After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. In the main hall, the officials of Sheng Kingdom and the delegation of An Kingdom stood on the left and right sides respectively. Amidst the clinking of cups, it was a scene of harmonious laughter and joy.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your hospitality these past few days. Yanjing is indeed a prosperous city, each with its own merits as our Da'an. However, I wonder when the civil service examination will begin, so that we can report back to Your Majesty."

After several rounds of drinks, Prince Su, who was leading the group, bowed and asked questions.

Although he was asking a question, his expression was far from respectful, and his tone was casual and arrogant, having long forgotten Emperor An's warning not to be careless.

He thought to himself, "This Sheng Kingdom is nothing like the legendary land of talented people; it's just full of good-for-nothings."

Just look at that martial arts test. In the three matches, the weaklings from Anguo were beaten black and blue by the warriors of Anguo, and they were powerless to fight back. If it weren't for the rules of the competition that it was a point-to-point stop, they probably would have had their necks twisted off by the warriors.

As for the written exam, I doubt it will be any better. Their past reputation was probably just self-praise!

"I was hoping to have a few more drinks, but since Prince Su is in such a hurry, let's begin!"

Emperor Sheng put down his wine cup and waved his hand in a calm tone.

"I wonder what Prince Su's thoughts are on this competition?"

Seeing that Emperor Sheng remained silent, the Crown Prince understood that his father was displeased, so he took the initiative to ask.

"Well, we set the rules for the martial arts exam, but the rules for the literary exam can be set by your Sheng Kingdom!"

When Prince Su saw that it was the Crown Prince speaking, his tone became even more dismissive.

The Crown Prince tightened his grip on the wine cup for a moment, then relaxed it, and replied, "Prince Su is a guest from afar, and we, Da Sheng, should naturally do our best to be good hosts. There is no reason for us to make decisions on our own."

Prince Su smiled and waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright, guests should follow the host's lead. Besides, it wouldn't be good for people to think that our An Kingdom is domineering and sets its own rules. This is a fair competition, fair indeed!"

He was determined to make Sheng Guo lose face, and he couldn't let them find an excuse to cover it up.

Then the whole world will see that Shengguo is nothing but a bunch of fools, incompetent in both literature and martial arts, and Anguo will soon annex Shengguo!

The Crown Prince glanced at Emperor Sheng and saw him nod almost imperceptibly, then said, "In that case, we shall decide this matter."

After a moment's thought, he said, "Although it is a written test, the original intention is for our two countries to learn from each other. So there's no need to make it too complicated, otherwise it will lose its meaning. How about we make riddles, chess, and poetry the competition?"

Prince Su looked at the Su brothers and, seeing them nod slightly, readily agreed. However, he then raised a question: "How will these three items be compared?"

"The martial arts competition the day before yesterday was a one-on-one contest. How about we change the format today and have all six of them compete in three matches at the same time?"

The Crown Prince had his own reasons for saying this. The Su brothers had lived together since childhood and their scholarship had always been equally matched.

The situation is different in Shengguo. Wen Tingzhu comes from a humble background, Yang Bo comes from a wealthy family, and Li Xuan was born into a scholarly family. They all have their own strengths in terms of vision and knowledge, so this arrangement can be considered a clever move.

Hopefully, they will understand their intentions!

Upon hearing this, Prince Su did not find anything unreasonable about it. He simply thought that the Crown Prince of Sheng Kingdom had given up hope of the competition and only wanted it to end as soon as possible. Therefore, he said directly, "Then let's do as the Crown Prince wishes."