The emperor is biased and wants to kill me, but you chickened out when the army is at the city gates

"What about one hundred taels of gold?"

Now it was Zhao Luoying's turn to feel triumphant. She stretched out her delicate hand and looked at the other person with a proud expression.

The Liaodong woman was quite tough; although she lost the contest, she still took out a thousand-tael silver note and threw it over.

"Master, Changkong has disgraced you."

Yelü Changkong's face flushed red, and he said with deep remorse.

The woman from Liaodong smiled faintly, her gaze seemingly sweeping over Qin Xuan, and said, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, there's no need to worry about them. As long as you can help me pass the test of the Six Arts of a Gentleman."

"Chang Kong will spare no effort and risk his life to fight for his master's opportunity."

Yelü Changkong breathed a slight sigh of relief, then turned his head to look at Qin Xuan, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Qin Xuan simply didn't take this threat seriously.

"Which bookseller from Liaodong Kingdom do you represent?"

Qin Xuan seized the opportunity to ask.

There weren't many booksellers in Liaodong, only three or four in total. But the scholar beside this Liaodong woman had the surname "Yelü," which was the royal surname of Liaodong.

This is similar to the situation in the Great Qi Dynasty, where the surname Qin naturally became the imperial surname. That's why Qin Xuan changed his surname to Jin when he arrived at Shanhaiguan.

"What, are you afraid I'll use my power to intimidate you?"

The woman from Liaodong smiled gently and said in a sweet voice, "However, if you are willing to join us, I will tell you everything you want to know."

"Pah! This vixen dares to seduce the prince in public."

Zhao Luoying's chest heaved with anger, but she couldn't lash out for the time being, given that so many people were watching.

“I’ve heard that Yelü Daye is the wealthiest merchant in Liaodong, and he’s also a member of the royal family. Plus, he has the surname Yelü. So I suppose you must be the Loulan Bookstore under the Loulan Merchant Guild. Am I right?”

Qin Xuan asked.

Yelü Daye of Liaodong Kingdom single-handedly built the Loulan Merchant Guild, which was extremely powerful.

The woman from Liaodong was taken aback, but then she smiled sweetly and said, "I am Yelü Huanxi, and I am indeed from the Loulan Bookstore. May I ask which bookstore this gentleman is from?"

Right now, the only people who are eager to find the Confucian sage are the major booksellers or the powerful families behind them. Yelü Huanxi naturally categorized Qin Xuan as one of them.

"We are just a small bookstore from Jiangnan, nothing to brag about."

Qin Xuan did not want to have much contact with the people of Liaodong for the time being, so he got up to say goodbye.

Yelü Huanxi didn't try to stop them, but watched Qin Xuan and the others leave with a meaningful look in her eyes: "This person gives me a very different feeling!"

"Master, what do you mean by that?"

Having just suffered a setback, Yelü Changkong couldn't help but ask.

Yelü Huanxi shook her head, said nothing more, and stood up, saying, "Let's go to Confucius Mountain."

Meanwhile, Zhu Di and his entourage, who had gone ahead, were also heading to Mount Kongsheng.

The journey wasn't far, about half an hour. Zhao Luoying was quite excited along the way, guessing that Qin Xuan's straightforward refusal had had an effect.

"Master Jin, there are quite a few experts around here."

The monkey suddenly whispered a reminder, but Qin Xuan didn't take it seriously and laughed, "With all these forces here, they're bound to be hiding their strength. Otherwise, do you really think business in Shanhai Town is so easy, with so many merchants?"

Although Shanhai Town is a small trading town that is not under the jurisdiction of the government, it is sparsely populated. Even if a Confucian sage came, it would not be this lively.

"Should we mobilize the Shence Army?"

The monkey was extremely alert and prioritized Qin Xuan's safety above all else.

Especially before leaving, Zhuge Xuan had given him a death order, that Qin Xuan must not be allowed to have any accidents.

"No need."

