THIP Chapter 4

Time flowed little by little, and before long, the day of the Emperor’s birthday banquet arrived.

Mu Liuyin stepped into the grand hall where the banquet was being held. As soon as she sat down, a handsome man beside her smiled and said, “Third Prince, what’s this? Haven’t you even greeted your elder brother, the Emperor?”

“Greetings, Second Brother,” Mu Liuyin replied, her tone completely calm.

The man beside her was the Emperor’s second son, Yin Yu. He was one year older than Mu Liuyin’s original self, and not only was he incredibly intelligent and capable, but his maternal family was also very influential. If Lin Xi hadn’t been rumored to have a destiny to be a phoenix and was promised to Yin Xiu by the Emperor, the position of Crown Prince would likely have gone to him.

Thus, Yin Yu is the biggest antagonist in the story. He was very smart, and knowing that his maternal family’s power might arouse suspicion from the Emperor, he had been concealing his true strength for years, pretending to be a frivolous playboy who rarely attended court.

In the original storyline, even Yin Xiu almost lost to Yin Yu in the battle for the throne.

Upon hearing Mu Liuyin’s reply, Yin Yu didn’t mind. He casually picked up his wine cup and began drinking.

One by one, people came to greet Mu Liuyin. While responding to them, Mu Liuyin kept an eye on the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of her “little pitiful” (Lin Xi).

It wasn’t until just before the hour of Mao (roughly 5 am) that Mu Liuyin finally saw Lin Xi entering with her parents.

The birthday banquet officially began at Mao hour, with the Emperor taking his seat at the head of the table.

“Long live His Majesty, may His Majesty live ten thousand years!”

Mu Liuyin knelt and joined in the chant.

“Please rise,” the Emperor called once everyone had gotten to their feet.

Afterward, the Emperor singled out Mu Liuyin first, his voice warm and kindly, “A while ago, you said you would give me an unexpected gift, Your Highness. Please don’t disappoint me!”

Mu Liuyin smiled slightly and accepted the box that the eunuch was holding behind her. She stepped forward and spoke clearly, “This is a thousand-year medicinal jade that I had someone find in the southern border a month ago.”

She opened the box, revealing a small, translucent white jade stone, not much larger than a palm.

In recent years, the Emperor had grown old, and his health had been deteriorating. The Imperial Physician had said that if he could acquire a medicinal jade of this kind, it could extend his life by at least two more years.

Unfortunately, while medicinal jade was easy to find, thousand-year medicinal jade was rare.

The original owner was lucky enough to have someone find it.

Sure enough, upon hearing that it was a thousand-year medicinal jade, the Emperor’s eyes lit up.

Mu Liuyin passed the gift to the Chief Eunuch beside the Emperor and returned to her seat. She noticed Lin Xi staring at her, her gaze dark and calm, with no discernible emotion. Mu Liuyin didn’t overthink it and smiled gently back.

Afterward, other princes presented their gifts, but none of them were as endearing as Yin Xiu’s.

The Emperor then brought up Su Biyan, the renowned talented woman who had recently garnered much attention, and suggested a poetry competition based on the theme of “Plum Blossoms.”

Mu Liuyin thought to herself that the main event had finally arrived. She couldn’t see the expression of Master Ji, who was sitting closest to the Emperor, but she could have Xiao Jiu keep an eye on him for her.

“Hahaha, Host, you haven’t seen how awful Master Ji’s face looks right now,” Xiao Jiu laughed in her mind and proceeded to describe the expression of Master Ji.

Mu Liuyin smiled slightly. Looking at Su Biyan, who accepted the Emperor’s praise without any hesitation, she thought it was no wonder that Master Ji, a person who valued integrity above all, would be displeased. After all, Su Biyan had copied the poem from a book.

She looked at Su Biyan, who seemed confident, and shook her head internally. She let Xiao Jiu guide her hand to write the poem that the original self had written.

At first, Su Biyan hadn’t planned on writing anything down. She had been focused on altering her public image and hadn’t practiced her calligraphy much. However, since the Emperor had heard about her literary talent, she couldn’t avoid writing a poem.

When the Emperor asked why she hadn’t written one after hearing the others’ poems, Su Biyan quickly thought up an excuse. She claimed she had injured her right hand recently and couldn’t write, asking if she could recite the poem instead.

The Emperor agreed.

Mu Liuyin smiled indifferently. Su Biyan was clever; she picked up a peach blossom pastry from the plate and took a bite. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that the poem she recited was the same one from the ancient poetry collection that Master Ji had “accidentally” received the day before.

“Plum blossoms and snow fight for the spring, yet are unwilling to yield,”

“The poets put down their pens, unable to make a judgment.”

“Plum blossoms must yield three parts of their whiteness to the snow,”

“Yet snow loses to plum blossoms in fragrance.”

With each line Su Biyan recited, Master Ji’s face darkened further. By the time she finished the final line, his expression had completely soured.

Su Biyan, unaware, smiled confidently and said, “This poem is called ‘Snow and Plum.’”

Indeed, the poem was stunning. At least, none of the poems written by the younger generation could compare. Even Yin Yu’s eyes flashed with surprise.

“Good poem,” the Emperor exclaimed with a hearty laugh. “I didn’t expect such a talented woman from the Great Yin! Truly deserving of the teacher’s admiration.”

However, Master Ji spoke with a stern voice, “Did you write this poem yourself?”

