Prince Ning was furious and ready to explode.
Grand Tutor Hua smiled ingratiatingly: "Your Highness, please calm down! My wife has been deceived; she is a victim too!"
Madam Hua said, "Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. Even if I had the guts of a bear and the gall of a leopard, I wouldn't dare to play tricks on you!"
Grand Tutor Hua said, "Your Highness is broad-minded; please don't take it to heart."
Prince Ning suppressed his anger and said, "The Grand Tutor not only loves calligraphy and painting, but is also extremely talented! My advisor, let's have a friendly exchange with the Grand Tutor!"
"A friendly spar?" Grand Tutor Hua asked in surprise. "Spar about what?"
The fat clerk said, "I have a couplet for you, Grand Tutor."
Madam Hua quickly said, "How could my husband bully the weak?"
The portly advisor said, "Literary exchanges are not about seniority!"
Prince Ning said, "It's just a game of matching couplets for fun! But if Grand Tutor can't come up with a matching one, don't blame me for really losing my temper!"
Grand Tutor Hua's expression became extremely tense.
The portly clerk unfolded his folding fan, a smug look on his face, and said, shaking his head, "Three teachers in one village, two miles apart, I don't know them..."
Just as the fat clerk was muttering to himself, a crisp sound came to Li Huan's mind.
bite!
[Attention, Master! The second mission to travel through the world of "Flirting Scholar" has been issued!]
[Selling boxed lunches to Prince Ning, earning him one million taels of silver!]
Li Huan was startled.
Holy crap, I've earned a million taels of silver from Prince Ning!
Are you kidding me?!
What kind of person is Prince Ning? Why would he so easily spend money on a boxed lunch?
Moreover, it's one million taels!
Li Huan's mind raced as he searched for a solution.
After reciting the couplet, the portly advisor looked at Grand Tutor Hua with a smile.
Apart from Li Huan and Tang Bohu, no one in the Hua family could match this couplet!
Grand Tutor Hua was drenched in sweat and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
Prince Ning chuckled: "Grand Tutor, hurry up and come up with the answer. If you can't, don't blame me for losing my temper!"
Grand Tutor Hua's face turned bright red.
Seeing this, Tang Bohu prepared to step forward to help.
Unexpectedly, Li Huan stopped Tang Bohu again: "You stay put, I have my own way of dealing with Prince Ning!"
"What method?" Tang Bohu asked curiously.
Li Huan did not answer, but strode towards Grand Tutor Hua.
Grand Tutor!
Prince Ning looked at Li Huan and asked in surprise, "Who are you?"
Li Huan said, "I am the chef newly hired by the Hua family."
Prince Ning said unhappily, "A mere cook dares to discuss literature?"
Li Huan had already acquired the literary skills from "Artistic Skills," and if they were to play a game of couplets, he would definitely not lose to Fatty the Master.
However, he didn't want to play the game of pairs and planned to find another way to deal with Prince Ning.
"Your Highness! You've made a mistake!" Li Huan said with a smile.
"A mistake?" Prince Ning's eyes widened. "What mistake have I made?"
Li Huan said, "The Grand Tutor doesn't like calligraphy and painting, nor does he like literature; he likes good food!"
"Delicious food?" Prince Ning asked in surprise.
Li Huan said, "The Grand Tutor has an extreme passion for food and aspires to taste all kinds of delicacies in the world! If Your Highness wants to give the Grand Tutor a gift, you should prepare a delicious feast for him to enjoy, rather than presenting him with calligraphy and paintings by Tang Bohu!"
Grand Tutor Hua, as if grasping at a lifeline, hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, yes, I love to savor delicious food!"
Li Huan continued, "If Your Highness wants to find someone to spar with the Grand Tutor, you should find a chef with superb culinary skills to compete with the Grand Tutor's chef, rather than finding a clerk to play a word game with the Grand Tutor!"
"A culinary exchange?" Prince Ning looked completely bewildered.
