sjar Chapter 84 Courtesan Contest 1
Chapter 84 Courtesan Contest 1
Chapter 84 The Courtesan Contest (Part 1)
Today is the second day of the courtesan competition. The competition will last for seven days. The first five days are elimination rounds, with half of the participating courtesans being eliminated each day. The last two days are the finals, where the top courtesan will be selected from the ten contestants.
On stage, Sheng Lan smiled slightly and said, "Now, please welcome contestant number 88, Li Yajing."
Sheng Lan's best friend, Li Yajing, slowly walked onto the stage. Today, she wore a high-slit cheongsam, revealing her long, white legs with every step. Her hair was styled in a high bun, and she was graceful and charming, exuding a captivating aura. Her oriental charm was like that of a classical flower, so alluring and exquisite, leaving all the men in awe.
Sheng Lan continued, "Miss Li is 19 years old and 1.63 meters tall. She comes from Lihualou in Hezhou. Now we will move on to the Q&A session. Please ask your questions."
"I'll go first!" Wang Wenzhou said.
"Hahaha..." The audience burst into excited laughter.
During yesterday's Q&A session, Lord Wang's questions were all witty puns that sparked the imagination. The men were truly impressed by Lord Wang; he was incredibly talented. How did he come up with such intriguing questions?
Li Yajing smiled and silently watched Wang Wenzhou, waiting for his question.
“There’s a part of your body where things of varying sizes have been inserted. When it’s uncomfortable, it drips water. When I blow on it, you feel very comfortable. So here’s the question: what is this?” Wang Wenzhou asked with a smile.
"Hmm..." Li Yajing blushed instantly. Lord Wang was so naughty, asking this kind of question again. If she answered "that," she would definitely get it wrong.
"Haha..." The audience burst into laughter.
"Miss Li, this is something that women have, but men don't!"
"The soft fragrance is carved into the Jade Gate Pass, the east wind blows and the flowers are already withered. When spring arrives, the dew soaks in, and where the rain passes, the stream is like waves."
"Warm and firm, fragrant and tender, its mouth is as sweet as a lotus, soft and gentle, most pitiful. When happy, it sticks out its tongue and smiles, when sleepy, it clings to your body and sleeps."
An audience member prompted her, and Li Yajing blushed to her neck. She frowned slightly and stared at Wang Wenzhou with a wry smile.
"Have you figured out the answer yet?" Wang Wenzhou asked with a smile.
"My lord... I really didn't know." Li Yajing bit her lip lightly, looking shy and embarrassed, which was quite beautiful.
"Haha..." The audience burst into laughter again; they were increasingly enjoying Lord Wang's questions. Lord Wang's questions always made the girl blush.
"Actually, the answer to this question is very simple." Wang Wenzhou pointed to his nose and said with a smile, "It's just my nose!"
"Haha..." Geng San laughed heartily, clutching his stomach. Lord Wang is so talented!
Wang Wenzhou glanced at the judges beside him and said, "Stop laughing, it's your turn to ask questions."
Cheng Benqing stroked his beard and asked, "Silently I ascend the western tower alone, the moon like a hook. A lonely paulownia tree in the deep courtyard locks in the clear autumn." What is the second half of this poem? Who is the author?
Without a second thought, Li Yajing immediately replied, "It is a sorrow that cannot be cut or untangled, a unique feeling that lingers in the heart." (The author is Li Yu, the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty.)
“Good! The girl’s answer is correct.” Cheng Benqing nodded.
Next, the other judges asked their questions, all of which were quite serious, and Li Yajing answered them easily. Actually, aside from Wang Wenzhou's question, which wasn't announced to Li Yajing beforehand, she already knew the answers to the other questions and was well-prepared. As the goddess Sheng Lan's best friend, and a pre-selected top courtesan to win her favor, Wang Wenzhou would naturally have some privileges.
"Alright, now let's move on to the talent show. What talent would you like to perform, Miss Li?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
“I’ll rearrange the music and sing the poem by Li Yu that Mr. Cheng just mentioned,” Li Yajing replied.
