Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Your Majesty indeed has high standards. ...
Inside the waterside pavilion of Yongshou Palace.
Jin Ziyu sat rather shyly behind a table on which was a box. "The question is inside. Your Majesty has one stick of incense to solve it."
"If you can solve the problem successfully, I..." He pulled out a round jade pendant from his bosom and pushed it in front of Wen Xing, "My bargaining chip will be your majesty."
Wen Xing was surprised.
The bargaining chip turned out to be a jade pendant?
Isn't this a bit strange?
But he didn't need the Queen Mother's reward, so he had no interest in the chips. He didn't think deeply about it.
Jin Ziyu felt a little disappointed when he saw that the emperor didn't even look at the jade pendant.
But it doesn’t matter. I heard that His Majesty likes smart people.
If His Majesty can't solve a problem later, he will give some hints, which will definitely make His Majesty impressed by him.
After all, he found this question from the ancient books of the Imperial Observatory, and Your Majesty must have never seen it before.
The emperor stretched out his slender white index finger and casually opened the box, revealing a roll of paper inside.
Xinghe, who was following beside him, came over excitedly, "What is it? Master, let me see."
Wen Xing glanced at the paper and raised his eyebrows.
There is a nine-square grid drawn on the paper.
It should be said that it is a nested nine-square grid, and each square in the large nine-square grid contains a small nine-square grid.
Xinghe was puzzled. He took the paper and put it in front of his eyes, looking left and right, near and far, "What on earth is this for?"
At this moment, a black figure silently descended from the roof of the pavilion and quietly lifted a tile. The man in black looked across the gap and took in everything in the room.
Jin Ziyu explained, "Your Majesty, fill in the grids with numbers so that the sum of the rows, columns, and diagonals in each grid is fifteen, and the sum of the rows, columns, and diagonals in the Great Nine Grids is forty-five."
Xinghe scratched the back of his head, as if he had heard something incomprehensible. "What do you mean?"
Wen Xing suddenly realized that it was Sudoku.
Simple.
I haven't played Sudoku for a long time, so I just treated it as a warm-up.
Seeing Xinghe's puzzled expression, Jin Ziyu felt relieved. You see, even His Majesty's personal guards have never seen this question. This question will definitely stump His Majesty.
In his mind, he had already begun to imagine the dilemma His Majesty would face when he tried his best to solve the problem but failed. Then, if he could lend a hand, he would definitely be able to capture His Majesty...
"alright."
Jin Ziyu:?
As soon as he looked up, he was hit in the face by the question paper thrown at him.
Jin Ziyu: ...
He quickly took the paper and checked it over and over again to confirm the numbers he had filled in on the question.
Rows, columns...
Fifteen... Forty-five...
Jin Ziyu's face fell, all correct!
What just happened?
It seems he just took a short sabbatical?
This amount of time isn't even enough to write?
Your Majesty, don't you need to think?!
However, before he could react, Wen Xing had already stood up and left.
On the waterside pavilion, Ning Wujie, dressed in a dark black Shadow Guard uniform, who had a clear view of everything, raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw the filled-in paper.
Perhaps the tyrant ruler is not just interested in having fun.
Xinghe jumped up and down behind Wen Xing, excited. "Master, you are amazing! I didn't even understand the question! Master, please tell me what that means. Xinghe wants to learn."
"Your Majesty!" Jin Ziyu suddenly stood up.
Wen Xing paused, turned around and looked inquiringly.
Jin Ziyu picked up the jade pendant and handed it over, saying nervously, "Your... bargaining chip."
It doesn't matter if I don't impress His Majesty, as long as His Majesty accepts this jade pendant...
"No, I don't need it."
After he finished speaking, the young emperor disappeared out the door.
Jin Ziyu was left blinking blankly, and after a moment, his face fell as if he had lost his parents.
Hearing this, Ning Wujie lay on the roof with his sword in his arms, slowly raised the corner of his lips and laughed very lightly.
Wen Xing pushed the door open and everyone came forward to greet him, "Your Majesty, my son is in room three..."
