After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"Come here! Manager Chen, come quickly..."

"Coming, coming... Please wait a moment, distinguished guest..."

"Set it up! Set it up quickly! Set it up for him!"

"Fine, fine! Come on! I'll set it up myself!"

"I'm in too!"

"Jia Wudi! Jia Wudi! Tonight, I'll fight to the death here to defeat you, Jia Wudi!"

Ning Nan laughed and said, "Come on!" There were five square tables around him, each with a chessboard, and outside the tables, there were countless people in layers.

The people in the innermost circle—about a dozen officials—had bruises on their foreheads, and some were even swollen and bleeding.

The heaviest one, three times per round, had already kowtowed four times.

While the civil officials in the outer circle dragged their tables across the bluestone floor, making creaking noises.

The civil officials in the inner circle were arguing incessantly.

"Down here, down here, load the cannon!"

"Yes, cannon 7 to 5!"

"No, Flying Elephant, what else would you be thinking about at a time like this? His car, do you see it? Are you blind? His car..."

"A true gentleman observes chess in silence."

"You're just occupying the toilet without doing your business! You're only emboldening Jia Wudi!"

"Brother Guo, didn't you just kowtow six times?"

"Foolish man! Don't you know that carelessness led to the loss of Jingzhou?"

Ning Nan sneered, playing his game with them step by step, while San Zhuang, holding a wine cup in one hand and a wine glass in the other, poured wine for his elder brother with an air of superiority.

Snapped!

Ning Nan picked up the black carriage, Ping San took the horse, and shouted, "Checkmate!"

Across from him was an old acquaintance, I think his name was Yang Huaisi. Yang Huaisi had played three rounds, and his forehead was swollen. At this point, his vision was blurry, and he was leaning on the table with both hands to look down, his eyes constantly scanning.

"What are you looking at? What are you looking at?" shouted the grizzled man beside him. "Fourteen hands ago, I told you to jump the horse and you didn't!"

"The vault was a terrible move!" someone said.

"Hey! After the horse jump, the chariot moves out, and we hit him with a cannon shot. Where are you stunned? Where are you stunned?"

"Tsk, Old Zhou, you play the next round."

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" The white beard stood on end, he rolled up his sleeves and slammed his hand on the table, his voice so high it was distorted!

Ning Nanchao, who was somewhat stunned, sneered, "Brother Yang, you're about to die! Still looking? What are you looking at!"

Yang Huaisi stared blankly.

My heart felt cold.

Without further ado, he squeezed out of the crowd with a pale face, knelt down facing the moon, and began kowtowing repeatedly on the bluestone slabs.

San Zhuang, standing on tiptoe, poked his head out from the crowd and stared at him intently, shouting sharply, "Hey! No backing out! Kneel! Kneel hard!"

Then the burly young man turned back, chuckled, poured himself a glass of wine, handed it to Ning Nan, and said with a smile, "Brother! Another one!"

"Oh!"

Ning Nan's face flushed slightly as he downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, then smiled and asked, "Did it make a loud clatter?"

"It was incredibly loud! Only one grandson was running around kowtowing in the mud, while the other grandsons—no, the other high-ranking officials, the other very high-ranking officials—were all kowtowing in the courtyard!"

Ning Nan smiled with satisfaction.

He smacked his lips, savoring the taste of the wine, and vaguely remembered that Yang Huaisi, an official under the Ministry of Justice, was the first person to lose to him.

Without saying a word, the man knelt down and kowtowed to him.

Ning Nan immediately stepped aside, refusing his greeting.

Under normal circumstances, he will not make mortal enemies with others unless money or interests are involved.

If it involves profit, taking someone's money is like killing their parents, and then you have to be ruthless. For example, those three precious members of the Ning family in the capital—they have to be killed. And they have to be killed quickly, otherwise they'll kill you.

If you really get those three kowtows from them tonight, they'll probably hold a grudge against you for life.

There's no need for such a battle of loyalty. So we avoided it.

His evasive maneuver startled the civil officials behind him, who quickly scattered, none of them willing to accept Yang Huaisi's bow.

Sure enough, when Yang Huaisi looked up and saw that there was no one in front of him, his expression improved a lot, and he kowtowed even more loudly the second time.

After getting up, Yang Huaisi said, "Let's play one more round. Whoever loses just has to kowtow to the moon." Ning Nan smiled and agreed.

