Chapter 243 Double Yolk Egg

The dragon boat teams had assembled and were waiting for the drums to start the race. There were bookmakers shouting from below.

To add to the fun, everyone would place a few bets, and the emperor was no exception.

"Sister Yaoyao, who should we bet on?" A Ruan asked.

Ye Jiayao curled her lips, stared at the figure, and said with a smile: "Is there any need to say that?"

Originally, she was optimistic about the other two teams and was prepared to bet a little on both, but now the situation has changed. Her husband is participating in the competition, so she has to support him no matter what. She will be happy if he wins and will also be happy if he loses.

"Song Qi, you go and bet one thousand taels of silver on the prince's team."

Song Qi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go right away."

"Wait, then I'll bet five hundred taels." A Ruan also took out a silver note and handed it to Song Qi.

Chunyu's participation added a lot of fun to the dragon boat race.

With the sound of a drum, more than a dozen dragon boats shot out like sharp arrows. The crowd was excited and the people on both sides of the river cheered constantly, especially those who had placed bets. They shouted the loudest and wished they could row the boat themselves.

Ah Ruan nervously grabbed Ye Jiayao's hand: "Sister Yaoyao, where is Brother Chunyu? Why can't I see him?"

Ye Jiayao was even more nervous than her, her palms were sweaty!

"Don't look at the front, they are in the fifth..."

"Ah? Only fifth!" A Ruan was a little disappointed.

"Don't be anxious, it's just the beginning. The key lies in the strength in the later stage." Ye Jiayao said so, but she was not sure in her heart. There were many strong opponents, and they were all biting hard!

"The fourth one, the fourth one..." Ah Ruan muttered excitedly.

Song Qi who was standing behind him was staring with eyes almost bleeding. They were all masters here, so he didn't dare to yell loudly, otherwise he would have jumped up.

Halfway through the race, Chunyu's dragon boat was still in fourth place, more than a boat length behind the first place. However, Ye Jiayao found that the rowers of Chunyu's team were not paddling very fast, but each stroke was very powerful, the movements were uniform, and the rhythm was well controlled, so they should have stamina.

Sure enough, as the rhythm of the drums changed, they began to speed up and quickly overtook the third place.

The gentlemen and ladies who had been maintaining their composure before began to get excited. I don't know who shouted first, and then cheers and encouragements rang out one after another.

In the end, Chunyu's dragon boat team arrived at the finish line almost at the same time as the previous year's champion.

Well… in this era, there were no precise timers, no high-definition cameras to capture and replay, and it was really hard to tell who arrived first with the naked eye. Perhaps the referee standing at the finish line knew, but Chunyu's dragon boat team represented the Royal Family, so who would dare to judge the Royal Family team as the loser? Thus, for the first time in the history of the Jinling Dragon Boat Race, there was a tie for first place. A double yolk egg was laid.

Long Xin was very pleased with this result, and as soon as Chun Yu came back, he went directly to the fifth floor to claim his reward.

However, as a result, the bookmaker who opened the gambling house was in trouble and lost a large sum of money for nothing.

Chunyu received the reward and came downstairs with a big smile on his face. Along the way, people gave him thumbs-up and praised him. He finally squeezed next to Ye Jiayao.

Xia Chunyu winked at her proudly: "How is it? Did you bet wrong?"

Ye Jiayao raised the two thousand taels of silver in her hand and said, "Thanks to you, I made a small profit of one thousand taels."

Ah Ruan laughed and said, "I also made five hundred taels!"

Ye Jiayao glared at him: "You kept it a secret so well, you didn't reveal a single word."

Xia Chunyu touched his nose and said innocently: "I just wanted to give you a surprise!"

This was a public place, and there were other dignitaries and ladies present, so Ye Jiayao couldn't tease him and could only endure it for the time being.

The emperor has already started to return to the palace.

"Why don't you leave quickly? The emperor is getting angry!" Ye Jiayao urged him.

Xia Chunyu smiled and said, "The emperor said that because of my outstanding performance, he would give me half a day off. How about that? I'll go shopping with you somewhere?"

Ye Jiayao looked at A Ruan: "A Ruan, where do you want to go?"

Ah Ruan smiled and said, "You guys go ahead! I won't get in the way!"

"Pah, it doesn't matter whether it's in the way or not. Why don't we go visit the City God Temple? It's very lively there." Ye Jiayao suggested.

"I've been to the City God Temple a long time ago. It was so crowded and not very interesting. You should go by yourselves. I'm going to move to the palace tomorrow and I have some things to pack." Ah Ruan made an excuse to decline. Xiao Jing had taken her to visit all over Jinling City. She would think of Xiao Jing wherever they went. She felt sad when she thought of Xiao Jing. It would be better for her to stay at home.

Ah Ruan refused to go, and Ye Jiayao had no choice. After Ah Ruan moved into the palace, they had fewer opportunities to meet, and even fewer after she became the Princess of Yu. She couldn't help but feel sad, so she couldn't get excited about shopping. Seeing her unhappy, Xia Chunyu advised: "This is inevitable. Everyone has their own difficulties. True friends will not lose their feelings just because they meet less often."

"I know, I just feel sorry for her and hate myself for not being able to help her." Ye Jiayao muttered.

