Chapter 32 The Favoritism Is So Obvious

Tang Xinuan guessed the question setter's thought process, and after only three or four questions were revealed for each group, she calculated the final result.

And it's exactly the same.

Sun Qingzhao was a scholar from a young age, loved literature and calligraphy, was skilled in poetry and prose, knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, and particularly fond of mathematics. He could be described as an all-rounder.

Even his classmates called him the "hexagonal warrior".

He has always been confident in himself.

I was surprised by a young man who was just starting out today.

If she truly hadn't seen the question before, then she was the smartest person in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Soon it was Sun Qingzhao's turn to go on stage. Unsurprisingly, he was the fastest and most accurate in his group, scoring the highest score of ten.

Tang Xinuan went on stage after him.

The ten participants were divided into two rows, one in front and one behind.

Five people per row.

Tang Xinuan sat in the middle of the second row.

The two tables on either side were about two steps away from her.

There was a partition on the table, so even if she peeked out, she couldn't see anyone else's answer after she sat down.

These seats were designed by Li Taotie himself, naturally to prevent plagiarism.

After Tang Xi warmed up, the seats for the onlookers were just two or three steps away from her.

At this moment, at least three or four hundred people have gathered in Caiyue Tower.

Even the less convenient viewing spots on the third floor were packed with people.

Just from selling tickets, Li Taotie earned more money than an ordinary person could earn in hundreds of years.

This is only the first day; there will be even more customers coming to see the excitement tomorrow.

However, space is limited, so to increase revenue, he has to raise ticket prices.

Two more groups were left for Chu Yanqing. She and Chao Li squeezed downstairs and went backstage to prepare to enter.

Ever since Tang Xinuan stepped onto the competition stage, Zhou Chuanxing has been gripping the cup in his hand tightly.

Prince Duan noticed his nervousness and said with ill intent, "Second Brother, why don't we go down and take a look nearby?"

The little girl was wearing a light blue round-necked robe embroidered with gold patterns today, her hair was tied up, and she simply wore a jade and purple-gold crown.

She was beautiful, like a handsome, pale-faced scholar.

Zhou Chuanxing naturally wanted to watch from closer up, but it wasn't convenient for him to go down.

Although he doesn't travel often, there are countless people of all kinds at Caiyue Tower today, including high-ranking officials and nobles.

If people find out about his relationship with the girl, he won't be free to go out and have fun anymore.

"This location is quite good."

Prince Duan admired his second brother for this: he was a man of few words but had exceptional self-control.

No matter the situation, they can remain calm and composed in the face of danger.

"It's starting, it's starting."

Prince Duan stared at the number-calling lady, watching as her fingers flipped and revealed the first number, making the contestants even more excited.

Then he looked at Tang Xinuan and found her abacus lying beside her, looking unprepared. He asked worriedly, "Why isn't Sister-in-law using the abacus? Second Brother, does Sister-in-law not know how to use an abacus?"

Zhou Chuanxing frowned; he was also worried that the young girl wouldn't know how to use it.

After the first number was announced twice, the announcer immediately announced the second number.

Tang Xinuan hadn't even touched the keyboard yet, which made Duan Wang very anxious.

"Second brother, she really doesn't know how to use an abacus. What should we do? I'll go down and take a look."

Zhou Chuanxing trusted the young girl and told her to "be patient."

How could Prince Duan possibly sit still? "I'm afraid my sister-in-law will start crying later. Second brother, do you even know how to comfort a young girl?"

Zhou Chuanxing: "..."

He really doesn't.

Prince Duan was so anxious he kept scratching his head. "I don't know how either," he said, unable to rely on his second brother who was sitting calmly in the central command tent. "No, I'll go down right now..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly noticed that the little girl had picked up a pen and was writing down a set of numbers on the white paper.

“It’s over, it’s over,” Prince Duan completely collapsed. “The questions haven’t even been finished yet, and my sister-in-law has already used up all the paper. Does she not understand the rules?”

After all, everyone says she's an idiot.

It's possible that the recent correction of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts was just a lucky accident.

"Second brother, say something! You've only given three numbers, and your wife has already written down the answers. This is no joke."

