Ouch! Aenwyn jumped up and covered his mouth. She knew he meant to break her leg.
He kept threatening to break her leg, but look at her legs, still fine and intact.
Aenwyn turned around and made a face at him.
In response, he raised his hand again. "Don't hit me!" she yelled, covering her forehead and running away.
Indigo didn't chase her. He stopped and glanced at Ludovic and Young Master Zhou in the back corner. His eyes were dark, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.
Young Master Zhou got angry and was about to confront him, but Ludovic held him back.
As night fell and the lanterns lit up, the final selection for the top female performer was held in a courtyard in the city. Pavilions and corridors surrounded the area, filled with signs of wealth.
Unlike the daytime event that allowed free viewing by the public, this gathering was limited to wealthy or high-status people, along with the twenty winners from the Huashu Club's earlier competition.
Each winner could bring two guests. Naturally, she brought Indigo.
The only female sovereign would be chosen by these twenty competition winners.
The selection process resembled ancient emperor consort selections. Judging was based on skin, bust, hips, leg length, foot size, and private areas.
The men attending were all visibly excited, like they were at a celebration.
Aenwyn was speechless. As the top winner, she had to take the lead in measuring the women's bodies.
Even when buying pork at the market, she had never inspected anything this carefully. She regretted turning down Mister Henricus earlier because of doubt. She should've just let him go.
Twenty-eight women stood in a line, dressed more lightly than before. Each winner was responsible for one woman. The extra eight women were handled by respected figures from Danzhou.
This time, the host was not Huashu Zhai but the governor of Danzhou himself. The plump governor sat at the main seat next to Ludovic and Young Master Zhou. Danyang's officials were also present.
Aenwyn also spotted Ragnar.
Ragnar stared at the twenty people on stage. He was extremely jealous that he couldn't touch the top-ranked woman, not even the female sovereign.
Unlike Scholar Li who was thrilled on stage, Aenwyn sat uneasily like she was on needles. She looked at Indigo. He shook his head at her.
Soon, the judging began.
When her turn came, she started testing the smoothness of the women's skin carefully. She used a special red liquid. The way it flowed helped judge the texture of the skin.
Damn! She saw others nearby already taking the chance to touch and grope the women secretly. It disgusted her. Maybe crying earlier had drained her emotions. With a blank face, Aenwyn continued her task.
The girl she examined was delicate and unmarried. Her identity badge said Huzhou, Rose.
She was also the highest scorer in the competition.
Rose's features were very pretty. A red mole between her brows made her look innocent and naive. But her skin was dull, like a dusty pearl.
Looking at her, Aenwyn felt pity. This was just a girl, still not fully developed.
Aside from that, this was her first close look at the women's identity badges. They were like tattoos etched into the backs of their hands, showing birthplace and rank.
Just like labeling animals, branded on their bodies. Aenwyn was furious. Her face turned cold.
As their rank changed, these tattoos would be erased and replaced.
She didn't know how they removed them here. Even in modern times, that was an extremely painful process.
Then the bust, hips, leg length, and foot size were all recorded.
Rose seemed to really like Aenwyn. She smiled at her many times. Of course she liked her. No one else treated her that kindly.
Aenwyn coldly watched wrinkled old men grope the young women with little effort to hide it.
These were just courtesans. She couldn't even imagine what female slaves went through.
"Does he not like women?" Young Master Zhou asked Ludovic.
Ludovic stayed silent, staring at her, deep in thought.
When the final step was completed, unsurprisingly, Rose became the female sovereign. She gave Aenwyn a tight hug, pressing herself close.
Not just the audience below, even Scholar Li on stage looked at her with admiration. Hart truly had skill, making the female sovereign run into his arms on her own.
He slightly regretted his earlier reckless behavior.
Aenwyn didn't push her away. She gently patted her head.
As she left the stage, her pace quickened until she broke into a run. She was afraid if she slowed down, she'd throw up or burst into tears that had been held in all night.
What kind of world was this, where women had to live in such misery?
The night wind blew past. Aenwyn ran fast. Indigo was the first to notice something was wrong and chased after her. Behind him were Ludovic and Young Master Zhou.
Then Young Master Zhou shouted angrily, "Ragnar, what are you doing again?"
Ragnar looked back innocently. What could he have done? He couldn't touch the women, just stepped out to get some air. Who knew that Hart's brat would sprint out, crash into his leg, and fall into the lake.
After the judging ended, on a small path in the back garden, Rose brushed past someone.
"Servant Lindra, she's a woman."