Chapter Eighteen: Insults

  Taking advantage of the gap before the second game, the noble ladies who came to cheer were already seated in their prepared rest area on the sidelines, drinking tea and taking a short break, eagerly discussing the situation of the match and guessing who would be the champion of this year's martial arts competition.

  Li Xingming's attendants finally returned in a hurry, and the 1,000 taels of silver IOU from Song Qinyin were also inspected by Han Jiangxue on the spot. Li Xingming didn't know that Song Ci was actually this year's dark horse who emerged from the martial arts examination, nor did he care much about winning or losing the 1,000 taels of silver, and instead urged Han Jiangxue to quickly teach him the method to capture the beauty's heart.

  Han Jiangxue hadn't even had time to react when Han Yajing walked over with Zhang Wanru and Sheng Mengling, chatting and laughing as they naturally noticed Li Xingming and Han Jiangxue who were standing together talking.

  "Huh, Yajing, am I seeing things? When did your sister and Li Er Gongzi become so close?" Sheng Mengling said with a strange smile, a very suspicious expression: "Could this be what they mean by 'lovers' quarrel'?"

  Everyone couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the gaze towards Han Jiangxue and Li Xingming naturally became strange, as if they had caught the two doing something wrong.

  Li Xingming was anxious to know Han Jiangxue's good method, but he was interrupted by someone and even made a joke about it. Suddenly, he got angry and stood up, shouting at Sheng Mengling: "Who are you? What are you talking about? Don't you know that I'm busy now? Go wherever it's cool, don't provoke me, woman, or you'll get beaten!"

  Li Xingming didn't know when he realized that Sheng Mengling was from the Western Rong Marquis's household, and this is what he said. The implication of his words was naturally that he didn't put her in his eyes. Although he himself was usually thick-skinned, where could he tolerate others being thick-skinned towards him? Shouldn't he retort back when someone dared to tease him casually?

  Sheng Mengling naturally knew what kind of person Li Xingming was, and upon hearing this, her face immediately turned dark. Although she leaned slightly towards Zhang Wanru, her mouth continued to spout venom: "Han Jiangxue, you really are talented, aren't you? You can hook up with anyone, and now you're saying you've changed your ways? I think it's just getting worse!"

  This is the imperial palace, Sheng Mengling herself didn't worry that Li Xingming would dare to make a move against her in this place, so she became more and more vicious with her words, directly targeting Han Jiangxue.

  Han Yajing on the side didn't say anything this time, but instead Zhang Wanru pulled at Sheng Mengling, gesturing for her to speak less.

  Li Xingming didn't intend to help Han Jiangxue or anything, it's just that Sheng Mengling, that stinky woman, cursed him along with every sentence, so how could he not get angry.

  "Your surname is Sheng, you really are quite garrulous, coming over here and spouting nonsense nonstop. You truly deserve to be taught a lesson, don't you?" Li Xingming rolled up his sleeves, ready to give that stinky woman a couple of slaps, just so she'd know he wasn't afraid to take action even in the palace.

  Sheng Mengling never thought that Li Xingming would be so bold, and he actually wanted to hit someone as soon as he came forward, scaring her into hastily calling for help.

  "Stop it, Xing Ming!" Just then, a figure rushed over and grabbed Li Xingming, his tone full of annoyance: "You little scoundrel, you've gone mad all the way to the palace, do you want to fight here too?"

  The onlookers grew more and more numerous, but it was not someone else who held Li Xingming back at this time, but rather the young master Li Xinghua who happened to be passing by. Along with Li Xinghua came Zhang Haoming, Mo Li, and others, and when they saw the scene, they didn't know what had happened either.

  Sheng Mengling saw that her own brother Sheng Yunhang had also arrived, and immediately ran to his back to report the situation, saying that Li Xingming had gone mad and was helping Han Jiangxue bully people, and even wanted to fight in the palace. If they hadn't come, she would probably have been beaten by this madman.

  Han Jiangxue had seen the young master of the Xi Rong Hou Fu, Sheng Yunhang, more than once before. To be honest, Sheng Yunhang was quite elegant and handsome, far surpassing Sheng Mengling in looks by at least a couple of levels. As a result, her impression of him was still quite deep.