Zhou Chuanxing was also unsure.

But if he rushes up at this moment and his identity is recognized, it will only confirm the rumors that Tang Xinuan is stupid.

People wouldn't believe that the two were truly in love; they would only suspect that he was lusting after a beautiful woman and had brought a fool home to seduce her.

"Wait a minute."

Since Zhou Chuanxing wasn't in a hurry, Prince Duan also tried to calm himself down.

His mind was filled with thoughts of how to teach his brother, who knew nothing about women, to comfort a girl who was crying her heart out to his second brother.

Chu Yanqing and Chao Li were queuing behind the scenes and did not see what was happening on site.

Although they were standing to the side, they could see the participants, but not any specific individual.

Naturally, they didn't notice Tang Xinuan.

The one who will suffer the most in this situation is Li Pixiu.

He naturally had to pay close attention to the regent's people.

But Hanxi doesn't use an abacus, and before she's even finished counting, she just scribbles down a number randomly. What should we do?

No, he had finally gotten in touch with the Regent, and he had to seize the opportunity.

The previous seven groups each produced twenty-five numbers.

In the eighth group, he decided to remind the number-reporting lady to finish early.

Soon the number-reporting lady received his hand gesture as a reminder.

It stopped abruptly at the tenth number.

"This is the last number, please listen carefully, all participants..."

The bias was so obvious that not only were the ten participants stunned, but all the audience members were also bewildered.

Tang Xinuan has already written the result; she should revise it quickly.

After the clerk finished displaying the last number, she rang the bell on the table.

Li Pixiu personally ran over and raised his hand for her, "Hanxi is the first to calculate the result."

Whether it's right or wrong, speed is an advantage.

If all else fails, he'll take Hanxi's result as the standard. As long as the number-reporting girl destroys the numbers she just reported, who can prove that Hanxi's is wrong?

He's quite the little emperor who knows how to make money.

As long as he clings to the Regent, he will eventually become the richest man in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

If the regent sitting on the second floor could hear his thoughts, he would definitely laugh and say that he himself dared not even dream of being the richest person in the Great Zhou Dynasty, yet he dared to dream so!

Prince Duan was anxious: "What's going on? Why is there only a dozen or so numbers in this group?"

Zhou Chuanxing was also unclear about what was going on.

"According to the lady who calls out the numbers, there should be more to come."

Prince Duan kept staring at Tang Xinuan, "She changed the numbers. Li Pixiu ran over and declared her number one."

...

After Li Pixiu announced that Tang Xinuan was the first to calculate the result, someone quickly rang a bell.

Then the third, the fourth...

Strangely enough, in this group of ten people, whether because the number was small or because all the most capable people were assigned to this group, everyone gave the same answer.

Li Pixiu didn't need to announce the correct answer; everyone advanced.

Tang Xinuan was the first to answer, so naturally she got a perfect score.

Li Pixiu also chanted "Amitabha," implying that right or wrong was unimportant, and signaled to the number-reporting lady to quickly destroy the eighth set of numbers.

There's no way to investigate this.

"I came in first place!" Tang Xinuan was especially happy. This was her first time participating in such an event, and she had calculated quickly and accurately.

Her fair face beamed with a particularly joyful smile.

I walked back to my place with a happy heart.

Xiaoqian wanted to hug her, but there were too many people and the young lady was dressed as a young master, so she changed her approach and held her hand instead.

"Young master, you are truly amazing. You calculated so quickly and accurately, a perfect score!"

Sun Qingzhao was also happy for her.

"Young Master Han is indeed intelligent; he was the first to calculate the answer."

The first seven groups all had more than twenty numbers, but the eighth group only had ten. How could the audience not notice that?

Li Pixiu, the second boss, even personally went to Han Xi's side to raise his hand for her, showing such obvious favoritism that everyone wasn't stupid.

Once the discussion started, it couldn't be stopped.

Tang Xin was too busy being happy to hear it, but Sun Qingzhao heard it clearly.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Does Young Master Han hold any official position?"

Tang Xinuan is a woman, so where did she get an official position?

Sun Qingzhao frowned, and an idea came to him. "Young Master Han gave me a set of clothes, so I will give you a step up to the clouds."