Li Huan seized the opportunity to say, "I'm not bragging, but my cooking skills are unmatched in the entire city of Suzhou!"
Upon hearing this, Prince Ning's eyes lit up.
"Did I hear that right? No one in Suzhou has better cooking skills than you?"
Li Huan said, "That's just being modest. In reality, even the imperial chefs in the palace can't compare to my culinary skills!"
Prince Ning opened his eyes wide and grinned: "Grand Tutor, is that really so?"
Grand Tutor Hua had eaten Li Huan's boxed lunch and highly praised his culinary skills.
"That's right, Li Huan's cooking skills are even better than those of the imperial chefs!"
Madam Hua smiled and said, "Li Huan used to sell food at a street stall. After tasting his dishes, I didn't hesitate to hire him as the head chef of the Hua family!"
Prince Ning's eyes widened again: "Selling food at a stall? This kid used to sell food on the street?"
“Exactly!” Madam Hua replied.
Prince Ning laughed loudly: "Hahaha... A street vendor dares to boast that his cooking skills surpass those of the imperial chefs in the palace!"
The fat advisor hurriedly fanned the flames: "Your Highness, the Grand Tutor and his wife deliberately lied and sent a cook to tease you, thereby changing the subject and avoiding dealing with the couplet I presented!"
Prince Ning looked Li Huan up and down and said, "No, I believe the Grand Tutor is not lying. Since this boy claims to have superb cooking skills, I will grant his request and find a master chef to compete with him in cooking!"
"However, if this brat loses, I will definitely unleash my fury!"
Li Huan hurriedly said, "If I win, Your Highness must buy 10,000 boxed meals from me and give them to the people of Suzhou!"
Prince Ning laughed and said, "Haha, I can afford ten thousand boxed meals!"
Li Huan said, "Each boxed meal costs one hundred taels of silver! Ten thousand meals will cost a total of one million taels of silver!"
Prince Ning stared in disbelief: "One...one million taels..."
"Insolence!" the fat clerk cursed. "What kind of food is worth a million taels of silver?"
Li Huan said, "Each boxed meal contains four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, mostly made with ingredients from overseas, which are relatively rare and therefore expensive!"
"Your Highness is incredibly powerful and wealthy, enough to rival a nation! Surely Your Highness can afford a million taels of silver?"
Prince Ning's thick eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light.
"Of course I have one million taels of silver! You're far too arrogant, boy!"
Li Huan said, "If I win the cooking contest, Your Highness will spend one million taels of silver to buy ten thousand boxed meals and send them to the people of Suzhou! If I lose, Your Highness can throw a tantrum and raze the Hua Mansion to the ground without any problem!"
Prince Ning said, "Is this true?"
Li Huan said, "Your Highness can sign a written agreement with the Grand Tutor!"
Grand Tutor Hua was terrified and hurriedly said, "Li Huan, don't be impulsive! This matter is of utmost importance!"
Li Huan said, "Grand Tutor, you must have the courage to do things! If you believe in my cooking skills, let me have a competition with the Prince's chef!"
Grand Tutor Hua hesitated, then looked at Madam Hua.
Li Huan then gave Madam Hua a wink.
Hua Faren understood, thought for a moment, and then smiled and advised, "Sir, it's just a cooking competition, not a competition of painting or literature. Why are you worried? With Li Huan's cooking skills, he will surely win!"
After listening to his wife's words, Grand Tutor Hua nodded.
"Very well, I'm willing to send Li Huan to compete in cooking with the prince's chef, and we'll sign a written agreement!"
Prince Ning laughed wildly and immediately ordered the fat clerk to write down two agreements according to the details of the agreement he had just made with Li Huan.
Subsequently, Prince Ning and Grand Tutor Hua signed and affixed their fingerprints to the document.
Prince Ning put away the document, looking completely confident of victory.
He said with a smile, "Tonight, I will bring my most capable chef to the Hua Mansion to have a showdown with Li Huan! I will make the Grand Tutor admit defeat wholeheartedly!"
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