“Someone among the female guests can write with three brushes simultaneously?”

The male guests erupted in commotion.

Three brushes simultaneously—this was truly astounding.

“Isn’t this a misunderstanding? Three brushes simultaneously are impossible!”

“I heard that Master Qiao possessed the exceptional skill of writing with six brushes simultaneously, but I never expected to hear news of three brushes simultaneously today…”

Prince Gong of Xijiang furrowed his refined brows slightly: “Your Highnesses, what does ‘six brushes simultaneously’ mean?”

Prince Rui and Prince Mu exchanged glances, and Prince Mu smiled as he explained: “So-called ‘six brushes simultaneously’ means holding three brushes in each hand and writing simultaneously, with the characters written being different. In our Great Liang, only the late great scholar Master Qiao possessed this exceptional skill.”

Prince Gong of Xijiang showed surprise: “Master Qiao is also highly renowned in our Xijiang, though regrettably we never had the opportunity to witness Master Qiao’s spectacular six-brush writing. I wonder if Your Highnesses could allow us to witness the young lady who can write with three brushes simultaneously?”

The deceased Master Qiao was a world-renowned great scholar. He had previously discovered while reading classical texts that Master Qiao had an Xijiang bloodline, which would make six-brush writing unsurprising. But a young lady capable of three-brush writing? This was simply absurd. Even his royal sister, Xijiang’s most talented young lady, could at most write with both hands simultaneously.

“This…” Prince Rui hesitated, looking toward Prince Mu.

Prince Mu sneered inwardly.

With the Fifth Brother’s cowardly nature, did he still covet that position? Even if only to prevent Great Liang’s realm from being ruined in Fifth Brother’s hands, he must redouble his efforts.

“Since Your Highness wishes to witness this, what difficulty is there? Someone—” Prince Mu took over, calling a servant and giving quiet instructions.

Prince Mu’s consort quickly received the message, frowning: “His Highness wants to see Third Miss Li’s calligraphy?”

“His Highness said so.”

Prince Mu’s consort instructed a maid to quietly place Qiao Zhao’s written “Instructions for Women” into a box and bring it over, ordering the servant to carry it away.

The male guests had been waiting for quite some time.

“Your Highness, the calligraphy of the young lady who can write with three brushes simultaneously has been brought.” The servant presented the box.

“Your Highness, quickly open the box and let us admire it.” Many people, emboldened by wine, called out in unison.

After three rounds of wine, most of those present had loosened up.

Shao Mingyuan, seated adjacent to Chi Can and others, gripped his wine cup as his temple-reaching, long eyebrows moved slightly.

Three brushes simultaneously? If asked which noble lady in the West Garden could accomplish this, he could determine without thinking—none other than Zhaozhao.

That Zhaozhao possessed this exceptional skill yet hadn’t told him, and he was hearing about it today from another man’s mouth—this feeling was truly unpleasant.

General Shao felt uncomfortable in his heart, but upon reflection, perhaps his wife had too many exceptional skills to mention them all at once. His mood not only failed to lighten but grew even heavier.

If their future children weren’t intelligent, it would be because they took after him—he wouldn’t even have a chance to argue otherwise.

“Tingyuan, what are you thinking about? We’ve been calling you and you can’t hear.” Yang Houcheng, at his side, tugged at Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan turned to look at him.

Yang Houcheng stroked his chin: “I’m thinking that the young lady who can write with three brushes simultaneously is most likely Miss Li.”

Chi Can snorted with laughter: “Do you even need to say that?”

Prince Mu had already opened the box and taken out the paper, with people around him crowding over to look.

Prince Gong of Xijiang carefully examined the elegant and graceful hairpin-style small regular script, then suddenly shook his head: “This cannot possibly be writing done with three brushes simultaneously!”

Prince Mu raised his eyebrows: “Why does Prince Gong say this?”