Qin Xuan replied in a low voice, "If something really happens, the Shence Army cavalry hidden in the forest are far more lethal than these experts disguised as merchants."

The group walked and stopped frequently until they finally arrived at the foot of Mount Kongsheng.

It was just approaching evening, and the surrounding area was also filled with small vendors, restaurants, teahouses, and inns, making it a truly lively place.

Qin Xuan asked Ning Yuanfeng to book an inn first, while he took Zhao Luoying to the place where the Confucian sage had set up the pass.

This is a bamboo house, with a couplet encouraging learning pasted on the door: "Birds must flap their wings before they can fly high, and people must read books before they can make progress." The words are simple and plain, but they contain profound truths.

"Mr. Jin, isn't this couplet a bit too colloquial?"

Zhao Luoying read it several times, looking at Qin Xuan with some surprise.

Qin Xuan chuckled and shook his head: "This is for encouraging learning, so it naturally needs to be easy to understand. Otherwise, if it's too profound, wouldn't people not be able to understand it?"

Zhao Luoying nodded slightly: "I see. I thought the Confucian sage's learning was nothing special!"

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense, this will anger everyone."

Qin Xuan quickly covered Zhao Luoying's mouth and whispered, "This place is not like Beining City. You must not talk nonsense again, or we will be torn apart by the Confucian scholars of the world."

Seeing that Qin Xuan spoke seriously, but there was clearly not much fear in his eyes, Zhao Luoying couldn't help but giggle and say in a slightly coquettish tone, "I know, I'll be careful."

The two chatted idly for a while, when someone knocked on the door, wanting to enter the bamboo house.

But I heard from the people around me that only those who could write a couplet encouraging learning would be qualified to enter the bamboo house for the assessment.

This Confucian sage has truly gone to great lengths for the sake of all the scholars in the world.

There are quite a few people knocking on the door and offering couplets, but probably very few actually go inside.

"How many people have been turned away today?"

"Is this the eleventh one?"

"More than that, it should be the thirteenth. Mr. Bai's requirements are really too high."

"..."

Mr. Bai?

Qin Xuan immediately thought of Bai Mufeng, the last disciple of the Confucian sage, because this person was Zhao Qixuan's mentor.

"Student Pan Ruoan has come to pay his respects!"

A handsome and refined middle-aged man stepped forward and knocked on the door of the bamboo house.

Then, the door opened from the inside, and Bai Mufeng walked out quickly with a joyful expression, cupping his hands and saying, "Brother Pan, how have you been!"

"Brother Mu Bai, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

Pan Ruoan smiled slightly, and then followed Bai Mufeng directly into the bamboo house.

"Why doesn't this person need to write a couplet?"

"Why can he just walk into the bamboo house? That's not fair!"

"..."

Soon, people started shouting, but the shouting didn't last more than a few minutes before the bamboo house door opened and a page came out, saying arrogantly, "What's all the fuss about? The rules of the bamboo house were set by my master, and he should be the one to decide who gets in."

“Those people who spoke so recklessly, if I hear you slandering the master again, I will disqualify you and make sure you are not allowed to enter the door.”

"Also, the person who just came in is the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, Pan Daru. If you have the guts, go find him."

"Besides, he is my husband's close friend and has even received personal guidance from Master Kong Ru. He is qualified to enter the bamboo house directly."

"However, the esteemed scholar Pan, being of noble character, did not want my husband to be criticized, so he wrote a couplet for me to post outside the door. You can all see for yourselves!"

The page boy looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, but his tone was extremely unpleasant, as if he were scolding everyone present as if they were servants.

Qin Xuan frowned upon hearing this: "It's rare to see a page so arrogant and domineering, standing beside a great Confucian scholar!"

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it was just enough for the pageboy to hear.

The pageboy's face turned pale at first, then flushed red, and he angrily shouted, "Who's gossiping? If you've got the guts, step forward and see if I'll give you a chance to come in again."