But Guo Shouhuai and others nearby objected, saying, "Brother Yang, since you can't win, why play another round? It only boosts the morale of others and diminishes your own."

Yang Huaisi's face immediately turned a deep purplish-red... It wasn't until a moment later, when he saw Guo Shouhuai also kowtowing to the moon, that his expression calmed down, and his forehead seemed to no longer hurt.

After Ning Nan won five consecutive games, things started to go a bit awful. Before, everyone had remained silent, behaving like gentlemen, but by the sixth game, they visibly became impatient, offering unsolicited advice to the "Imperial Medical Academy Judge" who had been playing against him: how to play, how not to play, and how Jia Wudi would win again if he didn't… Annoyed by their restless faces, bloodshot eyes, and even exaggerated gestures, Ning Nan granted their request, setting up three tables so he could play against three people simultaneously. Later, this was changed to setting up five tables so he could play against five people at once.

And now.

As the creaking sound of dragging the table stopped, Ning Nan's activity area expanded by one circle, now containing a full ten tables!

"Come!" An official who hadn't yet kowtowed exclaimed, his eyes lighting up, his face flushed, hands raised, sleeves rolled up, "This official has come to experience Jia Wudi's superior skills!"

And so, the officials who had been watching the play gathered around to watch the chess game. At the entrance to the second courtyard, the officials who had been watching the Northern Dynasty prodigy play chess were drawn by the bursts of noise from behind and gradually came over as well.

Especially when they saw people constantly squeezing out of the crowd, kowtowing a few times, and then squeezing back into the crowd, their curiosity was amplified.

When they finally squeezed in themselves and saw their colleagues making one foolish move after another, especially seeing Jia Wudi, a mere teenager, arrogantly order his opponent to kowtow outside after defeating him, and then drink a cup of wine himself, their eyes would turn red, and they would start slamming their fists on the table, rolling up their sleeves, and shouting, "Come on! I'll teach you a lesson, you damned Jia Wudi!"

After a while, even the fifth-rank official who was further back in the second courtyard turned his head in confusion and looked in this direction, wondering what had happened.

……

……

The courtyard is divided into three sections.

The eldest son of the Prime Minister Qin stroked his beard and chuckled, "Tsk tsk, your dynasty's prodigy is indeed formidable." He raised the golden cup in his hand and laughed, "Your dynasty's prodigy has defeated my son Qin Yun, Lu Xun, a great talent from Bailu Academy, the young Marquis of Jingxi, and Lady Lü of the Marquis of Zhongzhen... truly, ha. To be honest, Your Excellency, I originally intended to observe the prodigy's chess style after my son took the stage, and then cleverly defeat him. But with so many talented individuals whose chess skills far surpass mine appearing, even they would find it difficult to defeat him. How could I possibly have that confidence? Come, let me toast Your Excellency!"

The envoy, Da Chun, immediately stood up with a smile and said, "You're too kind, Physician Qin. Da Chun would like to offer a toast to Prime Minister Qin."

As soon as Qin Xi finished speaking, the expressions on everyone's faces softened considerably. Those who had just come up to see the Northern Dynasty prodigy's abilities, in particular, felt a surge of gratitude when they realized that Doctor Qin was belittling himself to elevate them.

The meaning behind the words spoken by the Northern Dynasty's deputy envoy was naturally clear to everyone present.

Hearing this, Qin Xi knew that if no one from the Southern Dynasty stepped forward, they would lose all face. Even if they lost, they had to go on stage; it was better than being intimidated by a twelve-year-old. That's why Qin Xi sent his son to participate.

In reality, apart from Qin Yun, who was a son of a civil official, and Lu Xun, who participated because his master was playing chess with the Northern Dynasty's Emperor Wenzong and it would be embarrassing for Bailu Academy not to send anyone... the rest of the participants were all nobles... unfortunately, they all looked embarrassed after their defeats. The other civil officials were quite cunning and none of them went on stage.

At this moment, Nilon said with a smile, "Thank you, Lord Qin... To be honest, the person that Tong Jia's father and we most wanted to teach Tong Jia a lesson... is actually right here. It's just a pity that your family hasn't made a move yet."

Qin Xi smiled slightly: "Oh? I think the word 'lesson' is a bit too strong. However, since you are a guest, and since your esteemed dynasty has this wish, may I ask, Vice Envoy, which of our talented individuals does your prodigy wish to exchange ideas with?"