“Look here.” Prince Gong of Xijiang pointed with his finger. “These characters have identical brushstroke movements—how could they be written simultaneously with three brushes? I ask you all, who among you could accomplish this?”

The crowd immediately fell silent.

They certainly couldn’t do it. Forget three brushes simultaneously—they couldn’t even achieve this with two-handed writing.

But Prince Mu laughed: “My consort sent word that the noble ladies of both countries are competing in talents at the West Garden. This young lady, who writes with three brushes simultaneously, has already competed in two contests—music and calligraphy. These characters were written by her under everyone’s watchful eyes, and after completion, they were immediately collected by my consort. There should be no way to fake this.”

“Hiss, this is truly inconceivable. If only we could witness this in person.”

“Indeed, Master Qiao’s six-brush writing is already a legend. If we could witness the miracle of three-brush writing today, we would have no regrets.”

“I wonder who this young lady from your esteemed country who can write with three brushes simultaneously might be?” Prince Gong of Xijiang couldn’t help but ask.

If that young lady could truly accomplish this, his royal sister would certainly be no match for her.

In a corner of the banquet, the newly appointed Jinlin Guards Commander Jiang Yuanchao sat alone at a table, silently drinking a cup of wine.

Who else could that young lady be besides her?

He had already drunk quite a bit today, yet his eyes remained clear and coldly indifferent as he glanced distantly at Shao Mingyuan.

This man truly had monopolized all the good fortune.

Shao Mingyuan seemed to sense something, his gaze suddenly turning to meet Jiang Yuanchao’s eyes in mid-air.

The two men stared at each other for a moment before Jiang Yuanchao was the first to look away.

Shao Mingyuan lowered his eyes and sneered coldly.

Could this boy still be harboring thoughts about Zhaozhao? Simply preposterous!

Intense killing intent surged violently in Shao Mingyuan’s heart like boiling water.

This wouldn’t do. Having murderous thoughts toward someone just because they admired Zhaozhao was not good—he wasn’t a homicidal maniac after all.

But what if he wanted to be willful just once?

General Shao touched his sharply defined chin, seriously pondering this question.

Everyone was extremely curious about who the young lady capable of three-brush writing could be. Prince Mu raised his cup toward Shao Mingyuan, smiling broadly: “Speaking of which, congratulations are for the Marquis—that young lady is none other than the Marquis’s fiancée.”

Zhu Yàn secretly frowned, looking at Shao Mingyuan with concern.

Miss Li’s prominence was too great—who knew if it might attract unnecessary trouble? If it were him, he wouldn’t want his fiancée to become the focus of everyone’s discussion.

Yet he saw Shao Mingyuan holding his wine cup with an unchanged expression, smiling faintly: “Thank you.”

His wife, as long as she wished it, he was willing to watch her shine brilliantly rather than hide in residential courtyards and remain dim, merely because she was a woman.

A person’s brilliance shouldn’t be concealed due to gender differences. Since worldly customs were unfair to women, he was willing to do his utmost to give her fairness.

“So it’s the Marquis’s fiancée—the Marquis truly has good fortune.” Prince Gong of Xijiang’s eyes flickered, his words carrying deeper meaning.

Shao Mingyuan smiled slightly: “I am indeed quite fortunate.”

“How goes the competition at the West Garden?” Prince Gong of Xijiang asked.

“Four contests have been completed so far, with each side winning two. The decisive round should be starting now.”

“What were the first four contests?” someone asked curiously.

“Respectively: pitch-pot, dance, music, and calligraphy. Xijiang won the first two, Great Liang won the latter two.”

Hearing Prince Mu’s words, many realized: this meant both victories were secured by Marquis Guanjun’s fiancée? This young lady was truly extraordinary.

Prince Gong of Xijiang felt increasingly uneasy and asked: “What is the final contest?”

His royal sister had lost two contests in a row? This was truly unexpected.

“I’ll send someone to investigate.”

At the West Garden, when Princess Mu announced the contest topic drawn from the flower lots, the scene fell into deathly silence.