"No one can help me. Maybe this is my fate." Xia Chunyu sighed.

The two walked in silence. Ye Jiayao was not the kind of person who liked to wallow in sorrow. Instead of being depressed, she decided to face things positively and quickly adjusted her mood.

"By the way, Chunyu, the Queen and Concubine Shu both gave me rewards today." Ye Jiayao showed the jade bracelet on her wrist and the emerald ring wrapped in a handkerchief.

Xia Chunyu was so smart that he immediately understood the Queen and Concubine Shu's thoughts. Since the Third Prince was promoted to Prince Yu, many fence-sitters had begun to side with Prince Yu. Both sides were secretly increasing their bargaining chips, and he, Xia Chunyu, had become a popular commodity, so much so that some people began to set their sights on Yaoyao.

"Chun Yu, I have met the Queen several times, but she has never given me any reward. This is also the first time I have met Concubine Shu. Just because of a few flower cakes, they gave me a generous reward. Moreover, the Emperor had already given me the reward, which made me feel very uneasy, but I had to accept it." Ye Jiayao said worriedly.

Xia Chunyu sneered: "Since you know you have to accept it, then just accept it. If you don't accept it, you will offend people. Just remember one thing, only one person can sit on the dragon throne, and we just need to be loyal to the person sitting on it."

"Okay, I'll be more careful next time." Ye Jiayao put the things away carefully.

"Okay, be happy. It's rare for me to go out with you." Xia Chunyu smiled and habitually tried to rub her head. Ye Jiayao quickly turned her head away and whispered angrily, "We are on the street. Be careful."

Xia Chunyu felt embarrassed and simply put his hands behind his back to avoid being unable to control himself later.

Ye Jiayao thought for a moment and said, "How about we not go to the City God Temple? You can accompany me to visit embroidery workshops and silk shops or something."

"You want to make clothes? That's great..." Xia Chunyu readily agreed.

"No, I promised my sister-in-law to help her embroidery room with some ideas. I have to do some market research to know where the problem lies so that I can find the right remedy!" Ye Jiayao blinked with an embarrassed smile on her lips.

Xia Chunyu's eyes were like stars, and he smiled and said, "Then we can handle both official and private matters."

When they returned home, Qiao Xi and Song Qi were both carrying a lot of things. They were originally just doing market research, but Chunyu saw that Yaoyao looked good in this piece of clothing and that piece was also nice, so he just bought them all. Then they ended up buying gifts for everyone in the family, after all, the rewards they received today were quite generous.

When the doorman saw the Crown Prince and the Second Young Madam coming back, he hurriedly reported that the reward from the palace had arrived, and the Madam asked the Crown Prince and the Second Young Madam to go to the upper room in the main courtyard as soon as they came back.

Ye Jiayao told Song Qi and Qiao Xi to take the things back first, while she and Chunyu went to the lady.

Youshi and the old marquis Xia Zhuofeng were curious about the golden gold and shining pearls on the table.

"The second son's wife just made some delicious food, but she got a bigger reward than Chunyu." There was obvious dissatisfaction in Youshi's tone.

"Chun Yu won the dragon boat race with real ability and great effort, and brought honor to the royal family."

In the end, he only got 300 taels of gold, while the second son's wife got a hu of pearls and 500 taels of gold by making some snacks. It was so unfair.

The old marquis laughed and said, "Look at how you feel about being unfair. Doesn't the emperor's reward depend on his mood? When has there ever been a fixed amount? Besides, rewarding the second son's wife is a reward for one person, and rewarding Chunyu means rewarding a whole dragon boat team. Chunyu is the leader, but he can't be too far behind the subordinates. Three hundred taels of gold is already a generous reward."

"Besides, they are husband and wife, there is no need to distinguish between them."

Yu glared at the Marquis impatiently: "It's said that you men are careless, how can this be the same? Chunyu already dotes on Jinxuan, and if Jinxuan is stronger than him, won't she be so proud?"

The old marquis looked at her and laughed, "Didn't I make you stronger than me? I haven't seen you grow a tail yet!"

Mother Sun at the side couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Yu Shi blushed and glared at him: "How can you talk like that? You are so disrespectful to the elderly."

The old marquis disagreed: "How can you be disrespectful to your elders? What I said is right. As long as they are a good couple, it doesn't matter who is stronger."

Youshi thought to herself, it’s different, he’s my son, I gave birth to him and I raised him.

As he was speaking, the servant came back to report that the Young Master and the Second Young Mistress had arrived.

After they exchanged greetings, the old marquis said, "Chun Yu, if I had known that you were going to compete today, I would have gone to join in the fun. But you, boy, kept it a secret."

Xia Chunyu smiled calmly and said, "Father claimed to be ill and didn't go, so I was afraid that he would get into trouble if he joined in the fun, so I simply kept it a secret."

The old marquis smiled bitterly: "That's true, I'll go and see next year."

"Second brother, second brother, you are so unfair. You participated in the competition without even saying a word. I bet on nothing and not only got nothing, but also lost money." Chunli walked in muttering.

Youshi couldn't help but frown, and she didn't like Chunli's noisy voice.

"Wow... so much gold, a reward from the emperor?" Chunli was dazzled by the pile of gold on the table as soon as he came in.

(End of this chapter)