Chapter Twenty-Two: Acknowledgments

  The words had barely fallen when, on the stage, Song Qin suddenly swung a fist down, and it really became the final blow. Under the incredulous gaze of the crowd, he defeated the last powerful and famous opponent in a god-like manner, winning this year's martial arts competition!

  The final result of the martial arts competition stunned everyone, and Song Qin's victory once again miraculously proved that everything is possible, just as Han Jiangxue had predicted.

  Ignoring others' reactions, Li Xingming was so excited that he almost jumped up. Song Qin's odds were the highest, and the 1,000 taels of silver that had been lost earlier could now be considered a huge gain. If only he had known that Han Jiangxue's guess would be this accurate, he should have invested more earlier!

  "Xinghua, is your brother okay?" Zhang Haicheng looked at Li Xingming in utter bewilderment as he ran back and forth, overjoyed: "Have you ever seen someone who lost a bet but was still so happy?"

  Li Xinghua shook his head in puzzlement, while Mo Li's expression remained normal as he quietly watched Han Jiangxue with a thoughtful gaze.

  These people, except for Li Xingming who didn't participate in anything and was a good-for-nothing, all participated in the essay test. So Han Jiangxue stopped Li Xingming from running around like a madman and urged everyone to stop being sentimental, settle the previous gambling debt, and hurry up to prepare for the upcoming essay test.

  Willing to gamble and lose, none of them are the kind who can't afford to lose, even their expressions are still joyful, consciously fulfilling the gambling agreement.

  Li Xinghua took out a gold leaf from his bosom, Li Xingming happily and directly pulled out a silver note of moderate size, Mo Lishan effortlessly plucked off the jade ring on his hand, while Han Jiangxue naturally collected all of them without hesitation.

  When it was Zhang Haicheng's turn, he patted himself and seemed to not find anything suitable for a moment. He then took off the jade pendant that had been hanging from his waist for many years and handed it over to Han Jiangxue.

  This time, Han Jiang Xue didn't accept it, a personal jade pendant like that isn't something that can be easily accepted.

  She waved her hand and said: "Brother Zhang, you'd better change it to something else. I really can't accept this jade pendant."

  Zhang Haicheng said indifferently, "What can't be received? It's just a jade pendant. Mainly because I don't have any other items on me. If you can afford to gamble, then you should also be able to afford to lose."

  "It doesn't matter if there's none for now, it can be made up later. Silver tickets are actually the best, just remember to have someone send them over." Han Jiangxue waved her hand, still not accepting anything.

  Seeing this, Zhang Haicheng had no choice but to take back the jade pendant and asked with a slightly strange smile: "Have you been short of money lately? The ink-removed jade ring is a good thing, but it seems that Li Xingming's silver ticket makes you happier."

  "Short of money." Han Jiang Xue blinked, and asked back with a puzzled face: "Is this strange? I've always been big-handed when spending money, every month just that little bit of salary, and not like my sister who has her mother's allowance to supplement her private expenses. Isn't being short of money the most normal thing?"

  She wouldn't bother explaining, no matter how good the item was, it had to be sold to turn into money, and after all the back-and-forth, there wasn't much left. Nowadays she had plenty of places to use silver, so naturally using cash was more convenient.

  Zhang Haicheng suddenly fell silent, his eyes fixed on Han Jiangxue with a strange gaze. The others nearby also quickly understood that Han Jiangxue's situation was somewhat different from theirs, and some things might not be easy to say.

  Han Jiang Xue didn't seem to be in any discomfort, and soon spoke up again to urge the few people to hurry up and prepare for the written test. If they continued to drag their feet here, she couldn't bear the responsibility if it delayed them.

  So, except for Li Xingming, the others didn't stay long and went to participate in the writing test at Yueli Hall.

  The civil service examination is different from the martial arts examination, there's nothing to watch, so the remaining people generally take the opportunity to visit the palace, after all, the scenery in the imperial garden is not always available for appreciation.

  As soon as they left, Li Xingming couldn't help but ask Han Jiangxue what method she had to subdue the beautiful woman Green Branch in Huamanlou.

