At the end of the Chen hour, all the contestants arrived except Chai Jun and Liu Gongzi. Wang Sanni gave them competition number plates and told them which room they would compete in.

Soon, Liu Zhaohou and Chai Jun came to the teahouse surrounded by some people.

Liu Zhaohou's face was wrinkled like a bun, and his mouth was pouting so much that a gourd could be hung on it. He was obviously unhappy.

As soon as he saw Xu Lanyin, his facial features immediately opened up, and he smiled as brightly as the rising sun in the sky. He ran over and said, "Sister, I only like to listen to you talk. I don't like to listen to their nagging. It's annoying."

No one chose to hear this.

Xu Lanyin smiled and knelt down to salute them, then personally handed the license plates to Liu Zhaohou and Chai Jun.

At one o'clock in the morning, after Prefect Qin delivered a passionate speech, the competition officially began and the teahouse immediately became quiet.

Those who could come to the teahouse to watch the chess game had to be selected by the teahouse staff and yamen runners, so the crowds were small. Because there were so many officials and yamen runners present, the teahouse was unusually quiet. Some young players came out noisily, and their parents hurried to stop them.

Min Jia and Xu Lanting stayed in the backyard until just before the competition began. Min Jia was the youngest of the contestants, most of whom were nine or ten years old, with two eight-year-olds.

The young players looked down on the girl when they saw her coming to compete. One boy even gestured with his hand, implying that she had just been hit on the shoulder and dared to play chess with him.

Min Jia pouted. She knew her words were rude and it was best not to say anything at this moment.

Xu Lanting spoke for her, "Ambition doesn't depend on height. Only after the competition will you know how powerful Jiajia is."

The boy happened to be in the same group as Minjia. Minjia saw that the referee was Aunt Qin, whom she knew, and Aunt Xu was watching and smiling at her. She puffed out her chest and defeated the boy in less than two quarters of an hour.

The boy was unwilling and wanted to take back his move.

Qin Hongyu immediately said, "You can't regret your moves, otherwise all your results will be cancelled. Even if you lose this game, you can still participate in the next one. If you win, you may even advance to the semi-finals."

The child finally calmed down.

Liu Zhaohou first competed in a chess tournament, then interspersed it with matches against the semi-finalists in the military chess competition. He was truly a chess genius, winning every match.

Xu Lan was busy running around, and most of her attention was on Liu Zhaohou and Min Jia.

Min Can ran up and down the stairs, sweating profusely, acting as the chairman of the temporary organizing committee and the head of the security team. Whenever he had the chance, he would report to the senior officials such as Lord Li and Lord Liang and ask for instructions.

Although Xu Lanyin didn't like Mincan's behavior, she had to admit that such lackeys existed in every era, and their presence would make people feel happy in some occasions.

Checkers was the first to finish, and by the time the game was over at 12:30 PM, Min Jia, living up to expectations, took first place. Aside from the top three, who stayed to receive their prizes, the rest of the children were taken away by their parents, two of whom left in tears.

The game ends at noon and we have 25 minutes to eat.

The military chess game ended at 2:15 PM, and Liu Zhaohou took first place. He then competed in the Western chess finals, which ended at 1:15 PM, and he again took first place. He truly became the champion of both chess and chess.

Chai Jun won third place in chess.

The award ceremony was held in the lobby on the first floor. Lord Li presented awards to the chess winners, Lord Xu presented awards to the military chess winners, and Lord Liang presented awards to the checkers winners.

The first-place prize is a medal inscribed with "Zhuangyuan" and a set of water nanmu chess pieces. The second-place prize is a medal inscribed with "Bangyan" and a set of camphorwood chess pieces. The third-place prize is a medal inscribed with "Tanhua" and a set of southern elmwood chess pieces. The prize is based on the chess style of the contestant.

The first one to play checkers will be awarded a prize.

Minjia was the youngest and the only girl among the winners. She looked adorable standing on the podium in a bright red silk jacket and a long gauze skirt in the color of Yang Fei.

Everyone knew that she was the daughter of a Fujian family and the granddaughter of the Minister of Fujian. Although they were puzzled as to why this child was not the same as the fool in the legend, they all gave her great respect and praised her lavishly.

The second place in the checkers group was nine-year-old Liang Lu, the eldest grandson of Academician Liang. Everyone praised him.

Then the military chess awards were given out.

The first one was Liu Zhaohou, the second one was a teacher from the academy, and the third one was a captain in the army.

The captain had never expected that it would be Commander Xu who would present the award to him. He was overjoyed to be able to appear before the great commander in such a way.

Finally, the chess prizes were given out.

First place went to Liu Zhaohou, second to the renowned scholar Wang Tong, and third to Chai Jun. Chai Jun didn't feel wronged at being ranked below those two. Wang Tong's face flushed red, having been beaten by a "child." In his heart, he considered Zhou Shu his equal.

The prizes are unique and the winners love them very much. Many teahouses give out money as prizes, while some also give out pens and ink.

After the award ceremony, Liu Zhaohou was determined to play a game with Min Jia.

Min Jia was persuaded by Xu Lanyin last night that no matter whether he won or not, he would keep the title of top scholar.

Liu Zhaohou won again and became the uncrowned king of checkers. He raised his head and laughed out loud.

Min Jia, who had been silent all day, couldn't help but sneer, "I'm seven years old, how about you?"

Liu Zhaohou pointed at Wang Tong, who had a white beard, and said, "He's older, so go find him."

This left Min Jia speechless and amused everyone.

Before leaving the teahouse, Liu Zhaohou came to Xu Lanyin and said, "Sister, I will come to the teahouse to play tomorrow, you have to wait for me."

It looks very cute.

Xu Lanyin agreed with a smile, but she thought to herself, even if you want to come tomorrow, you may not be able to.

After seeing off all the chess players, Min Jia threw himself into Xu Lanyin's arms, holding up the medal in front of his chest and said, "Number one, tell Daddy."

Xu Lanyin kissed her and said with a smile, "Okay, please ask Butler Hao to send someone to the capital to deliver the letter." She added, "Congratulations, Jiaer, you are the smartest child."

Xu Lanting said, "I've known for a long time that Jiajia is the smartest girl."

He used the word "girl" very deliberately because he thought he was the smartest "boy".

On the way home, the carriage stopped at He's Fried Pancake and bought Zhao Xingchen's favorite fried tofu and fried eggplant boxes.

When he got home, Zhao Xingchen's eyes were still swollen. As soon as he saw them, he buried his face in Aunt Qian's arms and faced them with his little butt.

Aunt Qian silently said to Xu Lanyin, "Little Star has been crying all day."

Min Jia was the first to be overwhelmed with joy. He quickly took out his medals and prizes and showed them off. He said, "I was thinking of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star all the time, and that's why I won the first place."

Xu Lanting took out the fried dough again and said, "My sister, Jiajia, and I haven't forgotten Little Star. We bought this especially for you."

Zhao Xingchen finally felt better. He raised his head and looked at Xu Lanyin with tearful eyes. What he wanted to hear most was how his aunt would explain to him.