Chapter Forty-Six: Learn to Bark Like a Dog—Woof, Woof, Woof

Zhao Ruyan was furious with her brother!
If you want to play polo, then play a fair game. What was the point of resorting to underhanded tricks?
And to make matters worse, after stooping to dirty plays, you didn't even win!
First they chased away Lin Qingci, and now this impossibly difficult Lin Zhaozhao had appeared, making her the ultimate laughingstock of the entire capital!

However, her momentary outburst of temper at least gave Zhao Wuyan an excuse to slip away.
What a pity—
"Hold on! Lady Zhao has yet to apologize to me! And Young Master Zhao has not barked like a dog yet!"
Lin Wanyue stepped forward at that exact moment.

This infuriated Zhao Wuyan. Who would have thought this dead girl would still remember what happened earlier?
She actually called out to him and his sister right in front of a massive crowd!
Thinking of the previous wager, beads of sweat instantly broke out and rolled down his forehead.

Lin Wanyue stepped closer and said, "What's wrong? A gentleman's word is his bond, and a swift horse needs only a single whip. Lady Zhao, the bet you both made has not been fulfilled yet. Surely you aren't planning to sneak away and break your promise?"

At Lin Wanyue's words, nearly all eyes on the scene turned toward Zhao Wuyan. Instead of his previous arrogant demeanor, he now looked rather evasive, and the faces around him displayed undisguised mockery and contempt.

"Indeed, Lady Zhao, Young Master Zhao, didn't the two of you say yourselves that whoever lost the match would apologize to Lady Lin and bark like a dog? Now you've slapped your own faces! Since the other side fulfilled their part, shouldn't you show some accountability?"

"Exactly. Sneaking away secretly doesn't make you a hero. In my opinion, if your skills are inferior, you have no right to complain about losing. Just fulfill the wager, and we'll still call you a person of courage. Acting all timid like this doesn't befit the style of the Defense Duke's Estate!"

"What style does the Defense Duke's Estate even have? The style of playing dirty in a ball game? The brother couldn't beat the younger brother, and the sister couldn't beat the older sister!"
"..."

The onlookers were simply enjoying the spectacle, and many were hoping to stir up conflict between the Defense Duke's Estate and the Marquis of Qingyuan's Estate for the thrill of the gossip.
However, how could the Zhao siblings, who had always been accustomed to being the center of attention and pampered by everyone, endure being mocked in such a tone?
Yet if they were to actually bark like a dog, they might as well not live anymore!

Zhao Ruyan took a deep breath, bowed, and said, "The incident with the startled horse earlier was my fault for colliding with Lady Lin. I apologize to Lady Lin. This matter started because of me, and it should end with this apology of mine. What do you think?"

Lin Zhaozhao had only looked away for a brief moment, and who would have thought things had escalated to the point where Zhao Ruyan was actually apologizing to Lin Wanyue!
Adhering to the principle of leaving a way out for others so you can still meet as friends in the future—coupled with the fact that the Emperor was rumored to be arriving today and making a huge scene might stir up countless troubles—Lin Zhaozhao spoke up, "The dog barking can be excused."

Who would have thought that Lin Wanyue would retort, "Our Marquis of Qingyuan's Estate can certainly let it go, but it seems to me your Defense Duke's Estate is also intent on reneging on your debts!
If you knew you lacked the backbone, why make such a wager in the first place? Fine!"
Thinking of the taunts she had previously suffered from them, Lin Wanyue mimicked their tone and said, "Seeing as neither of you has a backbone, let's disperse."

Lin Zhaozhao, "..."
[No, big sister, since you're so tough, why didn't you go play polo in the first place! I had only provoked about fifty or sixty percent of the hatred, and you come right in and push it to a hundred percent?]

Perhaps because Lin Wanyue's words sounded truly harsh,
Zhao Wuyan, who had been on the verge of leaving, narrowed his eyes and declared right then and there, "Isn't it just barking like a dog?"
"A gentleman keeps his word, I'll bark!"

Suppressing his humiliation, Zhao Wuyan turned toward Lin Qingci and the others, struggled through his embarrassment, and let out a loud "Woof, woof, woof!" Amidst the uproarious laughter of the crowd, he felt a crushing wave of shame and anger.