"Please welcome Miss Li to sing for us," Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
"Silently I ascend the western tower alone, the moon like a hook..." Li Yajing began to sing.
Damn! He's so bad he could kneel down right off the bat! Wang Wenzhou was both amused and exasperated.
Ancient lyrics were meant to be sung, but the singing techniques were lost in later generations. Many pop singers also enjoy singing ancient lyrics, and their re-arrangements still offer a unique flavor. Teresa Teng, Faye Wong, and others have all sung ancient lyrics.
Wang Wenzhou taught Li Yajing a Teresa Teng song, hoping she would become a sensation with it. However, Wang Wenzhou hadn't expected that Li Yajing was completely tone-deaf. Her singing was utterly awful, and her vocal skills were nowhere near her looks.
"Shh..."
"Stop singing!"
"It sounds awful!"
"Go down!"
The audience below the stage started to jeer, saying that the singing was really terrible.
After Li Yajing finished singing, hearing the shouts and curses from the audience, she knew she hadn't sung well. Her face immediately fell, and she looked at Wang Wenzhou with a wronged expression.
"Miss Li sang that song so well!" Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
"This music should only exist in heaven; how often can it be heard on earth? I always thought this line of poetry was quite exaggerated, but after hearing you sing it today, I realize that it is truly wonderful!" Li Jinshui commented earnestly.
"Yes! Yes! Of all the girls from yesterday to today, Miss Li's singing skills are definitely number one!" Geng San flattered.
Of the judges, Wang Wenzhou had spoken to all except Cheng Benqing, and Li Yajing was the pre-selected winner. Geng San and his group assumed that Li Yajing was Wang Wenzhou's new lover, and they flattered her relentlessly.
Tears welled up in Li Yajing's eyes as she silently looked at Wang Wenzhou. "Sir, is the singer really that good?"
"Wow..." The audience below the stage was completely bewildered. Had these judges lost their minds?! Miss Li sang well? Even a boar's bellowing would be better than Miss Li's singing!
At this moment, Sheng Lan walked onto the stage and said, "Now we move on to the third segment: flower presentation! Are there any audience members who support Miss Li? Quickly present your flowers! The number of flowers will determine whether Miss Li can advance to the next round."
"Go!" Wang Qiang waved his hand, and seven or eight people carrying large bouquets of flowers rushed forward.
Wow! That's 100 roses in one bunch!
"Isn't that Young Master Qiang?"
One rose costs five taels of silver, representing ten thousand points of flowers. One hundred roses would cost five hundred taels of silver. Seven or eight people, each holding one hundred roses, left the audience dumbfounded.
But when they saw Wang Qiang in the crowd, some of them immediately understood: so Lord Wang likes Miss Li! No wonder, it seems that Miss Li is the undisputed winner of the courtesan competition.
"Hmph! Show-off!" Zhang Shize said irritably.
"Haha! Boxin is quite interesting! I feel like I don't recognize Boxin anymore! Is this still the same silly fat guy we used to bully all the time?" Xu Rongjie said.
“It seems my father was right, Boxin has changed. My father wanted to marry my younger sister to him, and now it seems that Boxin is a good candidate,” Zhang Shize said.
"Fat, ugly, and a womanizer! You're just ruining your sister's life!" Xu Rongjie said with a laugh.
"Brother Xu, how much silver do you think Bo Xin will earn from this beauty pageant?" Zhang Shize asked.
"It would be good enough if we didn't lose money! A grand prize of ten thousand taels of silver, that's the cost. Each ticket costs five copper coins, fifteen thousand people, fifty taels of silver a day in ticket revenue, after seven days, the total is only three hundred and fifty taels. We can't even recover a fraction of the cost," Xu Rongjie replied.
"Tickets are just a small amount of money! Flowers are the real money! I suddenly realize that Bo Xin can earn at least tens of thousands of taels of silver from the Flower Queen Contest!" Zhang Shize said.