Chapter 1031: A Strange Sense of Belonging

tled before dealing with him. But he couldn't wait, and delivered himself right to us!"Li Lao Si chimed in, "Whether he's there or not doesn't really make much difference. Might as well take care of h...Everyone stared in astonishment. Someone whispered, "He's so arrogant! County Princess Kang Le actually wants to fight ten people by herself!"

"That's right, I only heard that Princess Kangle is good at business, but I haven't heard that she likes to read and has a wealth of knowledge" Others agreed.

The young man, hearing this, felt a glimmer of excitement, but he wouldn't say a word.

Seeing this, a woman gave her maid a purse of money as a reward.

The young man, with silver beans in his pouch, continued to speak with a smile.

Little do you know, esteemed patrons, this competition actually took place! And it so happened that the Emperor and several high-ranking officials also came to watch the festivities. The Emperor even agreed to be the judge. Concubine Kangle suggested a wager: whoever lost had to slap their own mouth!

"All the ladies agreed, ten of them would team up against the Countess. Eight of these women came from prominent families, while the other two were from less prestigious backgrounds."

After the competition began, Miss Lu, the eldest daughter of Master Lu, the head official of the Honglu Temple, took the lead. As a result, she was defeated right away and slapped in the face by a maid of County Lord Kang Le, leaving her face swollen!

"Ah!" Everyone gasped, instinctively covering their faces, and fearing they would interrupt the young man's story, turned to plug their mouths with handkerchiefs.

The young man grew more and more excited as he spoke, "The second contest was between the eldest daughter of Minister Chen of the Ministry of Officials and Kang Le County Princess. When the princess's poem was read aloud, Miss Chen immediately conceded defeat and was slapped soundly!"

"The County Princess Kangle is crazy How dare she, the eldest daughter of a Minister of Civil Affairs, even hit someone!"

One woman, unable to bear it any longer, exclaimed in surprise, but was immediately stopped by others who urged her, "Ten noblewomen all lost and were beaten!"

“No, no!” the young man quickly waved his hands. “Perhaps Miss Lu and Miss Chen lost too pathetically that the Emperor called a halt to the competition, allowing the remaining eight noble ladies to take off one piece of jewelry each as compensation for Princess Kangle.”

Everyone sighed in unison, their faces etched with disappointment.

Ten people are a team, how did they beat two

The County Princess Kangle deserves to be beaten one by one, beaten to her satisfaction!

It has to be said, people who watch the excitement are never afraid of big things happening...

"County Princess Kangle actually wrote a poem How did she make the noble ladies lose so badly" Someone who usually enjoyed reading a few books asked this moment.

The young man immediately pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve and smiled, "I'm afraid I can't remember it. I've already written it down. Now these two poems are being circulated outside. They are truly well-written."

Then, he began to read aloud.

Many women, even those who could read, mostly memorized a few books of moral teachings for women and had little understanding of poetry.

But the two poems are good because they are easy to understand!

Thus, everyone looked at each other and, without any qualms, began to belittle one another.

"Seems... pretty good, easy to understand."

"Yes, it's much more pleasant to hear than what those pedantic scholars write. Is farming this difficult Do you have to water the crops with sweat In the future, you should reserve more grain for my family's tenant farmers"

“I also think that writing poems doesn't seem so difficult.”

The women spoke with increasing enthusiasm, a strange sense of kinship suddenly washing over them.

They were of low status and not in the favor of the noble consort. As a result, those high-ranking women who attended the banquet turned out to be incompetent as well, failing to compose decent poems and even being humiliated.

Awesome, so awesome!

Whew, that's a relief!

"The county princess is truly amazing, she dares to fight anyone! I like her temper!"

"Me too, that's how it should be. Who made those high-society ladies with noses on their foreheads lose!"

The women's chatter grew increasingly unrestrained.

A woman laughed gleefully, enjoying another's misfortune, "Humph, that Miss Lu was always so arrogant. I even thought about marrying her as my daughter-in-law before, but unfortunately, she looked down on our humble family!"

“She’s just a nobody with no brains, pretending to be someone she's not. I can't believe she thinks she can marry into a wealthy family!”

"That's right, she'll have to come crawling back and beg her sisters-in-law to welcome her home."The woman's friend chimed in, also mocking her.

It was the shopkeeper of the jewelry store, who values harmony in business to generate wealth and doesn't want to offend anyone.

He saw that the topic was getting increasingly off-track, so he quickly stepped forward and smiled, "Honorable guests, my humble shop has limited abilities, and for now, this is all I could find out. As for whether it's true or not, no one can guarantee. I just hope you enjoy a bit of fun."

Women are not fools, they naturally understand his meaning.

Thus, the women, more or less, bought some jewelry and then happily took their leave.

In the upstairs private rooms of the teahouse across the street, the men, young and old, had a completely different idea about this matter compared to the women.

No matter how they treat their wives and concubines at home, at least they should maintain a reputation for being kind and compassionate to women outside.

Therefore, the two beaten-up young ladies, especially Miss Chen from a prominent family, received their utmost sympathy.

Someone said, "Writing poetry and prose is an elegant affair. How can you use a slap as a decoration It's truly a disgrace to culture!"

"That's right, and for such a young and frail woman, how cruel she must be to actually slap someone!"

"And those two poems, they're not very good either!"

"If I were there, I would judge fairly."

"That's right, the Li family are nothing but peasants with no background whatsoever. It was already a blessing from heaven that one of them became a top scholar. Now, a little girl casually writes two poems and dares to call herself 'good' How preposterous!"

As they were talking excitedly, the door to the private room was pushed open.

Two middle-aged scholars walked in, fanning themselves. One of them looked coldly and sarcastically at the others and said, "Are you all complaining that the Emperor is unfair"

The old and young men turned their heads to look. When someone recognized the person, their faces changed color, and they stammered, “That... Mr. Li, we were just chatting idly and didn't have any disrespect for the Emperor in our minds.”

The visitor was none other than Li Laoer and Mr. Wen. They had left the office early today, wanting to sneak out for a cup of tea. Unexpectedly, they heard that their niece was wreaking havoc in the palace.

Just as they were about to rush home and inquire further, they heard these people slandering them from behind.

"Humph!" Li Laoer sneered, "The princess competed in poetry with several noblewomen, and the Emperor personally judged and praised the princess's poems as being simple, easy to understand, and melodious. Now you all question the judgment, naturally questioning the Emperor's favoritism!"

"No, no, Master Li has misunderstood!"

"Yes, we don't know what the Emperor is judging!"

The old and young men were frightened pale, and hurriedly defended themselves.

Li La Er ignored their pleas for mercy and said, “Next time you talk about others behind their backs, make sure you know who you’re talking about. Not everyone is someone you can mess with.”

Moreover, accept defeat gracefully! If all the losers could win sympathy by crying a few times, what's the point of competition We might as well all sit together and compare tears!

"My eldest son is the number one scholar, selected through rigorous examinations by the Emperor and six high-ranking officials. He is undoubtedly a true talent, not someone whose reputation can be tarnished by your casual accusations!"

"If you want to criticize, why not put your mind into studying first Try getting into the top exams before you speak! You frogs at the bottom of the well have no right to comment on the ambitions of a soaring crane!"

Upon saying that, he slammed the door and left, leaving a group of men of all ages speechless. Their faces were so pale they could have scraped off two jin of frost...

Here are two updates for today ~~u Cong.As soon as the crowd in the academy saw Li Jiaren, they were very courteous and greeted him with respect.Li Laotai also asked the two gentlemen to take good care of her son after arriving in Qu...