Tazana, in pain, staggered back two steps from the bottom of the water, her eyes blazing with fury. She gripped the golden hairpin and lunged forward to assassinate him again. Su Youran leaned against the pool wall and rolled around a few times, before delivering another kick.
Tazana finally couldn't hold it in any longer. She stomped her foot on the bottom of the pool and popped her head out of the water, gasping for air and yelling "Ahhh!"
The head maid breathed a sigh of relief, "The Princess of Nanyue has emerged from the water!"
Everyone was surprised. The people of Nanyue were good swimmers, but to hold their breath underwater for nearly half an hour was extremely incredible in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
But what's even more incredible is that the Princess of Fengle County was even better at swimming than the Princess of Nanyue!
Tazana was furious and cried out that she had been tricked, "You little girl, you actually lied to me?!"
However, Su Youran didn't surface for a long time. Looking down at Su Youran, she saw that her eyes were still closed and smiled smugly, "Hey, didn't you drown yourself trying to beat me?! Hahaha—"
Before the laughter had even stopped, Su Youran suddenly emerged from the water.
Tazana's laughter caught in her throat, then she snapped, "How could you lie to me?!"
Su Youran wiped the water droplets from her face and walked to the side, letting a palace maid put a cloak on her. "When did I lie to you? Did I say I can't swim? Or did I admit that I'm not a good swimmer?"
Nobody knew that she was actually a very bad swimmer, but she could hold her breath underwater for a very long time.
When she was a child, she liked to hold her breath underwater while taking a bath, slowly feeling herself float up, so that she could find a bit of the weightlessness she felt when she was a ghost.
Over time, she will be able to hold it in for longer and longer periods of time.
So, to everyone's surprise, the Queen turned out to be a divine helper, switching her to such a sure-win project.
"No, I don't care! I was supposed to dance with you, but the Queen changed the event at the last minute, which is why I lost to you!" Tazana grabbed her, refusing to let it go.
Su You said with difficulty, "But you also agreed to change the competition event. I can't possibly compete with you in a dance again."
Tazana stomped her foot, "I haven't even shown off my dance skills yet! You women of the Great Zhou are afraid of losing face, but I'm not! No way, let's have another round!"
Su Youran sighed, "Even if we play another round, if you win, then we'll only have a draw. Do we need to find another match to compete in?"
Tazana snorted, "Fine, let's compete!"
"When will this competition end?!" Su Youran thought for a moment. "Alright, you have indeed lost to me in this competition. I'll remember your three demands for losing, and I'll tell you when I've thought them through. As for the dance, I won't participate. You perform a dance for everyone, and I'll give you that glass bead. How about that?"
The nine-section whip had already been given to Nan Zhuo by her senior brother, so she couldn't take it back. She could only use this glass bead to coax him.
In a few months, my fourth uncle will probably start mass-producing these glass beads, and by then, they won't be worth much.
She didn't feel sorry for him at all.
Clearly, Tazana was far more interested in the glass bead than the nine-section whip, and after a moment's thought, she happily agreed.
So Su Youran put on a cloak and walked out of the screen, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.
Tazana followed her onto the ground, angrily pushing away the maid who was also trying to wrap a cloak around her, and walked out of the screen soaking wet.
The men inside the hall nearly popped their eyes out.
Tazana deliberately swayed her shapely buttocks again, the curves of her thighs clearly visible as her pants were soaked through, and she walked past in a very alluring manner.
Fifteen minutes later, Su Youran changed her clothes and returned to her seat.
Seeing that her daughter was safe and sound, Madam Su breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The Empress looked very unwell. She had originally intended to teach Su Youran a lesson, but she hadn't expected her to be such a good swimmer.
Consort Zhou also praised in surprise, "Your Majesty, I never expected that Princess Fengle, a woman from the Great Zhou, would be better at swimming than the people of Nanyue. It's truly remarkable, truly remarkable."
The Emperor laughed heartily, "Indeed, the County Princess has brought glory to the Great Zhou!"
The Southern Yue prince, Tazaxi, snorted and stood up, saying, "I have long heard that the Great Zhou has many talented and refined people. I have brought an interesting puzzle with me, which my people from the Southern Yue have spent more than ten years figuring out. I wonder if His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou would be interested in sending someone from the Great Zhou to test their skills against my people from the Southern Yue?"
The Queen, with the look of a curious child, asked, "Oh? What riddle is it?"
This means it's going to be a competition.
Consort Zhou immediately said, "You people of Nanyue have spent more than ten years developing this technology and have had ample time to train, so you have naturally mastered the techniques. If you were to compete in this way and win, it would be an unfair victory."
Tazashi shook his head. "The rules of this puzzle are easy to understand once explained. There are no tricks or patterns to it. It is perfectly fair to both the Great Zhou and the Southern Yue."
Emperor Shunqing became interested, "Could you tell me about it first?"
Tazashi was clearly prepared, and gave a wink to a man next to him.
The gaunt man, who seemed to be Tazashi's advisor, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "I would like to explain the rules to everyone present."
He took out a piece of paper with nine rows and nine columns of grid on it and began to explain.
Su Youran was overjoyed upon seeing this.
It turned out to be the Sudoku game that we see in later generations.
That year, when she was teaching at the Ministry of Revenue by order of Emperor Shunqing, she taught calculation methods and, in her spare time, also set out this Sudoku game for the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to enjoy.
Therefore, this puzzle is not difficult at all.
Ye Ning, who had now been promoted to Minister of Revenue, was also very excited upon seeing this. He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said calmly, "Your Majesty, our Ministry of Revenue officials are skilled in mathematics. Why don't we appoint someone from our Ministry of Revenue to compete with Nan Yue?"
Upon seeing his expression, Emperor Shunqing knew that this old fox had been prepared all along, and he chuckled and nodded in agreement.
Immediately, an official from the Ministry of Revenue stepped forward. This man was quite the actor; to make the rules clearer, he repeatedly confirmed with the advisor the method for filling in the numbers.
The advisor was the person sent by Nanyue to compete. Seeing that the people of Dazhou really didn't understand, he was even more smug.
He then took out two pieces of paper, each with an identical Sudoku puzzle on it.
At this moment, Su Youran spoke up, "Sir, it's true that you taught us the rules, but you also set the questions. I'm afraid that won't be convincing to everyone, right? If you had prepared the questions in advance, wouldn't you have just filled in the numbers and won?"
"Yes, yes," came a chorus of agreement from below.
The aide wiped the sweat from his brow. "But we can't find anyone to set the questions right now."
At this moment, Grand Secretary Lin stepped forward and said, "Let me give it a try. Do you have any tips for setting questions?"
The aide nodded. "It requires skill, and it will take some time."
"It's alright, tell me about it."
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