"Your Majesty, my son is good at music. Please come and see him!"
Seeing the crowd rushing towards him, Wen Xing stepped back and frowned.
Could it be that all these people are coming for him?
Come to think of it, none of the relatives participated in solving the problem, only he...
Then I thought back to the jade pendant of the person who had just asked the question.
Wen Xing suddenly understood.
This isn't a game, are they trying to get people into his situation?
Are you jealous of Ning Wujie?
The Queen Mother was really thoughtful and designed it so complicatedly.
Wen Xing thought with some amusement.
At this moment, he heard a young man's voice behind him: "I have a few puzzles that no one has solved yet. I wonder if Your Majesty could help you solve them?"
Wen Xing looked back and saw that everyone had made way for a passage, revealing a young man standing at the door of a room in the corridor.
The other party bowed dignifiedly and said, "I am Wang Jiang, the heir of the Danyang Earl. I am currently serving as an editor in the Hanlin Academy."
Wen Xing raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had thought that these royal relatives were all good-for-nothings, but he didn't expect that some of them could enter the Hanlin Academy.
All I can say is that among a group of bad bamboo shoots, one or two good ones can occasionally be picked out.
Hearing the other party boast that "no one can solve it", he became interested.
So, he threw the purpose of this "blind date banquet" out of his mind and said over the people on both sides, "You tell me."
Seeing this, the Earl of Danyang's eyes lit up. He was about to follow the example of Marquis Zhongsu and make an impassioned speech to embellish his son's resume, but he saw Wang Jiang wink at him and shook his head slightly.
Danyang Bo received the eye signal and said inwardly: That was a close call!
His Majesty's attitude just now clearly showed that he dislikes bragging. He almost fell into a trap. It turns out his son is smart!
My son is so smart, he will definitely win the favor of Your Majesty!
Then Wang Jiang said, "I have a question: I see a towering seven-story tower from afar. The red lights are doubling and multiplying, making a total of 381 lights. How many lights are there on the top?"
After hearing the question, the nobles all looked confused.
What is this?
Xinghe listened with great interest, then said "Ah" in confusion. This game is too boring and he can't understand it at all!
Jin Ziyu, who was originally in the room, also squeezed into the crowd. After hearing the question, he started to think about it in his mind.
Yes, this question requires the backward reasoning method.
Let's assume the seventh layer has one share... and the sixth layer has two...
While he was still thinking, he heard Xing say, "Three. Next question."
Jin Ziyu's expression froze.
? ? !!
Wang Jiang was caught off guard when he heard the correct answer, and his face froze. How fast!
In order to attract His Majesty's attention, he immediately took out something that he thought was difficult, which would take even the old scholars in the Hanlin Academy a while to figure out. Unexpectedly, His Majesty hardly even thought about it!
He calmed himself down and thought to himself, it doesn't matter, he still has it.
Then he said solemnly: "A scholar was selling wine. He met a shop with double the price. He drank a bucket of wine when he saw flowers. He visited the shop three times and got drunk under the flowers. He went into the shop twice and finally got drunk under the flowers. The pot of wine was empty. I asked: How much wine did you have at the beginning?"
Jin Ziyu was a little confused, but he still tried to reason in his mind. He set the first drink to be one dou, and then drank a dou before meeting the flower... No, no, the first drink...
Xinghe was confused. Huh? Huh? He didn't understand!
Wen Xing said without much thought, "Two buckets."
Jin Ziyu: ...
Jin Ziyu was numb.
Forget it, he gave up.
Your Majesty is indeed not an ordinary person. He is not someone that ordinary mortals like us can compete with.
The scene suddenly became very lively.
"Your Majesty is truly extremely intelligent!"
"Your Majesty's wisdom and strategy are unparalleled, and we are far behind!"
The horses came in wave after wave, and the praises were endless.
Wang Jiang's face darkened.
What should I do? Your Majesty doesn't even want to think about such a difficult question.
