amaotonovel Chapter 402 Jiang Suining wins first place again
Chapter 402 Jiang Suining wins first place again
Jiang Suining had stopped writing a quarter of an hour ago, blew dry the ink in front of him, and waited for time to pass.
As for the others, except for one or two who were still frowning, very unsure about what they wrote and worried about omissions, most of the others looked like they had already done it and were resigned to their fate.
In the second round of assessment, Queen Shi adopted an on-site evaluation method. She asked everyone to remove the desks, gave them seats and served them tea. Then several maids came in from outside.
They all looked to be in their forties, with their eyebrows lowered, and they bowed respectfully to the queen.
"I've met the Queen."
"Everyone, please stand up." Empress Shi nodded slightly. "The answers of all the ladies have been placed here. Please take a look and make a preliminary decision."
"Yes." Several maids came forward in response.
In order to prevent anyone from feeling dissatisfied, Queen Shi slowly explained the identities of these maids.
"They have been with me for many years. If I hold a banquet, they are basically responsible for it. The grand banquets in the palace are often attended by them and they assist from the side, so they are very experienced in arranging banquets."
Of course, even if Empress Shi didn't mention it, the looks of those maids were convincing.
They each took several answer sheets, and not only read through each one, but also wrote down the deficiencies with pen and paper.
After reading, we exchanged our opinions with each other. If there were any disagreements or errors or omissions, we discussed and supplemented them with each other.
After everyone had finished reading and the opinions were counted, one of them presented their opinions on the ranking to Queen Shi.
The head nanny beside Empress Shi took it and was surprised when she saw Jiang Suining's name at the first place. She didn't expect that the Empress Shi had really hit the mark.
Queen Shi simply took a quick look at the rankings and did not announce them in full. She only instructed the maids to publicly explain the reasons why the top three were selected.
"Your Majesty, the first place goes to Miss Jiang Suining. The arrangements for the entire banquet were not only very detailed, with almost no omissions, but also provided alternative plans for some possible problems, as well as countermeasures for problems. This is very rare."
The nanny paused and continued.
"But what's even more rare is that Miss Jiang has a rough estimate of the cost of the entire banquet. Although it is not completely accurate, if I let this old servant estimate it, the approximate amount is not much different from Miss Jiang's."
"And an estimate of silver?"
Queen Shi was a little surprised. She asked someone to bring Jiang Suining's answer sheet and found that after the detailed banquet arrangements, there was indeed a rough estimate of the expenses.
"Miss Jiang, I only asked you to simulate the arrangement of the entire banquet and did not ask for an estimate. Why did you attach this?"
Jiang Suining stood up and replied, "Your Majesty, I don't know whether the expenses should be estimated in advance when arranging a banquet in the palace. However, I am in business and I am more concerned about expenses. So I think that it is better to estimate the approximate expenses of a banquet at the beginning and keep track of the money expenditure. This way, we can better control the entire banquet."
Empress Shi looked at Jiang Suining with satisfaction, "You are right. Although it is just a banquet, you should be aware of the expenses of the entire banquet to avoid waste. But I thought that you know very little about the various expenses in the palace, so I did not make this request. I just don't know how you, Miss Jiang, know these so clearly? Not only that, but you also know the details of this palace banquet in great detail."
"Reporting to the Queen, I am also planning a banquet in my Zhanxing Tower, so I have some knowledge of various banquets in the imperial city, including palace banquets. As for the expenses, I come from a merchant family, so I am relatively clear about these prices. However, the palace is different from the usual situation, so I can only make a rough estimate. There are many shortcomings, and I hope the Queen will forgive me."
Jiang Suining spoke respectfully, his tone full of humility.
Although she had never participated in the arrangement of a palace banquet in person, she had attended a palace banquet in her previous life. In addition, she did have some understanding and reference when planning the Zhanxing Tower banquet, so she did not find today's test question difficult.
"Miss Jiang, there is no need to be modest. You have already greatly exceeded my expectations by answering to this extent." Empress Shi smiled and looked at the maids who were in charge of the review. "Continue."
"Yes."
The nanny then named the second and third place respectively. Compared with Jiang Suining's, their answers were much inferior. Although there were some minor omissions, they were generally complete.
After the top three were announced, Queen Shi ordered people to take down the answer sheets and circulate them one by one. If anyone had any questions or felt that something was unfair, they could raise them on the spot.
At first, some people did question the result, but after reading the answer sheets, they were speechless and were convinced.
At the same time, the assessment results on the other side came out, and Lu Yan won the first place as expected.
And just when everyone gathered in front of Queen Shi again, Queen Shi finally announced the content of the third round of written test.
"Although this second round of assessment is intended to test your abilities, it is ultimately just paper talk. So in this third round, I have decided to give you a chance to actually practice."
"Actual combat? How does the Queen actually fight?"
"The Mid-Autumn Festival will be here soon. According to the rules of previous years, before the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, I need to arrange a chrysanthemum viewing banquet in the palace and entertain all the female relatives."
"This chrysanthemum viewing banquet not only involves banquet arrangements, but also involves the ladies showing off their talents. There are many aspects involved, and we need someone to be responsible for preparing all the items they need and hiring painters to draw pictures. In addition, this year I have decided to record the entire process in writing as a souvenir."
Queen Shi looked at the six people in front of her with a smile.
"So I have decided that the third round will be for the six of you to jointly host the entire banquet. You can divide the work among yourselves, but you must strive to make the entire banquet go smoothly without any mistakes. After the banquet is over, I will make the final decision based on your performance."
"Yes, Queen."
This matter has attracted much attention since the selection of female officials.
Soon, the results of the second round and the content of the third round of assessment were spread.
Yang Manman was waiting anxiously in the yard. When she heard that Jiang Suining and Lu Yan won first place in the second round, she was so angry that she slapped Lian Wei in the face when she reported the news...