Song Nanxin had thought that with Song Yihuan around, she could avoid this game of Flying Flower Rhyme. However, she never expected that the eldest daughter of the Qiao family would deliberately skip over Song Yihuan and choose such a line of poetry.
She sat there upright, showing no sign of unease on her face, but inside she was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
She was not very good at the subject of "poetry" and could only remember some well - known verses. But those verses had already been recited by the other young ladies. If she said them now, she would surely be punished to drink for repeating.
Unlike Song Yihuan, who had a photographic memory and could remember those obscure verses, she was at a loss for a moment.
Seeing that Song Nanxin didn't respond for a long time, the looks in everyone's eyes towards her gradually changed.
"Didn't they say that the Princess Consort studies very well at the Imperial College? How come she can't even answer such a line of poetry?"
"Yeah, exactly. Isn't Flying Flower Rhyme a very difficult game?"
At this time, someone grabbed Song Nanxin's hand. Song Yihuan avoided everyone's eyes and quietly wrote words in her palm. Song Nanxin's eyes lit up, and she lifted her lips and smiled:
"It's no good to be too lucky either. You've all recited all the familiar poems, leaving hardly a single one for me. Then I'll have to make a fool of myself and compose one on the spot."
Following the words written in her palm by Song Yihuan, Song Nanxin frowned, looking extremely distressed, and recited word by word:
"Rain pelts the pear blossoms as the door shuts tight; A lotus root traded for the fragrance of fine wine."
Seeing that she had answered smoothly, the doubts on everyone's faces immediately disappeared. The scene was filled with praises for Song Nanxin.
"The Princess Consort is really amazing. She can compose a poem on the spot. She truly lives up to being the talented girl personally selected by the Empress Dowager."
Song Nanxin secretly let out a sigh of relief. She smiled at the young lady four seats away from her and said, "Miss Li, it's your turn."
The game of Flying Flower Rhyme continued. This time, Song Nanxin wasn't so lucky. Almost every time it was her turn to answer.
But every time, Song Nanxin composed a poem on the spot based on the words written in her palm by Song Yihuan.
Gradually, there were more and more praises for Song Nanxin at the scene. With the praise and admiration of everyone, Song Nanxin smiled with her eyes and gradually relaxed her guard against Song Yihuan.
In her pride, she didn't notice the hidden meaning in Song Yihuan's eyes.
After a while, the young ladies got tired of the game and changed to another amusement. They said they wanted to play shuttlecock.
Song Nanxin didn't like this activity, so she didn't participate. Song Yihuan wasn't interested either and didn't join.
Seeing Song Yihuan free, Song Nanxin remembered how Song Yihuan had helped her out in the Flying Flower Rhyme game just now. She didn't mind the matter of Mrs. Jiang taking Song Yihuan away. She took out something and placed it in Song Yihuan's palm, saying:
"Yihuan, if you're bored, play with this. I'm sure it won't be difficult for you to solve it before the banquet ends, right?"
Song Yihuan looked at the rusty Chinese Rings lying in her palm and was stunned.
She had seen this set of Chinese Rings before.
That day in the garden of the Prince Ning's Mansion, she accidentally picked it up and even unlocked the rings on it, which instead annoyed Ji Lingchuan.
She had just touched it, and he had such a strong reaction. Now, however, he had given this set of Chinese Rings to her elder sister for her to play with at will.
Forget it. How could she be the same as her elder sister?
Her elder sister was his wife, so of course she could touch it.
As for her, she was just a guest staying in the Prince Ning's Mansion, and even a scheming guest with "ulterior motives" towards him.
Seeing Song Yihuan sitting there with her head down, playing with the Chinese Rings, Song Nanxin felt relieved. She went to play with the noble ladies she was familiar with.
Song Yihuan only took a short time to solve the Chinese Rings in her hand.
Just as she completed the last step, a timid voice came from beside her: "You're so amazing. How did you solve this set of Chinese Rings? You solved it so quickly!"
Song Yihuan looked up and saw a small and delicate face. The young lady was very fair, with a pair of bright black eyes full of curiosity and a bit of timidity, but without any hostility or ridicule.
Song Yihuan recognized her. She was the legitimate daughter of Cao Ze, a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue, named Cao Jinyu.
Song Yihuan was just wondering why this legitimate daughter of the Cao family would come to talk to her when she heard someone in the courtyard exclaim:
"Something's wrong! Someone has fallen into the lake!"
The exclamation broke the tranquility in the courtyard. Everyone immediately put down their wine cups, got up one after another, and rushed towards the lake.
Song Yihuan found that Song Nanxin had already been pulled to the lake to watch the commotion. She looked at Cao Jinyu and tentatively asked, "Shall we go and have a look too?"
Cao Jinyu looked at the bustling lake and showed a bit of resistance on her face. She whispered, "I'd better not go."
Seeing that she didn't want to go, Song Yihuan didn't want to leave her alone, so she also stayed where she was.
Cao Jinyu didn't expect Song Yihuan to stay with her. She said happily, "Thank you for staying with me. I... I don't like crowds. In crowded places, I feel flustered and can't breathe."
So that was the reason. No wonder Cao Jinyu had come to talk to her. It was because she saw her sitting alone here.
There were continuous exclamations from the lake. She didn't know what had happened. Remembering her purpose today, she looked at Cao Jinyu thoughtfully.
"You want to know how to solve the Chinese Rings? Are you interested in this thing?" Song Yihuan took out the Chinese Rings from her sleeve and asked.
Cao Jinyu whispered, "If I learn how to solve it, I'll have something to do when I go to banquets in the future. Miss Song, could you teach me?"
"It's no problem. But Miss Cao must have heard the rumors about me just now. I advise Miss Cao to stay away from me, so as not to be affected by my reputation and be excluded by others." Song Yihuan said very seriously.
Cao Jinyu bit her lower lip. "I'm not afraid. They didn't like to play with me anyway. They all thought I was too dull."
Song Yihuan felt relieved. It seemed that this Miss Cao didn't have a good relationship with her elder sister either. That would make things easier.
Raising the corners of her lips, Song Yihuan smiled at the other girl and said, "Really? Then we two are in the same boat."
The two young ladies sat face - to - face, playing with the Chinese Rings in their hands, looking completely detached from the world.
When Song Yihuan taught Cao Jinyu, she didn't use the one from Ji Lingchuan but the one she carried with her.
She taught seriously, and Cao Jinyu learned seriously. However, the Chinese Rings couldn't be learned overnight. After a while, Cao Jinyu became discouraged and said, "I'm too stupid. I can't learn it."
This childish words made Song Yihuan think of her younger brother at home. She couldn't help smiling and coaxing:
"You've only learned for a short time, and you can already unlock the first ring. You're already very amazing. After you go back, practice more, and you will surely make progress."
Cao Jinyu also laughed with her, showing her cute tiger teeth and dimples.
The noise from the lake still didn't stop. It seemed that the two people who had fallen into the water had been rescued. From the snippets of conversation among the onlookers by the lake, Song Yihuan heard that the two were men, and it seemed that their arms had been broken before they fell into the water.
Song Yihuan withdrew her gaze and sighed, "Those two poor men. I wonder who they offended. Miss Cao, you should stay away from the lake in the future. My eldest sister accidentally fell into the water at Princess Xiuling's birthday banquet before."
Cao Jinyu was stunned for a moment and said blankly, "Ah? When did the Princess Consort fall into the water at Princess Xiuling's birthday banquet? Why don't I remember?"