Xiao Lingling felt a chill on her back instantly.
The repeated appearance of poisonous insects in the palace is definitely not a good sign.
She didn't really care about the changes in the court and the royal family before. After all, it was a natural thing and she didn't intend to interfere.
However, since coming to the capital, she had somehow become a princess and the emperor's adopted daughter.
What's more, the eldest senior brother is the eldest prince.
All of this closely connected her with the royal family.
Now she doesn't want anything to happen to the royal family, so when she sees the poisonous insect reappear, she can't help but feel worried.
She was looking down and thinking about her own things, but the place below was also bustling with activity.
The top thirty have already been announced, and they are basically taken up by princes, officials of the second and third ranks, and famous merchants.
Now, competition is at its fiercest and everyone is discussing whether their budget is sufficient.
Even the princes and princesses were no exception.
Su Zhaohua tugged at Su Jingchen's sleeve, with a hint of displeasure on his slightly childish face.
"Royal brother, this time the emperor obviously didn't prepare any rewards for you royal brothers. If it were you, I'd say we should just give it as a token of our appreciation!
Let’s donate the 500,000 taels as we agreed before, and you can return the rest to me first, my royal brother!
I don’t have much money on a normal day. If I didn’t get a little money from my birthday every year, I really wouldn’t be able to save much.
The Hundred Flowers Banquet is coming soon, and I need to buy some clothes. I can't let that bitch Su Zhaorou steal my limelight!"
Su Jingchen frowned, as if he was also thinking about his father's thoughts on this banquet.
Logically speaking, the emperor must have known that these princes had to come, but he did not give them any rewards.
Could it be that Father thinks these princes don't have much money? Or is he deliberately testing us?
He felt that either was possible, so after thinking about it, he still felt that he had to go to a relatively safe place.
For example, he can be a little taller than the average person, but he cannot be taller than his royal brothers.
He just looked at the red list and saw that the one with the least amount was his second brother, who had written down 600,000 taels.
The third prince was not on the list at all. Su Jingchen was not surprised by this. After all, the third prince had neither the support of his maternal family nor the favor of his father.
It is natural that life is tight when relying on that little monthly salary.
As for the eldest brother, he was a disciple of the Divine Doctor Jiang. After returning to Beijing, he treated many dignitaries and nobles, so he naturally had no shortage of money.
Therefore, the eldest brother wrote down 800,000 taels right from the start and ranked fifth directly.
As for the four people in front, they were the four major grain merchants that Xiao Lingdang had met before!
I don’t know if they had discussed it before, but all they wrote was one million taels.
It has to be said that even Su Jingchen, who has a wealthy family, is envious.
"Wait a minute, let's see what happens. If Second Brother doesn't ask for more, we'll just give him 500,000 taels. But if he asks for more, we'll have to follow suit."
We are all princes, so we can't fall too far behind, but we can't stand out too much either. If we arouse the emperor's suspicion, it will be troublesome!"
Su Zhaohua pouted, his face full of displeasure. He glanced casually at the stage and saw the dazed little Lingling, which made him even more displeased!
"Third brother, what's so good about that damn girl? Is it just because she's the disciple of Divine Doctor Jiang? Why did Father confer the title of Princess Guardian of the Nation on her?
If I had known this would happen, I should have begged Dr. Jiang to accept me as his disciple. Then wouldn't I be the one being crowned the Princess of the Nation? "
Su Jingchen also looked at Xiao Lingling curiously, but there were so many people here and they were talking so much that he didn't say much.
"Come clean! If you have anything to say, go back and say it. There are so many people here, be careful not to be overheard. You made father unhappy last time, why haven't you learned your lesson yet?"
Su Zhaohua was so angry that he wanted to smash everything on the table.
But he could only force himself to remain calm by glancing at the people around him.
Soon, Su Jingsheng struck the gong, "Now, our final round begins immediately. Based on the donations from the top thirty in the first round, the highest bid from a merchant in this round is one million taels.
The highest bid by an official is 650,000 taels. Is there anyone who would like to raise the price? If so, please raise your hands.
The servant next to me will record everyone's bids at any time, and will eventually make actual donations based on your bids.
Therefore, please bid carefully. It would be bad if you find that you cannot afford the donation.
Okay, let's begin now. First round, the official makes his bid! 650,000 taels. Is there anyone who wants to raise the price?
"Six hundred and sixty thousand taels!"
"Six hundred and sixty-five thousand taels!"
"Six hundred and seventy thousand taels!"
"Six hundred and eighty thousand taels!"
"Seven hundred thousand taels!"
Everyone was bidding fiercely, after all, the temptation of the imperial gold medal was still very great.
Since the previous emperor, only two imperial gold medals have been bestowed. One was given to the founding hero Cheng An Hou, and the other was given to the former General Chu.
This imperial gold medal has three functions. First, when officials see the gold medal, they are required to bow and salute as if they were seeing the emperor.
Secondly, it can be used as a golden ticket to exempt oneself or others from the death penalty.
Third, you can make a request to the emperor. Of course, the request must be reasonable.
As for how to judge whether it is reasonable or not, that is up to the emperor to decide.
In addition to these functions, there is also an invisible function, which is reputation and status!
Only those who have made extraordinary contributions can be awarded the imperial gold medal. This is a great thing that can make one famous for generations. No official, especially a high-ranking official, can refuse this!
Therefore, the bidding price soared all the way, directly from 650,000 taels to 850,000 taels.
You have to know that this is not a simple surge, everyone's reserve price is also rising in turn.
Until the amount reached 850,000 taels, the number of bidders finally decreased.
It’s not that they don’t want it, but they have been officials for decades, and even if they have a lot of wealth in secret, they can’t be too excessive in public.
Otherwise, if more is added, the whole house might be searched.
So, you can add it, but within limits.
There are only three left competing at the moment, one is Marquis of Bravery Li Zhan, one is Prime Minister Wang, and the other is Qin Zheng!
That's right, he came today too, accompanied by a woman and a boy of eight or nine years old.
The three of them weren't sitting too far forward, but they still looked very conspicuous.
Mainly in occasions like this, even those who brought their wives would sit properly, except for the woman next to him, who kept her arm around Qin Zheng almost from beginning to end.
Coupled with the bright makeup and jewelry, it seemed really out of place with her dignified attire.
Even Xiao Lingling found it offensive, not to mention the dignitaries and nobles, even the merchants looked down on her.
As for the boy, his eyes were wandering around the princesses from beginning to end.
You can guess what he is thinking with your toes.
As expected, the whole family is not presentable!
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