Chapter 1228: The Winner of the Heiress’ Gala
Wen Xinya was not at all surprised since the gala was Xia Ruya’s chance to make a comeback. Besides, she had the support of the host, which gave her confidence.
Although the host was no longer as famous as she used to be, she still commanded great respect in the upper-cla.s.s society. In fact, she was even more senior than Zhou Huiyan and Tang Xiaowei. When she was at the peak of her fame in Capital city, Zhou Huiyan and Tang Xiaowei were barely famous.
The two of them had also shot to fame and build a name for themselves because they had joined the Heiress’ Gala. Hence, their success was related to the owner of the Boya Pavilion.
In recent years, there had been plenty of women who gained fame and reputation because of the Heiress’ Gala and hence, owed the owner of Boya Pavilion a huge favor. As a result, she had a wide network of connections in the upper-cla.s.s society of Capital city.
Since the owner and the judges had all spoken highly of floral tea and praised Xia Ruya, the latter was halfway done with her plan to clear her name.
Wen Xinya reckoned that the rest of her plan had something to do with her.
To be exact, it could very likely have something to do with the tea and snakes that she had consumed.
The heiresses began actively discussing about floral tea and expressing their opinions of it, as well as their interest in picking up the skill. After Xia Ruya returned to her seat, the heiresses beside her immediately began chatting with her too.
Wen Xinya previously noticed that Xia Ruya had never once interacted with anyone before she performed the techniques of brewing floral tea. The ladies beside her did not bother looking at her, either.
After a moment of silence, the owner of Boya Pavilion, who was also the host, said smilingly, “The ladies have showcased a plethora of talents and skills during the various showdowns and performances during the gala today. Everyone has their own strengths, be it in music, chess, calligraphy, painting or brewing tea. It’s my utmost honor to have been able to host such an extravagant event.”
Everyone then knew that the gala was coming to an end.
The owner continued, “Miss Xia’s performance will give this year’s Heiress’ Gala a perfect closure. Next, we’ll be announcing the winner of this year’s gala. I believe you have all made your choices.”
Ye Feiyu exclaimed, “Wen Xinya!”
Next, a few others chimed in. “The t.i.tle belongs to Wen Xinya!”
The roars got everyone excited as more and more people began to yell Wen Xinya’s name.
No one expected that to happen, including Xia Ruya and the host. Xia Ruya’s face turned extremely gloomy and sullen.
Ye Feiyu had intentionally yelled Wen Xinya’s name out loud. The host and the judges were obviously out to put Xia Ruya on a pedestal while Lin Yingxin and Xia Ruya played along with each other to pique everyone’s interest in floral tea, thus allowing Xia Ruya to receive a ton of attention all of a sudden. She even ended up stealing Wen Xinya’s limelight.
Hence, Ye Feiyu decided to take the lead and s.h.i.+ft everyone’s attention back onto Wen Xinya.
The genuinely talented people were the ones who were worth paying attention to.
She was also confident that everyone would be influenced by her.
When one saw someone who was superior to them, they would perhaps start comparing themselves to their compet.i.tor and then develop feelings of envy, jealous and even resentment. However, if one were to meet someone who was on a whole different level from them, they would instantly start admiring them without even feeling jealous, for there was no basis for comparison at all.
Being proficient in the four arts, Wen Xinya was undoubtedly a lady of talent and no one would be able to compare to her at all.
Wen Xinya did not expect there to be such a commotion, either. However, she was very grateful to Ye Feiyu because she knew what the latter was planning to do.
The host gestured for the ladies to quieten down and said with a chuckle, “Wen Xinya is proficient and talented in the four arts. I’m sure all of you have witnessed her remarkable performance. Of course I’m going to award her with the t.i.tle.”
It was a light-hearted remark.
Everyone became much more relaxed.
Xia Ruya managed to placate her own feelings for a moment. The thought of the scheme that she had devised made her lips curl into a cold and menacing smile. She had already achieved half of her goals. So long as Wen Xinya succ.u.mbed to the toxic effects of the jimsonweed and Lin Yingxin defeated her during the showdown, her scheme would be carried out seamlessly.
Since everyone loved comparing her to Wen Xinya, Wen Xinya’s embarra.s.sing behavior would make her stand out and allow her reputation to be improved.
The host said, “I hereby declare that Wen Xinya is the winner of this year’s Heiress’ Gala.’
Everyone began applauding enthusiastically.
At this moment, everyone stared at Wen Xinya in a different light. Her talent had convinced many of those who did not believe her at the start. They began to feel that the rumors about Wen Xinya were not true.
Xia Ruya followed suit and applauded half-heartedly with a malicious smirk on her lips. She gazed at Lin Yingxin, signaling for her to go up next.
Xia Ruya’s gaze was so intense that Lin Yingxin could not ignore it at all. She clenched her fists tightly, feeling extremely conflicted.
The fact that Wen Xinya was proficient in the four arts meant that Lin Yingxin would have to beat Wen Xinya in at least three talents in order to truly defeat her. However, if she were to openly challenge Wen Xinya to compete in the other arts, it would reveal her desire to win and everyone would think that she was being overly compet.i.tive. Hence, her reputation would be ruined even if she were to win.
Hence, she was rather dejected.
On the other hand, she was also extremely jittery and unsettled. She almost couldn’t control herself from acting rashly and losing her temper. A voice in her head constantly told her, “Once you defeat Wen Xinya, your wishes will be fulfilled and you will be highly mighty…”
She began to get increasingly frustrated because of the contrasting emotions.
Xia Ruya frowned slightly with a cold and menacing expression in her gaze. She could not be bothered to care about Lin Yingxin’s feelings at this point, for she only saw Lin Yingxin as a p.a.w.n that she had to make use of.
It’d be impossible for Lin Yingxin to use Wen Xinya to gain a better reputation, but her greed was what allowed Xia Ruya to be able to manipulate her. Xia Ruya’s motive was never to help give Lin Yingxin a little push, but rather, she wanted to make use of Lin Yingxin to provoke Wen Xinya into losing control of her emotions and succ.u.mb to the jimsonweed. Since there would then be a reason for her behavior, no one would suspect that Wen Xinya had been drugged. They would just think that she was a sore loser.