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

"Um???"

Everyone in the room was stunned.

The students of Bailu Academy were also stunned.

"Gongsun Shi...Shi...Junior Brother? What did you say?"

"Become a disciple? Senior sister, why would you want to become a disciple of this person...?"

"Jia Songling..."

"What happened?"

Immediately, gasps of surprise and doubts arose.

The short, fat Qing Zude thought for a moment, then his chubby face suddenly twitched, and his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Oh, oh, oh, Mid-Autumn Festival, chess, chess..."

The older student turned pale and quickly grabbed Qing Zude's hand. Qing Zude was startled, as if he had thought of something, and immediately fell silent. The two of them glanced at Wu Tanhua and saw that Wu Tanhua's face had turned ashen. The short, fat man thought to himself, "Oh dear," and began to complain.

Lian Zixing, however, shook his head and opened his folding fan, saying, "On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wu Tanhua lost ten games, ten games to the Northern Dynasty's Tongjia, while Jia Songling..." Before he could finish speaking, his senior brother simply covered his mouth.

Wu Shangmei's expression had become unusually ugly, and she even couldn't help but let out a cold snort!

Upon hearing this, the students of Bailu Academy immediately looked distressed, regretting that they should have come with Qing Zude and Lian Zixing, the two treasures of the academy. Their careless words might have caused them to be resented by this favorite of the Crown Prince.

Last year, it was widely known that Wu Shangmei did not rank high in the provincial examination, but during the palace examination, His Majesty personally selected him as the third-ranked scholar and transferred him to the Eastern Palace to serve as a minister to Prince Xin. The meaning of this was already quite obvious.

This Wu Shangmei is probably going to be the second Grand Prince Consort of the Great Liang!

Even if this person made a fool of themselves during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so what? A little shame on their face doesn't mean they're disfigured.

The crowd looked on with resentment, and couldn't help but sigh. As men, they had to admit that the third-ranked scholar was much more handsome than themselves.

Moreover, the Emperor and His Highness might need a consort like this: of impeccable background, from humble origins, gentle in nature, talented but not famous, with limited abilities, and therefore not prone to ambition. His Highness could keep him in check, and he would not cause chaos in the court in the future.

The students of Bailu Academy felt a mix of emotions, including envy.

However, the thought of the other party losing ten games of chess to a child made them smile. Moreover, everyone couldn't help but steal a glance at the beautiful figure who was paying homage to Jia Songling, oh no, to Ning Baixuan... Besides, if it weren't for His Majesty's appointment, this pretty senior sister disguised as a man might have already married Wu Shangmei! What would they have to do with it then?

Some nosy teachers secretly gossiped about it, saying that last year, the senior sister's grandfather, who was also the headmaster of the school, was about to finalize the marriage with Wu Tanhua's grandfather! The Wu family's marriage proposal was imminent.

Wu Jiazi became the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination, and the Wu family understood His Majesty's intentions, so the marriage was naturally called off. Fortunately, the two had not been engaged, so it did not affect the reputation of the senior sister.

However, since Master Gongsun often played chess with the elders of the Wu family, and Senior Sister and Wu Tanhua were childhood sweethearts who had known each other since they were young, the marriage was called off, and Senior Sister was naturally heartbroken.

The students of Bailu Academy looked at their senior sister's back and sighed. Ning Baixuan's poem "When Will the Moon Be Bright Again?" was so frightening that they had almost forgotten that this person, under the alias Jia Songling, had caused a great disturbance at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the Prince Xin's mansion, fought against a group of officials, and finally defeated Shangguan Zhao in ten consecutive battles.

It seems that Senior Sister publicly acknowledged Ning Baixuan, whose chess skills far surpassed Wu Tanhua's, as her master in order to humiliate Wu Tanhua.

"Aheng!" Seeing the beautiful Gongsun Heng condescend to become this person's disciple, Wu Shangmei felt a mix of resentment, grievance, and heartache. She couldn't help but take a few steps forward and call out.

Gongsun Heng said in a cold voice, "Please, Scholar Tan, do not address me like that. Just call me Gongsun Heng."

