No matter how unwilling Pei Chuyun was, the ranking was not something she could control. That was the Zhenmosi’s business; she was only invited to write poems.

Her poem could endorse the list, offsetting the perception of nepotism where the Zhenmosi allegedly promoted their own subordinate to first place. After all, she had a reputation as the foremost talent in Jingshi, and her background was that of a Pei family daughter. Of course, she could refuse, and the Zhenmosi’s plan would fall apart.

But Pei Chuyun gnashed her teeth and ultimately did not refuse.

“Just a newcomer, a junior, hmph.” Pei Chuyun rolled her eyes. “It’s easy enough to elevate her on a list, but are you sure you want me to write?”

The editor-in-chief said, “Of course… Uh, but what’s the point of forcing it? It would damage Miss Pei’s reputation.”

Pei Chuyun stroked her chin, picked up her pen, and changed a line: “Then this one it is.”

The editor-in-chief leaned over to look: “Xigua zu jie ke, gelie Qingyao fu.” (Note: This line truly exists in Fang Hui’s “Qiushu”)

The editor-inchief’s expression twitched: “Miss Pei, this…”

Pei Chuyun smiled mischievously: “How wonderful! It even includes her beloved Qingyao Yuan.”

“But you’ve split her Qingyao apart!”

“Do you still want me to write?” Pei Chuyun threatened. “Do you want your Miss Sheng to be laughed at with a few critical remarks, or do you want the public to question the Zhenmosi for pulling strings to promote their own daughter to first place? You choose.”

The editor-in-chief wiped away cold sweat: “But even Chief Sheng wouldn’t approve this. It’s not just about me saying it’s okay…”

Pei Chuyun pouted: “Must I praise her?”

“Not necessarily… Just objective, objective is fine.”

“Praise her, then.” Pei Chuyun thought for a moment and changed another line: “Tan paogua zhi wupi xi, yong qianniu zhi duchu.”

“This should be acceptable now, right?” Pei Chuyun squinted at him. “Paogua and Qianniu are both stars. This not only highlights Miss Sheng’s unique beauty, shining like a lonely star, but also expresses the unmatched singularity of the top newcomer. If you say no again, this young lady is done.”

The editor-in-chief was overjoyed: “This is good, this is good, this is it!”

“Hmph.” Pei Chuyun assumed he wouldn’t notice her malicious curse that Sheng Yuanyao would be unwanted, and her gaze directly fell on Lu Xingzhou’s name.

Logically, someone who stood out from the Newcomer List and ascended to the Heroes List should also receive a comment.

But Pei Chuyun looked at the line “Moshang ren ru yu, gongzi shi wushuang” and couldn’t bring herself to delete it and change it to something else.

“The path has been blocked,” Pei Chuyun bit her lower lip. “How annoying, why did she write that line first?”

“Never mind, keep that line, I’ll add another one.” Pei Chuyun thought for a moment, dipped her ink, and added: “Xing lan cheng yue gui, ji dan jie xing tao.”

After writing it, she herself felt it was inauspicious. How could one untie a *xingtao* (traveling sash)?

Moreover, this was a comment for the Heroes List, not a love poem. It would be better to be more serious.

So she crossed it out and changed another line: “Jianghai ao xiang di, zhou xing an zi yi.”

After writing this line, she was quite satisfied—he shouldn’t have competed on the Newcomer List at all, but should have soared in the broader rivers and seas. This movement of the boat as the shore shifts was an expectation for him to leave the Newcomer List and ascend to the Heroes List.

It was truly a mother’s painstaking effort, just a pity that she couldn’t sneak in any personal agenda.

Never mind, the line for Sheng Yuanyao was already full of personal bias, so for the others, she would give the Zhenmosi a bit of face.

The editor-in-chief watched from the side and was quite pleased. This line truly fit the comments that should be written for the Heroes List. They had asked the right person! To be honest, the line “Moshang ren ru yu” didn’t fit at all. Just this line alone had been mocked by the public for who knows how long… But their Miss Sheng wrote it herself, so no one dared to refute it.

As for Anu’s… Pei Chuyun hesitated for a moment and asked the editor-in-chief: “Does everyone need a comment?”

The editor-in-chief said, “There’s no such rule. We aren’t familiar with some people, so how can we write comments for everyone?”

