Chapter 47-Part 2

Unexpectedly, she ended up losing the watermelon to pick up the sesame seeds. She rushed to recite Young Master Jiang’s poem first, only to find out that Young Master Jiang somehow managed to recite her meticulously prepared masterpiece first!

Jiang Xiurun assured herself that she didn’t steal the poem. In her previous life, Tian Ying had spent a fortune to have it inscribed on a scroll. At that time, in order to flatter the stinky feet of the crown prince’s concubine, she spent a lot of money to buy it at the disaster relief charity sale hosted by Tian Ying.

In order to please the Crown Prince’s beloved concubine, Jiang Xiurun memorized Tian Ying’s poems from beginning to end in preparation for catering to His Highness’s woman anytime and anywhere.

In her previous life, she went to great lengths to please anyone she could use, but in the end, it was all in vain.

In this life, she had no intention of plagiarizing others’ works. After all, those were someone else’s intellectual creations. Relying on her rebirth to claim them as her own would be no different from being a thief.

Since she couldn’t create such works herself, she honestly spent money to buy poems, a fair trade between willing parties.

But what madness drove Tian Ying to set traps and oppose her at every turn?

Since Tian Ying behaved so poorly, Jiang Xiurun felt no remorse for stealing the “great talent’s” poem.

The poem she recited was one the crown prince himself had annotated back then, at a poetry gathering hosted by Master Mufeng, where Tian Ying’s work had stunned everyone.

At that gathering, Tian Ying wasn’t initially on the list of potential concubines for the crown prince. It was only after this poetry event that she made the list, entering the residence and competing for favor with Cao Xi.

Irritated by Tian Ying, Jiang Xiurun decided to go all out and recite Tian Ying’s famous poem that had cemented her relationship with the prince.

Halfway through her recitation, she saw Tian Ying’s face turn pale, her eyes wide in shock, confirming that her poem had struck Tian Ying’s weak point!

Staying by Feng Liwu’s side had taught Jiang Xiurun many things, but her ability to repay grievances had significantly improved.

To make sure Tian Ying understood, Jiang Xiurun wrote the poem on silk and handed it to her first, smiling, “A humble poem of mine; please critique it, Princess Tian.”

Tian Ying knew the young man did it on purpose but couldn’t fathom how he discovered her secretly prepared poem.

Could it be that her maids betrayed her, leaking the poem she had practiced?

Since she didn’t write the poem herself, it couldn’t withstand scrutiny, and she suspected Jiang Xiurun knew she had used a ghostwriter.

She could only swallow her anger, trembling as she forced herself to calmly accept the poem.

Upon closer inspection, she saw it was identical to her own—even the few words she had just had a teacher revise yesterday!

Her gaze towards Jiang Xiurun was filled with suspicion, anger, guilt, and fear…

Jiang Xiurun, maintaining the air of a talented poet, didn’t even glance at Tian Ying. Instead, she elegantly sipped the hot tea handed to her by Qian’er.

When everyone understood the poem’s clever allusions, they were full of praise. Master Mufeng, too, nodded in approval. Being straightforward, he didn’t believe Young Master Jiang would use a ghostwriter. However, since he lived in the crown prince’s residence, the crown prince must have helped him a bit. He said, “This poem has profound meaning. If it is to be spread tomorrow, it should come with annotations to avoid misunderstandings. Since Young Master Jiang is from the crown prince’s residence, could the crown prince annotate it for him?”

Feng Liwu looked at the pretentious Young Master Jiang, nodded, and gladly took up the brush to annotate the poem.

Earlier, Tian Ying might have barely tolerated her poem being stolen by Young Master Jiang, but now seeing the honor of the crown prince’s annotation being taken by this “male vixen” was intolerable!

Jealousy and anger twisted Tian Ying’s face.

If not for her uncle pulling her sleeve, she would have rushed forward to reveal the truth and cry to the crown prince.

But Feng Liwu knew his tutor’s capabilities. For her to produce such a talented poem today was suspicious.

Seeing Tian Ying speechless with anger, she must have suffered a hidden loss.

Since Jiang Xiurun saved his face in public, he didn’t bother with the details, assuming Jiang Xiurun had taken advantage of someone.

However, writing detailed annotations on a “stolen” poem would only encourage her recklessness.

So, he paused and wrote only a few words.

Jiang Xiurun noticed the stark difference from the prince’s previous lengthy annotation for Tian Ying, confirming her suspicions.

Same poem, different fate. Tian Ying was the crown prince’s true love, which explained why she rose to replace Cao Xi in her previous life.

Regretful of her impulsiveness, Jiang Xiurun realized she had made an enemy of Tian Ying, the future legitimate crown princess of the crown prince’s mansion.

When Tian Ying slept with the crown prince later and did some pillow talk with him, her future would be jeopardized.

Sighing quietly, Jiang Xiurun wondered if Cao Xi could rise and compete with Tian Ying. If not, her days would be hard to endure.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xiurun couldn’t help but look at the prince, who had just put down his brush with resentment—since he loved men, he should be gay to the end. Why did he marry so many wives?