Chapter 278: Risk and Investment (1 / 2)

There was a vague sense among the Emperor and his ministers of the Da Xia Dynasty that today, more than one person might end up in tears.

Perhaps… perhaps we should just forget about this, Your Majesty? The Embroidered Uniform Guard is doing a fine job investigating! If the princess doesn’t want to marry, then she doesn’t have to! Surely, the royal family can afford to support a single princess!

The Emperor: Absolutely not!

The old emperor crossed his arms and coldly surveyed the scene.

I refuse to believe it! Out of so many people, is there really not a single decent one?

Xu Yanmiao lowered his head and looked at the next name on the list.

The moment he did, the officials felt their hearts tremble involuntarily.

But…

One glance at Liu Bingwen—who was practically seething with rage, glaring at his son-in-law with the intensity of a beast ready to tear him apart—and they couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

In truth, listening more wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If Liu Bingwen hadn’t heard Xu Yanmiao’s inner thoughts, he wouldn’t have discovered that his youngest daughter had been coaxed into eloping. Though hearing it had been nerve-wracking, when trouble actually arose, it was better to be informed—

“Thank you, Little Baize!”

Xu Yanmiao was in a hurry to use the restroom but still couldn’t resist checking the system.

—It looked exactly like someone walking while scrolling through their phone.

As he skimmed through, his steps suddenly halted, his expression frozen in shock.

[No way…]

An official mumbled under his breath, “Could there be something even more absurd than before?”

That couldn’t be possible, right? “Killing the firstborn son” was shocking enough. Silently approving of one’s younger brother eloping with his sister-in-law was already outrageous. A mother tucking in her already-married son in the middle of the night? That was unheard of!

But even with all that, Little Baize hadn’t been this stunned before!

Before long, Xu Yanmiao moved again. He quickly dodged to the side, finding a spot where his figure was less visible, and then—

[HAHAHAHAHAHA—]

Loud laughter echoed in everyone’s ears.

The officials immediately perked up. One by one, they turned toward Xu Yanmiao, their eyes burning with anticipation.

That reaction—there was no doubt about it! This had to be pure entertainment! It had nothing to do with beheadings or clan extermination!

Many officials even requested wine, intending to drink as they listened.

—Unconsciously, a subtle divide formed between them and the newly appointed scholars.

Even the top three ranked scholars—Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua—who had received offers from numerous officials, now felt a strange sense of detachment.

“Strange…” The Zhuangyuan still maintained a smile, but inside, he was deeply unsettled. “Does having an official rank truly make such a difference?”

Gao He scratched his head.

For some reason, he felt like these officials weren’t just treating them differently—it was more like…

It reminded him of how, in the past, he would sit at family gatherings or among gossiping neighbors, listening to them discuss which house was getting demolished and rebuilt, who had caused trouble after drinking, why Li Ergou’s two sons got into a fight, how much money was saved up for marriage, and even… which woman was secretly seeing another man, or which seemingly honest man was actually a frequent visitor to brothels. They’d wave their hands animatedly, spit flying everywhere, peanut shells and melon seed husks scattered on the ground, all while taking swigs of wine, their faces flushed with excitement.@@novelbin@@

Gao He: “……”

He shook his head forcefully, trying to shake off the thought.

That couldn’t be right! These people were high-ranking officials! The Prime Minister and the Six Ministries’ heads controlled the fate of the nation!

[This year’s second-rank top scholar (Chuanlu) secretly accepted financial support from three different noble ladies—each of whom he hinted to that, once he made the list, he would return to marry her.]

—Chuanlu refers to the top scorer of the second tier of the imperial exam.

Oh-ho!

The officials sat up straighter, even more intrigued.

Three choices—so how was he going to deal with the remaining two? If he broke his promises, it would be a stain on his official record, a weapon his political enemies could use against him at any time!

Gao He: “……”

Why did it feel like they were just enjoying the drama?

It had to be an illusion! It must be!

[He has chosen one of the noble ladies and is now drafting letters to cut ties with the other two.]

