Gu Xin stood obediently and bowed to the Emperor and Empress Xue: "Your Majesty, I have calculated the answer. It is sixty steps. A cat only needs sixty steps to catch a mouse."
People from Xingnan Kingdom: "?"
Prince Xingnan pointed at Gu Xin: "You, are you just guessing? Tell me, how did you figure that out?"
Gu Xin looked at the emperor: "Your Majesty, I need paper and pen. I am worried that His Highness the Prince will not be able to understand."
The emperor was overjoyed. He had a pretty good grasp of Gu Shouxin's tricks. Good, good! Gu the Second had helped him trick the warhorses, so he didn't have to spend any money.
However, he maintained his dignified demeanor and nodded to Gu Xin.
Then a eunuch brought over paper and pen.
Gu Xin quickly handed the eunuch the bag and began to speak.
Xingnan Kingdom wanted to refute, but had no way to refute it. Although the method used by the top scholar's daughter was different from the method given by their Xingnan top scholar, the top scholar's daughter's method was still feasible!
All the people of Da Zhou could say was, "As expected of the daughter of the top scholar, we admire her."
Li Shan sat next to Xie Shi, her handkerchief almost torn to shreds. She knew the answer; in her previous life, this banquet had brought shame upon the Great Zhou. However, she didn't know the solution. Just as she was thinking about how to avoid revealing the solution when she came out to say the answer, the Gu family father and daughter spoke first.
Gu Xin clasped her hands in thanks to Prince Xingnan: "Thank you, Your Highness, for the gift of this fine horse!"
Prince Xingnan glared angrily at Gu Xin: "Do you still want it?"
Gu Xin nodded: "Yes. Does Your Highness have any more questions?"
Prince Xingnan said, "A monkey picked bananas. It picked one hundred bananas. Its home is fifty meters away from the banana tree. It can only carry fifty bananas at a time, but it eats one banana for every meter it walks. What is the maximum number of bananas it can carry back? I'll give you half a quarter of an hour. If you can figure it out, I'll admit defeat, and I'll give you ten warhorses!"
Gu Xin gave Prince Xingnan a bright smile: "Thank you, Your Highness, you're such a kind person! I'll tell you the answer in less than a quarter of an hour: it can only carry a maximum of twenty-five bananas back. The first time it carried fifty, it walked..."
As Gu Xin explained, Prince Xingnan's face darkened. After Gu Xin finished speaking, he asked, "Little girl, how old are you?"
Gu Xin: "I'll be thirteen in a little over two months."
Prince Xingnan took two steps back and was supported by his attendants.
Gu Shouxin said apologetically, "Your Highness, my daughter is unruly and lacks humility. In my opinion, Your Highness should not give her any more questions! I'm worried that Your Highness might get so angry that she'll suffer a serious injury."
The Emperor replied, "Prince Xingnan, you don't look well. Perhaps we shouldn't set this question for you!"
Prime Minister Huo spoke up: "Your Majesty is absolutely right! To think that the first lesson for a young girl in our Great Zhou was a problem that even the top scholar from Xingnan took so long to solve, tsk tsk, Your Majesty, let's stop this farce! If word gets out, it won't be good for Xingnan, and it won't be good for Great Zhou either!"
The Emperor nodded: "Yes, the Prime Minister is absolutely right!"
Prince Xingnan immediately perked up: "No! No way! I want to compete with her again! We'll compete in numbers!"
The emperor, along with his princes and ministers, tried to persuade them while simultaneously putting them down.
Prince Xingnan was furious. Princess Xingnan had lost interest in the handsome third-ranked scholar and was instead eyeing Gu Xin.
In the end, the Zhou court could not dissuade Prince Xingnan, and he continued to compete with Gu Xin.
Gu Xin blinked: "Your Highness, are you still going to use warhorses as stakes? I don't have many hobbies, I just like riding horses! Your Highness, your horses are very well cared for!"
Prince Xingnan: "Alright! Ten horses! This time, it's best two out of three. If you win, I'll give you ten more!"
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