After Chen Jiannan set an example for everyone, the others remained very calm and unmoved by whatever the bald waiter said.
Fifty taels of silver?
Go get it, you idiot!
Having already spent five taels of silver to get in, they didn't want to waste even one more tael!
At this moment, someone asked, "Weren't you supposed to be here, Pavilion Master Mu, Garden Master Wang, and Miss Zhou? Why aren't we seeing them?"
"Yes, where is Pavilion Master Mu? I've never seen him before. If I don't see him today, I'll ask for a refund!"
"Yes, refund me!"
A group of people started arguing.
The bald waiter wasn't afraid. He glanced at the crowd with disdain: "You think you can get your money back after it's already in our pockets? You're asking for it!"
"What, can't any of you read? The banner clearly states that Pavilion Master Mu and others will be attending the Lantern Festival Poetry Gathering tonight. Has the poetry gathering started yet?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, the crowd declared indignantly, "Fine, then we'll wait here until the poetry recital begins!"
"That's right, nobody's going to guess the riddles!"
A group of people formed a united front.
"Not going to guess riddles?"
The bald waiter sneered, "So you can forget about participating in the poetry gathering?"
"On what grounds?"
The crowd expressed their dissatisfaction.
"Look, it's Miss Zhou!"
At this moment, someone pointed upstairs and saw Zhou Ziqiong, accompanied by her maid, slowly walking down the stairs, lifting her skirt.
The bald waiter's eyes darted around, and he chuckled, "Since Miss Zhou has come down, let her explain why!"
"..."
As a result, all eyes in the hall were on Zhou Ziqiong, who felt bitter inside.
Actually, she came to this poetry gathering to promote the cotton-padded clothes from her Zhou family's cloth workshop, so she accepted Manager Hu's conditions.
The condition was that anyone who wanted to participate in the poetry gathering had to solve at least one riddle, which essentially meant paying one or two taels of silver.
The silver tael was then split 50/50, with Juxianlou and Zhou Family Cloth Shop each receiving half. However, Zhou Family Cloth Shop had to give away a cotton coat priced at 500 cash.
From this perspective, the Zhou family isn't actually making a profit; they're just building a reputation and letting those who receive the cotton-padded coats see the quality of their products, thus establishing a good word-of-mouth reputation.
Moreover, anyone who solves the riddle will receive fifty taels of silver, which will be split equally between Juxianlou and Zhoujia Cloth Shop.
Therefore, the risk tonight is actually very high, and Zhou Ziqiong is mentally prepared to spend several hundred taels of silver. After all, it's for promotion, and how can you expect a return without putting in the effort?
If things were to proceed normally, Juxianlou should have announced this rule beforehand, and everyone would have understood and accepted it. However, Juxianlou has unilaterally charged a high entrance fee, causing public agitation. If she were to say anything further, it might incite public outrage…
But she had to say it…
Sigh, she'll have to take the blame for this herself!
...
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Ziqiong began her explanation.
Ultimately, she was a woman of legendary status in Ruzhou City, and after Zhou Ziqiong finished speaking, the crowd did not react excessively.
However, everyone's expressions weren't very good.
"You can participate in a poetry gathering by guessing a riddle? And you can even get a cotton-padded coat from Zhou's Cloth Shop?"
"That's great! Besides, I might even win fifty taels of silver. Nobody can take it from me!"
"..."
The hall was quiet when a sudden sound rang out.
The crowd looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was a handsome man. Many of them recognized him as the man who had picked up Zhou Ziqiong's lantern earlier!
No wonder he's so enthusiastic!
Zhou Ziqiong knew that Jing Zhe was trying to help her out of a predicament, and she was quite touched. She secretly winked at him to signal her.
The next moment, Jing Zhe handed over one or two taels of silver and then took off the note that Chen Jiannan had just taken.
Everyone knew that he was with Chen Jiannan, and assumed that his choice to guess the same riddle meant he must have come prepared!
To everyone's surprise, he didn't guess the riddle right away as everyone expected. Instead, he broke out in a cold sweat, and his face turned red with anxiety as the bald waiter counted down.
Jing Zhe couldn't guess the riddle in the end, but he didn't seem to care. He chuckled and said, "Hehe, I guessed it a long time ago, but I didn't want Miss Zhou to give me another twenty-five taels of silver for nothing, so I deliberately didn't guess it!"
"..."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh after hearing this.
Because of Jing Zhe's expression just now, it was obvious that he wanted to guess but couldn't, and in the end, he deliberately said that in order not to lose too much face in front of Zhou Ziqiong.
The bald waiter snorted coldly, not exposing him, but instead echoing, "See? This young master from out of town said the riddles were easy, so what are you all standing there for?"
So others joined the riddle-guessing army, since they had already spent five taels of silver to get in, and it would be a real loss if they couldn't participate in the poetry gathering because of one or two taels of silver!
So they had to try and guess!
The hall instantly became lively, while Jing Zhe stepped aside, keeping his achievements hidden. Chen Jiannan came over and gave Jing Zhe a thumbs up.
After all, that level of acting, blushing and sweating without letting others notice, is something most people can't pull off!
From the second-floor private room, through the open window, everything that happened in the hall was clearly visible to Prince Yu and his entourage.
"Looks all respectable, but turns out to be useless!"
"I could tell yesterday, he speaks in a simple and honest way!"
"Of course, if someone isn't stupid, would they be able to afford several hundred taels for a hotel room?"
"Yes, I guess they're from a wealthy family and are just pretending to be educated!"
"Pretending won't help. If you don't know, you don't know. You're such an idiot!"
The people inside the room mocked Jing Zhe's clumsy performance.
Only the middle-aged man in official robes narrowed his eyes, stroked his beard, and looked on with increasing satisfaction, saying with a smug look, "Being a little silly is good, being a little silly is good!"
"..."
Everyone was taken aback, but Manager Hu was the first to realize: "Prefect Liu has taken a liking to this young man?"
"He's taken a liking to her, but he's already married..."
"Hehe, what's there to be afraid of? As long as Prefect Liu takes a liking to it, we'll proceed according to plan, and then he won't have a choice!"
The Crown Prince of Yu also laughed and said, "Yes, Prefect Liu, don't worry. Within the territory of Ruzhou City, who would dare to stop us from doing whatever we want? Of course, you can have this boy. As for his wife, don't worry, I'll take care of that for you!"
After saying that, the Crown Prince of Yu gave a lewd smile.
"..."
Prefect Liu naturally knew what the Prince of Yu was up to. He had long coveted that married woman and even offered to help him; he was incredibly shameless.
However, he was used to it, and still cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Then I must thank you for your help, Your Highness!"
"Hehe, of course."
"..."
————
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