Pei Chuyun nodded: “Then it’s best not to write anything for Lu Nuonuo. Whatever is written would easily draw more attention to her, and Lu Xingzhou might not want that. She’s just a child, and too much attention isn’t good, and a child’s appearance itself is very deceptive. Don’t ruin it.”

The editor-in-chief agreed but felt a strange sensation in his heart.

What was this, you’re an external hire to write poems, why are you considering these things now… Are you our Chief? Or Lu Nuonuo’s mother?

Pei Chuyun would never tell him that her original intention was simply not to bother brainstorming for that mischievous child. She couldn’t get over the incident at Danxia Shan when that child tricked her into a huge surprise.

Using public power for personal gain was indeed comfortable; no wonder so many people were eager to become officials.

Pei Chuyun, in a rather good mood, reviewed the information again, casually adding a perfunctory line for a few other changed figures. As expected, she didn’t ask for a writing fee and gracefully left.

The editor-in-chief looked at the manuscript, quite satisfied, and took it to Sheng Qingfeng for review.

Sheng Qingfeng browsed through it, then looked up at the editor-in-chief with a knowing gaze: “You agreed to Pei Chuyun’s line for Ya’er?”

“Yes.”

“You also lament her solitude?”

The editor-in-chief puffed out his chest: “Miss Sheng should be aloof and admire herself. Who can match her?”

Sheng Qingfeng said: “Are you cursing my daughter to be unwanted?”

Editor-in-chief: “?”

“Never mind, let that line be. If she’s unwanted, then she’s unwanted, it’s better than being someone’s concubine.” Sheng Qingfeng waved his brush: “Approved.”

The editor-in-chief immediately took the manuscript for printing, specifically instructing: “It must include: Comment by chief writer: Miss Pei Chuyun.”

The clerk asked: “What about you?”

“I’m listed as editor-in-chief; why compete with someone for the chief writer title? Just print ‘Editor-in-chief Beihe’ is fine.”

When Lu Xingzhou arrived in Jingshi with Anu, the new issue of the Heroes List was already widely circulating.

As soon as Lu Xingzhou entered Jingshi, he heard people asking, “What melon, what melon?” Hearing this, the master and disciple immediately squeezed in to join the gossip.

It turned out they were asking how to read the character before “paogua,” and what kind of melon it was.

“It’s read ‘pao,’ it’s a calabash!”

“Didn’t they say it can also be written as ‘hu,’ and read ‘hu’?”

“Pao!”

“Hu!”

The passersby were arguing fiercely.

Lu Xingzhou, with confused eyes, pulled a passerby and asked, “What is this about?”

“It’s the new Heroes List! This is the comment for Miss Sheng, the top newcomer.”

“Melon… no, Sheng Yuanyao is the top newcomer? Such a big deal, and none of you are talking about it? Why are you all arguing about pronunciation?”

“What’s there to talk about? Anyone can be first, as long as it’s not Qi Tuizhi! If he were still stuck in that position, I’d be ashamed of the Newcomer List.”

Not far away, Qi Tuizhi walked by, expressionless.

Lu Xingzhou didn’t bother talking to them anymore, squeezed out of the crowd, and bought a copy of the Heroes List. He opened it and glanced at the comment for the “melon sister”: “Hiss… Sheng Qingfeng must have written this himself, how can he curse his daughter to be single?”

Anu squinted at him: “This is clearly a compliment, saying Sister Yuanyao is unparalleled and unmatched, corresponding to her first-place position.”

“Who cares? The melon sister herself would be furious if she saw it.”

“Why would she be furious? Isn’t she single? Aren’t you her friend?”

“I… You mischievous child, can you even hold a conversation?” Lu Xingzhou directly flipped to the end and looked at the list of compilers. He immediately saw the chief writer: Pei Chuyun.

Anu still squinted: “Go on, why aren’t you talking now?”

“Ahem.” Lu Xingzhou cleared his throat: “So it was her who wrote it, no wonder the writing is so good.”

Anu: “…”

Lu Xingzhou flipped to the Heroes List section, first finding Anu’s name. There was no comment, so he nodded: “It really is Chuyun as chief writer; she knows it’s not appropriate to highlight you.”

Anu said: “She could be good to me? I think she deliberately ignored me.”