Chapter 609: The Excitement is Coming Again

The entire room was startled.

Immediately, everyone turned to look at the source of the sound.

They saw a tall person wearing a hood sitting there, accompanied by several Longyan attendants. Although their features were obscured, the clothing they wore clearly indicated they were not from Zhongyuan.

Fortunately, due to the recent Longyan Christmas Ceremony, many foreigners had come to Jinghua, and the men, women, and children of Jinghua were no longer surprised by such sights. However, someone who would casually pull out ten thousand gold to participate in a betting pool was still a rare sight! Inevitably, everyone began to whisper about this person.

Could it be that a Prince from some country had arrived?

That Lao Wang also chuckled: "Customer, you must think carefully! Everyone knows this Prefectural Governor Liu is formidable, but this time, it is a competition of both civil and martial arts. Won't you reconsider?"

This was ten thousand gold after all...

According to the current odds, if they let him win this bet, they might not be able to afford the payout!

Who would have thought that the person would laugh and continue: "Prefectural Governor Liu, ten thousand gold!"

The entire room was in an uproar again.

Was this person so rich they had nowhere to spend it, or did they truly have such confidence in Prefectural Governor Liu? But as a foreigner, how much could they possibly know about our Prefectural Governor Liu?

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll take the ten thousand gold! Customer, you..."

The person smiled faintly and waved their hand: "I will find you again."

After saying this, they left with their attendants, leaving behind neither their name nor contact information.

Everyone in the tavern looked at each other in dismay.

As the person walked out, a faint smile flashed across that handsome face beneath the bamboo hat.

Just looking at those well-defined facial features, one could tell they were from the West.

"Your Highness Prince..."

An attendant reminded them from the side.

The young man laughed heartily: "No need to persuade me, no one will know our identity. I was originally just curious and wanted to see Longyan, but I didn't expect this Longyan to be so interesting, interesting, interesting!"

"This Prefectural Governor Liu, interesting, interesting!"

They smiled faintly: "My reckless brother actually wiped out Prefectural Governor Liu's merchant caravan. Guess what the consequences will be?"

The few attendants trembled, all of them not daring to speak.

"Hahahaha, interesting, interesting!"

Liu Zheng had just returned to the Post House.

News came out from the Imperial City.

The regulations regarding this public selection of a husband had basically been finalized.

As expected.

Just as most people predicted, the first condition for this public selection of a husband would be the upcoming gift-offering segment!

According to Xie Tianyao's intent, in the gift-offering segment, whoever's gift could best please him would win the first battle! But to ensure everyone was not caught off guard, this Offering Ceremony would be rescheduled to take place in three days!

Once this news spread, everyone became excited.

Originally, the gift-offering segment during the annual birthday celebration was already quite a spectacle. However, in previous years, the gift-offering segment was always arranged inside the Imperial City. But this year was different: it was a public offering!

Xie Tianyao intended to arrange the gift-offering site at the Zhuque Gate again!

It was going to be good!

This was truly going to be good! Almost everyone in Jinghua was buzzing with excitement, starting to look forward to tomorrow's Offering Ceremony.

"Offering gifts?"

When Liu Zheng heard this, he felt relieved.

When it came to comparing gifts, could anyone possibly outdo him?

As for the second segment after the gift-offering, the imperial court had not yet thought of it...

"Offering gifts?"

"Hahahaha, doesn't that mean we are guaranteed to win?"

At the lodging place of the Wa nation.

Mizuno Masashige revealed a look of wild joy upon hearing this.

"It seems this Longyang Princess of Longyan is destined to be taken back to the Wa nation by me!"

At the same time.

Liu Zheng also received news brought by a Scout.

Upon hearing this, many in the Post Houses were eager to get involved. Among them, the people from Tiemu City and Mizuno Masashige had even started celebrating in advance. Other envoy groups, who originally held no illusions, also wanted to join in once they heard it was about offering gifts. It was clear that this time, the Eighteen Envoys had truly put in a lot of effort into this gift-offering segment in order to drag the Longyan Dynasty's finances into the water.

"Son, son, what are we going to do!"

Before Liu Zheng had gone to sleep, Liu Dahao and Feng Sanniang knocked on the door with a bang, both of them looking anxious.

"What exactly is the Emperor thinking! We didn't prepare expensive gifts because we didn't want to make things difficult for the imperial court, but now this—does he really intend to marry his daughter off to those barbarians?"

As a Prefectural Governor, Liu Dahao dared not speak recklessly, but Feng Sanniang was unhappy and shouted loudly.

"Ancestors, ancestors, please keep your voice down, please keep your voice down!"

Liu Dahao was scared to death.

If someone heard this and charged their family with the crime of privately discussing the Emperor, they would be executed to the last man!

"Hmph, it's the truth!"

Feng Sanniang snorted coldly, but knowing the severity of the situation, her voice became much lower.

Before Liu Zheng could speak, Liu Dahao said: "Zheng, why don't we run away?"

"Pfft..."

Liu Zheng spat out a mouthful of tea, nearly choking, and said with a wry smile, "Dad, what are you saying? Never mind whether we can run or not, even if we could, what would happen to Chan'er?"

Liu Dahao listened with a look of frustration.

Feng Sanniang rolled her eyes.

Liu Zheng's expression changed drastically: "Mother, Mother, don't talk nonsense, watch your words, watch your words!"

He knew his mother's personality; she had likely been on the verge of blurting out, "Why don't we just rebel?"

"This won't work, that won't work, then what are we to do? If that girl Chan'er really has to marry that barbarian..."

A flash of killing intent appeared in Feng Sanniang's eyes: "If not, we can set an ambush halfway and snatch her away!"

"Good! I agree!"

Liu Dahao perked up upon hearing this.

Liu Zheng was speechless and said with a bitter smile, "Mom, Dad, we don't need to run, and we don't need to snatch anything; I have already prepared everything."

"Huh?"

The old couple looked at each other.

"Can you take it out and let us see?"

Liu Zheng said irritably, "I really can't take it out. Even if I did, you wouldn't be able to tell what it is. It has to be used!"

"Used?"

"Then, can we use it too?"

The corners of Liu Zheng's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He finally managed to hoodwink the old couple and get them to leave.

Liu Zheng let out a sigh of relief.

Who would have thought, someone came knocking again...

"Prefect Liu, Prefect Liu..."

Prince Yong?

Liu Zheng had just sat up when he saw Prince Yong enter with a few people, carrying several chests.

"Prince Yong, this is..."

Liu Zheng looked puzzled.

Prince Yong laughed heartily: "Choose, choose for yourself, pick something decent. I know you didn't prepare much this time, so I brought out all the treasures I had hidden in Jinghua!"

Liu Zheng was just about to speak.

A report came from outside that more people had arrived...

The Empress had sent people! Likewise, they also brought several precious items!

Following that...

Shen Manqing also brought many of the antiques she had collected.

There were also some bigwigs from Jinghua, such as Prince Qin, Xie Zhao—although the two were no longer in the same camp, they had once cooperated sincerely together... In addition, Grand Academician Chen Qian of the Hanlin Academy also sent quite a few precious paintings and calligraphy, which made even Prince Yong look on with great envy, clicking his tongue in wonder and exclaiming that this old fellow really had quite a collection. He tried to sneak a few away, but was slapped back by Liu Zheng.

Likewise, many current high-ranking officials and various Chambers of Commerce also arrived...

Good heavens.

The gift-giving hadn't even started yet, and he had already received so many gifts?

In the middle of the night.

Liu Zheng's bedroom had actually become this lively.

This left him feeling both touched and unable to laugh or cry.

So, his popularity wasn't actually that bad...