26 If he did not call himself benwang, then he was a beauty!

Bai He burst out laughing.

He smiled at his beloved sister as he stepped towards the person who suddenly and remorselessly had the urge to squander the family's fortune. Their mother almost fainted when she discovered that almost all diamonds in the chest were made into his sister's dress. He had to return to the mansion and took quite some time to console her. All without the cause of this mess knowing anything.

"You naughty girl, your mother almost stormed Yue mansion to spank you," he said with only a slight smile because they were in the middle of a banquet. Otherwise, Bai Yu's forehead would have been flicked until it turned red.

His sister replied with a smile so sweet that other men around them felt their hearts race. Bai Yu smiled and talked to her brother as if they were the only two people in the entire world. While conversing with his sister, Bai He sent out killing intent toward the noblemen who kept staring at his sister.

Originally, he intended to enter the banquet together with Wangye, but when he saw Bai Yu being surrounded by Furens and gentlemen of various families, he had to hasten his pace to intervene. And he had completely forgotten about the important person who he had left behind to enter the party alone.

Bai Yu and Bai He enjoyed their conversation like other young nobles around them. The atmosphere around them was vastly different from high-ranking aristocrats who were stunned for the second time.

This time, it was also because of a beauty. But a male beauty.

A man in pure white whose appearance was even more beautiful than women astonished everyone in the banquet. His tall figure that exuded authority made women's hearts beat fast and inspired both jealousy and admiration in men. Only a few would have thought that he was identical to the late someone…

"Your…Majesty…" The senior chancellor who had served Da Yang for two consecutive reigns could not believe his own eyes.

So alike. Especially those familiar golden eyes…

"Make way for the Emperor. Make way for the Empress."

Both liveliness and confusion were put on hold when the Son of Heaven in golden robe stepped into the banquet. Beside him was a lady in matching golden clothes but embroidered with a phoenix in flight, the symbol of the phoenix beside the throne.

Everyone in the banquet bowed and gave blessings to the two. Though many were surprised that the Empress Dowager did not arrive together with the Emperor, they all kept their silence.

The tall figure of Ouyang Hongxian walked up to the honored seat that was on a raised platform facing the performance stage. On his right was Empress Wang while his left was empty as Empress Dowager Wei had not yet come, and from Ouyang Hongxian's frequent sighs, it became clearer and clearer that she would not come tonight.

Other guests were seated facing the stage in the middle as well. The seats next to Empress Wang were given to female royals and high-rank royal consorts who were permitted to participate. Next to those were for Furens of different families. Bai Yu sat among other young ladies of the same age in the area next to the Furens.

Obviously, Bai Yu had to be separated from Bai He because the seats were divided into male and female sides. The chair next to the Emperor was for another male royal, and it seemed that the Emperor glanced at that seat unusually often. His action made senior aristocrats in the seating zone next to the princes tense up. After them were noblemen ranging from major families to minor ones.

Because of their family's influence, Bai Yu and Bai He were in the front row. To Bai Yu's left was Xu Peipei, and to her right was Yue Huiling in a flaming red dress that, to Bai Yu's personal opinion, did not suit her tanned skin very well.

If given the opportunity, I want to design you a dress too, biaojie!

Music sounded as Ouyang Hongxian waved his hand. Dancers moved onto the stage and started their performance. Bai Yu did not care about conversing with women next to her like other noble ladies, and the dance did not interest her one bit. There was only food on the table in front of her that she enjoyed, even better, she did not have to move too much while eating. Her head was too heavy!

Still, lowering her head to eat also took a toll on her neck as well. And so, Bai Yu had to lift her face to look at the performance from time to time. But before she could look at anything, her eyes met with her brother's. He was gazing toward her, looking both worried and amused after she had told him about the weight of her head accessories.

Applaud sounded through the banquet after the second performance ended. Then, the Emperor called Bai Yu, Bai Hua, Ouyang Mingxian, and others who had contributed to curing the disease over to receive rewards. Bai Yu was surprised that the Emperor gave several chests of diamonds for her alone, but she immediately understood when she looked down at her own dress.

The Emperor had some sense of humor.

"Miss Bai is uniquely beautiful today. You've broadened bengong's view." It was Empress Wang who mentioned her dress.

"I had this dress made by the anonymous master, Your Majesty. The fabrics are mainly from those that Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager have given me."

"And it was a fine decision. The design and pattern are both something bengong has never seen before…" Empress Wang motioned her hand. "…Come here, can bengong look at it closer?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Bai Yu curtsied before slowly approaching Empress Wang. When she came close, the Empress' eyes widened slightly when she noticed the specks of diamonds in the fabric before her expression was concealed by calmness again. Ouyang Hongxian still had his same gentle smile.

Bai Yu notices that his golden eyes glanced toward the seat next to him again.

"It is truly an exquisite design."

