although he did hear his mother mention in a letter once that her dearest friend, the former Empress of Nanchen, Qilian Qingyan not only could speak the language of beasts, but could also control all animals. Most importantly, the tune of [Thousand Beasts and Phoenix] was composed by her.

Moreover, she also could captivate an entire country with her [Qingcheng* Dance]

(*TN: It's an expression to describe someone or something that's so beautiful that they could overturn an entire city or country)

However, five years ago, Qilian Qingyan was murdered. It's said that the night she died, a murder of crows had gathered, and she ultimately met her end without even leaving behind a corpse. But how did Su Qingyan know that [Thousand Beasts and Phoenix]?

Xiu Ran disagreed with Murong Jingxuan's views and said in a tone full of disdain, "If she's not an idiot, then how did she become the laughing stock to all the commoners of Diqiu?" Murong Jingxuan tapped his finger on the table in rhythm, "What if the previous her was all an act, then that could only mean she has the sophistication to hide her true intentions."

"What sophistication, it's only child's play." Xiu Ran said unconvinced, "That Su's fourth miss was just an idiot, how could an idiot be of importance." To him, it was as if Su Qingyan was a worthless idiot. Murong Jingxuan listened to Xiu Ran as he shook his head, "Xiu Ran, if you ever meet that Su's fourth miss in the future, then you wouldn't think this way."☐☐☐☐