  Han Jiangxue didn't keep it a secret and told Li Xingming that the green branch had an older brother who seemed to have committed some kind of crime and was currently being held in the Chengtian Prefecture, and if things went badly, he might be executed. The green branch now only had one relative left, as long as Li Xingming had a way to help the green branch rescue her brother, then everything would naturally become simple.

  Li Xingming was deeply impressed by what he heard, and immediately felt a sense of admiration for Han Jiangxue. Firstly, the matter of the beauty had been settled, and secondly, his luck with dark horses had reached an all-time high. With this, how could he still bear to stay in the palace? He turned around and wanted to leave the palace to attend to his own affairs.

  Han Jiangxue didn't stop him either, only reminding him that after he got his hands on the money he won from gambling, don't forget to send her share over as soon as possible.

  "By the way, Han Jiang Xue, why don't you guess again who will be the top scorer in this test?" After walking a few steps, Li Xing Ming suddenly turned back, with an expression as if he had almost forgotten something, and looked at Han Jiang Xue with expectation.

  Han Jiangxue bluntly stared at Li Xingming and said, "Alright, do you really think I'm a god of calculation? If you're not afraid of losing all the money you just won, then go ahead and bet that my brother will win again."

  Li Xingming touched his nose and smiled, "Forget it, I'd rather die than go gamble. Don't worry, as soon as I get the money, I'll send it to you!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xingming immediately turned around and left, his speed was astonishing. Han Jiangxue didn't bother him anymore, calling out to Ziyue to get up and prepare to go for a walk to pass the time.

  "Hey Korean girl, wait a minute!"

  Just after walking for a short while, a strange voice came from behind, someone was calling her.

  Han Jiang Xue stopped in her tracks and turned around, only to find that it was the young man in green clothes from the arena earlier, who was also the top scorer of this martial arts exam - Song Qin!

  "Is something the matter with Master Song?" She smiled slightly and asked as Song Qin had already walked up to her.

  The young man was not very old, probably only two years older than her. His features were delicate, and except for those eyes that seemed to speak from afar, his youthful inexperience should be his most distinctive feature.

  "I... I actually... wanted to come over and thank you in person." Song Qin was truly embarrassed, his whole face flushing with tension and awkwardness as he spoke.

  If it weren't for witnessing Song Qin's skills with my own eyes and seeing him win first place, the current appearance of Song Qin would make it impossible for anyone to believe that he is actually a martial artist with extremely good skills.

  "You scared me! I thought I owed you money and forgot to pay it back, but you were too embarrassed to mention it?"

  Han Jiangxue joked and found the young man in front of her to be quite interesting. Practitioners are generally straightforward and rough, and people like Song Qin who are shy are indeed rare.

  She naturally understood, but this young man was really too kind-hearted, she didn't think that he would be so grateful to her for such a thing.

  The atmosphere suddenly became much lighter with Han Jiangxue's teasing, and Song Qin couldn't help but laugh too, although it was still quite awkward, but no longer that tense.

  "I didn't think that someone would actually look up to me like this, just before, my father and mother both said that it's already very good if I can make it into the top ten this time." Song Qin spoke more fluently now, his voice not loud as he sincerely said to Han Jiang Xue: "I'm not very good at speaking, in short, thank you very much."

  Song Qin's seriousness exceeded Han Jiang Xue's expectations, and she secretly sighed in her heart. This young man was probably also like her, rarely getting attention from others, so he valued such a simple recognition deeply.

  "That's the result of your own hard work, I believe that as long as you continue to persist, with time, you will definitely achieve even greater results and gain more recognition and respect!" She sincerely encouraged him, and in her heart, she truly felt this way.

  Song Qin was very grateful, his face again looked a bit embarrassed, but he nodded seriously: "Thank you Miss Han for your encouragement, I will remember your words in my heart and whip myself to work hard day and night!"

  The young man was meticulous and pure, immediately remembering what Han Jiangxue had said. Because he still had to go deal with some other proper matters, after expressing his gratitude, he formally bowed to Han Jiangxue and left first under the urging of the palace eunuchs.