"Aheng, please don't do this for my sake..." Wu Shangmei's eyes reddened, and she took a few more steps forward.

"Wu the Third Scholar!"

Gongsun Heng spoke loudly, giving the other person a cold look. Seeing that the man had stopped, she then continued:

"Gongsun learning chess is only related to himself; it has absolutely nothing to do with the third-ranked scholar!"

That's all.

She ignored him and bowed directly to Ning Baixuan, saying, "Mr. Ning, if you are willing to take me as your disciple and teach me chess, whatever your tuition fee, I will certainly satisfy you!"

Her father held the official position of Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commissioner, and her grandfather's students and former officials were spread throughout the court and the country. However, compared to the allure of becoming the Grand Prince Consort, they were far less attractive.

The students of Bailu Academy felt an indescribable pang of sorrow as they witnessed this scene.

Ning Nan glanced at the young woman; he also felt some pain, though it was just a headache.

Without much hesitation, he directly clasped his hands in refusal and said, "Miss Gongsun... I'm sorry, I'm still young and my chess skills are limited. I don't know how to teach students and I dare not teach anyone, lest I mislead someone's children. Thank you for your kindness, Miss Gongsun. Please choose another teacher."

Gongsun Heng's expression froze.

Seeing the other party's firm attitude, she didn't know what to say... Actually, what she wanted to learn wasn't chess.

Seeing that this person's chess skills far surpassed those of the man surnamed Wu, and with the man surnamed Wu right in front of him, he was momentarily enraged and stepped forward to become his disciple. In his heart, he had already regretted it. He was still thinking about how he would find an excuse to postpone learning chess after the other party accepted him as his disciple. After all, learning Go was the most important thing. If the Laurel Chess Game was solved by someone else in advance, he was afraid that he would never have another chance in his life.

However, the other party's direct refusal made her a little annoyed. Fortunately, the words were polite enough not to offend her, so she took the opportunity to back down.

Gongsun Heng smiled faintly and said, "Mr. Ning is too modest. Mr. Ning's elephant playing is unparalleled in the world, far surpassing some sycophants who are all talk and no action. Since Mr. Ning is unwilling to accept Gongsun as his disciple, Gongsun dares not force him." She gave a graceful bow and slowly stepped back.

The students of Bailu Academy breathed a sigh of relief... Fortunately, Ning Baixuan was sensible. What virtue or ability do you have to accept Gongsun Shan's granddaughter as your disciple?

Wu Tanhua's face was gloomy, and his extremely handsome face was somewhat gloomy. He glanced at the boy who was smiling and exchanging fists with Aheng. He wanted to blurt out, "Please enlighten me, Mr. Ning," but when he thought of the chess skills that the other party and Shangguan Zhao had displayed on the Mid-Autumn Festival, he was afraid of humiliating himself, so he could only hold back.

Among the students of Bailu Academy, the eldest, Feng Yu, laughed and acted as a peacemaker, saying with a smile, "It's rare to have a gathering today, and the fog on the street is so thick. Let's not stand here any longer, let's go inside, let's go inside."

Li Yanting didn't want to deal with this Wu Tanhua and the people from the Imperial Academy, so he said directly, "Senior brother is right. Let's go, Brother Ning. Come in with us and play a game with my senior brother. Let's see if you can break the headmaster's Laurel Chess Formation."

Um? ? ? ? ?

Swish swish swish swish!

One stone caused a thousand waves!

Everyone turned their heads and stared at Ning Nan.

"Breaking the Laurel Chess Formation???!"

Gongsun Heng, who had been secretly relieved that the other party had refused to take him as a disciple, was stunned upon hearing this. "Broken Moon Laurel Chess Formation... what does that mean?"

Qin Yun narrowed his eyes slightly.

Wu Shangmei raised her eyebrows, gritted her teeth, and looked at Ning Nan: "Ha! You even know the Nineteen Paths of the Divine?"

Ning Nan glanced at him, a slight smile curving her lips. "I know a little," she said.