Tang Xinuan knew the literal meaning of "Qingyun Ladder," but she didn't understand what Sun Qingzhao meant by giving her the Qingyun Ladder.

Before she could even ask, Sun Qingzhao suddenly walked onto the stage and solemnly declared in a loud voice, "I'm reporting..."

He looked at Tang Xinuan, his gaze suddenly becoming very sharp as he pointed at her: "This contestant cheated."

"Cheating?"

"No way."

"Of course you can, didn't you notice that the eighth group only has ten numbers?"

"Yes, yes, all of them have more than twenty numbers, only the eighth group has ten numbers. Li Pixiu even ran over to that contestant, it's obviously pre-arranged."

“I noticed something was wrong as soon as I saw it. That contestant didn’t even touch the abacus, and he wrote down the result before he even finished calling out the numbers.”

“I saw it too, there’s definitely something wrong.”

"Who calculated the numbers just now? Are their results correct?"

"In my opinion, that's definitely not right. Li Pixiu just wants her to advance and get a guaranteed spot."

...

Sun Qingzhao's words stirred up a great deal of controversy, and great scholars naturally defended him.

Soon, someone had even come up with the chain of evidence for him.

Li Pixiu did indeed keep some things to himself, and when this was pointed out in public, he was so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear.

However, he had been running Caiyuelou for over a decade, and he hadn't done it for nothing.

Without batting an eye, she insisted that he had not shown any favoritism.

Sun Qingzhao said righteously, "Then Mr. Li, please bring out the eighth set of data so we can recalculate it."

The clerk glanced at the data she had secretly torn up earlier...

Tang Xinuan was still pondering the meaning of the Azure Cloud Ladder.

Xiaoqian couldn't help but get irritable.

She pointed at Sun Qingzhao and cursed him with the harshest words: "How can you be so shameless? My young master just gave you a set of clothes and bought you food, and you repay kindness with enmity."

Forsythia is even more invigorating.

She bought the clothes with Sun Qingzhao.

"Let me go and beat this bastard to death! Young Master was kind enough to help him, and he actually accused Young Master of cheating! Is this something a human being would do?!"

She has a fiery temper; she's ready to punch someone, but Zisu stops her.

"Don't act impulsively."

Lian Qiao disagreed, "Let me teach him a lesson first."

Zisu gave her a stern look, "There are too many people here. If we cause public outrage, we might not come out on top. What if we hurt the young master..."

Forsythia could only suppress her impulse.

The Regent had ordered that if Miss Tang lost even a single hair, they would all be punished.

There are several hundred people in Caiyue Tower right now. If a fight really breaks out, who can guarantee that no one will resort to dirty tricks?

"Then what should we do?"

Zisu had never dealt with this kind of thing before, but she was always calm and meticulous. "Let's see what Li Pixiu has to say."

Li Pixiu must have protected the regent's male favorite to death.

He doesn't care what people think in order to make money.

"Don't argue, don't argue. Our Caiyue Pavilion has always acted fairly and would never engage in favoritism or corruption. Young Master Han answered quickly and accurately. It was Sun Qingzhao who was jealous of him and deliberately targeted him."

His words are not convincing.

Only a small percentage of the audience believed it.

After all, the numbers are too different.

"Refund! Refund! Caiyuelou is unfair! We're not going to watch it anymore!"

"Yes, refund, refund, we don't want to watch anymore."

"We're not participating anymore. What kind of competition is this? They're just messing with us. Give us our money back!"

...

In no time, countless customers were demanding refunds.

It was like pulling out the tendons of Li Pixiu; he approached Tang Xinuan with an incredibly troubled headache: "Young Master Han, what do you think of this matter..."

Tang Xinuan didn't think it through for a moment, but Duan Wang, who was sitting upstairs, couldn't sit still any longer. "Second brother, are you just going to watch her get bullied?"

Zhou Chuanxing carefully observed the little girl's complexion; she was different from ordinary people.

Although everyone was angry and accused her of cheating, she did not show any negative emotions such as anger or anxiety.

