Hearing the name of Ye Lingyue, Hong Mingyue squeezed her fingers hard and didn"t release until the fingertips turned scarlet.

For a long time, Hong Mingyue had treated Ye Lingyue in complete disdain.

Ye Lingyue was nothing but an abandoned daughter who did not even have the right to claim her name on the genealogy of the Hong Family.

Not to mention their first encounter - Ye Lingyue was just a Born Warrior.

Compared to Ye Lingyue, Hong Mingyue was like a spectacular diamond s.h.i.+ning bright even in the darkness, while the former one was only an inferior rhinestone reflects no light even under the sun.

Hong Mingyue used to feel scorn to compete with Ye Lingyue, but now, she didn"t even have a chance to do so.

Since n.o.body-knows-when, this humble rhinestone took everything away from her.

First, the t.i.tle of "Princess", then, the compliment of genius, and even men like Feng Shen and Xia Houqi were mesmerized by Ye Lingyue.

But what did Hong Mingyue get?

A destiny fixed since the very second she was born.

When Hong Mingyue heard about Ye Lingyue"s death, she didn"t feel relieved. On the contrary, the jealous and hatred grew greater in her heart, for Ye Lingyue"s name was left unforgettable in everyone"s memory along with her death.

Feng Shen looked like he had lost his soul. Xia Houqi changed into a complete different person. Everyone"s behavior was reminding Hong Mingyue that Ye Lingyue was better than her.

Thus, Hong Mingyue didn"t want to believe that Ye Lingyue was dead.

She expected Ye Lingyue"s resurrection, for this was the only way they can finally have a formal compet.i.tion in which she would defeat Ye Lingyue and let everybody know that she, Hong Mingyue, was the one and only rightful genius in the Hong Family.

She had been waiting for Ye Lingyue"s appearance since the first day of the registration for the Imperial Contest.

But Ye Lingyue didn"t show up.

Tomorrow would be the last day for registration, but there was no sign of Ye Lingyue.

Could she really have died in the Star Cave?

This was the first time in Hong Mingyue"s life that she found herself an opponent, but now, that person was dead.

Hong Mingyue felt a little bit disappointed.

Hong Fang took his daughter"s silence as a result of a normal mood swing which she had suffer since her engagement with Luo Song.

Hong Fang felt pity for his daughter"s marriage - Hong Mingyue was so brilliant that Luo Song didn"t deserve her at all.

"Mingyue, I"m sorry", said Hong Fang.

"Father, sometimes, I really wish I were Ye Lingyue." Hong Mingyue stood up and left the room.

Hong Fang fell into a trance for a sudden, he couldn"t get the meaning of his daughter"s words.

If only she had a choice, Hong Mingyue didn"t want to be born with the silver spoon. She would rather have Ye Lingyue"s life - stretching out wings and soaring over the firmament, but she had no guts to do so. To put everything in an end, she destroyed her own alae.

Gazing daughter"s receding figure, Hong Fang wanted to say something but didn"t let the words out.

"Mingyue, don"t worry. Father won"t let you down. After tomorrow, our lineage will be the owner of the whole Hong Family and Da Xia." Hong Fang pulled a letter out of his sleeve.

That was a letter from "Chen Hongru", in which he promised a hundred Alchemists under Hong Fang"s command.

During the Imperial Contest, these Alchemists would murder Hong s.h.i.+zi when he led the Buddhist Monks Sect usurping the throne.

After Hong s.h.i.+zi was gone, he would be the future inheritor of the Hong Family, the prince of the new dynasty, and the emperor of Da Xia in one day.

Excitement. Wistfulness. Hong Fang was drowned into his own imagination. After all these years" calculating, now he was about to get what he wanted: Ye Huangyu, power, and greatness. He would have all of these in his hands.

Next day, the Imperial Contest of Da Xia formally started.

This year"s contest was the greatest compared to that of the previous years". , Emperor Xia and Prince Xia Houqi were present in person watching the compet.i.tions between these young warriors. Even Lord Feng managed to get back all the way from the North Qing just for this Imperial Contest.

The contest used an elimination system. A candidate can be challenged at most three times a day. The one who stood in the ring at last will be the winner.

The Ye Family was staying at the Lan Manor these days. The cousins of Ye Lingyue had become good friends with Lan Caier.

On the day of the contest, people from Lan Manor and Guan Wuhou Manor were all in the palace.

The training ground inside the palace was rebuilt just for the Imperial Contest and was partially opened to the public. The commoners in the Xia City could watch the contest on a cost of fifty tael.

The n.o.bilities had already-arranged seats according to their status.

The royal family was the closest to the ring, besides them were the family of Da Xia"s n.o.bilities.

After Ye Huangyu"s promotion, the seats of Ye Family were arranged right behind Empress Liu, with the Hong Family sitting in the opposite side.

Due to Hong Qingyun"s cultivating in solitude, this year, the Hong Family was led by Hong s.h.i.+zi.

The young warriors from the Hong Family who registered for the Imperial Contest were Hong Mingyue, Hong Yulang, and another descendant from the fourth concubine. Among them, Hong Yulang wasn"t representing the Hong Family but the Warrior Palace.

Before the contest, Lan Caier, as a woman who experienced all of these, patiently reminded some tips for the young warriors from the Ye Family.

"This year"s Imperial Contest might be the greatest one since it was founded. Don"t you fear this immense number of candidates. Only a few of them worth your attention. For instance, the malicious cousins from the Hong Family." Lan Caier put her eyes on the Hong Family standing nearby.

Hong Mingyue wasn"t here for now, but Hong Yulang and other c.o.xcombs from the Xia City were glancing at Ye Yinshuang and Ye Liuyun up to no good.

"The Hong Family? The one which abandoned my aunty and Lingyue?" Ye Liuyun and Ye Yinshuang saw wrath out of Lan Caier"s gaze.

The secrets between Ye Huangyu and Hong Fang were exposedo as soon as Ye Huangyu was confined in the Impregnable Dungeon.

That was also when Ye Yinshuang and her siblings knew the pitiable past of Ye Huangyu and her daughter.

That touched Ye Liuyun the most. Although she didn"t bully Ye Lingyue in the past, when her brother and other children were doing so, she stood aside and didn"t give Ye Lingyue a hand.

She really wished she did.

Now Ye Lingyue was dead, Ye Liuyun would revenge for her as she defeating the candidates from the Hong Family with no mercy.

With n.o.body ever expected, Ye Liuyun became a dark horse in the Imperial Contest.

The first three days in the contest, she defeated all of her challengers, among which, included Hong Yulang who fought for the Warrior Palace.

This left no dignity for Hong Yulang who was about to embarra.s.s the Ye Family.

He stared Ye Liuyun with vengefulness when he was a.s.sisted to get out of the ring. The Hong Family was, of course, not happy about this. Zhuge Rou was worrying about her son and complaining her daughter.

"Mingyue, what are you waiting for? That girl is from the Ye Family and she has wounded your brother. You have to teach her a lesson!"