A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Wan Guan Lou is the largest gambling den in the entire Jining Province.

Outside the building, traffic was heavy; inside, the place was bustling with noise.

The crisp sound of dice striking porcelain bowls, the clatter of chips hitting the table, and the shouts and sighs of gamblers mingled together, creating a cacophony that made one restless and agitated.

As Nie Qianqian stepped into Wanguanlou, her gaze swept across the hall and she saw a huge gambling table in the most conspicuous position in the center of the hall, where people were betting on whether Gu Xiao could win the "Small Three Jades" in a row.

Scientific expeditions are the most exciting events of our time, especially since an assassination attempt occurred on a bustling street in Jining Prefecture before the expedition, leading to a city-wide lockdown for a day and a night, causing a great uproar.

Coupled with Gu Xiaofu's reputation as the top scorer in the provincial examination and the legendary story of him taking the exam despite being injured, this betting platform attracted countless eyes from the moment it was launched.

As Nie Qianqian approached, she saw a crowd gathered around the gambling table. Even though it wasn't peak time, many people were still placing bets.

"I'm betting that Gu Xiao can't hit consecutive shots!"

"I can't bet either! These three prizes aren't so easy to come by!"

"Hey, I'm betting on him! I think this young master Gu is a lucky guy!"

Discussions rose and fell.

Most people are focused on the "cannot".

An old man with a white beard stroked his beard and said leisurely, "I've lived my whole life in Jining Province and I've never seen anyone achieve the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examinations. Even the current Grand Tutor, Lord Jiang, didn't achieve the highest honors in the three levels of the imperial examinations back then; he only came in second place in the provincial examination. And that was the top scholar personally selected by the late emperor! Could this Gu Xiao be even more talented than Lord Jiang?"

Immediately, someone chimed in: "Of course not! Lord Jiang is a genius of unparalleled talent. No matter how capable Gu Xiao is, can he possibly surpass the top scholar? A triple champion? Dream on! Listen to me, bet against him, it's a sure thing!"

A small number of people also press their "ability," including some young women.

Nie Qianqian strongly suspected that their bets on Gu Xiaoneng were mostly based on his looks.

She stepped forward and asked the servant beside her, "Young man, what are the odds now?"

Upon seeing Nie Qianqian's appearance, the servant was taken aback for a moment before quickly replying, "Madam, the current odds are one to three."

Nie Qianqian nodded, then asked, "Are the odds fixed?"

“It’s not fixed,” the servant explained. “It’s dynamic and will be adjusted according to the amount bet. A few days ago it was 1 to 2, but recently more people have been betting that Young Master Gu won’t win, so it’s become 1 to 3. The final odds will be based on the odds from the day before the results are announced.”

Nie Qianqian seemed to be deep in thought.

An elderly woman holding loose silver coins noticed that she was pretty and spoke kindly, so she kindly reminded her:

"Young lady, is this your first time betting on this? The odds may change, but unless you place a large bet, they generally won't fluctuate too much."

Nie Qianqian countered, "How big is considered big?"

The old woman laughed: "How big is big? If you take out ten or twenty thousand taels of silver, then that's naturally big."

The old man with the white beard sneered, "Hahaha, ten or twenty thousand taels? Who would bet so much silver on Gu Xiao winning all three rounds of the imperial examination? At most, a hundred or eighty taels, just for fun, a small bet for a big win."

Seeing that Nie Qianqian seemed genuinely interested, the servant tentatively asked, "Madam, would you like to place a bet?"

Nie Qianqian nodded, her tone as calm as if she were buying a pound of vegetables:

“I’ll bet 30,000 taels on Gu Xiao’s chance to win the minor three-crown prize.”

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone around.

The area in front of the betting table fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

"……what?"

Thirty thousand taels?!

"She just said she was betting on Gu Xiao to win?"

Everyone thought they had misheard.

This is not a small sum of money, such as tens or hundreds of taels, but thirty thousand taels!

Even among the wealthy families in the provincial capital, few could afford 30,000 taels of silver, let alone gamble that much money on something that was almost impossible.

The old man stroked his white beard, his heart pounding in his throat from Nie Qianqian's actions, and patted his chest twice.

"Little girl, have you gone mad?! You're taking out 30,000 taels of silver just to bet that Gu Xiao can win the triple crown? Do you know that our Jining Province hasn't produced a single triple crown winner in nearly a hundred years!"

He paused, took a breath, and then said:

"The 'Little Three Scholars' title isn't something you can get just by having knowledge. It requires the right timing, the right place, and the right people—you can't lack any of them! Back then, what a genius was Lord Jiang? He only got second place in the provincial examination, but he was the top scholar personally selected by the late emperor and is now the Grand Tutor of the court! Do you think Gu Xiao is any more capable than Lord Jiang?"

The people around them nodded in agreement.

The old man sighed again and said earnestly:

"The imperial examinations are incredibly unpredictable. The examiners' preferences, the questions asked that year, one's performance on the day, and even the weather can all affect a person's score. Do you think that being academically gifted guarantees you'll be the top scholar? Not necessarily! Every top scholar in the past was exceptionally intelligent and talented, but even if you asked them to take the exam again, they wouldn't be able to guarantee they'd be the top scholar again!"

He shook his head, giving the impression that "you're too young and naive."

"Young lady, this is no joke. Thirty thousand taels of silver is an amount that many families couldn't earn in a lifetime. Take my advice and take the silver back immediately."

The servant swallowed hard, looking at Nie Qianqian as if she were a walking gold mine: "Madam, are you sure you want to bet 30,000 taels?"

Nie Qianqian nodded, took out a stack of silver notes from her sleeve, and handed them over: "Confirmed. This is 30,000 taels of silver notes."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the thick stack of silver notes.

After signing the document, Nie Qianqian handed the silver note to the servant, turned around and left, her back view elegant and composed.

The crowd stared at her retreating figure for a long time before they realized what was happening.

"Hey? This woman looks kind of familiar."

"Yes, yes, I feel like I've seen this somewhere before..."

An auntie slapped her forehead and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! I remember now! I was on the street corner when Gu Xuezi was attacked! The woman who carried him upstairs, it looks like her!"

"what?!"

"She's Gu Xiao's wife?!"

The crowd was in an uproar.

"No wonder she dared to bet 30,000 taels! It turns out it was my own wife!"

"Even if it's your own wife, she shouldn't be so blind, right?"

"That's incredibly confident..."

Some people even had a thought: "Since his wife has bet so much, why don't we bet some too and see if we can win?"

"No, no, no!" the white-bearded old man immediately said, "That's just a couple deeply in love, blindly trusting each other! We can't follow suit impulsively! We can't afford to be impulsive, that's the right thing to do!"

The man who had been involved in gambling for years suddenly brightened up and whispered, "She bet 30,000 taels and she'll win. If we bet now that she won't, the odds might be even higher in the future..."

"Yup!"

"Hurry up, I can't bet a hundred taels!"

"I'll bet two hundred taels!"

Immediately, everyone placed bets on "cannot".

Originally, Nie Qianqian's 30,000 taels would have been enough to influence the odds, but everyone saw that there was profit to be made and followed suit. As a result, the odds did not fluctuate much and remained at around 1 to 3.

Inside Wan Guan Lou, the noise resumed.

Nie Qianqian had already walked out of the Wan Guan Lou gate and blended into the bustling crowd, a faint smile still on her lips.