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But who among them was still in the mood to listen to her talk about exotic mountain and sea delicacies?

All their gazes were riveted on the dagger and the red apple, watching as the dagger peeled the bright red apple.

They suddenly began to fantasize, unbidden, about what it would be like if the dagger were plunged into flesh—would the bright red blood also drip down like apple juice?

And the skin, would it be peeled off layer by layer like apple peels?

Before they could even fantasize about their own flesh, someone already couldn’t bear it, covered their mouth, and ran outside to vomit violently.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuan continued to focus solely on the apple in her hand, sharply carving the flesh and peeling the skin with the dagger.

Her nonchalant demeanor enchanted everyone watching. The bright dagger slid back and forth between her pale, slender fingers, and the apple flesh fell away effortlessly.

Su Qiuyu stared fixedly at the dagger in her hand, her brows furrowed into a tangled mess. Suddenly, a thought struck her, and a scene from many years ago flashed before her eyes.

"Big brother, why are you so happy today?" Seeing the exuberant Su Tianrui, twelve-year-old Su Qiuyu was both curious and excited.

Su Tianrui affectionately ruffled his little sister’s hair, his eyes sparkling as he said, "Little sister, you don’t know. Xia Zheng got his hands on a dagger from who knows where, and it can slice through iron as if it were mud!"

Su Qiuyu was not interested in the dagger, but hearing that it belonged to Xia Zheng, she also asked with interest, "Really? Is it amazing? Brother Zheng must be thrilled!"

"Isn’t he?" Su Tianrui nodded and laughed, "But that guy, I don’t know what got into his head, he went and embedded a whole bunch of gems into the dagger, and even set his Luminous Pearl into it as well! Geez, talk about a waste of precious resources!"

Su Qiuyu’s lips slightly curled up, although she also disliked the idea of embedding the dagger fully with gems, as long as Xia Zheng liked it, she liked it too.

Su Tianrui curled his lip, muttering to himself, "That guy even said he plans to use this gem-filled dagger as a dowry gift for his future bride! Psh, who would want something so mundane?"

Who would want it?

She wanted it!

But she had waited four years, from when she was twelve until now at sixteen, and still, she had not seen Xia Zheng present the so-called mundane dagger to her. Instead, it was in the hands of this country girl that she saw that iron-slicing dagger!

Su Qiuyu sneered, was she so unworthy of that dagger? If it were hers, she would treasure it, certainly not use it to peel apples!

Yao Hanai, who had been watching Su Qiuyu all along, suddenly darkened her eyes, unsure why Su Qiuyu’s expression was looking worse and worse, but soon she figured it out—after all, this Lin Yuan looked quiet and unassuming, but who would have thought she’d actually use that dagger to carve out a flower, let alone Su Qiuyu, even she felt displeased!

Indeed, while Su Qiuyu was recalling past events, Lin Yuan had already successfully carved the red apple in her hand into a crystal-clear apple blossom.

The thin, cicada-wing-like flesh formed the petals, while the bright red apple skin served as the petal’s outlines, adding an enchantingly beautiful touch to the translucent apple flower.

The dagger that was used for murder could actually be used to peel apples; this was the first time anyone had witnessed such a thing, and it was Lin Yuan who demonstrated it.

All the people present couldn’t believe what they were seeing—it wasn’t a village girl from the countryside, but rather a battle-hardened beauty with a killer smile!

Not just the wealthy daughters, even Su Qiuyu and Yao Hanai clamped their mouths shut and did not speak. Cheng Yuexiu and Guo Mei, who were sitting closest to Lin Yuan, felt as though they were caught between fire and ice, completely uneasy.

Amidst this frosty atmosphere, a chubby figure suddenly jumped up from their seat, excitedly looking at the apple blossom in Lin Yuan’s hand, and eagerly said, "Yuanyuan, that flower is so beautiful!"

Lin Yuan, seeing that among all the awestruck people some were still unafraid, couldn’t help but give a charming smile and offered the apple blossom, "Mu Qing, do you like it? If you like it, I’ll give it to you!"

Xu Muqing nodded repeatedly without even calling her maid. She trembled on her plump legs as she approached Lin Yuan to receive the apple blossom, "I like it, I like it. I want to keep this apple blossom..."

Before she could reach Lin Yuan, a hand suddenly snatched the flower from Lin Yuan’s grasp.

Lin Yuan was slightly startled, even though she had sensed someone would grab the flower first; she had not expected it would be Yan Ruchun.

Yan Ruchun carefully placed the flower in her palm, examining it thoroughly, and frowned, "Indeed, there’s no damage at all! Your knife skills are really impressive!"

It was rare for Yan Ruchun to praise someone. Many people widened their eyes in disbelief, trying to figure out if they had misheard the previous comment.

By that time, Xu Muqing had also approached Yan Ruchun, eagerly looking at the flower, wanting to speak but too scared to utter a word, just pouting her lips and timidly staring at her.

Her pitiful appearance touched the softest part of Yan Ruchun’s heart, but she rolled her eyes, reached out her hand, and handed the flower to Xu Muqing, "Here you go! Only a big foodie like you would admire such a flower. Go ahead and eat it quickly!"

Seeing the apple blossom she had been longing for, Xu Muqing became uncontrollably excited. She carefully cradled the flower in her hands, her chubby lips pursed tightly as if holding back her breath would prevent damaging the delicate bloom.

Her cautious demeanor obviously irritated Yan Ruchun, who frowned in disdain, yet her hand holding the apple blossom unconsciously tightened, worried she might accidentally ruin something Xu Muqing cared about.

Only when the flower was safely in her own hands did Xu Muqing finally breathe a sigh of relief, cherishingly looked at it, and replied, "Such a beautiful flower—I won’t eat it! I want to show it to Brother Rong. He will definitely love it!"

Yan Ruchun responded with a scoff, "Oh please, just give it away. You’d be happy for everyone to know! I tell you, only Second Fool would treasure something you give as if it were a gem!"

Having finished speaking, she walked back to her seat and, still not over it, turned around and snorted, "Really, your father is the Minister of War, and what are you giving?

Huh? Either fallen blossoms picked in spring, cicada sloughs found on trees in summer, or petals that fall from chrysanthemums in autumn!

Tsk, tsk, only a fool like him keeps them as treasures and flaunts them all day long, as if afraid no one knows you gave them to him! "