Chapter 57 Announcement of Results

"Nobody provoked me, it's just that people outside are gossiping," Zi Yuan said angrily.

"Oh? What happened?"

Yu Zhiyi sat on the chaise lounge, sipping milk tea made with Hongluan's recipe and eating roasted meat from the small kitchen, letting the delicious flavors bloom on her tongue. She squinted her eyes in enjoyment.

Seeing that her young mistress was in a good mood, Zi Yuan didn't want to spoil the fun, but thinking that her mistress would definitely hear it when she "came out of seclusion" in the future, she still said it in a huff.

A few days ago, You Bingyue completely renovated Nanfeng Bookstore.

Originally, Nanfeng Bookstore was an elegant place for reading. Those who went to Nanfeng Bookstore were all high-ranking officials, noblemen, and celebrities, and the place exuded arrogance and nobility.

Because of the distinguished status of these customers, the bookstore was quite profitable. With other expenses and other miscellaneous charges, it could earn several hundred taels of silver every month.

However, despite its profitability, Nanfeng Bookstore was only famous in high society circles, and its customers were mostly regulars.

These guests came because of Prime Minister Du's reputation; anyone who isn't a fool could see that.

After You Bingyue's radical revisions, Nanfeng Bookstore became famous.

"She introduced some kind of free policy and offered free tea and snacks to anyone who entered the bookstore."

"She also came up with some kind of prize-winning reading program. As long as you can answer her questions correctly, you can get a reward of ten taels of silver."

"As a result, all the people in the city flocked to Nanfeng Bookstore."

"The bookstore is incredibly popular; the lines stretch from dawn until curfew every day."

"Now everyone is praising her good name, saying that she is Manjushri Bodhisattva descended to earth, specifically to spread knowledge throughout the world."

Throughout history, books and knowledge have been in the hands of the wealthy, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to access education.

Leaving aside the monthly tuition of a few taels of silver, the expenses after enrollment were also beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Moreover, simply studying in the classroom is not very effective. The classroom will only teach you the most basic knowledge, but if you want to move up, you must read extensively.

But where did the book come from?

In the studies of great noble families, in the imperial palace's library...

Apart from that, only the bookstores on the street remain.

However, the books in the bookstore cost money.

Even the most basic set of the Four Books and Five Classics would cost seven or eight taels of silver per book.

A complete set can cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of taels of silver.

Not to mention, you don't even need to buy these; you also need to buy many other books and articles to help you learn.

These expenses are so high that even wealthy merchants with some assets would find them painful, let alone poor farming families.

Many talented and ambitious people get stuck at the "book" stage.

Nowadays, it's rare to find a bookstore that's open to the common people. Moreover, reading here allows you to enjoy delicious tea and snacks that only nobles can afford, and you can even receive a huge sum of ten taels of silver that an ordinary family can only save up in two or three years. How could people not be tempted?

“Moreover…” Zi Yuan’s expression darkened.

"I don't know who was so talkative as to bring up her relationship with Young Master Du. Now all the scholars and students are praising her and Young Master Du as a perfect match, and no one mentions your previous achievements anymore."

After finishing her milk tea, Yu Zhiyi felt a bit greasy, so she ate some grilled meat made from lean pork.

The salty and savory flavor diluted the sweetness of the sugar. She lay on the recliner, squinting her eyes and enjoying the warm, soft, yet not scorching, sunshine. She felt that this kind of life was truly pleasant.

Zi Yuan: "Miss! I know you don't care, but please don't ignore it!"

She was very worried: "Young Master Du is about to take the imperial examination. With his grades, he will definitely be able to be among the top three, and it is even possible for him to become the top scholar."

"At that time, he will have more confidence, and with You Bingyue's methods, the Prime Minister and his wife might really agree to them being together."

She knew that her young mistress didn't care about Du Ziheng as a person, but she couldn't ignore her mistress's reputation.

Moreover, You Bingyue was full of malice towards Miss Ziyuan. In Ziyuan's heart, Du Ziheng could take concubines in the future, and he wouldn't care even if he had a hundred or eighty concubines, but he just couldn't have You Bingyue.

This woman is too troublesome, she's a real pain in the neck!

If we really let her into the household, who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause.

Yu Zhiyi poured the remaining milk tea from the lake into another cup. Seeing that Ziyuan was still about to say something, she put the cup into the resource cabinet and said with a smile, "This is the recipe that Hongluan sent. Try it, it's very delicious."

Zi Yuan has a sweet tooth and never refuses desserts. But smelling the sweet aroma, she unconsciously swallowed the rest of her words.

Having finally grasped the situation, Yu Zhiyi closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

As the saying goes, let him be strong, the breeze still caresses the mountain.

So what if You Bingyue becomes famous? What does it have to do with Yu Zhiyi?

It doesn't matter if she's famous now, because she'll become even more famous soon enough.

If she gets angry now because of You Bingyue's good reputation, what if she gets too happy and messes up her cultivation and merits when You Bingyue gets a bad reputation in the near future? Wouldn't that be a loss?

Reputation is irrelevant, but merit cannot be overlooked.

While Yu Zhiyi was busy putting up with her work and You Bingyue was busy making Nanfeng Bookstore bigger and stronger, Du Ziheng's scientific expedition also came to an end.

The timing of this imperial examination was quite coincidental, as it took place just before the emperor's birthday.

Therefore, since the new emperor ascended the throne, the three newly appointed top scholars (Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua) have all had the honor of attending the emperor's birthday banquet, making their faces known to all the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital.

Those who are lucky have a great chance of being noticed by a high-ranking official or a member of the imperial family, thus directly achieving a leap in social class and becoming a person of high status.

It is important to know that the emperor's birthday banquet, held every three years, was a traditional event in the Shengjing aristocratic circle, also known as the Qionglin Banquet.

Everyone wanted to see if any of the top three in this year's imperial examination would have the honor of being noticed by high-ranking officials.

For example, being secretly loved by a princess...

Three years ago at the Qionglin Banquet, Princess Rongzhen, the emperor's most beloved daughter, took a liking to the top scholar of that year's imperial examination. Soon after, the two were married, and the grand scale of the wedding made all the young women of marriageable age in the capital envious.

Not to mention that the two were very loving afterward. Although the princess had not conceived in the three years since their marriage, the prince consort never showed any dissatisfaction. On the contrary, he actively sought out famous doctors to treat the princess and also collected many rare treasures to make her happy.

Three years have passed, and several more princesses have reached marriageable age.

It should be noted that, through the unremitting efforts of several generations over the past century, not only has the status of women in the Great Sheng Empire greatly improved, but the power of the imperial sons-in-law has also been greatly restricted. Anyone with the ability can be entrusted with important responsibilities.

Just like the husband of Princess Jialuo, who protected the country a hundred years ago.

Amidst the great anticipation of the Great Sheng Empire, the results of the imperial examinations were released.