Chapter 138: A Wager

Shang Shu Fu.

Minister of Personnel Yun You was heartbroken: "You, you are meant to take the Imperial Examination! You are meant to enter the Hanlin Academy!"

Yun Shu shook his head: "I am not very interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, but I am quite interested in mathematics; going to the Imperial Academy is not bad either."

Yun You sighed, "But entering the Imperial Academy is certainly not as good as the Hanlin Academy."

Yun Shu repeated for the eight-hundredth time: "I don't want to study the Four Books and Five Classics, I want to help His Highness make a Steam Engine."

He wanted to finish setting up the television, computer, Flush Toilet, shower, and Electric Lamp as soon as possible.

Even as the only son of a Minister, the quality of life was not considered good.

Yun You paced back and forth.

Finally, he sighed: "Fine, just don't regret it later."

Yun Shu: "I won't."

However, Yun You frowned, staring at his son the whole time.

Yun Shu met his gaze, feeling somewhat guilty.

Could it be that his identity as a transmigrator was becoming impossible to hide?

How should he explain his transmigration identity to Yun You, and where did the original Yun Shu go?

Finally, Yun You asked: "You wouldn't happen to have taken a fancy to the Crown Princess, would you?"

Yun Shu was surprised: "Father, how could you think that? The Crown Princess has a betrothal; I would not go and be a third party."

Yun You fell silent, then finally sighed and left.

Yun Shu also sighed; it was fortunate that his father was busy, otherwise his identity really would not have been kept safe.

Yun You was not the only one with such thoughts.

Rumors had actually spread from the Imperial Academy that Yan Ning had appointed a fifteen-year-old youth as a Ninth-Rank Academic Rectifier because he must have had an illicit affair with the Crown Princess.

After hearing this, Yan Ning was so angry she laughed.

She stood before the Libationer of the Imperial Academy and the crowd and said: "You lot are neglecting your proper duties, yet you dare to spread rumors?"

She had not even passed her fifteenth birthday this year, and already people were saying such things.

In her anger, Yan Ning gave the people at the Imperial Academy a test, with questions taken from the final major problems of a college entrance exam paper.

There were five questions in total, twenty points per question.

Yun Shu finished very quickly; his paper was neat, and his answers were basically standard.

No, some of the questions were even more concise and clear than the answer key.

After waiting for another hour or so, the Imperial Academy's Proctor and the Doctor of the Five Classics both handed in their papers; these were the two people Yan Ning had observed to be good at mathematics, and she had let them follow Yun Shu to research the Steam Engine.

Yan Ning glanced at their papers; they could only do the first and second questions, and there were several errors.

The others at the Imperial Academy were breaking into a cold sweat as they looked at the test papers.

Because there were some questions that they couldn't even do the first part of.

Yan Ning took out all the papers, quickly graded them, and began announcing the results: "Yun Shu, one hundred points, all correct."

"Proctor Wang, sixty points, barely passing."

"..."

As the scores were read out one by one, cold sweat trickled down the faces of those few.

Yan Ning said: "I had previously planned to make mathematics a special assessment to be conducted alongside the Imperial Examination, to screen those skilled in mathematics for the Imperial Academy. Yun Shu is not only good at mathematics, but also good at Physics and Chemistry, which is why I appointed him as an Academic Rectifier."

"Do you still have any objections?"

None of them dared to speak.

They even snuck a look at Yun Shu's paper, and it was indeed all correct.

Several people looked at Yun Shu, feeling a bit sour.

How could there be such a monster?

Such difficult questions, and he actually got them all right! And it took him such a short time!

Regarding his entry into the Imperial Academy, no one had any objections.

But this matter was not over yet.

It was only after hearing that Yan Ning had gone to the Imperial Academy to make them take a test that she learned these people were saying Yun Shu had risen through nepotism and that the Crown Princess must have taken a fancy to him.

This made Yan Ze furious.

Someone actually dared to spread lewd rumors?!

Yan Ze immediately issued an order: the Libationer of the Imperial Academy was fined half a year's salary, and the several officials who had been gossiping were dismissed from their posts directly.

These official ranks were all very low, but to dismiss over twenty people at once...

Grand Tutor Chen remonstrated: "Your Majesty, this is truly inappropriate."

Yan Ze kept a cold face, "If they don't do their jobs properly and spend every day staring at my daughter and spreading lewd rumors, not beheading them is already being lenient."

He actually wanted to behead them?!

This time, the others didn't dare to persuade him either; what if he just killed someone in a fit of rebellion?

This time, the ministers finally realized that they could overturn their political decrees and argue with them about right and wrong.

But they absolutely could not gossip behind their backs, especially regarding rumors about the Crown Princess's romantic affairs.

Otherwise, Yan Ze would go crazy.

Capital, Mingyuexuan.

Inside the teahouse, a group of people were arguing, and no matter how the storyteller tried to stop them, he couldn't.

"Don't, stop arguing, there are still guests who want to listen to the storytelling."

"Listen to what storytelling?"

"Exactly, I must debate them today to see who is right; the Steam Engine the Crown Princess spoke of, and the machine that weaves cloth automatically, will definitely work!"

"How could that be? No one can say for sure that something that has never been made will always work; don't hold such high expectations."

"Isn't that so? Letting a loom weave cloth automatically—even an immortal couldn't do it. Is the Crown Princess really more capable than an immortal?"

"How do you know an immortal couldn't do it? The Crown Princess will definitely be able to do it."

Yan Ning entered the teahouse at this very moment.

Originally, she had intended to listen to storytelling, but instead, she heard a group of people arguing over whether her Steam Engine could be made.

Yan Ning went up to the second floor; she actually wanted to hear what they thought.

At this time, one person said, "Why don't we make a wager? With a three-month deadline, will Her Highness the Crown Princess be able to make this Steam Engine?"

"Three months is too short."

"Right, I also think six months would be better."

"Agreed."

Yan Ning was dumbfounded watching this.

This works too?

It wasn't over yet; she actually discovered that there were far more people betting that she could make it than those who thought she couldn't!

Do the commoners in this city trust her that much?

They don't even have a concept of a Steam Engine, and they don't even know how an automatic loom is made.

And they are just betting that she can make it?

Yan Ning pondered; she needed to urge Yun Shu on his progress. This Steam Engine shouldn't be a difficult task for him, right?

Upon going over there, she only saw Yun Shu alone, writing and drawing at the table.

Yan Ning asked, "Where are the other two?"

Yun Shu looked up, "They said they didn't know how to do it, and then they left."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "I can make this Steam Engine by myself."

Yan Ning roughly guessed it; the two people she had selected looked down on Yun Shu, this Ninth Rank official.

However, Yun Shu felt that doing it alone was also fine.

Yan Ning asked, "What is still missing here?"

Yun Shu thought for a moment: "I need a carpenter to help me make things."

Yan Ning arranged a carpenter for him directly.

It seems Yun Shu should be able to finish making the Steam Engine sooner.

By now, winter had arrived, and it was somewhat cold.

Once the weather turned cold, Yan Ning didn't want to wake up so early; her body felt as if it had been sealed by the bed.

Yan Ze also didn't want to wake up early, so he moved the morning court session to the afternoon.

The ministers had actually opposed it.

However, the opposition was ineffective; Yan Ze gave them two choices: either cancel the court session or change it to the afternoon.

Helpless, the ministers could only attend court in the afternoon.

In winter, everyone was a bit sleepy.

At this time, someone suggested, "Why don't we choose a good day and go hunting?"