Under the eyes of the entire crowd, the bright-red list of winners cascaded down from the railing on the third floor, its impact like a crashing waterfall of waves.
The golden names and book titles instantly seized everyone’s attention, especially the three written at the very top.
Moonlit Invitation—The General, You Look Incredibly Handsome After Battling on the Frontier
Pearl-Bearing Sparrow—The Noble Household’s Matriarch: Who Shall Kneel in the Ancestral Hall Today?
Bitter Pine—The Coroner’s Knife Became My Ladder to Success
The maid standing beside the railing on the second floor jumped up excitedly and threw her arms around the young woman next to her.
“Miss, you won first place!”
Zou Wudie, wearing a long veil hat, had tears and laughter mingling on her face.
She had hoped for it, but she never imagined she would actually come in first—not with more than a thousand people taking part.
Wearing a jade crown, Song Anhao straightened his back and walked toward the railing on the third floor with measured steps.
Looking down, he saw a sea of densely packed heads below.
He swallowed nervously, then drew a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“Good day, everyone. I am Song Anhao, proprietor of the Song Bookshop. We will now invite those ranked eleventh through twentieth to come up and receive their prizes.”
Brilliant red petals exploded into the air. As one name and book title after another was called, people gradually rose from among the crowd.
After looking around and spotting others standing, they instinctively made their way over.
Under normal circumstances, the three flights of stairs could be climbed in the blink of an eye. But now, every step felt as though it were landing directly on their hearts.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Their chests trembled, their hearts seemingly ready to burst through their ribs.
Ten workers came out carrying trays. The gleaming silver ingots made everyone’s eyes burn with envy.
The young girl who worked at the silk shop stood there, flustered, with her arms full of money.
It wasn’t that she had never seen so much money before. It was simply that this time, all of it belonged to her.
When the awards reached the top three, Zou Wudie lowered her head and quietly signaled to her maid.
“You go up and collect it.”
The maid pressed her lips together. After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded and headed toward the stairs.
Before they came, the two of them had already discussed what to do: if they won, the maid would collect the prize money in person. But neither of them had expected to take first place.
At the corner of the third floor, as the three people who had stood rose into view, Song Jinzhao’s gaze drifted over the woman wearing the long veil hat.
The wording was elegant and graceful, and every line carried the effortless poise of flowing clouds and running water.
Moonlit Invitation had clearly read a great many books and had grown up surrounded by the fragrance of ink and literature.
She had a personal maidservant, and people were protecting her nearby. It would be inconvenient for her to show her face. She was probably the pampered daughter of some noble household.
Three thousand taels in silver ingots would have been too heavy. Yet the prize also needed to make an impact, so Song Anhao had simply had the money exchanged for one-hundred-tael banknotes. Thirty of them still made for a reasonably thick stack.
Even a maidservant who had seen the world could not help trembling as she held the bundle of banknotes.
The combined value of all her young mistress’s gold and silver jewelry was probably about the same. But holding the money in her hands, somehow it felt like an enormous fortune.
When they saw that the first two winners were both women, quite a few scholars in the audience who had received nothing began to feel indignant.
“Thirteen of the top twenty are women. I say the judges for this Song Bookshop competition have no real talent at all. They probably don’t even hold scholarly degrees.”
The people at the same table turned to look at him. After thinking it over, they too began to feel unsettled.
That was right, wasn’t it? They had traveled hundreds of miles only to receive not a single tael of silver, while the hundred thousand words they had written had all gone to waste.
Just as the murmuring grew louder and louder, a scholar seated on the second floor suddenly rose and shouted,
“Boss Song, may I ask what scholarly qualifications the judges of this story competition possess? What were the judging criteria?”
“I dare say my story is no worse than theirs. If you have the courage, bring out the top twenty stories and let everyone take a look. Then we can at least lose with conviction.”
The three winners, who had not yet returned to their seats, stopped in their tracks and turned toward the scholar in unison.
Song Anhao leaned forward and got a clear look at the speaker. Seeing that many people around him wore the same expression, he could not help slowly knitting his brows.
He had chosen every judge only after careful consideration, and the fairness of the competition was not something he would allow others to casually question.
As the commotion below grew louder and louder, Song Anhao still did not speak. Song Shixue began to worry. She was afraid he would be unable to control the situation and would lose his nerve.
She turned to Song Jinzhao.
“Elder Sister, what should we do now?”
Song Jinzhao leisurely set down her teacup, the corners of her lips curving in calm confidence.
“Let Anhao handle it himself. I believe he can resolve this.”
