Chapter 113 Anger
Chapter 113: Gambling

But Ye Xuan was so good that he actually asked for five hundred taels!

Good guy, aren’t you afraid of letting Zhu Yuanzhang know? Let me presume you guilty first!
Besides, Ye Xuan was only a sixth-rank Jinyiwei. Where would he get so much money to give after losing?
As if seeing Chang Sheng's doubts, Ye Xuan whispered, "To be honest, Brother Chang, I just received a reward from His Majesty a few days ago, and I still have some money in my pocket."

Chang Sheng suddenly realized where Ye Xuan got his confidence from.

At the same time, he admired Ye Xuan even more. He was just a sixth-rank official, but he could actually receive a reward from Zhu Yuanzhang himself, and it was obviously more than five hundred taels. It seemed that his future was indeed limitless.

Nodding, Chang Sheng made up his mind that after the garden party, he couldn't be so unscrupulous and just accepted 250 yuan from Ye Xuan. Maybe they could become relatives in the future, so there was nothing wrong with being generous in this kind of no-cost deal.

Thinking of this, Chang Sheng smiled and took out a booklet from his arms, and wrote: "Jinyiwei Baihu Ye Xuan, bet Ye Xuan 500 taels of silver, 1 to 2, hehe..."

Looking at the words in black and white, Ye Xuan and Chang Sheng smiled at each other.

As a member of the Imperial Guard, no one had any expectations of Ye Xuan's literary talent.

Even Zhu Biao allowed Ye Xuan to participate only out of respect for the wise and not to ignore Ye Xuan.

So when Ye Xuan picked up the pen, no one came over to take a look out of curiosity.

After pondering for a while, Ye Xuan picked up his pen and started writing.

About half an hour later, with the sound of a gong, a dozen palace maids and eunuchs dragged trays and began to collect the poems written by everyone one by one.

Because everyone knew the purpose of Zhu Yuanzhang's holding of this garden party, those officials above the third rank tactfully did not attend. Instead, they looked at their juniors with expectation, hoping that they could make a splash at the garden party and gain Zhu Yuanzhang's favor.

After handing in the poem, Chang Ruyue was as rude as ever and asked, "Hey, Lord Ye actually wrote one too?"

Ye Xuan nodded, staring at Chang Ruyue's curved body with a dark face, thinking viciously in his heart: "If I really marry you, I will have to beat you three times a day and make you one size bigger!"

Chang Ruyue had no idea what Ye Xuan was thinking, she stared with wide eyes and asked in surprise: "Oh, Jinyiwei can also write poetry?"

Ye Xuan said sullenly: "Miss Chang Liu, I am only a soldier, not an illiterate!"

Chang Ruyue curled her lips in disdain and said, "If anyone who knows how to read can write poetry, then there would be too many poets in this world..."

Chang Ruyue had provoked him again and again, and Ye Xuan was not without temper, so he immediately said coldly: "If I am lucky enough to win the first place, what will Miss Chang Liu say?"

This time, not only Chang Ruyue laughed, but also Chang Sheng, Chang Ruyun, and even Zhu Yuanzhang and Crown Prince Zhu Biao showed a smile that they could not help but laugh.

Which of the young officials in the imperial garden is not a talented young man who has been well-read in poetry and books since childhood?
The fathers of many of them were great scholars of the time, so with such family background, they were destined to have good literary talent.

It would be fine for Ye Xuan, a martial artist, to say that he had read a few books, but if he really wanted to stand out from such ordinary talents, it would be a pipe dream.

However, looking at Ye Xuan's determined expression, Chang Ruyue couldn't help but feel a little palpitated, and suddenly became angry and embarrassed.

She was the daughter of the great Kaiping King Chang Yuchun, but she was actually frightened by the look of a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It would be embarrassing if she could tell anyone about it.

She immediately said in anger: "If you can win the first prize, I will condescend to marry you!"

Ye Xuan was also angry, and he only wanted to save Chang Ruyun's face. Hearing this, he said without hesitation: "Okay, it's a deal!" Seeing that the two of them were fighting, Princess Chang slapped Chang Ruyun's head angrily and scolded: "Why are you acting like a child when you are already an adult? Can you treat marriage as a joke?"

Chang Ruyue said disdainfully: "Just because he wants to marry me, maybe in the next life!"

Ye Xuan snorted coldly and said coldly: "Just wait and see!"

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were not angry at this farce, they just thought it was very interesting.

Zhu Biao pointed to the positions of several great scholars in the Hanlin Academy not far away and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, you guys will see the results are about to be announced."

Chang Ruyue snorted arrogantly, glanced at Ye Xuan and said: "The examiners this time are all great scholars from the Hanlin Academy, and they are famous for their poisonous tongues. Don't cry when you are demoted to worthless!"

Ye Xuan ignored her, and Chang Ruyue snorted again in anger.

Soon, with the sound of a gong, the president of the Hanlin Academy stood up and began to recite the top three poems from the back to the front.

The third is the second son of the Minister of Taichang Temple, Zhang Liu.

The words used are simple, but one can feel the youthful spirit in the poems, and many senior officials nodded secretly after listening to them.

The second person is Ye Xuan’s “acquaintance”, the eldest son of the Left Vice Minister of Works, Zhang Quandan.

The words are gorgeous and the artistic conception is vivid; although his character is not very good, he does write good poems, which attracted the attention of many young ladies from official families.

When they got here, everyone was looking forward to it, waiting for the president of the Hanlin Academy to announce the first place.

The first two poems are already considered masterpieces of the time, so how outstanding will the first one be?
Chang Ruyue sneered, looked at Ye Xuan and said, "So, are you giving up this time?"

Chang pulled Chang Ruyue's sleeve, indicating that she should not embarrass Ye Xuan too much.

After all, Ye Xuan was her husband's savior, and Zhu Yuanzhang was trying to bring them together. It would be bad if things got too ugly.

However, Ye Xuan said nonchalantly: "The first place hasn't been announced yet, Miss Chang Liu is so anxious to marry me?"

This joke immediately made Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao burst out laughing.

Chang Ruyue's face turned red with anger, and she said with her big watery eyes, "I'll have the dean find your bad poems and give them a severe criticism!"

"Let's wait and see." Ye Xuan said calmly.

The head of the Hanlin Academy, Gongsun Bujiu, held up a piece of rice paper and read silently in the sunlight. He came to his senses after being reminded by his colleagues and said, "Next, I will announce the winner of this poetry competition. However, I am ashamed that my literary talent is limited so I will not comment on it. I will read it out again for everyone to appreciate together!"

Everyone was in disbelief when they heard this, and someone even asked directly, "Dean Gongsun is a great scholar of the Ming Dynasty. What else can he comment on? How could you feel that you are not even qualified to comment on him?"

Gongsun Bujiu shook his head and said in shame, "I am so ashamed. I have read the books of sages for decades and written hundreds of poems in vain, but I believe that none of them can reach one tenth of the quality of this poem."

(End of this chapter)