Only seven winners remained from the first round. For this second round of competition, participants would draw lots and then take the stage one by one, according to their drawn order.
Su Li was the fifth to take the stage.
"Ziyan, I can't shake the feeling that there's a pair of eyes watching us from the shadows."
Jun Mo calmly scanned his surroundings and said, "It's nothing. Just focus on your match."
Those who made it to the second round were all quite skilled in poison arts. Su Li dared not let her attention waver, observing the poison-making techniques of the contestants on stage.
One contestant in the middle chose not to ingest their opponent's poison, automatically forfeiting. Thus, it was quickly time for the fourth contestant.
Both contestants on stage were women. It seemed the women of West Chen were indeed skilled in poison arts. Both young women were in their prime, around sixteen years old. One was dressed in a jade-green gown, appearing charming and lovely.
The other girl wore a white gown with exquisite blue patterns embroidered on her cuffs and lapels. Seeing the woman in jade-green take the stage, her expression soured slightly.
At this point, murmurs arose from the spectators.
"This is going to be good! The Young Mistress of the Bai family against the Young Mistress of the Zhu family!"
"Who do you think will win?"
"I'd say the Zhu family. After all, they specialize in poison."
"That's hard to say. The Bai family specializes in medicine, so they're superior in detoxification."
"We'll find out if we keep watching."
Jun Mo explained, "The Bai and Zhu families are the two largest noble clans in West Chen. Both have influential members serving in the imperial court. The Bai family specializes in medicine and aligns with Princess Lanjun's faction. Their current head is Bai Wenjin, and the woman on stage in white should be his eldest daughter, Bai Ran."
Recalling the information Murai had provided him, Jun Mo continued to explain to Su Li, "The woman in jade-green should be Zhu An'an, the only daughter of Zhu Zi, the head of the Zhu family. The Zhu family belongs to Emperor Zi's faction and specializes in poison."
Su Li nodded. It was clear these two rivals were facing off. No wonder the crowd below was so excited.
"Zhu An'an!" Bai Ran's gaze at the charming woman opposite her was filled with unconcealed disgust.
Zhu An'an let out a sweet chuckle and said, "Bai Ran, with your half-baked poison arts, you still dare to challenge me? Concede now while you still can, otherwise, if you lose later, it'll be too shameful for your family's reputation."
Bai Ran frowned. "Zhu An'an, your Zhu family is a den of black-hearted scoundrels, using common folk to test your poisons. It's utterly heartless and depraved!"
Zhu An'an chuckled, "Bai Ran, you talk too much. Today is a poison duel. Furthermore, while my Zhu family does use people for poison testing, they are all volunteers, and my Zhu family pays them handsomely. We don't force anyone."
"Hmph! You specifically target the impoverished common folk and obfuscate the true harm your poisons inflict. This is blatant deception!"
Zhu An'an's face hardened. She gave Bai Ran a cold stare. "Less talk."
Zhu An'an turned to the female official and asked, "Are we continuing the match?" Since she couldn't afford to offend either of these two, the female official quickly ascended the stage and signaled for the match to begin.
The crowd below watched intently; this was a match between two prominent clans.
"These two young mistresses are truly beautiful. If only..."
"You've got some nerve, eyeing these two. Don't you even think about who's backing them?"
"I'm just speaking my mind. The appreciation of beauty is universal."
"Beautiful women concocting poisons... quite a sight to behold."
"Indeed. If they concocted the poison, I would drink it without hesitation."
"As the saying goes, 'It's a dashing ghost who dies beneath the peony.'"
Listening to the murmurs around her, Su Li commented, "They are indeed very beautiful."
Jun Mo looked at Su Li and said, "Not even half as beautiful as you."
Someone nearby heard his words, turned their head to look at him, then glanced at Su Li.
"My friend, is your eyesight alright?"
"Oh, so it's him! You weren't here earlier. He actually volunteered to test poison for his wife. How foolish is that?"
"What? Not only blind, but foolish too? No wonder."
Jun Mo frowned, but Su Li let out a soft snicker. If she hadn't disguised herself, the bystanders' reaction to his words might not have been the same. But for him to say that, looking at her current appearance, it was quite something.
The human skin mask she wore wasn't particularly ugly, but it certainly couldn't compare to the two beauties on stage. It was a plain, forgettable face that would blend into any crowd and be forgotten as soon as one looked away.
After about a quarter of an hour, both young women on stage ceased their work almost simultaneously. The female official personally brought a tray, signaling for the two to exchange their concoctions. The female official looked at the two. "Young Mistresses, would you prefer others to test your concoctions?"
Bai Ran said coldly, "No need!" With that, she picked up her opponent's concoction and swallowed it in one gulp. Seeing this, Zhu An'an naturally didn't back down. She swallowed her own pill without a moment's hesitation.
Su Li mused, "These two are quite something."
Jun Mo snorted coldly, "There's no life-threatening danger anyway, so why invite criticism?"
Su Li considered it and agreed. Their presence here was no coincidence. Emperor Zi and Princess Lanjun were at loggerheads, while Princess Shaowen remained neutral. Whoever could win over Princess Shaowen would be able to completely suppress the other side.
Currently, both factions could barely maintain superficial harmony. But if one young mistress were poisoned by the other, they would inevitably fall out, shattering the delicate balance.
This was something Emperor Zi and Princess Lanjun wished to avoid for now. Thus, regardless of whether these two could counteract each other's poisons, their lives were never truly at risk.
After the female official praised the two young mistresses, they returned to their respective stations and began concocting antidotes. The Bai family specialized in medicine, so their poison arts were indeed weak. Zhu An'an quickly deciphered Bai Ran's poison.
She walked around the screen, looking at Bai Ran with a mocking gaze.
"Tell me, do you want to ask me for the antidote? Just call me 'Elder Sister Zhu,' and I'll give it to you."
Bai Ran said coldly, "Want to be my elder sister? Just have your mother give birth to another, then."
Zhu An'an showed a flicker of surprising loneliness. She saw other families with many sisters, but her own mother's body had been ruined by poison testing, leaving her as the Zhu family's only child.
Another quarter of an hour passed. "Hey, are you seriously not taking the antidote?" Bai Ran was holding the antidote she had concocted, about to swallow it. "Hey, wait a moment." Zhu An'an snatched her antidote. "Give it back!" Bai Ran glared at her coldly.
Zhu An'an sniffed it at her nose and said, "Not bad. It'll counteract about seventy to eighty percent of the poison." With that, she tossed it back to Bai Ran. Bai Ran caught the pill, inspected it thoroughly, and only swallowed it after confirming it was safe.
"Bai Ran, you lost. Although you counteracted my poison, you were so much slower."
Bai Ran said with a wooden expression, "Hm, I lost." Having said that, she turned and walked off the stage.
Su Li was a bit puzzled. These two didn't seem to harbor any deep-seated family animosity.
"For this round, the Zhu family's Young Mistress is victorious. The next challenger is Li Su."
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