  And this year's champion of the imperial examination is none other than the young master of the Xi Rong Marquis Manor, who caused a sensation for quite some time and was even referred to as one of the "Two Young Nobles of the Capital" along with Zhang Haocheng, captivating countless young women waiting to be married.

  Han Jiangxue knew the answer, but Sheng Yunhang was indeed the number one hot favorite, and the odds were too low. So earlier she didn't let Li Xingming bet on Wenwu's side again. Firstly, it wasn't as profitable as betting on dark horse Song Qin, and secondly, if Wenwu's first place was guessed by her, it would be easy to arouse suspicion.

  At this moment, when everyone's attention was naturally focused on the Sheng Yunhang siblings and Li Xingming, Han Jiangxue unexpectedly discovered that someone had actually taken the time to size her up.

  She raised her eyes calmly towards that gaze, only to find it was Mo Li, the reserved and skilled at hiding his clumsiness youngest son of the Mo Wang Fu!

  It was expected of this person, she didn't seem surprised at all. Obviously, Mo Li had an absolutely superior insight and unique perspective that surpassed ordinary people. Otherwise, how could he make even the emperor have to give him a three-foot radius in the near future?

  Han Jiangxue didn't mind at all, instead he nodded slightly and then shifted his gaze to continue "watching" with a carefree attitude.

  But what Sheng Mengling said was clearly a distortion of the truth, she herself had caused trouble and yet spoke as if she had been bullied for eight lifetimes, and even in this meeting, she didn't forget to drag Han Jiangxue down with her, it's really despicable.

  Han Jiangxue endured the humiliation and sat there, allowing Sheng Mengling to ramble on, knowing that Li Xingming was not someone who could be splashed with dirty water and still remain silent. Since Sheng Mengling's brain had gone dizzy, she might as well let her stay dazed for a while longer.

  As expected, Li Xingming was even more furious, and if he hadn't been stopped by Li Xinghua, he might have rushed up to fight.

  What's even more interesting is that Sheng Mengling rambled on, and the people who originally followed Sheng Mengling, such as Han Yajing and Zhang Wanru, didn't utter a single word. Although their expressions were different, they all chose to remain silent and observe from the sidelines, detached from the situation.

  "Li Xingming, you're a grown man, how can you bully a girl like this? The Xi Rong Marquis Manor may not be anything in your eyes, but it's not something that the Sheng family can be bullied by you." After hearing Sheng Mengling's words, Sheng Yunhang's face definitely wouldn't look good, his handsome face took on a few degrees of chilliness, frowning as he questioned Li Xingming.

  Everyone knows that Li Xingming is a fool, but now he has even fooled his way into the imperial palace. Shi Yunhang, on the other hand, wants to see if the people of Zhuang's mansion still have any sense of reason left.

  Sheng Mengling's mouth was full of vicious words, and Li Xingming couldn't take it anymore. He pushed away Li Xinghua's hand and retorted loudly: "Today, I finally understand what it means to be shameless and despicable! Sheng Mengling, you came over here like a shrew, cursing at people for no reason, and now you're turning things around and saying others are in the wrong? It's really disgusting!"

  Sheng Mengling was suddenly scolded to the point of having a black face, furious and jumping with rage, pointing at Li Xingming and wanting to retort back. However, Li Xingming did not give her this opportunity, changing his tone to continue scolding people in public with indignation.

  "You think you're so much better than Han Jiang Xue, but I'm telling you, she's a thousand times better than you! At least when she says something, she means it, and if she wants to fight, she'll do it openly and honestly, not like you, who only knows how to gossip and spread rumors, causing trouble wherever you go!"

  Li Xingming's eloquence was fully displayed, and Han Jiangxue was also brought out to make a comparison.

  For a moment, everyone was stunned, and their eyes involuntarily turned to one of the parties involved, Han Jiangxue, who had not made a sound until now and was sitting there drinking tea as calm as Mount Tai.

  Han Jiangxue saw that all the eyes in the room were focused on her, but she looked innocent and blinked, with an expression of not being related to the matter.

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