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Princess Mu promptly turned to leave after blurting out those words.

She left… just like that?

Everyone stared at Mu Yaoyao…

What about her bet? She had bet her own head. Had she forgotten about it?

“Hey, Princess Mu, what about that head?”

“Princess Mu, you’re supposed to cut your head off, right?”

“Princess Mu, we won’t stop you, but you’ve got to leave your head behind.”

“Hahahaha —”

In her exasperation, Mu Yaoyao had insulted everyone and the crowd turned against her.

Mu Yaoyao stumbled and almost lost her footing.

She was only able to stop from falling because someone in the crowd steadied her.

“Hmph!” Cheeks flushed, Mu Yaoyao ran away as fast as she could!

The crowd sneered in contempt.

“Princess Mu didn’t even try to keep her promise.”

“That’s right. She really didn’t behave like a princess at all, running off like that.”

“She didn’t just run off. She accused us of wanting her dead. What did we do? She did it to herself!”

“If she has the courage to apologize to Miss Feng for what she said, I’ll respect her a lot for it. But what she did was just so disgraceful!”

“Are all princesses nowadays like this?”

Everyone was talking at the same time.

Just when they all thought that Mu Yaoyao had run off from the humiliation, she doubled back shortly afterward!

She came back!

“Look! Princess Mu is back! Is she going to apologize to Miss Feng?”

Instantly, all eyes were on Mu Yaoyao.

She rushed to Feng Wu’s side, snorted, then grabbed Ye Yafei by the wrist. “Didn’t you make a bet with Duan Chaoge just then?”

“Y- Yes…” Ye Yafei was still in shock.

“And you, too, right?” Mu Yaoyao glared at Duan Chaoyin.

Duan Chaoyin said, “Y- Yes…”

“Good!” Mu Yaoyao sneered at Feng Wu. “Wasn’t Duan Chaoge going to destroy her own cultivation if she lost the bet? Well, I’ll keep my promise if she keeps hers!”

The idea came to Mu Yaoyao just then and she thought it was the only way to turn things around!

Wasn’t Feng Wu forcing her to keep her promise to cut her head off? Fine. That Duan Chaoge that Feng Wu was so protective of was going to lose. Make her keep her promise now!

“Why are you asking me to keep my promise when Duan Chaoge won’t? That’s just double standards!” Mu Yaoyao said in a righteous tone.

Duan Chaoge?

Everyone turned to look at Duan Chaoge.

The confrontation between Feng Wu and Mu Yaoyao was so eye-catching that everyone had forgotten about the bet Duan Chaoge had made with Duan Chaoyin and Ye Yafei.

“So, if Chaoge keeps her word, you’ll keep yours?” Feng Wu smiled.

“Naturally!” Mu Yaoyao stuck out her chest and spoke in a confident voice, her eyes shining!

What they said was right. She couldn’t leave this place like a defeated dog… It would be such a blow for the Mu manor!

“But, Chaoge did get in.” Feng Wu shrugged.

Although she hadn’t checked the list, Feng Wu had helped Chaoge cheat in the exam and she knew exactly how many marks Chaoge had gotten.

“Hahahaha —”

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Duan Chaoyin, who had kept her silence, finally laughed out loud. She said to Feng Wu, “Miss Feng Wu, you can have as much confidence in yourself as you want, but as for Duan Chaoge… I’m afraid you’ve made the wrong judgment.”

“Really?” Feng Wu raised an eyebrow.

“Duan Chaoge is my younger sister from a different mother and I know her better than anyone else. All she could write down on that paper was her name. Pass the written exam? That’s never going to happen!”

Ye Yafei chuckled as well. “I’ll be a royal princess before Duan Chaoge passes the written exam!”

Duan Chaoyin added, “I’ll be the empress if she passes!”

–

In the crowd, Emperor Wu’s face darkened!

But the two girls weren’t aware of it.

Seeing the look on His Majesty’s face, the chief steward knew that he was offended.

The chief steward said a silent prayer for the heads of the Duan and Ye clans.

“Miss, Miss —” Duan Chaoyin’s maid tugged her sleeve.

“Hm?”

“Miss, passed, passed…” The maid tried to drop a hint.

Duan Chaoyin arrogantly said, “I know I passed…”

Xiaohuan was almost in tears. “Miss, your sister passed…”

WHAT?!

Those words rumbled like thunder in Duan Chaoyin’s ears!

After all, only a handful of people had been able to see the list that Mr Zuo had leaked.

Mu Yaoyao was one of them, but her servants were so considerate that they had crossed out Duan Chaoge’s name in advance, so as not to upset their master. Hence, Mu Yaoyao missed Duan Chaoge’s name.

Hence, everyone turned to look at Duan Chaoge now.

The onlookers were all eager for more gossip and people started yelling immediately.

“Duan Chaoge? She’s on the list!”

