Chapter 69 Shen Chu's dream of getting first place is just that—a dream!
Li Chengxuan muttered under his breath, "Achu, what accounts haven't been settled? Do you owe the Sixth Prince money?"
Chen Chu...
What could she say?
She said she touched Pei Yuan and tricked him with a mechanical knife, and now Pei Yuan wished he could twist his own head off.
She forced a smile. "It seems His Highness is unwilling to help us."
Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Young Master Shen doesn't seem stupid, so why bother making a fool of yourself?"
Chen Chu gritted his teeth and gestured to Li Chengxuan with his eyes, "See? I knew it would be like this."
But then Pei Yuan chuckled, "Of course, if you're willing to agree to my conditions, I can help you."
Li Chengxuan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Your Highness, whatever your conditions are, we will agree to them."
Chen Chu stomped on his foot hard, you idiot!
Li Chengxuan jumped up and down, looking aggrieved. "Achu, why did you step on me?"
Chen Chu ignored him and asked Pei Yuan, "What are Your Highness's conditions?"
Pei Yuan stroked the jade-bone fan, his gaze sweeping over Shen Chu. "Your purse..."
Shen Chu assumed he wanted her purse and immediately refused.
"Impossible. As I said, that is something very important to me, and I would never give it to anyone."
"I meant the money in my purse..."
"There was nothing in the purse; His Highness returned an empty purse."
Pei Yuan's peach blossom eyes narrowed sharply. "What are you so nervous about?"
Shen Chu's heart skipped a beat, realizing that she had overreacted.
She quickly put on a smile, "Since Your Highness is unwilling to help, then forget it. Brother Chengxuan, let's go."
Without saying a word, she forcibly dragged Li Chengxuan away.
Pei Yuan opened his jade-bone fan with a whoosh and watched the two leave expressionlessly.
From afar, Li Chengxuan's puzzled voice could still be heard, "What purse? Ah Chu, did you give the Sixth Prince a purse?"
"That's not true, don't make wild guesses."
Why did Your Highness mention the purse?
"Who knows what's wrong with him? He's gone, getting ready to board the ship."
Shen Chu dragged Li Chengxuan to their boarding point.
The men in the fleet were all gloomy and depressed.
The youngest son of the Minister of Works said, "We only have nine people now, which is already a bad deal. How can we compare ourselves to someone with ten people?"
The youngest brother of the mighty general said, "How about we just give up? Let's just forfeit the match."
Li Chengxuan got anxious and retorted, "We haven't even competed yet, how can you admit defeat so easily?"
The youngest son of the Minister of Works: "Forget it, don't you know your own limitations?"
The youngest brother of the mighty general said, "That's right. Even if we go up, we'll still be last. We might as well just forfeit and save our energy."
The group of people looked dejected and had lost all interest in boarding the ship.
Li Chengxuan looked anxiously at Chen Chu, "Chu, do you have any way to help us win?"
Shen Chu frowned. With this kind of morale, they would be last even if they went up there.
She took a deep breath. "Who says we're bound to lose? You've all practiced the techniques I just mentioned diligently."
You two have a strong bond built from childhood friendships. As long as we work together and give it our all, we won't just avoid defeat, we might even win first place!
The teammates looked at each other in bewilderment; they didn't have the same strong conviction as Lord Shen.
Suddenly, a burst of laughter erupted behind me.
Shen Chu turned around and saw the Third Prince wearing a light green short-sleeved shirt and a green headscarf, with his teammates following behind him.
They had clearly heard what Shen Chu had just said.
The Third Prince's face was full of sarcasm. "What did Lord Shen just say? That he wanted to take first place? Did I hear that right?"
"Your Highness heard me right, Lord Shen wants to defeat our fleet."
A group of people burst into unrestrained laughter.
The Third Prince looked at him with disdain. "You? The incompetent fleet that's always ranked last, you think you can beat me?"
"That's right, our Third Prince's fleet is full of skilled sailors, and they're number one every year."
"Young Master Shen, you have quite the big mouth. You're making such a big boast. Aren't you afraid of biting your tongue?"
"Is Lord Shen deliberately trying to attract the attention of our Third Prince? Haha..."
The Third Prince looked at Shen Chu smugly, "I'm very curious, what does Lord Shen want to rely on to win against me?"
"With your pen-holding hands? Or with your eloquent tongue?"
As he spoke, his meaningful gaze swept over Shen Chu's hand before landing on her lips.
Chen Chu felt inexplicably nauseous under his gaze and couldn't help but rub her fingers together.
Undisguised laughter erupted again from behind.
Li Chengxuan was furious, jumped up and threw a punch.
"Watch your mouth. You can talk about me, but you can't talk about A-Chu. Try saying another bad word about A-Chu."
He fears the Sixth Prince, but not the Third Prince.
The third prince was nearly hit in the nose, and his face immediately darkened.
"Li Chengxuan, am I wrong? Your fleet has always been the worst in the world."
Now we can't even gather enough people. Do you think joining Chen Chu will turn things around?
The Third Prince held up a finger and shook it, his face full of disdain: "A bunch of useless good-for-nothings! You're no good! In a moment, my fleet will show you what real competence is."
Once we reach the lake, you will only be able to see the stern of my boat from afar.
"You!" Li Chengxuan was furious.
Shen Chu was also angry, but she knew that anger would not solve any problems.
To deal with someone like the Third Prince, you have to use facts to slap him in the face in order to suppress his arrogance.
She raised her hand to pull back the furious Li Chengxuan, and looked calmly at the Third Prince.
"Whether it really works or not, we'll only know for sure once we get to the lake. Maybe the Third Prince will be watching our stern from afar."
The Third Prince laughed heartily, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Dream on! My fleet is the best in the Great Wei, invincible under heaven."
"Then let's board the ship and have a contest. If you win against the Third Prince, you will have to apologize to all of us."
"Impossible!" the Third Prince said arrogantly. "Today, I, the Third Prince, will personally teach you what dragon boat racing is all about."
When my ship reaches its destination, I want you all to kneel on the ship and shout three times: "We are no good, we are good-for-nothings."
As for you, Shen Chu, I, the Prince, require you to host a banquet and personally pour wine to apologize to me.
He leaned closer to Shen Chu and said in a very low voice, "Sooner or later, I will pin you down and watch you beg for mercy."
Shen Chu's pupils contracted slightly. She barely suppressed the anger that suddenly rose in her heart and took a step back. "If we win, will the Third Prince's fleet also kneel down and admit that they are no good?"
The Third Prince laughed loudly, "Of course, but you think you can beat me? No way!"
"You'd better gather enough people first. If you don't even have enough, what are you spouting nonsense at me, the prince? It's utterly ridiculous!"
Li Chengxuan's teammates behind him all looked as if they had lost their parents.
Yes, it's no use for Lord Shen to say nice things; they don't even have enough manpower.
"Who says Chengxuan's fleet is short-handed?"
A cold voice suddenly rang out, causing everyone to turn their heads to look.
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