Integrating into this world, interacting with others and making friends like a normal person, and being misunderstood should be a necessary experience in her life.

If she was willing to accept it, he would stand behind her and protect her.

If she was unwilling, he would take her home and protect her completely.

At this moment, he wanted to see the little girl's choice clearly.

"Wait a little longer."

Prince Duan couldn't wait any longer. "I'll go down and take a look."

Tang Xinuan quickly replied, "I can accept everyone's supervision and participate in the competition again."

Upon hearing this, Li Pixiu was overjoyed.

Han Xi's decision to rejoin the competition was his own, and the Regent couldn't blame him.

"Okay, let's rejoin the competition."

He walked onto the stage, stood next to Sun Qingzhao, and announced loudly, "In order to prove that there was no cheating or favoritism, Caiyue Tower has decided to let Hanxi re-participate in the competition, and let her participate in... Group 10."

The decision was fair and was approved by everyone present.

"Okay, Mr. Li is fair. Let's see how he performs."

Lian Qiao was furious that Sun Qingzhao was ungrateful, and stood in the crowd shouting, "I'm reporting Sun Qingzhao for peeping at other people's answers!"

Her argument is completely untenable, because Sun Qingzhao was the first to hand in his paper.

But Li Pixiu was angry that he had caused him trouble, so he deliberately said, "To be fair, Sun Qingzhao should also participate in the competition again. His previous results will be invalidated, and his last participation will be the final result."

Sun Qingzhao wasn't surprised. "Okay, I'll team up with Hanxi, and we'll compete again."

The crisis was finally resolved, and the ninth group took the stage.

Chu Yanqing heard the commotion at the front desk and craned her neck to gossip, but she only heard about Han Xi and didn't see Han Xi's face. Naturally, she didn't know that the focus of everyone's attention at this moment was actually her cousin.

Prince Duan had already squeezed downstairs, and he stood next to Tang Xinuan, asking her in a low voice, "Do you need any help?"

Tang Xinuan shook her head without hesitation, "No need."

Prince Duan then sat down next to her.

Because the ninth group of contestants arrived quickly, and there were many spectators, it was so crowded that many people didn't even see which one Hanxi was.

Naturally, not many people noticed that Prince Duan was talking to her.

Sun Qingzhao quickly stepped down from the stage.

He approached Tang Xinuan, enduring the murderous glares from Xiaoqian and Lianqiao, and bowed apologetically, "Young Master Han, I have offended you."

Tang Xinuan doesn't hold grudges.

Moreover, Sun Qingzhao had just said he would give her a stepping stone to success, and she thought that Sun Qingzhao might be doing it for her own good.

"It's okay, we can just compete again later."

Sun Qingzhao was quite surprised, thinking that Han Xi would resent him.

He would then imagine himself as a misunderstood, desperate person who is determined to support his best friend.

Han Xi's nonchalant manner left him unsure how to proceed.

Xiaoqian gave up her seat to Prince Duan, and then walked to Sun Qingzhao's side to continue scolding: "You heartless scoundrel, our young master helped you, and you repay kindness with enmity."

Prince Duan glanced coolly at Sun Qingzhao, "What's going on?"

Xiaoqing said angrily, "When we first arrived, Sun Qingzhao looked like a beggar. The boss wouldn't even let him in. It was only after our young master asked Lianqiao to buy him clothes and treat him to a meal that he was allowed to come in and compete. He only got first place and then reported our young master for cheating. Don't you think he's ungrateful?"

Prince Duan frowned: "Is this true?"

Sun Qingzhao didn't know Prince Duan. He only said to Tang Xinuan, "I'm helping you."

Tang Xinuan asked, bewildered, "What do you mean?"

Sun Qingzhao argued logically and with evidence: "After today, you will be famous throughout the capital. The Regent has just issued an edict to add mathematics to the imperial examinations this autumn, which shows that the court urgently needs talents who are good at mathematics."

Once your reputation spreads, it will surely reach the Regent's ears, and then you can directly enter the court as an official.

Tell me, am I trying to help you?

Prince Duan almost burst out laughing, never expecting that Sun Qingzhao had this idea.

He's quite intelligent.

Perilla and forsythia also began to change their attitudes.

