"Your Majesty, you're going to misjudge this one!"

"This Song Xun is of ordinary birth. Even if he has some intelligence, how can he compare to Zhang Yongsi, who was raised by famous teachers?" One minister spoke fairly, but his tone was disapproving.

"Yes, Your Majesty. You've already made an exception for these scholars from poor families by allowing them to retake the imperial examination. If you gamble and Song Xun's ranking is poor, I fear that those with ulterior motives will use this to make trouble and slander you!"

Jiang Chen listened quietly, but his thoughts did not waver in the slightest.

He was the lord of the empire. Here, on this land, no one could sway his will!

"朕's mind is made up. Esteemed ministers, there is no need to persuade me further."

As he spoke, Jiang Chen's sharp gaze pierced directly at Mei Wenshi, and he said with a smile, "Minister Mei, Minister Zhang, since you are so optimistic about Zhang Yongsi, would you dare to gamble with 朕? It could also add some fun to today's imperial examination!"

Mei Wenshi's eyes flashed, and he silently accepted Jiang Chen's piercing gaze, adopting a respectful posture,

"If Your Majesty commands it, this humble minister will naturally obey!"

Jiang Chen's gaze turned to Zhang Liming again.

As a father, he would naturally not refuse such a good opportunity to gain rewards for his son, and immediately nodded, "This humble minister is also willing!"

"However, this humble minister is foolish. May I ask Your Majesty how we should gamble?"

Jiang Chen leaned back, casually saying, "It's simple. If Zhang Yongsi's ranking surpasses Song Xun and he becomes the zhuangyuan (first place), 朕 will appoint him as an Imperial Censor within the palace, starting as a main official of the fourth rank, and then award him the title of Guannei Marquis. How does that sound?"

As soon as the words fell, all the officials present were stunned.

A main official of the fourth rank, and a Guannei Marquis, both honors that ordinary people could hardly achieve in their entire lives! But now, His Majesty was throwing such great benefits to the Zhang family?!

At this time, Zhang Liming had quickly reacted after a brief moment of stunned silence.

His eyes shone green as he looked at Mei Wenshi, like a wolf that had been starving for days and nights suddenly seeing a bone with meat. He scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, wishing he could kick Mei Wenshi away and accept Jiang Chen's bet!

Mei Wenshi ignored the urging gazes on him and did not immediately agree.

After this period of confrontation, he knew very well that the Emperor would not let him suffer a loss. This bet was not right!

He cautiously opened his mouth and said, "Your Majesty, this humble minister would like to know, if we two lose, what will we have to pay?"

Jiang Chen said with a friendly smile, "That's simple too. If you two lose, then in front of all the civil and military officials, you will take off Song Xun's boots and grind ink for him, and then help him lead his horse, passing through the inner city of the Imperial Capital along the Imperial Road."

Hearing this, Mei Wenshi and Zhang Liming's faces instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

This was naked humiliation!

To have them, such high-born, powerful figures in the court, serve a country bumpkin was simply outrageous! Even just hearing the idea, they felt insulted!

If the person who said these words was not Jiang Chen, the supreme Son of Heaven of Da Wei,

The two of them would definitely have exploded on the spot, making this ignorant fellow disappear completely, from spirit to body!

At this time, the surrounding ministers were also silent.

They looked at their noses, and their noses at their hearts, pretending to be deaf and hearing nothing.

The situation was obvious. His Majesty was in a bad mood and deliberately embarrassing Mei Wenshi and Zhang Liming. They did not want to get involved and cause trouble for themselves.

Just when everyone thought that the two would not accept, Mei Wenshi hesitated for a moment, but actually agreed, without the slightest reluctance, "Your Majesty, this old minister is willing to accept, but I hope you can keep your promise and not break your word!"

Hearing this, the smile on Jiang Chen's face became even brighter.

The Censorate was very important to Mei Wenshi's power.

He used this as bait because he was sure that this old fox would take the bait!

As for the outcome of the bet, Jiang Chen was not worried at all, because from the beginning he intended to play these two old things.

There were two conditions for the bet: one was to win against Song Xun, and the other was to become the zhuangyuan (first place).

If Song Xun was unpromising and lost to Zhang Yongsi, he could start anew and support another noble son with similar abilities to be the zhuangyuan. He believed that the family behind this 'lucky one' would know how to be grateful and stand up to withstand the pressure from Mei Wenshi.

In this way, even if Zhang Yongsi won against Song Xun, he still would not have met Jiang Chen's requirements, and naturally there would be no reward.

As the saying goes, you might win, but I will never lose.

Jiang Chen pondered, happily narrowed his eyes, and assured Mei Wenshi, who was full of caution,

"朕 is the Son of Heaven, one word is worth nine tripods, how could 朕 break my word? Esteemed Minister, rest assured!"

Jiang Chen's sincere appearance made Mei Wenshi even more suspicious, and countless guesses arose.

Could it be that this Song Xun is someone from His Majesty, and today's conflict and farce was also deliberately arranged by His Majesty?

While he was pondering, the sundial pointer in the hall was constantly changing its position.

Soon, it was time to collect the papers and begin grading.

The papers filled with regular script were taken away by the eunuchs, and the examinees finally relaxed and began to busy themselves.

Some looked sad, muttering to themselves, as if they had not performed well just now, while others looked around, pretending to be calm, but unable to restrain themselves from being attracted by the wealth of the palace.

"Hey, Brother Zhang, look at that country bumpkin. He's looking at a broken pillar with such enthusiasm. He's really petty! To study alongside such a person is simply an insult to our status!"

A richly dressed examinee pointed at a scholar from a poor family in the corner and ridiculed him.

Zhang Yongsi and this examinee were notorious playboys in the Imperial Capital, having harmed many common women. They looked down on those of ordinary origins the most, and immediately echoed,

"Indeed, indeed!"

"Brother Li, you don't know how much I suffered when I was answering the questions just now!"

"There was a mud-legged fellow from a lower background sitting next to me, and the stench of poverty on his body almost suffocated me. I don't know why His Majesty values these ignorant and lowly commoners so much, and even specially opened this examination, allowing..."

The 'mud-legged fellow' in Zhang Yongsi's mouth was naturally Song Xun.

With Shi Ping's special care, he was arranged among the children of aristocratic families.

A crowd of silk-clad examinees surrounded him, who was dressed in coarse cloth. Inappropriately speaking, the visual effect could be described as a crane standing among chickens, very eye-catching.

Otherwise, Jiang Chen would not have been able to recognize him at a glance among the hundreds of examinees.

However, this special treatment would naturally attract some hostility. Some people were patient and could restrain themselves, while Zhang Yongsi and his good brother were used to being domineering, which was why they started to make trouble for Song Xun as soon as the examination ended.

Their purpose was to anger Song Xun with insulting words, causing him to take action and be judged as disrespectful before the Emperor, thus disqualifying him from the examination.

After humiliating him for a long time, Zhang Yongsi looked at the motionless Song Xun, his face somewhat distorted.

"Brother Li, this mud-legged fellow isn't taking the bait!"

"We've been scolding him for so long, but this lowly commoner hasn't even raised his eyelids. Did we use the wrong method?"