In Love With My Fierce Farming Wife!
Chapter 1082 - 1077: Name Matches the Reality

Chapter 1082: Chapter 1077: Name Matches the Reality

"Enough!"

Qin Yi finally spoke, "The young masters from the princes’ families are all very handsome, and I am also very pleased to see them. When I have some free time another day, I will hold a family banquet, so everyone can enjoy themselves."

Once His Majesty had spoken his golden words, naturally no one else dared to speak further, and they each returned to their respective places to continue eating and drinking.

Qin Feimo sat near the edge of the lower seats, quietly watching the farce before him come to an end. Seeing Su Pan’er’s stiffly smiling face, the sense of loss deep in his heart grew heavier!

At the moment, his status was awkward, it was better not to speak unless necessary.

Qin Yi, on the other hand, was more open-minded. With a wave of his hand, he had the palace maids clear the banquet and replace it with fragrant tea.

He also called over several ministers from The Ministry of Civil Affairs to join in the merriment with everyone.

Such a so-called Flower Appreciation Banquet was nothing more than admiring flowers, tasting tea, having some Imperial meals, playing Pitch-Pot, matching verses, solving riddles; thus the day would pass.

Summoning the ministers from The Ministry of Civil Affairs to pose riddles in advance was merely to ease the atmosphere.

Those cunning and astute ministers had long learned how to observe others and act accordingly, seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity, and naturally were not willing to get involved in matters concerning the struggle for succession in the Imperial Family. Seeing that His Majesty intended to lighten the mood, they immediately went to great lengths to amuse the crowd.

The riddles posed were usually very simple, as they were meant to liven up the atmosphere and certainly had to consider the many offspring from noble families present. After posing the riddles, they would invite members of the royal family or many talented individuals to guess. There was no penalty for guessing wrong, and a delicate trinket would be awarded as a prize for guessing correctly.

The prizes weren’t anything special, typically being accessories like bracelets, hairpins, brush washes, paperweights, and so forth.

Those who guessed correctly were overjoyed, and even more ecstatic when they received their rewards. There were very few chances to guess wrong, as at such events, those not confident in their answer would not take the risk to speak up.

However, although there were many people present, everyone was quite self-disciplined. Generally, after one or two correct guesses, people would refrain from guessing again, leaving the opportunity for others.

For example, a couple joined at the heart (solve for one character), as soon as the riddle was read, Su Ke immediately knew the answer.

"Qian."

Someone quickly stood up to answer, and this time, the one solving the riddle was a woman.

The young lady’s delicate voice, with its Wu-style soft language, immediately captured the gazes of countless people. Unfortunately, the screen in the middle blocked the face of the girl who answered the riddle, much to the disappointment of the many talents present.

"Correct."

The minister who posed the riddle nodded, and a palace maid stepped forward, offering a golden hairpin as a reward to the respondent, making the surrounding girls envious.

When it came time for the next riddle, noticeably more women were eager to answer.

"The ’Song’ character without its hat, must not be guessed as ’wood.’ (Solve for one character)"

"Li."

"Praise first before drinking, never-ending grand words."

"Blow."

"Guan Yu, oh Guan Yu. (Solve for a proverb)"

"Double entendre."

...

As time went on, some problems were simple, and most people could answer them. Occasionally, a challenging question would arise, providing an excellent opportunity to test the students present.

Qin Yi, composed and serene, sat in the Main Seat. Whenever someone correctly answered a question, he would generously praise them and command for a small gift to be given to them. Naturally, these people were very happy to receive praise from His Majesty and to gain a little profit.

Su Pan’er sat beside Qin Yi, quietly listening to everyone answering the questions and taking the opportunity to observe her target.

Qin Yueshi also attended the Banquet at the Palace today, but her seat was somewhat distant. Many respondents turned their backs to her direction—she wanted to see clearly but couldn’t make out their facial features.

On the contrary, it was Su Pan’er who looked these people over carefully.

Apart from the three military officers, nearly everyone listed in the booklet had stepped forward to answer questions, allowing Su Pan’er to quickly glance at them.

It must be said that Qin Yueshi was also a member of the "Appearance Association," for her taste in choosing a son-in-law was indeed based on looks. Although the world now judged by appearance, the candidates selected by Qin Yueshi were almost all handsome and came from remarkable families, making Su Pan’er sigh that the Great Zhou Dynasty truly produced fine men and beautiful women.

However, the scent of rouge and powder on these men was a bit too strong. Some of them did not even seem like men but rather more like women.

"What do you think, have you made your choice?"

This sentence was the first Qin Yi spoke to Su Pan’er after arriving at the Imperial Garden.

Su Pan’er cast a cool glance at him and then turned her head back to continue observing the scene.

Qin Yi hesitated as if he wanted to say something more, but ultimately he did not speak and turned his head to look at the event as well.

The interaction between the Emperor and the Empress was witnessed by everyone, and it was immediately interpreted by those with ulterior motives in countless ways. They had long heard that the Emperor and the Empress had a big fight, and judging from the current situation, it seemed the news was correct!

There were also those who were secretly pleased, hoping for the worse the squabble between the Emperor and Empress, the better. In such a case, the matter of producing an heir might be put off indefinitely, giving them opportunities they could exploit.

But it seemed like Qin Yi did not intend to let Su Pan’er off so easily, as his gaze suddenly swept over to Su Ke.

"Ke’er, why haven’t I heard you speak tonight? Why don’t you try to solve a couple of the riddles?"

Being suddenly called out made Su Ke a bit flustered and also caused Su Pan’er’s expression to darken.

Su Ke glanced at the Empress, unsure whether she should answer the riddles or not.

With a firm bite of her teeth, Su Pan’er was confident in Ke’er, knowing that he wouldn’t be stumped by these questions. However, ever since Ke’er had decided to take part in the Autumn Imperial Civil Service Examination, he had been the center of attention and the subject of much discussion.

Now he was deliberately causing trouble, putting Ke’er on the spot. Did he resent Ke’er for managing to rank second in the High School Exam so much that he wanted to see him fall from grace?

Before she could speak up, Su Ke obediently stood.

Having resolved not to cause any trouble for his fourth sister, he clenched his teeth, stood up obediently, and saluted the minister posing the questions.

The minister, understanding, smiled and posed a riddle: "Reflecting behind closed doors. (A three-word proverb.)"

"Cannot figure it out."

Almost as soon as the words left the minister’s mouth, Su Ke responded.

The crowd was taken by surprise.

Even the minister was amazed at Su Ke’s speed and continued with two more riddles in quick succession.

"Desolate heart as the fair one leaves."

"Green."

"Since it has come, then settle it."

"Rabbit."

"One fence, three stakes."

"Thirty."

Having guessed four riddles, Su Ke gained a great reward, receiving a beautifully made jade clean bottle and a brush wash, and then he sat down.

The questions weren’t unusually tough, but the difficulty lay in the fact that the minister had barely finished stating them when he immediately responded, changing the way everyone looked at him all of a sudden.

After Su Ke won the second place in the Beneficent Examination, someone copied the questions from his examination papers and even showed them to the head of the Hanlin Imperial Academy. His content in answering questions was such that, although luck played a part in his second-place rank, it could also be said he truly deserved it.

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