[Tsk, shameless. And he’s not even returning the money.]

The Emperor and his ministers: Oh?

[LMAO, he thinks he’s the one making choices, but they’re picking too! HAHAHAHA!]

The Emperor and his ministers: Oh!!!

[The first lady is obsessed with looks. She recently found someone even more attractive and already regrets ever considering him. Since it was only an unspoken agreement, she can just deny everything.]

[The second lady is a merchant’s daughter who has recently become passionate about business. She plans to join the Merchant Council and now finds the idea of marriage premature. Hmm… so this is what they call “the first sword after reaching shore—cutting down the person you once longed for”?]

Although they didn’t quite understand the connection between “cutting off an old love” and “reaching the shore,” the Emperor and his ministers of Da Xia were thoroughly enjoying the drama.

And in their hearts, they thought: Wonderful! This will make a great story to tell our children and grandchildren in the future…

Hmm…

Officials have excellent memories. Even after thirty or fifty years, they could recall “old stories” with vivid clarity.

—Which was rather unfortunate for the people involved.

The good news, however, was that everyone had the chance to become one of those people. If everyone had a scandal, then no one was spared from being laughed at.

So, who cares! Ha, ha, ha!

“Huh? Scholar Liu, why aren’t you laughing?”

The last “main character,” Scholar Liu, twitched the muscles on his face slightly. Though he still couldn’t bring himself to smile, he managed to squeeze out a few words:

“Perhaps… I was simply born with a serious nature.”

[And now! The grand finale!]

Xu Yanmiao even added a dramatic “DUN DUN DUN DUN” sound effect in his head.

—Good thing he didn’t know that his inner thoughts could be heard by others. Otherwise, the Emperor’s mausoleum wouldn’t even need to be built—just let Xu Yanmiao stand on the construction site and nervously scratch his toes until a hole formed in the ground.

[Chuanlu, the noble lady you chose… in a way, you two are truly a match made in heaven!]

An impatient official nearly blurted out: “How so?!”

What did he mean by “a match made in heaven”?!

Could it be that the noble lady was especially virtuous and would remain devoted even after learning the truth?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible! If that were the case, where would the fun be?!

Xu Yanmiao wasted no time in revealing the answer—

—Because he was just as excited as everyone else!

[You thought having three ladies was a safe bet, but she thought investing in only one scholar was too risky—HAHAHAHAHA!]

[So over the years, she has funded SEVEN scholars heading to the capital for the imperial exam! Two disappeared without a trace, one took the money and broke his promise, one failed the exam and shamelessly tried to return to freeload but was kicked out, and another ranked too low—so the lady, still young, decided to keep looking. The remaining two are from this year’s batch!]

[Absolutely legendary!]

[And that other scholar? He’s just as amazing! Although he failed the exam, he managed to befriend a young marquis. Then—get this—he introduced the noble lady to the young marquis, and now they exchange letters every three days, deeply engrossed in conversation. Who even remembers who funded whom at this point?!]

[Hilarious! His reasoning? He felt guilty for failing the exam and disappointing the lady, meaning he couldn’t give her the life of an official’s wife.]

[Mainly, though, he had taken a lot of her money while eating and living off her, and he felt really bad about it. But after arriving in the capital, he was lucky enough to befriend the young marquis. After confirming that the marquis came from a respectable family, was still unmarried, and had good character, he told the lady about him and set them up.]

The Emperor and his ministers: (⊙o⊙)

Forgive them for being blunt, but they had only ever heard of scholars coming to the capital and either betraying a wealthy lady or marrying her in the end. The most dramatic cases involved scholars killing their lovers in desperation, only for the lady’s orphan to return eighteen years later to seek justice…

But a scholar romantically entangled with three noble ladies, a noble lady entangled with seven scholars, and even a failed scholar introducing his former sponsor to a young marquis?!

This was completely unheard of!

Truly astonishing!

This year’s imperial exam candidates—what other surprises do you have that we haven’t discovered yet?!