One student smiled and shook his head.
"Brother Xiao, the position of compilers in the Hanlin Academy are all held by the top scholars of each year. Doesn't this mean you're already challenging the top scholars to the pinnacle? Hahaha~~~"
Another student nearby didn't seem to care.
"To be granted an official title without any examination—Shen Mingzhu must possess extraordinary abilities. We have certainly learned a great deal today! My apologies for not being more knowledgeable!"
He said "I'm sorry" with his mouth and a look of disdain on his lips, but his motionless body showed no respect whatsoever.
The Jiangnan region has always been a breeding ground for talented people and a gathering place for scholars and literati. Coupled with favorable weather, it is a prosperous and wealthy place in the Great Yan Dynasty. Reading is highly valued, and most of the civil officials in the imperial court come from the Jiangnan area.
Therefore, since the founding emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, in order to avoid the fact that all the civil officials in the court came from the south, the founding emperor established the tradition of selecting officials by examination.
Starting with the provincial examinations, quotas were set by province, and the same applied to the metropolitan examinations.
Therefore, no matter how many talented people there are in the South, the number of places is fixed, and the competition is extremely fierce!
Therefore, in the minds of students from Jiangnan, they believe that students from the South are superior to students from the North.
It can also be considered a different kind of arrogance and prejudice.
As for Shen Mingzhu, she was just a woman who dared to dream of shaking the imperial court; they didn't take her seriously at all.
Today, let them teach this arrogant and ignorant Shen Mingzhu a lesson.
In the future, he will be able to vent his anger for the students who have studied hard for years.
Some clever people even set up a betting pool right next to it!
Shen Mingzhu watched as the students in the hall generously bet on Xiao Yanzhi to win, and she couldn't suppress the smile on her face.
Bet, bet, and in the end you'll lose everything, even your underwear...
[Guagua, let me see who those two are! They are so arrogant, you'd think they were going to fly to the moon!]
Yan Beichen glanced at the two of them and smiled enigmatically.
[Host, those two are named Zhao Deren and Leng Lujie. They are also students from Jiangnan, affiliated with the Xiao family, and are Xiao Yanzhi loyal followers.]
Seeing that the two of them had openly bet 300 taels of silver each, Shen Mingzhu looked at Shen Weiming beside her.
"Guard Shen, go and bet 5,000 taels on me. I'll win."
Hiss...
Xiao Yanzhi's smile grew even brighter.
"A bold and ambitious spirit!"
"Young Master Xiao, you can't be stingy! You're a top contender for the top scholar position!"
"Hahaha~~~ Of course! Jinbao, go! Bet 5,000 taels for me, no, bet 6,000 taels, I'll win!"
"Yes, young master!"
Everyone became even more excited upon seeing this!
Shen Changyuan touched the 200 taels of silver notes he had brought with him and calmly asked Wang Defu's godson, Wang Xiaohai, to help him.
"Xiaohai, please help me bet on Mingzhu to win."
No matter what, as a father, he has to support his daughter.
No matter how disappointing a child is, they are still your own family, and you have to protect them.
Emperor Jingyuan glanced at it, smiled, and said nothing, which was taken as tacit agreement...
Soon, the wealthy Prince An placed a bet of 10,000 taels of silver, betting that Shen Mingzhu would win.
"Hehe, I think Miss Shen does have some real skills, doesn't she, Minister Shen?"
Shen Changyuan nodded repeatedly.
"That's right, Prince An, please don't worry. I only brought 200 taels of silver with me, otherwise I would have bet more!"
"Oh? Really? Should I have someone help you?"
Shen Changyuan: ...
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Helpless, Shen Changyuan went to the mansion and took another 5,000 taels of silver to support his daughter.
He secretly hoped: My darling daughter must win!
Our Marquis's mansion has deposited over 10,000 taels of silver!
That's a lot of money; your dad's annual salary isn't even that much.
Soon, news came from downstairs again.
Shen Mingzhu then staked out her two newly acquired shops, a hot spring resort, and a five-courtyard mansion!