“She didn’t pass? Says who? She’s the second name on the list and it’s written in bold strokes, too!”

“Why did Princess Mu think that Duan Chaoge failed? Is she blind or something?”

“And those two girls, why are they still talking nonsense?”

The crowd looked at Mu Yaoyao, Duan Chaoyin, and Ye Yafei as if they were clowns.

The three girls looked at one another in bewilderment before turning to their servants!

“Miss…” Xiaohuan was almost in tears. “Duan Chaoge… is second.”

“Pfft —”

Mu Yaoyao spat out a mouthful of blood!

But Duan Chaoyin was the most astonished!

After living under the same roof for so many years, she knew perfectly well what Duan Chaoge was like! That girl was hopeless when it came to exams!

But she got the second highest score? Just behind Feng Wu?!

“No, no, no! That’s impossible! I won’t believe it! There’s no way Duan Chaoge is second! She knows nothing! She can’t even get into the first 2000, let alone be second!”

However, the others only snorted at her in return.

“Duan Chaoge really is second in the written exam.” Everyone gave her that answer.

Pfft —

“Wait, is she Duan Chaoyin?”

“I think so. Her maid called her ‘Miss,’ didn’t she?”

“Why didn’t I see her name up there?”

“I think I did. There, in the last hundred. Isn’t that Duan Chaoyin?”

“No! That’s Duan Chaoyue! There’s no Duan Chaoyin on the list.”

Duan Chaoyin was dumbfounded when she heard that!

What the hell?!

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She had yet to recover from the shock of Duan Chaoge getting the second highest score when she learned that she herself hadn’t gotten in…

She couldn’t believe it!

Duan Chaoyin turned to stare at Xiaohuan!

Xiaohuan almost burst into tears, but she still said, “Miss… your name really isn’t on the list…”

“Pffft —” Duan Chaoyin couldn’t take the blow and almost fainted.

“Miss! Miss! Your name isn’t on the list, but your sister’s is!”

“Pfft —”

Xiaohuan really shouldn’t have mentioned that. Duan Chaoyin spat out a mouthful of blood as soon as she heard it.

“Miss, Miss —”

Duan Chaoyin passed out from anger…

The crowd was speechless.

In the crowd, Emperor Wu shook his head at Duan Chaoyin, who had fainted from anger. “That girl needs to work on her tolerance. Which family is she from?”

“Her father is Duan Hongyi, a fourth-ranked official…” the chief steward whispered in Emperor Wu’s ear.

Emperor Wu recalled the person at the reminder.

He shook his head. “Duan Hongyi is a decent government official, but he’s not as good when it comes to raising his children. This daughter of his isn’t presentable at all.”

The chief steward said another silent prayer, this time for Master Duan.

“But that Duan Chaoge is a nice girl. Is she Duan Hongyi’s daughter, too?”

“Yes…” Because of Feng Wu, the chief steward had been keeping an eye on Duan Chaoge as well. “Miss Duan Chaoge is Duan Hongyi’s third daughter, but her mother is a concubine and her family bullies her…”

Emperor Wu frowned. “Duan Hongyi is such a poor judge of character.”

1The chief steward felt even more sorry for this Master Duan now.

His Majesty had just criticized him on his judgment of character. A fourth-ranked official was probably the highest Duan Hongyi was ever going to go.

With Mu Yaoyao and Duan Chaoyin spitting out blood, Ye Yafei was the only one on her feet, but she didn’t look any better…

“Ye Yafei, right?” Feng Wu glanced at her.

“F- Feng Wu… What do you want from me?”

Feng Wu smiled. “Those two passed out from fear and they can wait, but what did you say just then? You’ll cut an arm off if Chaoge gets in?”

“I… I… But!” Ye Yafei read the agreement about her bet and her eyes lit up all of a sudden!

She shouted, “But! You’ve only just passed the written exam! There’s still the physical tryout to go! I’ll cut my arm off if you pass that and get into Imperial College!”

Feng Wu frowned.

Ye Yafei was thrilled as she pointed at the words on the agreement. “Look! It says ‘get into Imperial College,’ not ‘pass the written exam’! Hahahaha — the bet is about getting accepted into Imperial College!”

Feng Wu darted a look at her agreement and saw that it was indeed the case.

She hadn’t noticed it when the agreement was drafted, for to her understanding, passing the written exam wasn’t that different from getting into Imperial College.

Mu Yaoyao and Duan Chaoyin had passed out.

Of course, they were only pretending to have passed out.

For if they didn’t do that, Feng Wu would ask them to honor their bets.

But Ye Yafei’s words gave them some hope!

Well, it gave them a lot more than “some hope”!

Mu Yaoyao jumped to her feet. She stared at Feng Wu with a malicious smile on her face. “Feng Wu! The bet we made was for you to get into Imperial College, not pass the written exam!”

At least, that was what was written in the agreement!