Tea free fighting

Chapter 22 - Tea Free

The tea ceremony was the main event of the poetry meet. Every year, all the young ladies in the capital would raise their own name in order to get a good ranking and marry into the upper echelons.

As such, the Imperial Protector Princess had always placed this competition in the side courtyard of the princess' mansion.

Firstly, the side courtyard was the largest courtyard in the princess' mansion, and secondly, there was a teahouse behind the side courtyard. This teahouse could be used to test the knowledge of the ladies.

When Mo Xiyan followed Mo Jingyuan and the other two into the courtyard, the rest of the people also arrived.

"I'll go over to say hello to the two of you. Do you want to come together?" Yu Zhiqian pointed to the few young ladies chatting nearby and asked softly.

Mo Jingyuan looked towards the direction she was pointing at and immediately said: "Sure, it's been awhile since I've seen them. I was just thinking about it."

Saying that, she got down from the horse, raising her eyebrows looking at Mo Xiyan, "Elder sister, you should have never seen those young misses before, do you want me to introduce them to you?"

Mo Xiyan was not interested in talking with these young misses, so she rejected them immediately, "It's fine if you guys go, I'll go over there to rest."

"Miss Mo, are you really not going?" Yu Zhiqian did not expect her not to go, and looked at her with an astonished gaze.

"En, I'm not going. I want to get some tea later. I want to rest." Mo Xiyan smiled at her.

Mo Jingyuan snorted in disdain, "Hmph, you really should be afraid. After all, a person who doesn't know anything like you is worthy to fight against me?"

"It's still too early to say anything." Mo Xiyan caressed the hem of her clothes, and casually smiled: "Little sister, I'm waiting for the fight with you."

As she spoke, she walked towards a pavilion in the corner of the side courtyard without looking back.

"Damned bitch!" Mo Jingyuan stomped her feet in anger.

"If you have the time to waste your strength here, then why don't you think about how to win?" Yu Zhiqian swept her gaze across the two of them with a teasing gaze, then laughed lightly: "Let's go, don't you want to come and greet me?"

With that, she walked past Mo Jingyuan and arrogantly left.

Mo Jingyuan was angered to the point that she had to pinch her kernels once again. She cursed inwardly, Yu Zhiqian, just you wait, sooner or later I'll make you kneel on the ground and submit to me.

She took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in her heart, and then followed Yu Zhiqian with a smile on her face.

Mo Xiyan had already reached the corner of the pavilion, and had a good view of the entire place.

She discovered that the Imperial Protector Princess really valued this segment, because this courtyard was obviously meticulously dressed up compared to the one in the morning.

Not only were there three small platforms in the middle of the courtyard, but there was also a slightly higher platform in front of the platform. From a glance, one could tell that this platform was specially prepared for the princess.

As for the small stage, it should be used for making tea, because all the tools for the tea ceremony were placed all around the stage. Previously, Mo Xiyan thought that she would have no problems, after all, before she teleported, she had interacted a little with the tea ceremony.

Even though it couldn't be said to be proficient, it could at least be considered as an expert.

But now, looking at those props, she instantly understood how insignificant what she knew was.

It looked like the outcome of the battle with Mo Jingyuan would be hard to say.

"Imperial Protector Princess has arrived!"

Just as he was getting annoyed, the sharp voice of a eunuch sounded out, breaking the harmonious atmosphere in the courtyard.

Mo Xiyan raised her eyes and looked towards the entrance of the side courtyard, only to see the princess leading dozens of people in.

What was worth mentioning was that in such a short period of time, the princess had actually changed her clothes. Not only did she change her clothes, even her hair had been redone.

However, it could still be seen from her brows and eyes that her mood wasn't very good. No, it could even be called bad.

When the people in the courtyard saw that the Imperial Protector Princess had arrived, they first bowed to the princess, then to the center of the courtyard.

Seeing that they had moved, Mo Xiyan also walked to the center of the courtyard and gathered below the stage like them.

Imperial Protector Princess stood on the high platform in front of the stage. She lowered her eyes and looked down at the crowd, "Look at all of you being in such a hurry, are you blaming me for dragging it out for too long?"

Even if she was in a bad mood, the princess would still play a little joke on them. The power of this royal family was not to be trifled with. It was worth it for her to learn from them.

Mo Xiyan secretly nodded in her heart, as she deeply felt that she had to be more reserved in the future as well, so that she could be in an invincible position for a long time.

As for the rest of the people, they covered their mouths and laughed as they heard the princess' words. The atmosphere in the courtyard was quite cheerful after all.

"Alright, since everyone has been waiting for so long, I shall announce the beginning of the tea ceremony."

The princess raised her right hand and beckoned, and tens of eunuchs carried a large plate in from the side door. They walked straight to the small table, bowed to the princess, and then placed the jar on top of the plate on the small table, before leaving.

If nothing unexpected happened, these jars should be the tea leaves. Mo Xiyan really liked the shapes and colors of these jars. She sighed in her heart.

"Today's rules for making tea are the same as those of the past years. Whoever makes the most fragrant and delicious tea will taste like before."

The Princess then once again swept her gaze across Mo Xiyan and Mo Jingyuan, "Of course, this year will be even more interesting than the previous years, because the three young misses of the Mo family want to use this stage to fight with each other. Miss Mo rarely appears, but this time, we can have a good understanding of each other.

"

After speaking, the princess gave a light laugh before continuing, "Alright, let's invite the ladies of the first group up on stage."

At lunchtime, everyone had already drawn their lots once, and that number was the order of the competition.

No one knew if it was a coincidence or not, but Mo Xiyan had drawn number 5, and coincidentally matched up with Mo Jingyuan's number 6. This time, even if she didn't want to fight, it would be impossible.

After the princess announced the start of the fight, the three ladies of the first group lifted their skirts and walked up to the stage.

They gracefully bowed to the princess, then to each other before starting to make tea.

They were all very professional, which allowed Mo Xiyan to have a deeper understanding of this era's tea ceremony, and also learned a lot of mistakes from them that she had neglected before.

It turned out that the tea cake needed to be ground before it could be cooked. Mo Xiyan watched it seriously and studied it carefully.

Mo Jingyuan on the side sneered. It was too late to learn anything now.

The three ladies finished the tea as quickly as they could. They poured the tea into the teacup and waited by the side for further instructions from the princess.

The princess picked out a few members from the aristocratic families and asked them to participate in the evaluation.

This was actually a test. After all, tasting tea was so simple.

Not only did they have to tell what kind of water the two ladies were boiling, but they also had to tell whether the tea they were brewing was local or not.

Indeed, this princess' method was profound. Mo Xiyan once again came to a decision for the Imperial Protector Princess.

Soon, the results were out. The one who won in this group was Shang Shu Manor's Miss Wen.

After the three young misses left the stage, a few palace maids stepped forward to clean up the stage. When they had settled everything properly, Imperial Protector Princess stood up and smiled at Mo Xiyan and the rest, "Alright, next will be the third group that we will be following closely. I hope the Mo Family's young misses will not disappoint us."

Mo Xiyan followed the other two onto the stage, and after bowing to the princess, she turned around and looked at her own stage.

However, she immediately noticed that there were no tea leaves on her small table.

No tea? Was this for her to admit defeat straight away?

Mo Xiyan calmly looked at Mo Jingyuan, who was standing at the side, but quickly denied.

This was the princess' mansion, how could she have such a long hand?

So, the one who laid down this trap was the princess herself? But what was her purpose?

She couldn't understand it no matter how much she thought about it …