"If it is to Your Majesty's liking, dare I suggest that I order the anonymous master to sew a dress for Your Majesty's?"

"Good. Very good." Empress Wang was pleased with her suggestion, and then she gave Bai Yu another reward.

-----------------------

Presenting her dress to the Empress went smoothly, as she had hoped. Now that this dress caught the Empress' eyes, other consorts, high-ranking Furens, and young ladies would surely flock to buy this style of dress that she had designed for the anonymous master.

"Your Majesties, if I may suggest," Taizi Fei intentionally spoke up after Empress Wang had given her praise and reward. "Seeing that Miss Bais are both beautiful and intelligent, it would be an honor to see their joint performance."

Bai Yu suppressed a sigh. Bai Hua who was sitting behind her put down her cup of liquor, causing a slight sound.

"Bengong heard that Miss Bai Yu was adept in guqin. But what would Miss Bai Hua perform alongside her?" Empress Wang nodded to her daughter-in-law. Both seemed to have an intention to help Bai Yu in publicly humiliating Bai Hua. However, the Empress did not realize that Taizi Fei intended to humiliate both of them at the same time.

"Answering Your Majesty, I can dance." Bai Yu still handled the situation calmly.

"Then Miss Bai Yu plays the magic guqin while Miss Bai Hua performs a magic dance, is that alright?" Taizi Fei concluded with a sweet voice.

"Very well." Empress Wang nodded, satisfied, before turning to Ouyang Hongxian. "What does Your Majesty think?"

"It's been a while since Miss Bai Yu last performed magic guqin. This arrangement is fine." Empress Wang and Taizi Fei both set up a plan like this already, then what could he do to object?

As Bai Yu silently lamented her inevitable fate, a seven strings guqin was brought in front of her. Bai Hua asked for two long fabrics to use for her dance. Bai Hua intended to perform rhythmic gymnastics, substituting the ribbon stick with the cloth.

While waiting for the fabrics, Bai Yu and Bai Hua unintentionally met each other's eyes. According to the script, Bai Yu was going to play the song that she was skilled at in an attempt to be superior to Bai Hua. But in the end, Bai Hua could expertly show her skills in combination with her grey magic, stealing the spotlight from Bai Yu.

That day, the heroine had gotten back at the villainess, while at the same time announced to everyone that she was no longer the worthless woman.

Bai Yu put her fingers on the strings that she had used to slander her half-sister. She turned away from Bai Hua's eyes because of her own pridefulness. Bai Yu knew full well what that look from Bai Hua meant, but she did not want to cooperate.

This time, she chose to follow the faith, but she also refused to lose!

Bai Hua accepted the fabrics and got into her stance. Bai Yu started playing the familiar song from her guqin, the same song that the original had played and made a name for herself. This new Bai Yu could play it because it was the same song used in the series, as well as how rhythmic gymnastics from Bai Hua was similar to the series.

The performance from two beauties charmed the audience into silence. Though Bai Yu's guqin sounded slightly off, it was fulfilled by the never-seen-before style of dancing. Red magic poured out of the guqin and spread out to cover the entire stage before turning into countless butterflies.

Bai Yu did not realize how or in what form her magic was released. She only recalled her guqin skill from her past life while sending out magic according to how she felt it in this life. Even with strange sounds from guqin and an unusual dance that were unfamiliar to the audience, the butterflies could fill all those gaps and create a complete performance.

Seeing that, Bai Hua also started intertwining her gymnastic dance with magic as well. Grey aura slowly emanated from the dancing figure. She abandoned the fabrics and used her magic instead. Controlling her magic while dancing was much easier and more beautiful than fabrics.

Still, her movements could not stun everyone more than the grey magic. Grey magic from the miss who was known as a useless woman who was void of magic. But the truth was now revealed. She was a magic user, even one with a higher level than Bai Yu's red magic and only one-fifth lower than Ouyang Mingxian's black level. Every noble in the banquet was made to realize that Bai Hua was not what the rumor said at all.

Mist of grey magic manifested again, surrounding Bai Hua's whole body before forming a large lotus that slowly opened its petals, revealing Bai Hua standing inside. The image of the mysterious lotus was accompanied by the song from guqin that was slowly fading away together with red butterflies, ending with the sole figure in the middle of a grey lotus.

Loud applause echoed throughout the stage. Praises for Bai Hua seemed as if endless.

Ouyang Hongxian was greatly pleased by this performance. Both Bai Yu and Bai Hua were given equal rewards. However, the only thing Bai Yu could think of was how grateful she was toward the Emperor. The equal rewards were meant to be consolation for her since her red magic faded away before the song even ended.

This time, Bai Yu truly and completely lost. She did not lose because Bai Hua had superior skills, but because she did overestimate her own strength!