Leng Lujie was overjoyed when he saw this.
"Brother Xiao, look! From now on, you'll have everything you need in Shengjing Hot Springs: a manor, a shop, a house! Congratulations in advance!"
"Brother Leng, don't say that, the competition hasn't even started yet!"
Hearing Leng Lujie's words, Shen Qinghong and Shen Qingbo were furious.
"What are you saying! The competition hasn't even started yet, how do you know Xiao Yanzhi will win? My sister will definitely win, my sister is amazing!"
"A good-for-nothing brother and a talented sister—this is quite a story, hahaha~~~"
"Today I'll show you the style of a talented scholar from Jiangnan!"
Shen Qingbo was so angry that he trembled all over.
"A scholar can be killed but not humiliated! This arrogant fool spouts nonsense before even having a match. Doesn't he fear his tongue will twist in the wind? I think this so-called talented scholar from Jiangnan is nothing more than this."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Deren snapped his folding fan shut and arrogantly said,
"What? So what if you're not as skilled? We in Jiangnan are full of talented people. It's just that we're constrained by the tradition of selecting officials through separate examinations. Otherwise, hmph! We don't know what the situation would be like!"
Seeing that the two sides were about to argue, Shen Mingzhu spoke up directly.
"Young Master Xiao, are you in or not?"
Xiao Yanzhi raised an eyebrow and spoke humbly.
"Shen Mingzhu, I also want to go full bet with you, but I was in a hurry to leave this time and I only have so many silver notes on me."
"Oh? If I remember correctly, Xiao Yanzhi is the young master of the Xiao family of Jinling, and the Xiao family business also has a branch in Shengjing. What, you lack confidence?"
After listening to Shen Mingzhu's words, many people realized what she meant.
Looking at the beautiful young woman in front of him, Xiao Yanzhi realized that she had thoroughly investigated his background.
He smiled.
"If I remember correctly, Miss Shen's maternal family is the Wu family of Jiangnan. How come the Wu family business can't satisfy Miss Shen's appetite?"
Shen Mingzhu smiled calmly.
"No, that's not it. I just heard that a branch of the Xiao Family Trading Company recently received a new batch of rice and cloth in Shengjing. I'm quite envious."
Thinking of the 500,000 dan of rice and several warehouses of cloth in the suburbs of Beijing, Xiao Yanzhi felt it was too much!
"Miss Shen, my family's rice and cloth are not just from two shops, one estate, and one house."
Shen Mingzhu smiled and put down the jade pendant that the Crown Prince had given her.
"This jade pendant is a token. Take it to the Four Seas Bank, and the money inside is enough to buy rice and cloth from the Xiao Family Trading Company."
Crown Prince Yan Beichen's lips trembled as he saw the jade pendant. "Good, good, good!"
You really know how to have fun!
He gave her the jade pendant with the intention of sharing everything in the Crown Prince's residence with her, but she, on the contrary, used the Crown Prince's residence's money to gamble!
Shen Mingzhu, you have no heart!
Emperor Jingyuan looked at the jade pendant, then glanced at Crown Prince Yan Beichen in the hall. He thought to himself, "He's really my good son!"
"Miss Shen, isn't our bet too high? Not counting those warehouses of cloth, the Xiao family's warehouse holds a full 500,000 dan of grain. Don't try to fool people with a jade pendant."
"You can take the jade pendant to Sihai Money Shop to check it out."
At this moment, Crown Prince Yan Beichen stepped forward.
"No need to check, what Miss Shen said is true!"
Xiao Yanzhi raised his eyes and smiled at Crown Prince Yan Beichen, whose expression was unfriendly.
Upon closer inspection of the jade pendant, wow, it's a token from the Crown Prince's residence!
As the future heir of the Xiao family, he certainly knows such stuff!
It seems that the Crown Prince values his fiancée far more than he imagined.
[Guagua, is Xiao Yanzhi no good? Is he even a man, always so indecisive?]
Xiao Yanzhi: What do you mean he's no good!
He's really good!