Chapter 1225: Winning Self-Righteously

Wen Xinya and Xia Ruya returned to their seats.

Xia Ruya watched as everyone stared at her with looks of sympathy, pity, disdain, and contempt. Resentment simmered within her heart and she could not take the insult at all. She had never once thought of losing.

I’ll remember this clearly and one day, I’ll pay it all back. These people will all succumb to me and lick my feet to please me.

I’ll never let Wen Xinya off, either.

Although Wen Xinya was elated to have defeated Xia Ruya, she knew that she had taken a shortcut. But, who said that shortcuts were not a skill?

She may not be as skilled as Xia Ruya in painting, but the structure and overall appeal of her painting were much more intricate and exquisite compared to Xia Ruya’s painting of peonies. Hence, it was only understandable that Wen Xinya would win.

However, the host’s attitude made her feel a little displeased. By rights, the host should not have expressed her opinions freely since she was the organizer of the gala. After all, the judges were all from Boya Pavilion and her opinion would influence their decisions.

Besides, the host had also forgone all of the redeeming qualities of her painting and criticized her for lacking skill. Hence, the host’s stand would mislead others.

She had observed the indecisive judge who chose to remain silent in the end. He had initially already come to a decision but somehow was suddenly stuck in a dilemma and became indecisive. If it weren’t because of Du Ruoxin’s suggestion, he probably would have changed his mind.

Hence, the host was obviously standing on Xia Ruya’s side.

How about Du Ruoxin?

What kind of a person is she? What is she thinking? She doesn’t seem to be helping me, actually. It seems like she’s trying to make a joke out of me because of our feud.

However, if she wasn’t planning to help me, why did she notify me of the spiked snacks and bring up that suggestion just now? Although she reminded me a little too late, it was better than never.

Wen Xinya did not think that Du Ruoxin was out to harm her because she did believe what Du Ruoxin said about herself—”I may not be a saint, but I don’t harbor ill intentions.”

She felt that Du Ruoxin was prideful. And those who were arrogant would not bother harming others.

But, what is her motive?

Does it have something to do with me?

Wen Xinya’s mind was sent into a state of frenzy and she was completely clueless. Wen Xinya began to get a headache and she felt a sudden lethargy that overwhelmed her. She rubbed her aching forehead, feeling a little angst and frustrated.

Reason being, she was facing a crisis which she had been intentionally trying to neglect—the fact that Xia Ruya and Lin Yingxin had spiked her snacks and tea.

She had yet to discover anything unusual with her body and her greatest concern was that the drug might take effect on her all of a sudden. When that happens, what should I do?

At this moment, Lin Yingxin was just as anxious and uneasy as Wen Xinya.

Xia Ruya clearly said that Wen Xinya is only good at playing the zither and brewing tea. That’s why I took the risk to cooperate with her. She thought, feeling extremely worried at the thought of Wen Xinya’s outstanding performances in the four arts.

That meant that she would have to beat Wen Xinya in at least three arts before she could defeat her.

Even Xia Ruya had lost to Wen Xinya terribly in the showdown. Now that Wen Xinya was recognized by everyone to be incredibly talented, it’d be tall order to beat her. It also seemed unlikely that their plan to defeat Wen Xinya using jimsonweed would appear reasonable.

Lin Yingxin was the titleholder of the previous gala and her best talent was playing the zither. If she were to challenge Wen Xinya to a zither showdown, it would seem reasonable since they both loved the zither and were titleholders.

However, if she were to challenge Wen Xinya to a showdown of another art, it would seem as if she was deliberately trying to beat Wen Xinya and that would affect her reputation even if she won.

Lin Yingxin could not control her feelings of angst and frustration.

She glared at Wen Xinya menacingly and did not even bother hiding her emotions.

Du Ruoxin took a glance at her sullenly before gently nudging Wen Xinya and asking softly, “You didn’t offend her, did you?”

Du Ruoxin’s actions made Wen Xinya keep her guard up and she would often get the goosebumps whenever Du Ruoxin initiated a conversation with her, because there would always be ambiguous meanings to her words.

However, she could not help herself and turned to look in the direction of Du Ruoxin’s gaze, only to see that Lin Yingxin was glowering at her with bloodshot eyes, like a venomous snake. Wen Xinya said with a frown, “She’s probably just feeling indignant because I won the talent battle.”

Apart from Xia Ruya, Lin Yingxin was the next person who would want Wen Xinya to perform poorly during the gala.

Du Ruoxin snorted with laughter and gibed with a derisive smirk. “They always say that those who are well built are brainless. You have a simple mind, but you’re not that well built either. You’re even shorter than I am.”

Wen Xinya wished she could roll her eyes. She thought to herself, This is obviously a personal attack. Si Yiyan said that I’m smarter than everyone else. How am I brainless? I may not be as tall as the 1.7m-tall Du Ruoxin, but I’m not that short for a girl. I’m 1.66m tall! Besides, I’m only 18 years old and I’ll continue to grow taller. I’ll probably grow to 1.68m tall, the most ideal height for Chinese women. How am I short!?!

Du Ruoxin did not notice the look on her face and sneered. “Look at her. Look at the way she’s glaring at you. It’s as if you raped her. Clearly, she hates you.”

Wen Xinya almost choked and spat her tea. She actually managed to think of rape. I’m a woman! Don’t get the genders messed up alright?

Actually, Du Ruoxin simply felt that Lin Yingxin was a selfish and greedy woman who wouldn’t bat an eyelid even if Wen Xinya had killed her parents. That was why she came up with that analogy.

However, Du Ruoxin’s words served as a caution to Wen Xinya, who could not help but stare back at Lin Yingxin.

Lin Yingxin was as red as a tomato and the veins on her bloodshot eyes were red and intertwined like venomous snakes. She looked extremely terrifying and her green veins could be seen on her pale and pretty face. The grimace on her face made the creases on her face become more obvious, thus ruining her beauty. The veins on her forehead also began bulging.

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