Bai Yu could not help but blame herself. She only thought about training martial arts, forgetting that both her magic and skill were not as good as the original. What happened in the woods that day motivated her to start training in self-defense. Furthermore, she was preoccupied with designing clothes and creating a business out of them. In the end, she neglected to consider that she was only an ordinary person…an ordinary person like her should not try to accomplish many things at once, otherwise, all would end up failures. Like what she went through today.

The banquet continued. Bai Yu whose face was sheen with sweat from exerting herself to use magic. She returned to her seat with Bai Hua sitting behind her, according to their statuses. However, after the Emperor and Empress left, her sister became much more popular.

Some noble came to talk to Bai Yu, but she chose to leave the party instead. Now that there were no more ceremonies, those who wish to drink or converse could do so freely without concern about men mingling with women like when the Emperor was still in the banquet.

Bai Yu walked along the snow-covered path with an empty head. Though this area was considered a part of the banquet, the path was quiet because most guests were still inside. She lifted her skirt to look at her feet that sank into the snow. Bai Yu had already forgotten how exquisite were the accessories and dress, and how much they cost.

She forgot even the weight on her head because her heart felt equally heavy.

The villainess was muddled…

If Bai Yu let go of her pride and accepted the gaze that Bai Hua had sent, would this kind of thing still happen?

Or should she practice guqin more, following what her mother had insisted, to avoid losing like this? Or should she not come to the banquet in the first place?

But…was this really that big of a deal to her?

Or just losing once did not mean losing forever?

And was it even necessary to compete?

What did she really want?!

Thud!

"Careful!"

"Owww!"

Immediately as the warning was heard, Bai Yu's arm was pulled back, saving her from falling on the stone lamp along the path. The person who helped her was also the one that she had bumped into so hard that she staggered. If it was other times, she would not lose balance, but today was special, with all the accessories in her hair that felt like anchors.

Bai Yu moved away from the helping hands to stand on her own. She lifted her face to look at the good Samaritan. "Thank you, I…"

The golden eyes fixed her to the spot.

The owner of the gleaming eyes arched an eyebrow. "Will there be a time that benwang meets you normally?"

Benwang?

Bai Yu's eyes widened as she stared at the person who addressed himself as a high-rank prince. Even while knowing that she would be rude, she continued to gawk at him and ended up feeling insecure.

Because other than the golden irises that showed how his magic was stronger than hers…his face was also much more beautiful than hers as well!

Ever since crossing into this world, Bai Yu had only met women with devastating beauty that could conquer cities and spark wars. And this person was clearly the male version of that.

He had an oval face that was unusual to see among men, and thin lips that Bai Yu felt was strangely familiar. Those features, when combined with the nose that was like a work of art, then erased away all the familiarity she felt. Only the sharp gaze in those eyes could stop his beauty from getting out of hand. Still, those long eyelashes made Bai Yu suddenly envious. And his brows that were dark like men's but at the same time shaped thin like women's…This was truly the beauty that resulted from a perfect mixture of femininity and masculinity!

Bai Yu glanced at the pure white that this beautiful man was wearing. It made him look like an immortal, or an angel, opposite to her who was the she-devil in pitch black.

So pretty…

If he did not call himself benwang, then he was a beauty!

"Are…are you really a man?" Bai Yu could not help herself asking. Confusion and hesitation she felt a while ago were replaced by astonishment and curiosity. Bai Yu never realized that this man helped pull her away from confusion every time they met.

From the word 'benwang' uttered by that beautiful lips, Bai Yu wracked her brain to recall every male royal she knew. In the end, she still did not know who this man was. The golden eyes that signify powerful magic made it harder for her to think of anyone besides the Emperor who had the highest level of magic like this.

Bai Yu started from listing off princes who had the possibility to progress to gold magic. And from that list, there was only Ouyang Feilong who fit the criteria. But the last time they met he still had silver eyes, and he wore a mask at all times, so this person could not be him…

"Little fool, you mistook benwang for a woman?"

Could not be him, my ass!

"Ouyang Feilong!"

"Did benwang allow you to say benwang's name?" The beauty gazed at Bai Yu with his sharp golden eyes. Even with this dazzling face, Wangye's aggressiveness never waned.

"Y…you." Bai Yu stepped back. She unconsciously pointed her finger at the man who kept walking toward her.

"Benwang what?" His large hand gripped her finger and moved it away from his face. How insolent could this woman be? She called his name, pointed her finger at him, did she think he would not punish her because she was Bai He's sister?

"Y…you…"

Bai Yu's fear was left behind when she was shocked from discovering that this beauty was the same person as the foul-mouthed man in the dragon mask. Even more unbelievable was the fact that he could progress from silver to gold level magic in only a few days!

"What is it, hm?"

Golden eyes stared deep into the jet-black ones that were shaken. It was the first time she looked at him like this.

"You…"

Ouyang Feilong raised an eyebrow, waiting to see Bai Yu's reaction.

Was she excited? Or scared?

"You're so very pretty!"

This Bai Yu so very admired Ouyang Feilong!