Su Biyan was startled. Of course, she hadn’t written it herself—it was from her original world. This world didn’t have it. Yet, she confidently answered, “It was indeed written by Biyan.”

Good! Good! Good!

Master Ji, who had prided himself on being so discerning, had been repeatedly deceived by this young girl. Had he not “accidentally” come across that ancient book yesterday, he might still have been fooled.

Thinking about how he had once considered accepting Su Biyan as a disciple only fueled his anger even more.

Master Ji’s expression was cold as he stared at Su Biyan, but he addressed the Emperor, saying, “Unfortunately, I happened to acquire an ancient book yesterday, which contains many poems with excellent themes. This poem, ‘Snow and Plum,’ is one of them, written by Lu Meipo. I never expected to hear it from a junior today!”

Master Ji’s voice was firm and resolute. Seeing Su Biyan’s face turn pale, he continued, “Moreover, all the poems that Miss Su has claimed to have written are recorded in this book. However, the authors are not the same person.”

“Although I have never heard of the names of the authors in this book, I’m certain they are not the work of Miss Su!”

With that, he handed the ancient poetry collection, which had been compiled by Xiao Jiu, to the Emperor, who was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events.

Perhaps the Emperor hadn’t heard of the other poems that Su Biyan had written, but when he came across ‘Snow and Plum,’ his expression turned icy.

“Impossible!” Su Biyan cried out, “All the poems are indeed written by me. When did the authorship change to someone else?”

Realizing that her plagiarism had been exposed, and recalling how she had just received praise from the Emperor, Su Biyan’s face turned ashen. Feeling humiliated, the Emperor threw the book to the ground in frustration.

Su Biyan, her face pale, stepped forward to examine the book. As she flipped through the pages, her face drained of all color, turning deathly white.

Not only were the poems she had plagiarized listed in the book, but there were many more poems she had planned to plagiarize in the future. And besides those, each page listed the original authors. Every one of the authors looked incredibly familiar—these were the true creators of the poems.

But how could this be? This was supposed to be a world from a book! Who else could know about these poems, aside from her?

“This book is fake! These poems were truly written by me! Your Majesty, please see the truth!” Su Biyan kneeled and kowtowed, desperately denying the accusations. She couldn’t admit to plagiarism—otherwise, her entire life would be ruined!

The Emperor’s expression grew cold as he instructed the guards from the Duke’s residence to take Su Biyan away.

Not only was this book not something that could be forged, but even if it were, Master Ji would never publicly accuse a junior of such a thing. Moreover, aside from the poems Su Biyan had written, there were many others in the book that were far superior to her works.

The people from the Duke’s residence stood in shock, not expecting their daughter to have committed such an act of plagiarism, and especially not to have caused such a scandal at the Emperor’s birthday banquet. They hurriedly stepped forward to apologize and took the defiant Su Biyan back to their residence.

Mu Liuyin had dealt with Su Biyan and enjoyed the spectacle, feeling quite pleased with how things were progressing. She felt that the task was more than halfway done.

As she ate peach blossom cakes, she spoke to Xiao Jiu, “Is every task this easy?”

Xiao Jiu shook its head, denying it. “Of course not. This is the first world, so it’s relatively simple. For each subsequent world, your host’s identity will be randomly assigned.”

Fearing that Mu Liuyin might overthink it, Xiao Jiu quickly added, “Of course, all host bodies will be male.”

Mu Liuyin’s smile faded slightly, and her pleasant mood was nearly shattered by Xiao Jiu’s words.

Annoyed, she decided not to talk to Xiao Jiu anymore and tossed him a figurative “dog” (dismissal).

Oblivious to the host’s disdain, Xiao Jiu continued as if nothing had happened.

Lin Xi, who had been watching as Su Biyan was taken away, kept her expression unreadable. Her long, slender fingers tapped lightly on the table.

Each tap was soft, but it revealed the unrest stirring within her heart.

In her past life, Su Biyan’s plagiarism had never been exposed. Instead, Su Biyan had garnered attention, been accepted as a disciple by the Emperor’s teacher, Master Ji, and even received praise from the Emperor.

Being accepted as a closed-door disciple by the Emperor’s teacher was an immense honor for any woman.

Afterward, her fame briefly surpassed Lin Xi’s.

Then, when Yin Xiu ascended to the throne, he quickly took Su Biyan into his harem, bestowing upon her the title of Imperial Noble Consort. In the end, Lin Xi’s entire family was executed.

Lin Xi’s heart was filled with sorrow. How foolish she had been in her previous life, thinking that Yin Xiu had always loved her. It was laughable.

This time, Lin Xi wasn’t sure whether her rebirth had caused the change in events or if someone else had been behind exposing Su Biyan’s plagiarism.

But one thing was clear—Su Biyan’s reputation was ruined. Exposed by the Emperor’s teacher, she refused to admit to her wrongdoing, and her life was now destroyed.

Listening to the gossip around her about Su Biyan’s plagiarism, Lin Xi couldn’t help but smile mockingly.

She didn’t even need to lift a finger—Su Biyan was already no longer a threat.

As for the other two enemies from her past life, one had already fallen to such a fate. How could the other go unscathed?

Lin Xi glanced at Mu Liuyin in the distance, a dark shadow spreading across her heart.

Don’t rush, Yin Xiu. Your end will be a thousand times worse than Su Biyan’s.

Seeing Lin Xi’s focused gaze on her, Mu Liuyin smiled gently. Her eyes, dark as ink, seemed to reflect the brilliance of the stars above.