Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 542 - 540

Chapter 542: Chapter 540

Even the Empress Dowager was caught up in the excitement.

"Give it your all, Fifth Princess!"

The dragon boat that Xiao’er’s team had just surpassed, now the third from last, caught up again, with both boats moving side by side.

The sight made the Empress Dowager so angry she nearly stomped her foot!

"Your Majesty, have that team that is in third last place stop rowing already!" What the Empress Dowager really wanted to say was ’which idiot’, rather than ’the representative with no discernment’, but she managed to swallow her words at the last minute, remembering her royal status.

The Emperor couldn’t help but laugh at his mother’s remark, "Mother, don’t you worry. Our princesses have just started putting in their efforts. Marquis Enbo’s team won’t be able to overcome them."

Let that Marquis Enbo, who showed no mercy in their last chess game, be the one to add chaos to your backyard, the Emperor thought slyly.

"How did the wife of Marquis Enbo educate her son, not to know what yielding means!" the Empress Dowager indignantly exclaimed.

"You’re right, mother. The heir of Marquis Enbo really doesn’t understand what yielding is."

At that moment, Xiao’er’s team surpassed them again.

"Humph! Our Fifth Princess’s team does not need them to let them pass. The girls from my family are fierce competitors! They show that women can rival men in bravery and courage. Marquis Enbo’s heir should feel ashamed of his status as a man, he can’t even beat women!" The Empress Dowager declared proudly.

The Emperor thought to himself: Poor heir of Marquis Enbo, being scolded by my mother for not winning.

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager, the Empress remained speechless.

The team which was in the fourth last place saw that Xiao’er’s team had caught up. Full of surprise, they increased their speed. But their rhythm was a bit disrupted. Despite their speed increase, they were still not as fast as Xiao’er’s team.

Seeing this, Li Mingjun shouted loudly: "Stop slacking off! Row harder!"

They were overtaken!

Cheers erupted from the shore.

The trailing four teams redoubled their efforts to catch up.

Unfortunately, the finish line was in sight, and their adversaries also maintained their high speed. How were they to catch up?

Seeing they were about to secure the fifth place, Xiao’er quickly reminded her crew, "Sisters, let’s push a little more, let’s aim for fourth place."

Shangguan Wanru immediately responded, "Okay!"

Motivated by her words, everyone’s fighting spirit flared. Everyone had a seed of defiance in their hearts, even the gentle Fifth Princess cried out in agreement.

At first, they only hoped to finish the race. But now, they could really place! They rowed as if they were on a stimulant, oblivious to fatigue, concentrating only on maintaining their rhythm and rowing hard.

Actually, from the start, Xiao’er had been giving them Immortal Lotus to drink as tea for seven days, which increased the strength of the young ladies a little.

That’s why they felt their strength had increased tremendously after this period of training, and they didn’t feel as tired.

"Detachment of Women, fourth place!" someone shouted loudly, and then the people on both sides of the river cheered in unison:

"Fourth place!"

"Fourth place!"

...

It was literally an echo of a hundred responses.

Originally the team in fifth place was Li Mingjun’s team, but seeing that they were overtaken by a team of frail women, he glared at Xiao’er with an expression as venomous as a snake.

If it were not for the need to keep rowing, he would surely have thrown a knife at them.

But as there were people everywhere, doing so would have been too conspicuous, so Li Mingjun let it go.

When Shangguan Xuanhao saw that Xiao’er had caught up and was vying for the position that had been his embarrassing last place for five years, he was so startled that he almost dropped his oar!

If he lost to a team of women this year, he couldn’t guarantee what crazy things he might do.

It would truly be too shameful; so shameful it would be known throughout Nangong Country.

"Girl, show mercy!" Shangguan Xuanhao shouted to Xiao’er.

The other members of Shangguan Xuanhao’s team almost died of anger! Asking the Detachment of Women to show mercy?! Did that mean they thought them, fully grown men, to be inferior to those frail women? This was an extreme humiliation! They must hold onto fourth place!

The Fifth Princess could not help but burst into laughter.

Fu Ranhui also couldn’t help laughing. Luckily, only the two of them lost their rhythm, while the others stayed focused. Otherwise, they might have lost their fifth place too.

"Brothers, put in more effort! If we are overtaken by a team of women, think about it, will we ever be able to get married? Which lass would choose a man who is not even as good as a woman as her husband!"

"For the sake of our future wives, let’s give it our all!"

"Give it our all!"

...

"Shangguan Xuanhao, you’re too cunning, deliberately distracting us with your words!" Shangguan Wanru scolded as she saw the five princesses and Fu Ranhui falling out of rhythm.

After hearing this, Shangguan Xuanhao’s team members finally understood his intentions. But did the second prince really not believe in them, deeming them men who were less than women?!

They were real men!

So the real men, in order to prove themselves, rowed even harder!

They reached the finish line, first place: The team where Shangguan Xuanyi was.

Second place: The team with Shangguan Xuanjun.

Third place: Di Shaowei’s team.

Fourth place: Shangguan Xuanhao’s team.

Fifth place: Xiao’er’s team.

Upon hearing the results, "Yay!" Shangguan Wanru jumped up excitedly!

The boat rocked back and forth, causing all the girls on the boat to scream.

Cheers came from the people on the shore, mainly from the women.

"Such a pity that we were close to taking the fourth place! It’s really such a shame!" the Empress Dowager said regretfully.

The Emperor thought: Dear mother, the second prince is also your beloved grandson! If the Detachment of Women had indeed taken the fourth place, Shangguan Xuanhao would probably spend the rest of his life hiding in the mountains, studying herbs!

Thank goodness!

Thank goodness!

The Emperor heaved a sigh of relief; just now, he was truly worried for Shangguan Xuanhao.

Having a son who lost to women, even he, as the emperor, would lose face!

It seems he would have to let this rascal devote more time to proper matters from now! Spending all day with herbs, he is no different from women now.

"Your Majesty, you have to generously reward the Detachment of Women. They have truly upheld women’s honor!" the Empress Dowager said as the maid helped her back onto the phoenix chair.

Emperor: Upholding women’s honor is equivalent to slapping men’s faces right? I am a man, why should I reward them? Can’t the Empress Dowager give the rewards herself?!

But he only dared to complain to himself, not daring to voice these thoughts out loud. Otherwise, his mother would pound him with her cane.

When Xiao’er’s team won the dragon boat race, the women on both sides of the river felt as if they had won!

The dragon boat race has always been a men’s world; what has it to do with women? It is said that women lack the strength to row a boat and that participating in the race would only cause trouble. If they fell into the water, someone would have to rescue them, and the resulting loss of reputation was not worth it. Therefore, there had never been women participating in the Dragon Boat Race!

But this year was an exception! So it turned out that women could also row dragon boats so well, even surpassing more than half of the men!

How could they not feel proud.

Some of the women even planned to organize a women’s dragon boat race next year.

The dragon boats started to dock and everyone lined up to go ashore.

The order of disembarking was based on the ranking.

Li Mingjun, having to go ashore following the troupe of women, was furious and threw his oar violently.