Xiaoqian was still worried, "What if our young master's calculations are wrong this time..."

Sun Qingzhao had never considered this possibility. "It must be fate."

Zisu gave Xiaoqian a look.

Xiaoqian suddenly realized, "Pah, pah, pah, our young master will definitely be right."

Someone recognized Prince Duan and wondered why he was sitting next to Han Xi.

However, after the ninth group finished, they figured it out.

It was no secret that Prince Duan was fond of Miss Chu, especially among the imperial relatives.

The moment Chu Yanqing appeared, Prince Duan wanted nothing more than to gouge his eyes out and throw them at her. What else could he not understand?

They came for Chu Yanqing.

The tenth group originally didn't have enough people, but with Tang Xinuan and Sun Qingzhao, it was just right.

Chu Yanqing sat in the first row.

Tang Xinuan happened to be right behind her.

So Chu Yanqing didn't see her again.

Chao Li squeezed next to Prince Duan to cheer Chu Yanqing on.

"Why did you come down alone? Where's your second brother?"

Prince Duan glanced upstairs and frowned. "Why is he here?"

Chao Li also looked over, not knowing when his fourth brother had arrived, and was sitting next to Zhou Chuanxing. "Fourth brother?"

Prince Duan chuckled: "He's really quick-witted; he's always there wherever there's excitement."

The Emperor, Zhou Chuanxing, Prince Duan, and Chao Li are all siblings born of the same mother.

Prince Rui was the fourth son of Consort De.

The Dowager Empress is not yet forty years old and is in very good health.

After the emperor fell seriously ill, she was busy with court affairs, hoping to help her son ascend the throne.

However, Prince Rui had no military power, and given his young age and lack of prestige, most court officials did not consider him due to the presence of Zhou Chuan.

In the year since Zhou Chuanxing became regent, he has certainly caused him no shortage of trouble.

Zhou Chuanxing was unwilling to argue, but Prince Duan had long been fed up with it.

During the Chinese New Year period, the two almost came to blows.

Then you see Prince Rui sitting next to his second brother, his face long and drawn.

"Chao Li, go up and take a look. Your fourth brother is full of bad intentions. Don't let your second brother fall into his trap."

Chao Li retorted, "Why don't you go!"

Prince Duan glanced at Chu Yanqing and asked, "Do you want your third sister-in-law anymore?"

Chao Li made a knowing gesture, "Then I wish you all the best in winning the heart of your beauty soon."

After she finished speaking, she lifted her skirt and ran upstairs.

"Did you guys see that? That guy surnamed Han, he doesn't even use an abacus."

"You're not planning to cheat again, are you?"

"No, the person who reported him is here too, they'll definitely be keeping a close eye on him."

The last group finally began amidst the intense anticipation of the entire audience.

With two players re-entering the competition, this group is especially tense and exciting.

All the spectators were glued to the field.

Even those who were eating melon seeds, drinking tea, and chatting all stopped.

"Did you see that? It seems like he can calculate without an abacus."

"You have to be really smart to figure that out just by thinking."

"In my opinion, he's just putting on an act. What's the use of being able to calculate it? He has to be right."

"No way, the lady who calls out the numbers just finished calling out the numbers and she's already ringing the bell."

"Someone was still recording the numbers and calculating them one by one, and he already had the result?"

...

Tang Xinuan has indeed received her results.

This time she didn't calculate in advance, after all, there was the case of Li Taotie suddenly reducing the numbers, and she wasn't sure how many numbers would come out this time.

After the first bell was rung, Sun Qingzhao immediately rang his own bell.

Chu Yanqing was the third.

She fiddled with the abacus beads at lightning speed, and by the time the announcer finished calling out the numbers, she had already calculated the result.

However, she was a step behind Tang Xinuan and Sun Qingzhao.

"Several people have already received their results, but he's the first."

"Let's see if his calculations are right or wrong; maybe he's just trying to fool us."

"I just don't believe that anyone can calculate such complex numbers without using an abacus and beads."

...

-----------------------

Author's Note: Li Pixiu: My flattery backfired spectacularly.

Random red envelope

There will be another chapter after midnight.