LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 153: Winning the Crown
Chapter 153: Winning the Crown
The Flower Queen Competition began with a warm-up.
Each brothel that had secured a spot in the competition meticulously prepared their floats. As dusk fell, the floats paraded through the streets, the girls singing and dancing to show off their talents. It was a dazzling display of beauty and charm that drew huge crowds and left the streets empty.
Perhaps the recent disaster that had caused many to lose loved ones had left people feeling deeply distressed. These pent-up emotions seemed to burst out during the Flower Queen Competition, creating an unprecedented level of enthusiasm.
It was said that this year’s competition would be the liveliest and most anticipated in over a decade.
Lichun Brothel’s float was among them, though it appeared somewhat modest compared to the gilded and luxurious floats of other brothels.
Besides, Chuntao had only been learning to sing and dance for a little over half a year. Unlike the top performers from other brothels, who had been trained since childhood, her skills were still somewhat raw and unpolished.
Chuntao’s saving grace, however, was her striking beauty. She was a true classic beauty who had now fully blossomed, and she managed to gather a considerable following, earning herself a group of loyal supporters.
Whenever the Lichun Brothel’s float paraded through the streets, Xu Lian would stand in a prominent spot-whether it was a teahouse or a crossroads-ensuring that Chuntao could always see him.
This moved Chuntao deeply. Despite Xu Lian’s current status, he still cared for her so much.
After the parade, Xu Lian would tirelessly give her private coaching.
Thanks to Xu Lian’s tireless efforts, Chuntao’s favorability rose from 80/100 to 85/100, and then broke through the 90/100 mark in one fell swoop.
Xu Lian allocated points to rank, added materials, and completed his advancement.
He believed that Chuntao’s potential was far from being fully realized, so he continued to accompany her every day, waiting for her favorability to rise further.
The rules for choosing the Flower Queen were simple.
First, popularity.
Second, wealth.
Popularity was measured by the number of flowers thrown at the floats. Before each parade, the pageant organizers would hand out flowers to everyone on the street. If someone liked a particular candidate for Flower Queen, they would throw their flower onto her float.
At the end of the parade, the organizers would count the number of flowers on each float and rank them accordingly, eliminating the lowest performers.
Wealth was even simpler. Wealthy patrons could donate silver to their favorite flower queen candidates. After the competition concluded, the top ten donors for each candidate would have the chance to become her honored guests.
Some Flower Queens were more enthusiastic and might welcome all ten donors as guests.
Others, more reserved, might choose only one of the top ten.
It was hard to say…
Thus, silver donation was left to the whims of the patrons, often referred to as “donating for love”.
The early rounds of the competition focused on popularity, while the later rounds focused on financial support.
Thanks to her stunning beauty, Chuntao garnered considerable popularity and smoothly advanced through the initial rounds, making it into the top 16.
Just as Xu Lian was about to donate silver to help Chuntao advance to the Top 8, he discovered that Chuntao’s donations were already in first place, far surpassing the other 15 top performers from different brothels. She successfully advanced to the top 8.
The same pattern continued in the rounds from 8 to 4 and then 4 to 2. Chuntao’s donations remained far ahead, allowing her to secure a spot in the finals.
This made Xu Lian curious. After asking Aunt Fang, he learned that the majority of Chuntao’s donations came from a wealthy young nobleman from out of town.
Soon, the finals arrived.
The event was held in an open field on the outskirts of Pingyang County and attracted tens of thousands of spectators.
Only two floats remained: one from the Lichun Brothel and the other from the largest brothel in Pingyang County.
The two floats stood side by side as Chuntao and the top performer from the largest brothel danced together, competing for the final title of Flower Queen.
The top performer from the largest brothel didn’t look pleased.
In terms of appearance, she was no less beautiful than Chuntao. While Chuntao was a classic beauty, she was also a stunning woman herself.
In terms of singing and dancing, her skills were exquisite. She had been carefully selected as a talented performer from an early age and had trained rigorously for over a decade, completely overshadowing Chuntao.
In terms of background, she came from the largest brothel in the county, while Chuntao was merely a newcomer from the small Lichun Brothel.
In terms of popularity, she also held an absolute advantage. The majority of the men in the audience were enthusiastically calling out her stage name.
However, the competition now hinged on financial backing. No matter how much silver her brothel raised for her, Chuntao always had more than ten times the amount, completely crushing her. It was infuriating.
The results were announced.
As expected, Chuntao’s donations were more than ten times higher than hers. She had lost.
Chuntao was crowned the Flower Queen of Pingyang County, fulfilling her dream. Overwhelmed with joy, she wept tears of happiness, basking in the spotlight of the crowd.
Xu Lian followed Chuntao’s float back to the Lichun Brothel.
Immersed in her joy, Chuntao finally experienced a surge in her favorability toward Xu Lian.
Her favorability rose from 90/100 to 92/100, giving Xu Lian two more progression points.
Without hesitation, he allocated the points to his rank, added materials, and advanced!
He then allocated more points to his rank, added materials, and advanced again!
With this, his rank reached Transformation Strength Rank 8th Stage.
“Chuntao’s favorability is at 92/100 and it will be difficult to increase it in the short term;
Lin Wan, Caixia, Jiang Xianyu, and Xiaomei from Stone Town all have a favorability of 93/100, which is also difficult to improve;
Little Chili Pei Zhaoxi has 92/100 favorability, but this likely isn’t her limit. She can probably get one more point;
Yu Qingning has 90/100 favorability. With some extra effort, she should also be able to advance one point;
Jiang Yunyan and Miao Yueyue both have 75/100 favorability, which shows great potential.”
Xu Lian pondered for a moment, clarifying his next steps.
Just as he was about to leave the Lichun Brothel, Aunt Fang stopped him. “Manager Xu, that nobleman from out of town asked me to deliver a message. He congratulates you on your woman becoming the Flower Queen and would like to meet you.”
Given Xu Lian’s current status, many people in Pingyang County wanted to curry favor with him. The idea that someone could simply spend some worldly wealth to request a meeting was ridiculous. However, this person was from out of town. What could he want?
Moreover, instead of sending Xu Lian a gift, this person had donated silver to support Chuntao. The wise use of worldly wealth had struck a chord with Xu Lian, so it wouldn’t hurt to meet him.
“I happen to be free right now. Tell him to meet me at the teahouse across the street.”
Xu Lian said and went to the teahouse across the street.
After a short wait, a nobleman holding a folding fan arrived quite quickly.
“Manager Xu, I’ve heard about your reputation for a long time. I am Chen Fei. I apologize for the sudden request to meet you.”
The nobleman held his folding fan and clasped his hands in greeting.
Xu Lian also clasped his hands slightly in return. “I should thank you for spending silver to support Chuntao.”
Chen Fei slightly waved his hand and smiled. “For us cultivators, worldly wealth is easily obtained and hardly worth mentioning. I simply used it as a clever way to meet Manager Xu.”
Xu Lian didn’t have much time to beat around the bush. “Why did you want to see me?”
Chen Fei was slightly taken aback, obviously not expecting such directness. He hadn’t even sat down or had any tea before Xu Lian asked his purpose.
Chen Fei said, “Manager Xu is straightforward, so I’ll get straight to the point. I’m a Sword Seeker from the Sword Pavilion, tasked with finding famous swords all over the country. I heard that Manager Xu received a legendary sword from the Jiang family of the Thirteen Clans in Taizhou Prefecture. That’s why I came to Pingyang County to find you.”