Lin Qingci, "..."
Painless dog-raising sounded nice, but unfortunately, this dog was a rebellious brat!
Judging by that look in his eyes, he didn't look like he was here to guard the house; he looked like he wanted to bite him to death!

"Fine, fine, fine!" Seeing her brother treated this way, Zhao Ruyan felt her heart ache fiercely. With reddened eyes, she said, "One pretended not to know how to play polo, while the other relentlessly forced others to fulfill a wager.
It was originally just a joke, yet now it has been driven to the point where my brother has been reduced to such groveling behavior. True to form for the Marquis of Qingyuan's Estate, this young lady will remember this!"

They say people naturally sympathize with the weak. With Zhao Ruyan crying like this, many instantly felt that the Marquis of Qingyuan's Estate was being overly aggressive.
"It was just a bit of harsh talk in the heat of the moment between both sides! Yet the Marquis of Qingyuan's Estate goes as far as scaring a horse and forcing someone to bark like a dog! Isn't that a bit too insulting?"

"Indeed! Lady Zhao is crying her eyes out like this! Fifth Miss, you'd better hurry up and apologize to her!"
Lin Zhaozhao, "..."
So when there were benefits to be reaped, Lin Wanyue took all the credit.
When it was time to take the blame, it fell entirely on her?

Lin Zhaozhao was utterly speechless. "I simply forgot to bring an umbrella when I went out!"
A perfectly fine sky could cloud over and rain without warning.
"Stop crying!"

Would Zhao Ruyan ever listen to Lin Zhaozhao?
Wasn't she supposed to stand on the moral high ground and let everyone point fingers and condemn Lin Zhaozhao—
"Hey—!"
Wait!

Before her thought could even finish, she felt someone grab a handful of her hair.
With a sudden, crushing momentum akin to Mount Tai bearing down, Lin Zhaozhao pulled her straight down to sit on top of her, extended her arm, and snapped, "Go on, let out another fake cry, and see if I don't slap those tears right off your face with a giant palm strike!"
Zhao Ruyan, "?"

Zhao Ruyan's body trembled, but the next second, with a look of tragic resolve, she began to cry even louder.

Fine!
Isn't it just crying?
Lin Zhaozhao immediately collapsed onto the ground, kicking and wailing, "I have it so hard! An orphan from the countryside has no human rights here!
So what if I'm a county princess bestowed by the Emperor himself and have brought glory to the country! My younger brother had his leg broken by malicious schemers, and after I fairly and squarely won a match, I still get pointed at and gossiped about! I can't go on living anymore!"
Zhao Ruyan, "?"

How dare you imitate my green-tea act! And how dare you throw a tantrum like a common street shrew!
Zhao Ruyan still cared about her dignity, after all, and could only sob weakly behind her handkerchief.
Lin Zhaozhao, on the other hand, had actually pulled out a strip of cloth and was threatening to hang herself.

"Enough!"
Seeing the chaos escalating out of hand, Eunuch Jinbao was dispatched by Emperor Hui, who stood frowning with a bead of sweat on his forehead in the distance, to pull the two women apart.
Hurryingly dropping to his knees to plead for mercy, Lin Yuanzhi shouted, "Your Majesty, my lowly daughter was not raised in the capital since childhood and is ignorant of courtly etiquette and decorum. I beg Your Majesty to forgive her!"

Prompted by Lin Yuanzhi's cry, and seeing that Emperor Hui had stepped much closer,
the surrounding crowd hurriedly dropped to their knees in unison, shouting, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

A vast, crow-black sea of people fell to their knees all at once,
a vivid demonstration of imperial majesty.
Standing right there in front of everyone was none other than the Emperor of Great Dayue, who held absolute power over life and death.

In the past, when Lin Zhaozhao watched dramas and saw female protagonists kneeling before emperors, she never felt any real sense of immersion.
At most, she would sigh that the socialist system was wonderful!
And that everyone is equal!
This was her very first time observing a living, breathing ancient emperor up close!

The overwhelming aura of absolute authority radiating from dozens of meters away, combined with the heavily armed Imperial Guards and the breathless silence of the crowd, made Lin Zhaozhao's heart skip a beat, and she hurriedly dropped to her knees as well.

"You—" Emperor Hui raised a hand, swept his gaze across the crowd, and pointed unerringly at Lin Zhaozhao, exuding an unyielding, awe-inspiring presence. "Step forward."
Everyone, "!!!"
It's over, it's completely over!