The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Chapter 34

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

As soon as Lin Dan finished speaking, everyone present was dumbfounded, and even the Emperor who was confident that Lin Dan would lose had shown a surprised expression.

According to Lin Dan, the people would definitely choose the dumpling that suited their taste buds if they were to be the judge. They wouldn't know who made the two barrels of dumplings, let alone knowing that it would decide the outcome of a competition. Conducting the competition in this manner would indeed result in the fairest outcome.

No one could refute what Lin Dan said, not even the Emperor because he had promised Lin Dan that this would be a fair competition and that she could decide the rules. The Emperor's words were considered to be of weighty significance that no one could deny it.

The Emperor soon realized Lin Dan's true intention. The decision of this competition was no longer in the hands of the Emperor or the judges anymore, but in the hands of the people. In order to prevent him from interfering with his ruling power, she even stated that only those who entered the city would be given the dumplings and not those who are leaving the city. The Emperor could arrange for people to leave the city and pick up the dumplings, but he could not control those who were entering the city. Only God knows who would be entering the capital and when.

Since the order of the two buckets of dumplings had been disrupted, even if the Emperor was resourceful enough to get people disguised as ordinary people and enter the city, they wouldn't be able to tell which bucket of dumplings was made by Yan Langqing. In the end, it still depended on their preference. Besides, the Emperor would not stoop so low to find out who was the one that made the bucket of rice dumpling respectively.

"Is this fair?" The Emperor shook his head and laughed loudly, "It's fair, perfectly fair! Guards, move these two buckets of rice dumplings to the west city gate, and the guards will distribute them to those who enter the city. Everyone who enters the city is allowed to pick the one they prefer after tasting and should never take more than one." In that way, they would only take the one they liked the most.

The Emperor had originally intended to support Yan Langqing. After all, this was the woman he was fond of, who had just been wronged, and he thought it would not hurt to show some favoritism. But now, he thought Lin Dan was an interesting woman, and she had also made this competition interesting. This was why he did not mind making the competition a fair one to spice things up even more. He would do nothing next, nor allow others to break the rules, and left the outcome of the competition to the people.

Seeing the Emperor's cheerful expression, Tang Jiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked at Lin Dan, who seemed relaxed, with a pair of passionate eyes before breaking into a smile. He knew that he got all worried again for nothing, since Lin Dan could always face any difficulty calmly, and relied on her persistence and cleverness to figure a way out.

Marquis Weiyuan's lazy and casual expression finally faded and he stared directly at Lin Dan. Prince Cheng and Prince Gong were whispering and giggling together, looking to be in good spirits. The son of Lord Dianqian only rubbed the teacup in his hand, occasionally raised his eyes to look at Lin Dan with a pair of deep eyes.

The only one who was carrying a solemn expression was Yan Langqing. She never thought that Lin Dan would propose to judge the competition in this manner, but after analyzing carefully, she had to admit that Lin Dan's intelligence was admirable. The Emperor especially liked women with quick thinking and even more so for things that were interesting. He probably admired Lin Dan very much now and would not take sides anymore.

Yan Langqing felt a little uneasy but not flustered because she believed in her own skills.

The group came to the west gate and picked a high platform on the gates to watch how things unfold. Two buckets of dumplings were placed side by side by the guards, and one of them was peeled and broken for those who entered the city to have a taste. As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, many rich people would typically give out dumplings to the poor as a way to earn good karma. Therefore, the passers-by were not at all surprised to have a dumpling. Since the guards were also around, they did not dare to snatch the dumplings. The people followed the instructions given by the guards and only had those who entered the city take one dumpling and nothing more.