### Chapter 4: Harpist Academy (13)
As the judges declared the competition was about to officially start, not just the audience in the venue but also the folks glued to their screens and those outside the academy, straining to hear every little detail, fell into a hush.
No one anticipated that, unlike the usual three white balls used during the test, two of them had been swapped out for a couple of wine bottles and a lump of mud aimed directly at Edith.
In a panic, Edith relied on her muscle memory from countless training sessions and released an equivalent force of sound waves.
With great predictability, the last remaining white ball was taken down, but the toughness of the wine bottle’s exterior was not easily overcome.
The sound waves merely caused it to flip, and the cork lost its grip, spilling its lethal contents like a high-altitude splash straight onto Edith’s face.
As for the lump of mud, it was instantaneously sliced in two by the sound wave, but it didn’t drop straight down like the white ball. Instead, it continued to soar on inertia, one piece colliding with Edith’s pale forehead while the other slid past her ear.
The mud mixed with the wine quickly transformed Edith’s face into a ridiculous, colorful mess, eliciting snickers from the observing crowd who couldn’t contain their laughter.
Finally, the onlookers could no longer hold back and burst into stifled fits of giggles, lowering their heads to hide their mirth.
Feeling utterly humiliated, Edith let out a shriek.
She hurled her four-stringed harp aside, turning it to dust, and frantically attempted to wipe her face, trying to erase the mushy mess of booze-soaked mud.
Unfortunately, the more she tried to clean up, the messier she got.
When the spicy mix of mud and booze got into her eyes, an unprecedented wave of pain and humiliation made her unable to hold back her loud sobs.
Konglif rushed forward, pulling out a handkerchief to dab at the mixture of tears and mud at the corners of her eyes. He murmured, “Edith, mind your image. Hang in there, I’ll take you to wash your face.”
You see, saving face is everything, especially when she was regarded as a genius on par with Trissa among the graduating class.
What happened just now was merely an unexpected situation that led to her lapse—once Konglif reminded her, she snapped back to her senses and stopped crying immediately.
With Konglif leading the way, she dashed to a nearby restroom, washing away all traces of the muddy mess from her face.
By the time she returned, aside from a lingering whiff of wine, she was back to her regular self.
“I protest!” Edith exclaimed indignantly.
“This is a deliberate attack against me!
They want to see me make a fool of myself, which is why they designed such a vile method of testing. Esteemed judges, I request that you declare the previous test invalid.”
At that moment, Lin Nan was standing beside the judging panel, able to see every detail of the competition clearly.
“Edith, don’t you want to see how Trissa deals with this?”
Seeing that foreign woman speak set Edith’s anger on fire.
At the end of the day, this was her own trick, hoping to make her embarrass herself and boost Trissa’s popularity.
Oh please, an over-the-hill woman still trying to compete for the title of genius harpist? What a delusion!
“How can you guarantee that her test will be just as difficult as mine? You wouldn’t be trying to cheat on her behalf, would you?”
Edith shot back without mercy.
She turned to the three judges, “I plead with you, please stand up for me.”
As she spoke, tears shimmered in her eyes as if she had suffered tremendous injustice.
However, to her surprise, her tactic seemed ineffective; the three female judges didn’t lend her a single supportive word. Instead, one of them spoke firmly.
“Edith, this is a testing venue. Please rein in your emotions and do not disrupt the order of the competition.”
She was completely dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Why were their attitudes so stiff? How could they speak for an outsider like that? This… this was unjust!
But soon, the female judge added, “Based on Lin’s suggestion, you will choose the items to test Trissa later.
So within the range of available items, you can pick anything you want.”
Edith was once again taken aback.
She looked at Lin Nan, who had a calm and serene demeanor, seemingly unfazed by anything she did.
And Trissa was silent too, as if she had no objections to the judges’ decision.
“I thought Edith’s blunder was shocking enough, but now she gets to choose the props for testing Trissa? Wow, I suddenly find this competition even more interesting!”
Blake’s voice was dripping with excitement.
“By the way, Betty, the judges haven’t given any scores for Edith’s performance. What do you think she would rate herself if this were her official competition?”
Betty replied, “According to the examination rules, if the props touch your body before you knock them down—in other words, if you don’t hit them before the white balls come at you—your test will be considered failing.”
Blake asked, “So Edith is failing then?”
Betty looked a bit conflicted. “That can’t be entirely true. After all, the rules state that only white balls are used for testing. Who would have thought that a wine bottle and mud would be thrown into the mix? We can’t adapt to such changes during practice.
Even among other graduates, I doubt anyone could have done better than Edith.”
Blake laughed. “So what do you think Lin’s motive is for letting Edith choose tests for Trissa?”
Betty pondered, “Hmm, it should be for fairness. After all, Edith was caught off guard, so her performance might’ve fallen short. Trissa had time to prepare, and if they use the same props, her performance will likely exceed Edith’s.
So, by arranging it this way, regardless of Trissa’s performance, Edith won’t feel unjustified.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize there was such a subtlety involved here. It’s really eye-opening.”
Blake made an exaggerated expression.
“Now, let’s shift our focus to the back wall and see what props Edith will choose.”
By this time, Trissa had already positioned herself in front of the wall.
Her gaze revealed no trace of panic, as though no matter how Edith chose, she would face it with indifference.
Though her recent defeat momentarily affected her mood, ever since Lin decided to modify the rules and designate himself to replace her to continue the contest against Edith, Trissa knew this was her chance given to her by Lin to redeem herself in front of the citizens of the imperial capital.
No matter what, she wouldn’t let Lin down.
