The Prime Minister's Darling

Chapter 378: 196 Provincial Exam (Two updates combined)_4

“The champion of the Provincial Exam, the top scholar.” Gu Jiao said.

The waiter was taken aback, “You’re betting on the same person for both?”

“Yes.” Gu Jiao gave a serious nod.

The waiter looked at her like she was a fool: “Alright, alright!”

He truly did not know where this naive girl came from, placing such a bet that was clearly set to float away.

The waiter said, “A one tael silver bet for the champion of the Provincial Exam, a five taels silver bet for the top scholar, how much do you want to bet?”

Gu Jiao said: “Place them all.”

Gu Jiao placed five bets on the champion of the Provincial Exam and one on the top scholar, totaling ten taels, all with Xiao Liulang’s name.

At last, Xiao Liulang’s name made it onto the betting list.

Steward Liu shook his head in disbelief.

Ten taels of silver, his ten taels of silver, were so carelessly squandered.

He had no idea where the Young Madam got her confidence from, believing the young master could defeat the many scholars in the Capital City to become number one. It would have been better if she had just bet on him placing in the top ten.

The champion of the Provincial Exam? The top scholar?

How audacious!

Steward Liu followed her, whispering to Gu Jiao, “Young Madam, shall we leave now?”

Gu Jiao paused and suddenly looked at the rankings across the way that were covered with a semi-transparent curtain, “What is that ranking list over there?”

“That’s…” Steward Liu frowned.

The waiter quickly came over with a smile on his face and said, “That’s a list for who will receive the Headwear Flower. You can place bets on it too!”

“What is the Headwear Flower list?” Gu Jiao asked.

The waiter replied: “The Headwear Flower list is for the female candidates. It is the last thing to be revealed. Those who have passed the Provincial Examination will take part in the Palace Examination hosted by the Emperor in April. The top performers in the Palace Examination will be personally selected by the Emperor to be Class Alpha Scholars. This means they are our top scholar, second scholar and third scholar. These three will have a parade wearing the flower, which can be given away. Everyone is betting on who will be able to receive a Class Alpha Scholar’s flower.”

“Can only one flower be won?” Gu Jiao asked with twinkling eyes.

The waiter’s mouth twitched, what does she mean by ‘can only one be won?’ Does she know how hard it is to win even one?

This flower is granted by the Emperor himself and carries a significant meaning. The top scholar, second scholar, and third scholar are usually unwilling to give it away!

So girls fight for it, although a girl has managed to snatch one once, it was too embarrassing for the court, so the court issued a decree prohibiting flower snatching.

To receive a Class Alpha Scholar’s flower, there are only two ways: One is that the other party is willing to give it to you, and the other is that you challenge the other party. The challenged party can either accept or reject the challenge. If the challenger loses, they must present their flower.

The waiter sighed: “Young lady, think about it, how talented must one be to become a Class Alpha Scholar? Who can challenge them? And it’s not just about challenging their martial arts, if they are not good at something, they don’t have to accept the challenge! So unless they are willing to give it away or you are intelligently extraordinary like the Crown Princess.”

Speaking of the Crown Princess, the waiter couldn’t help but talk more: “You’d be surprised to know, there has actually been someone who won two flowers.”

Gu Jiao asked casually: “Which Crown Princess?”

The waiter said reverently: “That’s right, it’s her! She challenged two Class Alpha Scholars and won both times! Even the Emperor said that she was born in the wrong body. Otherwise, is there anything left for the men?”

Gu Jiao was indifferent about the Crown Princess. She was just curious about who was on the Headwear Flower list.

The waiter took her to see.

The Headwear Flower list held many names of noble ladies, of course, not their real names. For instance, the daughter of the duke of Luo was merely written as Miss Luo Third.

The names with the highest call were Miss Gu and Miss Zhuang Second.

Without guessing, you would know that these two are Gu Jinyu and Zhuang Yuexi.

Zhuang Yuexi is the sister of Prince An, who is bound to be the top scholar. The possibility of him giving his flower to his sister is quite large.

As for why not giving it to Zhuang Mengdie, Zhuang Yuexi is a talented lady, Zhuang Mengdie is a simpleton. Of course, people would lean towards the former.

Even so, Zhuang Mengdie was still on the list for the Headwear Flower, described as Miss Zhuang Fifth. She bet on herself to gain some face.

After Gu Jinyu and Zhuang Yuexi, in order are Miss Luo Third, Miss Zhou Fourth, Taoist Priestess Miaoyin…

Eh… even the nun is on the list?

Gu Jiao saw several familiar names on the list that seemed to be the daughters of some of her schoolmates.

“Young lady, want to place a bet on the Headwear Flower list? Follow the crowd, you can’t go wrong.” The waiter pointed at Gu Jinyu and Zhuang Yuexi, both of their chances of getting a Headwear Flower are quite good.

Gu Jiao wasn’t interested in this.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, a woman’s teasing voice came from the balcony on the second floor: “Waiter, I want to place a bet!”

It was Zhuang Mengdie.

Gu Jiao looked up.

From her angle, she could see Zhuang Mengdie, arm in arm with Zhuang Yuexi, coming out of a room. Both of them were wearing veils, so from their angle they couldn’t see Gu Jiao.

The shopkeeper went upstairs personally and greeted the two Miss Zhuangs, “Who would you like to place a bet on?”

Zhuang Mengdie giggled and said, “I’m betting on Miss Gu!”

The shopkeeper politely asked, “How many bets do you want to place, I will write it down right away!”

Zhuang Mengdie laughed mockingly: “Wait a moment, I want to bet on… not the Miss Gu who is already on the list.”

“Ah?” The shopkeeper was taken aback.

Zhuang Mengdie looked at the room across the way: “I’m referring to Miss Gu from the Marquis Residence! I bet you don’t know this, the Miss Gu on the leaderboard is not a real noble lady at all, but just a farmer girl from the countryside who was mistakenly acknowledged as one! The real Miss Gu is an entirely different person! You Qingfeng Building is hosting such a big game, but you can’t even figure out who is real and who is not! I am really disappointed in Qingfeng Building!”

While she berated the Qingfeng Building, who didn’t know that she was indirectly taunting Gu Jinyu?

Gu Jinyu had come to the betting scene that day too. She just wanted to see how popular she was. But she didn’t expect to meet Zhuang Mengdie, this mad dog!

With so many people in Qingfeng Building, once the news gets out, the whole Capital City will soon know!

Gu Jinyu’s face turned livid.

Zhuang Mengdie was in an excellent mood. She left a copper plate and left.

Yes, a single bet on the Headwear Flower list costs a copper plate.

Zhuang Mengdie only placed a single bet.

About half an hour later, Gu Jiao’s name appeared lone and last on the Headwear Flower list.