He was a little discouraged, but seeing Wen Xing's slightly bored expression, he suppressed his temper, took a deep breath, and finally took out his best question: "A dumb man with a bag of money goes to the market. Deer is worth three times the price of pig. Eight catties of pig meat and four catties of deer, with eighty bags of money left over, still not enough. Four catties of pig meat and eight catties of deer, but still owe thirty-two wen of silver. What is the price of pig and deer? The market official can explain it clearly."
Xinghe: ...
Heavenly Book!
He can understand each word individually, but he can't understand when they are put together!
Xinghe leaned back dejectedly, slumped against the beauty on the corridor, and said weakly: "Master, Xinghe wants to go home."
He felt that he was so stupid and unworthy of being with someone like his master. He was afraid that his stupidity would be transmitted to his master.
Jin Ziyu: ...
Jin Ziyu has given up listening to the questions.
I don’t want to listen, you bastard!
Seeing that the emperor seemed to be thinking this time, Wang Jiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. That's good.
His Majesty has finally been stumped. This time he must seize the opportunity...
Then I heard Xing say calmly, "Pig is fourteen cents, deer is forty-two cents."
On the roof of the pavilion, Ning Wujie, who had heard the entire thing, narrowed his eyes.
So fast?
This foolish ruler... has such brain power, why can't he use it to govern the country?
If this foolish monarch could devote half of his attention to state affairs as he does to playing games, I'm afraid he wouldn't be needed at all.
Wang Jiang:?!
Do you do mental arithmetic? Do you not even need to type a draft?
Is this reasonable?!
He had never seen such a problem solved in his life. Even paper and pen were not needed. It all depended on mental calculation!
He stood there in a daze, and before he could react, he heard Xing ask, "Anything else?"
Wang Jiang was stunned and shook his head slowly, "No...no more."
Wen Xing said "oh" in disappointment, thinking that the difficulty had finally risen to the level of binary equations. He had just warmed up, but it was over.
I really don't understand why these people use mathematics to attract him. Shouldn't it be reciting poems and composing couplets?
If that were the case, he would be stumped.
In this dynasty, mathematics was not the mainstream, and the path for scholars to officialdom was based on policy essays. To become famous, one had to rely on poetry and essays to endorse them.
Why would they think they like hearing math problems?
Wen Xing's mind went through several turns before he finally figured out a little bit of the clue.
Could it be that these idiots thought that he handed the accounts of the six ministries and nine treasuries to Ning Wujie because he admired that boy's good math skills?
Well...outrageous!
And inexplicably reasonable.
We can't blame them entirely. Who would have thought that the king of a country would like to study such strange and tricky skills.
He was helpless and waved to Xinghe, "Let's go."
After knowing the Queen Mother's thoughts, he wanted to leave.
Xinghe jumped up, finally he could go! He was so bored!
The Queen Mother, who was watching all this from afar, frowned and said, "Useless thing!"
Knowing that the emperor had high standards, she had deliberately picked out some good ones. After all, she certainly couldn't compare to the one named Ning in terms of appearance, but she must not be inferior in terms of intelligence.
How come none of them can keep His Majesty? They are so useless!
Ning Wujie lay on his back on the roof of the waterside pavilion, with one arm stretched out and resting behind his neck, looking at the clear blue sky of late autumn, with a barely perceptible smile hidden in his deep eyes.
The nobles have already fallen silent. What should they do? If they can't keep His Majesty like this, what hope do they have?
Just as everyone was scratching their heads and racking their brains to try to keep His Majesty, a door on the corridor in front was suddenly pushed open with a "bang".
Wen Xing paused and was blocked by a man walking out of the door.
"His Majesty!"
The man was dressed in military uniform and stood in front of the emperor with a long sword in his hand. When he saw the emperor, he knelt down and performed a military salute.
"I, Commander-in-Chief Min Song of the Xuanji Camp, pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Looking at the eight-foot-tall, muscular general in front of him, Wen Xing's forehead twitched.
He involuntarily took a half step back and asked cautiously: "What are you going to do?"
