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Once again, upon confirming that the man in the painting was indeed her son, Madam Cheng’s heart gave a cold snort and she rolled up the embroidery and declared loudly, "Just now, Miss Tian provided an explanation for her own embroidery.

Although its beauty could, with great effort, be somewhat associated with fine food, whether this piece of embroidery can ultimately be included in the final score still requires some discussion among us.

So, please, everyone, keep calm and continue to enjoy the other embroideries. "

Neither Madam Tian nor Lin Yuan raised any objections to Madam Cheng’s action of taking away the embroidery piece, because in the end, the contestants who entered the top three were required to display their embroidery works for exhibition.

Although they had just managed to bluff their way through the situation now, it did not mean that no one would recognize it later.

Thus, the safest method for Tian Xuan was to eliminate her from the top three ranks.

Lin Yuan sighed in her heart. It seemed that Tian Xuan had no chance to advance to the Red Smoke Pavilion this year.

Tian Xuan was even more aware of this, which was why she had initially resolved to embroider Cheng Haoxuan’s portrait when she started working on it.

The scene of Cheng Haoxuan saving her had been appearing in her mind over the years, and she had whimsically decided to embroider it.

This embroidery piece had been sewed countless times over four years, improving with each attempt, allowing her to complete this exact painting within just two hours.

Originally, she had planned to wait until she entered the Red Smoke Pavilion to find a suitable opportunity to present this embroidery to Cheng Haoxuan, but the competition gathered many experts this year, and she knew she no longer had a chance to enter the Red Smoke Pavilion, so she took a gamble.

During the time others displayed their embroidery works, Lin Yuan and the others didn’t feel like paying attention anymore.

Their focus was all on the dejected-looking Tian Xuan, and Cheng Haoxuan, who was usually carefree, playing with his Jade Pendant, unexpectedly sat upright today.

However, his eyes kept straying towards Tian Xuan involuntarily; he couldn’t help himself.

After all nineteen participants had displayed their embroidery works one by one, Madam Cheng, Embroiderer Ru, and Embroiderer Rui gathered together to deliberate for a while and naturally decided on the top three winners of the day.

Lady Jiang sat aside, having already decided in her heart that her daughter was the winner of this competition, and did not even glance towards Madam Cheng to seem unbiased.

However, Chen Leyao could not help but look worriedly at Lin Wei’s double-sided embroidery. Technically, Lin Wei actually surpassed her by a bit.

Down below, Lin Yuan curved her lips and smiled at Lin Wei. She slightly parted her red lips, saying, "It looks like little sister being in the top three is almost certain."

"More than just the top three," Xia Zheng raised an eyebrow, his lips curving into a meaningful smile. "If Chen Leyao were not from the Chen family of Jiangnan, today’s first place would belong to Lin Wei."

But given the Chen family’s standing, perhaps...

Indeed, Madam Cheng eventually announced the results: Chen Leyao first place, Lin Wei second place, Luo Sangu, who had participated in the competition twice before, third place.

And Tian Xuan, without surprise, was informed that her embroidery did not fit the theme and was disqualified from the competition.

Seeing the expressionless Tian Xuan, Lin Yuan shook her head. She had just seen a maid from Madam Tian’s side going to Madam Cheng earlier, indicating that Tian Xuan’s disqualification was not solely Madam Cheng’s decision.

Being named into the top three, naturally, the happiest one was Luo Sangu, originally ranked fourth. She joyfully held her embroidery and started hopping and laughing on the stage. Watching her almost frenzied behavior, everyone suspected that she had been driven mad with excitement for a moment.

"Ladies participating in the competition, please come into the Red Smoke Pavilion for a moment; we have a small gift for you at the Red Smoke Pavilion," the host young lady smiled and instructed everyone, and then said to the top three, including Chen Leyao: "The three young ladies, please also come into the Red Smoke Pavilion to rest a moment, as later Madam has something to say to you three. "

"They said there was a matter to discuss, but it was really just about the upcoming embroidery lessons at the Vermilion Smoke Pavilion."

Chen Leyao and Lin Wei nodded slightly, while Luo Sangu stared with reddened eyes and tightly questioned the young girl, "When can I learn embroidery? Will you explain embroidery to me? I want to learn double-sided embroidery; I must learn double-sided embroidery!"

She rambled on, her crazed eyes then shifting toward Lin Wei and Chen Leyao, looking as though she wanted to transfer their skills in double-sided embroidery to her own hands.

Both women shivered, having never before encountered someone so obsessed with embroidery.

Chen Leyao gently grasped Lin Wei’s hand, and they quickly ran toward the direction of the Vermilion Smoke Pavilion, having already agreed to steer clear of this obsessed woman in the future.

Having greeted Lady Jiang, Madam Cheng also stood up and walked toward the Vermilion Smoke Pavilion, not forgetting to glare at Cheng Haoxuan before leaving, though it was unclear whether it was because of his unauthorized change of the competition’s theme or because of Tian Xuan’s bold confession.

Cheng Haoxuan, baffled by her glare, awkwardly touched his nose and followed Madam Cheng with a twisted mouth into the Vermilion Smoke Pavilion.

As he was about to step away, a woman behind him called out, "Young Master Cheng, what I said just now came from the depths of my heart, please..."

Seeing Tian Xuan’s persistence, Cheng Haoxuan’s ears turned red, and without daring to look back, he waved his hands repeatedly and quickened his pace, "Please go back, Miss. I am a principled man, you must be mistaken about that day’s matter. That effeminate man was not me."

It seems that Cheng Haoxuan was probably the only one who could shamelessly deny being effeminate.

"Do you really dislike me that much?" Watching Cheng Haoxuan flee, Tian Xuan felt deeply hurt and her voice choked up.

However, before her tears could well up, Madam Tian had already arrived on the stage with others.

"Xuanxuan! You have such audacity!" Madam Tian was already fuming, and had it not been for the many townspeople still around, she would have definitely slapped her disappointing daughter.

After forcefully suppressing her anger, Madam Tian hissed at the maidservants following her, "What are you dawdling about for! Quickly take the second miss back to the mansion!"

"Yes, Madam."

The maidservants hurriedly apologized to Tian Xuan and forcefully escorted her onto the carriage back to the Tian Mansion.

"Xuanxuan." Lin Yuan, observing Madam Tian’s livid face, seemed to already foresee the treatment Tian Xuan would receive upon returning to the Tian Mansion. Whether she would be beaten was uncertain, but confinement was definitely assured.

With a deep sigh, Lin Yuan then led Xiao Linshuang and a few others to find Lin Wei at the Vermilion Smoke Pavilion, while Lady Liu joyfully hurried over with Xiao Yongyan in tow.