Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 536 - 534

Chapter 536: Chapter 534

Sure enough, Shangguan Wanru’s idea was the most torturous one! If it wasn’t for the fact that the Emperor intended to marry her to the Crown Prince of Nangong Country, and she fears they wouldn’t have much time together in this life, she really wouldn’t want to be part of this excitement!

Usually, rowing on the lake doesn’t feel too tiring. Now, it’s really exhausting! She’s almost worn out!

"How can we participate in the race without vying for a rank, are we such lackluster people? Lady of Rui’an County, do you think we can rank?"

Ruan Weizhen, Gu Qiqi, Fifth Princess nodded in unison in their hearts: Yes, we lack such ambition.

Xiao’er thought about it, although she understood the hope-filled looks of the three ladies and their meaning, she wasn’t here for the race, she just wanted to have fun, she had no time to spare: "It’s not impossible to attain a ranking!"

"You see? Even the Lady of Rui’an County says it’s possible, we must strive! You three can’t just boast while doing nothing."

The three: Truly a death wish, they’re just delicate ladies, where would they get such lofty ambitions?

With Uncle Cai’s guidance on the basics and techniques, the ten of them embarked once again on their dragon boat race journey.

However, their movements were still not in sync, and the direction of exertion wasn’t quite consistent.

The dragon boat only moved halfway before stopping, they couldn’t help it. The four ladies claimed they had no strength left and that their hands hurt to death.

Xiao’er recalled the dragon boat race from her previous life, where each boat had a drummer to maintain the rowing rhythm.

It seemed that the people of this time hadn’t thought of this method yet.

It appears she needs to bring a drum tomorrow. As for today, they might as well shout "One, two, one, two, ..." to maintain their rhythm.

Xiao’er shared her command with everyone, then demonstrated it briefly.

"Have you understood?" Xiao’er took the paddle out of the water, looking at her teammates.

"Understood," everyone responded in unison, weakly.

"Who has developed blisters on their hands? I have some ointment here. It will stop hurting after application, then we can continue," Xiao’er said, taking out a white jade bottle.

"Me!" Fifth Princess was the first to raise her hand.

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

Besides the maids, all the young ladies had developed blisters, it was nearly killing them with pain.

If it wasn’t for their recent commitment to achieve a rank, Shangguan Wanru would have dropped this farce.

Reality fell far short of fantasy, she didn’t know their hands would blister.

Fifth Princess was full of regret too, she always knew Shangguan Wanru was impulsive from childhood, how could she fall for it? How would she deal with calluses in the future? And would her coarse hands snag embroidery threads?

The ladies gingerly applied ointment to their hands.

Shangguan Xuanhao’s dragon boat happened to pass by them. He saw Xiao’er helping Ruan Weizhen apply ointment and her hand flinching from pain. He furrowed his brows, "Women insisting on participating in the dragon boat race can’t even hold their paddles steady. Not everyone can be as crazy as Xiao’er!"

The team members of Shangguan Xuanhao all bowed their heads. The second prince directly voiced out his heartache for his future wife, why call Lady of Rui’an County crazy? What if the Sixth Prince knows, will he ruin them?

Shangguan Xuanyi and Shangguan Xuanjun rested mid-journey during their third round of practice.

The two of them looked towards the Detachment of Women, one with eased brows and eyes, the other with slightly furrowed brows.

The two teams below started whispering: "Our future Sixth Prince’s wife is really incredible, I saw just now that among their team, she rows the boat the best."

"Could our future Mistress be compared to ordinary people?" Feng Yang was a devoted follower of Xiao’er.

"Our master has good taste," Feng Qing echoed.

"Lady of Rui’an County is the perfect blend of beauty and wisdom. Such a woman truly matches our master."

"Do you think the Detachment of Women can really rank?" Feng He asked, he felt enough was enough with these blind followers.

"They should be able to, don’t forget Yang Liu and Yang Mei are not pushovers. Add in the military strategist Lady of Rui’an County, they’re simply invincible."

Feng He fell silent, it was really impossible to carry on with the conversation!

"I think it’s doubtful! Princess and the other ladies are all tender-hearted girls, the four ladies may not even match up to one of us men. Look at them now, they’re like a group of loose sand." Feng Er shook his head.

Feng He: Finally, someone said something sensible.

"I think with Lady of Rui’an County, this could actually be possible. I think she’s a miracle worker," Feng Qing said.

Feng He: I can’t stand this anymore.

...

Shangguan Xuanyi listened to the conversation below with a smirk.

Shangguan Xuanjun glanced at him and cursed silently, "Idiot."

"Do you think they can rank?"

"This is beyond doubt," Shangguan Xuanyi said without hesitation.

Shangguan Xuanjun snorted, "A single chopstick is easy to break."

"Let’s wait and see," Shangguan Xuanyi said, then called his teammates to start exercising.

After Xiao’er and her team rested and their hands no longer hurt, they resumed rowing.

Their goal: today, they must row from the starting point to the finish line.

The Detachment of Women in unison shouted, "One, two, one, two..."

This time, they quickly found their rhythm, and their movements looked much more consistent.

Uncle Cai praised them a few times upon seeing this.

The ladies who were on the brink of collapse felt as though spring had finally arrived.

Progress is invigorating, so the ladies put in even more effort.

Xiao’er, who was sitting at the very end of the boat, saw this and quickly reminded them: "Pay attention to your rhythm, exert even strength. As long as everyone’s movements are in sync and our strength is directed in the same direction, we can make the dragon boat sail faster and more stably."

Upon hearing her words, everyone immediately adjusted their rhythm again.

Gradually, the ladies began to strain again and their speed quickly slowed down.

"I can’t go on any longer, can we rest a bit?" Fifth Princess suggested.

"Hang in there a little bit longer. Perseverance is a breakthrough. If you can withstand it every day, training in the next few days will be much easier," Xiao’er said.

"Lady of Rui’an County, was I wrong?" Shangguan Wanru asked in frustration.

Fifth Princess and the others almost cried, "You only know now? It’s not too late to change course!"

"No, even if I was wrong, I have to persevere! Success or death!"

Fifth Princess: Why does she feel like hitting someone? As if the hands are not hers anymore.

"Stop talking, stick to the rhythm, cheer up, we mustn’t give up halfway! With sincerity, we can break through anything," Xiao’er reminded them.

At this moment, Xiao’er was truly grateful that these ladies, despite being born with golden keys, had good temperaments. Otherwise, they would never accept this hardship and would have thrown tantrums or quit long ago.

"The Lady of Rui’an County is right, let’s persevere. With sincerity, we can break through anything!" Shangguan Wanru said, somewhat short of breath.

Fifth Princess: Of course you think Lady of Rui’an County is right, you started this whole thing!

Just when they felt they could no longer muster the strength, they finally reached the finish line.

Everyone was so tired, they didn’t want to move their fingers.

Xiao’er told them to loosen up their muscles, otherwise, they would feel sore the next day.

Xiao’er and Yang Liu along with others went to dock the boat.