With these words, Luo Qing Luan became completely relaxed.

So what if she doesn't know how to compose poetry? At present, even Empress Wang didn't mind it and told her to sit there and enjoy herself. Let's see if anyone else dared to make trouble for her. As for this Miss Yuchi wanting to give her a slap on the face, too bad she wouldn't have the chance.

Yuchi Lianqing could be considered to have been let off lightly. Otherwise.....she'd throw caution to the wind tonight and shamelessly recite those well-known poems written by famed later generation poets. Now that would truly cause the girl to be too embarrassed to meet people anymore, too ashamed as someone with the title of "most talented girl".

This short episode passed very quickly. The crowd of women simply stopped after a few comments. Since their most formidable rival, Luo Qing Luan, won't be reciting poems, then she certainly wouldn't be able to show off tonight. They easily eliminated one rival. That's no doubt a good thing. They already made preparations earlier and were only waiting for tonight's poetry meeting to start, so that they could take out the poem that they prepared to obtain Empress Wang's notice.

Right at 8 pm, the moon was overhead and the Full Moon Poetry Gathering officially started.

The young girl who previously prepared to stand up and recite poetry finally grabbed the opportunity and rushed to bow towards Empress Wang. "Your Highness, I'm Sun Qiao'er. My father is the supervisor of Shanglin Institution, Sun Huidong. I'd like to especially present a poem to Your Highness."

The poetry meeting's main purpose was to praise the moon and enjoy each other's company, but everyone at the gathering would say that their poem was an offering to His Majesty or Her Highness before reciting it. This already became an unspoken rule, all to garner a bit of attention, hoping that it would raise the result of their assessment a bit.

Empress Wang also didn't mind and smiled as she nodded her head. "Alright, what good poem do you have?"

"Your Highness......"

Just when Sun Qiao'Er was going to recite the poem she had prepared, Luo Qing Luan suddenly asked, "Are poems recited each year during the Full Moon Feast? Moreover, is the subject matter fixed?"

Even though she didn't know why the other wanted to ask this, Empress Wang's impression of Luo Qing Luan was quite good, so she didn't mind being interrupted by her. "Ever since the first Full Moon Feast until now, which has been held for thirty-two years, it's always been like this. The moon is full during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which represents harmony and joy. This is a big festive occasion, so naturally we recite poetry to express these sentiments."

Luo Qing Luan creased her eyebrows as she spoke. "Isn't this......very boring?"

She deliberately said this, because she wanted to throw the poetry recital meeting off balance, to flummox these people who made preparations in advance. These highborn girls previously mocked her so much, was it possible for her to just accept everyone's bullying without fighting back. Also that Miss Yuchi......heh heh, she really wanted to see of this Duchess of Yiyang's literary talents truly matched her beauty!

"Miss Luo, what's your intention in saying that?" Within the crowd, Li Shuyun, who was already jealous of Luo Qing Luan sitting by the Empress' side, spoke up. Last time, she was put in order and left in a sorry state by Luo Qing Luan. Strangely itching from head to toe, she scratched so much that bloody scars forms all over her body. She'd always been waiting to take revenge.

Immediately taking advantage of Luo Qing Luan's disrespectful remark, she opened her mouth and coldly said, "This poetry meeting is our country's tradition from tens of years ago. His Majesty and Her Highness also approves enthusiastically, yet you actually said that it's boring? Is it possible that you look down on His Majesty and Her Highness?"

"You're Miss Li, right?" Luo Qing Luan smiled slightly. "I haven't finished speaking, so what are you jumping out anxiously for?"

She turned towards Empress Wang and bowed in respect before continuing unflinchingly, "Your Highness, even though I don't know how to compose poetry, I'd also like to hear everyone's masterpieces. Based on customs from previous years, everyone knew that would know that the subject matter of tonight's poems would be praising the moon and treasuring relationships. It's quite possible that some people had already prepared in advance. The poems they'll be reciting may not necessarily be their own compositions. That would be too boring."

Li Shuyi's complexion changed. "Luo Qing Luan, what do you mean by that? Don't tell me that you're saying that we deliberately found other people to write poetry, then pretend that we composed them ourselves?"

Luo Qing Luan shot a glance at her. "Miss Li, I didn't even say that you're plagiarizing. What are you so anxious for? Since this is a poetry meeting, it should naturally reflect our genuine talent in order win His Majesty and Her Highness' reward and gain the title of Western Chu's 'girl of talent'. If the poem is something we had someone else compose earlier, if that's not plagiarizing, then what is?"

Absolute silence descended upon the scene. Everyone's complexion changed.

It went without saying that during all of the previous poetry meetings, preparations were made in advance. All they had to do was recite when the time came. Naturally, some of these highborn ladies didn't have this ability, but didn't want to lose face, so they had their family's teachers or maybe an acquaintance compose the poems in advance.

This had already become a public secret which had never been openly talked about. Certainly, this group of ladies absolutely had never thought that during this crucial year when the crown prince consort was going to be chosen, there would surprisingly be someone who openly declared that they prepared someone's poem in advance. How could they accept something like this?

Yuchi Lianqing could become the most talented girl in Western Chu. She naturally relied somewhat on her own abilities, so she actually wasn't afraid, but she was very disgusted with the way Luo Qing Luan went against accepted customs. Were it not for Empress Wang's restraining presence, how could she still remain so polite?

Then according to Miss Luo's opinion, how should this year's poetry meeting be conducted? We shouldn't take away everything, right?" She responded unenthusiastically, her tone of voice already displaying a trace of coldness.

Indeed waiting for someone to say this, Luo Qing Luan smiled faintly and turned towards Empress Wang to say, "Of course not. Your Highness, every year, the poems have been recited randomly. I'm afraid that Your Highness might be a bit tired of it. How about we change the way it's done this year? How about making it a bit more novel? Moreover, this approach can also distinguish who is truly talented. I wonder what Your Highness think?"