Xiao Chun, who could never stand the suspense, immediately asked, "Why?"

In truth, when they first heard Wangxian Building had pulled such a move, they felt a flicker of worry in addition to their anger.

Wangxian Building’s plan seemed perfect on the surface, but the person they’d hired to pull the strings wasn’t all that remarkable, it seemed.

Ming Yanshu finally breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the reproach in the gazes fixed on him begin to fade.

’He was terrified they would be disappointed in him, thinking him useless and disobedient.’

’If today were to happen all over again,’ he thought, ’I would probably still run out of the school to find out what was going on.’

He had originally come to Ming’s Restaurant just to help out, but he never imagined Miss Ming would be so kind. Not only did she not make him a simple waiter, but she even paid with her own Silver to send him to school, allowing him to sit in a classroom and listen to the teacher’s lectures like the young master of a wealthy family.

’Knowing that Wangxian Building was causing such a huge commotion and was at odds with Ming’s Restaurant, how could he possibly sit still in class?’

Ming Yanshu had managed to find out about the teacher from the West Suburb, a feat not just anyone could accomplish.

After all, if word got out that the person selecting the masterpieces from these "gifted minds" was just an old man who had only attained the rank of a Scholar, it would surely provoke scathing criticism from all the academics hoping to make their name at Wangxian Building.

Scholars scorn one another.

To have someone whose literary talent and knowledge might not even measure up to their own judge their "masterpieces" would inevitably leave many of them deeply dissatisfied.

Ming Yanshu said, "Because the teacher at the West Suburb School is the father of the woman the Wangxian Building’s accountant is courting. The accountant is spending money to hire him to curry favor with his sweetheart and her father."

Ming Yanshu knew plenty of the little beggars in Shangjing City. Even after being taken in by Ming Lingyi, he never felt he was better than anyone else and had stayed in touch with his old friends.

He had used the copper coins he’d earned "working" at the restaurant to buy this information today.

In Shangjing City, aside from the all-pervasive influence of the court, the collective power of the beggars was not to be underestimated.

Shi Mingyue said, "So, if we spread this news, wouldn’t Wangxian Building take a huge tumble?"

Xiao Chun had already burst out laughing. "Isn’t this just a case of Wangxian Building digging its own grave?"

Wu Zhao Yu, who had come out with the others, heard this and turned to Ming Yanshu. "You’re getting an extra lamb leg for lunch today."

Ming Yanshu flushed. ’He... he had only gathered a little information; it wasn’t like he’d done anything that important.’

When Ming Lingyi walked through the door, the first thing she saw was a lively group from the restaurant huddled together in excitement.

She raised an eyebrow. "What’s everyone so happy about?"

"Miss!" The moment Xiao Chun saw Ming Lingyi, she ran right over, her mouth a flurry of words as she recounted the news of Wangxian Building’s challenge to their restaurant.

Ming Lingyi had just come back from outside, so she had of course heard about Wangxian Building copying their restaurant’s idea.

’To be honest, she hadn’t given it much thought. Even if Wangxian Building hung up the scholars’ poems to build their fame, they were still missing the most critical element.’

’If some people were selected, it meant others would be rejected.’

’Wouldn’t those who weren’t chosen harbor some resentment?’

’That’s why both she and Mr. Du, who had given her the initial suggestion, had placed the utmost importance on the "judge."’

’If the judge lacked sufficient prestige, it would be difficult to convince the public of the results’ validity.’

’She didn’t know what method Wangxian Building was using to decide which poems to display, but if they didn’t make their criteria public, it was bound to backfire.’

’The longer Wangxian Building ran this event, the more unselected poems there would be, and in turn, the more disgruntled scholars there would be.’

’This was the drawback of having no transparent criteria.’

Ming Lingyi thought, ’Even if I do nothing, Wangxian Building’s reputation will slowly crumble in the eyes of the public.’

’And that was the best-case scenario.’

’If one day people came to believe that a spot on Wangxian Building’s wall could be bought with Silver—that fame could be purchased—and someone secretly did just that, the truth would eventually come to light. When that happened, Wangxian Building would likely lose every last scholar of integrity and genuine learning.’

’At that point, the state of Wangxian Building would completely betray the Xie Mansion’s original purpose for establishing it.’

’The Xie Mansion would hardly let the Wangxian Building’s Shopkeeper, who had come up with such a rotten idea, off the hook.’

Ming Lingyi just hadn’t expected the person currently running Wangxian Building to be even more foolish, greedy, and shameless than she had imagined.

’For the sake of personal gain—and a sordid, hidden gain at that—they had planted a massive bomb under an event that was still in its infancy.’

"Miss, what should we do?" Xiao Chun asked, eager for action. "Why don’t we spread the news?"

Shi Mingyue also looked toward Ming Lingyi, clearly unwilling to let Wangxian Building off the hook so easily.

’This was their Miss’s idea, and Wangxian Building had the nerve to copy it. How utterly disgusting!’

’Worse, people from Wangxian Building were spreading rumors that their Miss’s event was just a way to lure in poor scholars with free food, a cheap trick to chase fame. They claimed that competing with such people was beneath them.’

’It was a complete distortion of the truth, turning black into white.’

’But if they went out and tried to explain themselves now, it would only make people more suspicious. After all, if they didn’t have some angle, was Ming’s Restaurant really doing it purely out of charity? Few people would believe that.’

Ming Lingyi said, "There’s no rush."

"Huh? No rush? Miss, Wangxian Building is holding their event tomorrow and will be hanging poems up the very same day. Our judging isn’t until the day after tomorrow! That’s enough time for them to steal all our customers!" Xiao Chun cried, her impatience getting the better of her.

Ming Lingyi replied, "If you go out right now and start shouting that Wangxian Building’s judge is just a Scholar from the West Suburb School, how many people do you think will believe you? And even if some do, don’t you think Wangxian Building will find out? They’ll just replace the judge, and then everyone will say Ming’s Restaurant is deliberately trying to slander them."

Xiao Chun went "Oh," she hadn’t considered all of that.

"So we’re just going to let it go?" Xiao Chun asked.

Ming Lingyi said, "A single Scholar has limited knowledge. Matters like this are most convincing when the other scholars start to have their own doubts and seek to verify the truth for themselves."

They didn’t need to expose Wangxian Building with a big fanfare; they just needed to drop a few hints at the critical moment.

After giving a few brief instructions, Ming Lingyi had everyone disperse.

"Alright, back to work, everyone," Ming Lingyi said. "Don’t let what another restaurant is doing affect our own business."

Perhaps because of the firmness in Ming Lingyi’s tone, everyone felt reassured.

"Boss Ming!" Just as Ming Lingyi was about to head to the kitchen, a familiar voice called out from the entrance.