Chapter 110 Why is the answer to this question not thirteen?
The question asked by Princess Zhaoyang was a simple addition and subtraction.
Tianbao was calculating with Arabic numerals on paper, while the teacher was watching beside him with his mouth half open and eyes bulging in shock.
Princess Zhaoyang deliberately made things difficult for her. Each question involved addition and subtraction of three to five numbers. Fortunately, Tianbao knew how to do it.
She curled her lips and said, "When you're done, write the answers on your own answer sheet, and then write down the answers to the questions you asked, and ask the teacher to help you check them."
"What? I have to write down the answers to the questions I made?" Princess Zhaoyang was dumbfounded. She had just written the questions in a hurry.
The math idiot gets a headache when he thinks about having to solve the problems he created.
Tian Bao said seriously, "Of course! What if the question you asked doesn't have an answer? If you want to prove that the question you asked is correct, you must be able to solve it yourself. Master, don't you agree?"
The teacher nodded involuntarily, not noticing Princess Zhaoyang's expression.
"Princess Yongle is right. Princess Yongle, can you solve all three problems by yourself? That's quite impressive!"
"Yes, I have to be able to solve the problems I set myself. Princess Zhaoyang can't let Daqi down!"
The ladies were all talking at the same time, forcing Princess Zhaoyang into a state of embarrassment. She could only angrily say, "Just do it! I don't believe you can even answer all these questions!"
After Tianbao solved the three questions, he wrote down his answers and handed them to the teacher.
At that time, Princess Zhaoyang was still struggling with Tianbao's third question, but she had easily solved the second question. It was just a simple subtraction, haha! No matter how fancy the questions were, they couldn't escape her sharp eyes!
Seeing that she hadn't solved the first and third questions yet, Tianbao stuck out his tongue and made a face at the back of her head.
Her father was the best father in the world, a wise ruler, diligent in his work, and dedicated to his country and his people! How dare he say that he was dissolute and licentious, that his father was corrupt and that his subordinates were crooked... She would retaliate silently!
Tianbao was complaining in her heart when someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.
Turning her head, she saw the teacher, holding her draft of the problem she had just solved, with a bit of reserve, saying, "Princess Yongle, may I have a moment with you?"
Tianbao blinked and followed in confusion.
The teacher excitedly pointed at the Arabic numerals on the draft: "What do these symbols written by Princess Yongle mean? Could they be the legendary Western characters?"
Tianbao nodded: "Well, Master, this is one, this is two..."
Tianbao explained it patiently. The teacher was overjoyed and studied attentively. He didn't even notice that a few noble ladies had come around to watch him.
Nanqiao's library did indeed have Western books and Arabic numerals, so Tianbao wasn't afraid of others suspecting her. When she was in Nanqiao, no matter how strange her words and actions were, everyone around her would take it for granted. After all, she was the reincarnated Little Lucky Star, and she knew things that ordinary people couldn't or didn't understand. Isn't that natural?
"It is said that during the heyday of Nanqiao, a group of Westerners with yellow hair and white skin came there..." The teacher was very excited. He liked arithmetic, but he did not have the financial resources and energy to go to Nanqiao to study.
Everyone was attracted to Tianbao and listened to her explain how to read the simplest Arabic numerals and what the simplest addition, subtraction, multiplication and division signs mean.
Tianbao was previously poisoned by TV dramas and thought that people of this era didn’t even know the multiplication table. However, she was slapped in the face by the multiplication song recited by her royal brothers since she was a child... Later, when she went to the Imperial College, she found that the ancients had already made great achievements in arithmetic, and there were many things she couldn’t understand.
Princess Zhaoyang turned around and found that everyone around her had gathered around Tianbao. She shouted angrily, "I'm done! Teacher, please review it!"
The teacher's enthusiasm was interrupted and he was a little unhappy. He quickly reviewed the two people's answers with a sullen face.
Princess Zhaoyang answered all three questions incorrectly, even one of the three addition and subtraction questions she had made up.
Sweetie, all right!
Tian Bao stuck out her tongue at Princess Zhaoyang: "Am I super awesome? We in Nanqiao are even more awesome! Do you admit that you were wrong just now? Apologize now!"
Princess Zhaoyang blushed and said nothing.
"You can't afford to lose, do you want to cheat?" The little girl bluntly exposed Princess Zhaoyang's thoughts.
Zhaoyang pointed unconvincedly at Tianbao's first question, "What are these people doing with so much water?" She couldn't figure out the solution to the first question, so she pointed at the second, pinching her hips and angrily scolding, "Why isn't the answer to this one thirteen? Twenty candles, put out four and then three, doesn't that equal thirteen? Master, you can't lie and protect her in front of so many people!"
The teacher looked over with a strange expression and said, "Princess, please think carefully about the question. The last sentence asked how many candles were left on the table."
"Yes! After extinguishing seven candles, there are still thirteen candles left!" Princess Zhaoyang was so angry that her eyes turned red.
"What I asked was how many candles were left, not how many were still burning. The answer is twenty. The seven that were burned out are still on the table. Did you eat them?" Tianbao retorted with her hands on her hips.
The ladies suddenly understood and were at a loss whether to laugh or cry for a moment, but they had to admit that Tianbao's explanation was completely reasonable.
Zhao Yang, tears in his eyes, pointed at the third question unconvincedly: "Then why is the third question wrong? Ten taels of fake silver, and the idiot shopkeeper gave out two taels. Doesn't this idiot lose twelve taels? How is it wrong?!"
Some ladies already had the answer, but given the "tricky" nature of the second question, many did not dare to speak it out, fearing that their answer was wrong or that there was a "trap" hidden in the question that they had not noticed.
The boys' school was taking a break at this moment, and Xu Laiqing, who had been paying attention to the situation here, was the first to appear at the door of the girls' school.
The other princes also followed and soon understood the whole story.
The foolish Fourth Prince snorted, "The previous ruler of Nanqiao was the one who was extremely licentious. This current ruler is clearly a carpenter emperor. Zhaoyang, you were wrong from the beginning. You are indeed being unreasonable."
Princess Zhaoyang originally thought that the Fourth Prince was helping her, but when she heard the second half of the sentence, her face immediately darkened.
Tianbao glared at the Fourth Prince unhappily, thinking that he really couldn't speak.
Princess Zhaoyang had no choice but to look at the Fifth Prince: "Your Highness, please be fair. For the third question, she insisted that the answer is not twelve taels of silver! She is quibbling, and the teacher is helping her..."
"Ahem!" The teacher was unhappy. He thought that since he was an upright person, how could he openly show favoritism?
The fifth prince didn't like arithmetic, so he turned his head to look at the sparrow on the branch and pretended not to hear.
Xu Laiqing calmly walked over to Tian Bao and bowed slightly to Princess Zhaoyang. "The answer to this question is indeed not twelve taels. The shopkeeper lost a hairpin and two taels of silver. The hairpin is worth eight taels, so the shopkeeper lost ten taels in total."
The clear voice was aloof, his thick black eyebrows were raised in an unruly manner, and his bright eyes showed that he was neither humble nor arrogant. His handsome and cold face was set against the backdrop of the fourth and fifth princes behind the young man, and he was handsome and detached, like an immortal in a painting.
Princess Zhaoyang put away her domineering attitude and took a few steps towards Xu Laiqing.
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