The man's voice was as resounding as a bell: "Unlike them, I do not wish to embarrass Your Majesty. I simply possess the forty-eight moves of the Feihong Treading Snow Sword, which I would like to present to Your Majesty."
He is a big and strong man, and the names of his sword moves are quite literary.
Before Wen Xing could react, the general started dancing with the sword.
Wen Xing: ...
He rubbed his twitching eyebrows.
What the hell do these idiots want?!
You think he likes military commanders?
Then can you please let me choose according to Ning Wujie? !
As a military general, Ning Wujie was elegant and refined wherever he went, and his every move was like a crane dancing on a pine tree.
This person...
Wen Xing turned and left.
"His Majesty!"
When the general saw that he was about to leave, he quickened his pace to catch up with him.
Wen Xing didn't even turn his head, but waved his hand with a dull expression, "Xinghe, stop him."
Xinghe excitedly flew forward, "Let's have a fight!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a palm wind attacked.
Two figures immediately started fighting in the corridor.
The general continued to shout, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving me a rival. A sword dance alone is certainly not as good as a fight! Your Majesty is wise! Hey, Your Majesty, please don't leave!"
Wen Xing just wanted to plug his ears and walk as fast as the wind.
So, in full view of everyone, amidst the calls to win him back, Wen Xing quickly turned around and walked to the other end of the pavilion, ordering, "No one is allowed to follow!"
The nobles paused and looked at each other helplessly.
This is, all failed.
Your Majesty indeed has high standards.
Ning Wujie, who was on the eaves, suddenly turned over and stood up, tapped the tiles silently with his toes, and followed with light steps.
Wen Xing walked through the many corridors. Although he didn't know where the road under his feet led to, based on the terrain he had just scanned from afar during the meal, he knew that the corridors were in the shape of a half-circle, built around the lake, and the other end should lead to the other side of the lake.
As soon as he walked away from the crowd, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. The shadows of the bamboos on the side of the corridor swayed gently, making a slight rustling sound.
Wen Xin walked to a carved door. Outside, the lake shimmered, casting swaying bamboo shadows on the window paper. Suddenly, a clear, melodious voice rang out from within: "Your Majesty, please stay."
Wen Xing frowned slightly. He wanted to leave, but he felt that the voice was very familiar.
It was very similar to the cool male voice he often heard.
That’s right, Ning Wujie’s voice was just like that, deep and serene like a cold spring, with a magnetism that could penetrate the eardrum and strike directly at one’s intellect.
He thought to himself that these idiots had finally imitated it correctly.
He stopped and asked, "Who are you? Why don't you dare show yourself?"
Are you afraid that you are not as good-looking as Ning Wujie, so you only dare to speak?
The man asked through the window, "I have a chess game that I cannot complete alone. Would you mind playing chess with me, Your Majesty?"
Wen Xing: "I don't know how to play chess."
The man chuckled and said slowly, "This is a game I created myself. The rules are very simple, not as complicated as Go, but it's very interesting. Your Majesty, would you be willing to give it a try?"
Wen Xing hesitated for a moment.
I don’t know if it was because of the blessing of that voice, but Wen Xing suddenly felt that it would be nice to try out a new way of playing.
He was especially disgusted by the general in front of him and urgently needed to wash his eyes.
So he said calmly: "Open the door."
The carved door creaked open and Wen Xing stepped inside.
At this moment, a black shadow quietly landed outside the window. Ning Wujie turned his head, glanced at the door that closed again, and slowly frowned.
The author has something to say:
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Tyrant: No one or two of them can even imitate it, haha. Eat something good.
5j (cold snort) (disdain) (proud)
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Note ① "Nine Chapters Algorithm Analogy Collection"
Note ② Modified from the poem "Li Bai Buys Wine". Original poem: Li Bai walks down the street, carrying a pot to buy wine. He doubles his price when he encounters a shop, drinks a dou when he sees flowers. He encounters a shop and flowers three times, drinks all the wine in the pot. Guess how much wine was originally in the pot. Answer: 7/8 dou
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