Song Qingshu frowned. How was that possible?!
With his cultivation, there was no way he could have miscounted. He was certain there had been 1,024 petals.
Beside him, Xue Baochai stared at her brother in disbelief. "You actually got it right? How many petals did you write down?"
"Of course. Your brother has fortune shining upon him, with all gods and Buddhas watching over me," Xue Pan said smugly, looking as though his tail were about to stick up into the heavens. "I just wrote down a number at random, something over eight hundred, I think. Who knew I'd actually get it right?"
Xue Baochai could not help spitting, "Shame on you for talking nonsense. Do not profane the gods and Buddhas."
Hearing their exchange, Song Qingshu understood at once. At first, he had suspected that he had been careless and missed or counted a few petals too many, but after learning that Xue Pan's answer had only been eight hundred-odd, he knew such a huge discrepancy was impossible.
Yet the Courtesan Queen claimed that was the correct answer. Song Qingshu quickly realized that she had rigged the contest behind the scenes. In fact, his own qualification to come here earlier had also been arranged through trickery in the poetry contest.
He had originally thought she was targeting Jia Baoyu, but it now seemed she was indeed after Xue Pan?
Why?
Song Qingshu grew even more puzzled.
The other young masters had not thought that deeply. Seeing the Courtesan Queen ultimately choose Xue Pan, they looked as though their parents had died. They all urged her to reconsider, while some of the more blunt-spoken ones even called him by his nickname, Dumb Tyrant.
How could Xue Pan endure such humiliation? He immediately leaped up and started fighting the man. The