The Slender Waist-Chapter 379 - 270: Turning the Tide

A wife of the first-rank official?

Li Sangruo gasped in shock, wishing she could overturn the cup of tea before her.

"The gall to demand more and more! This saucy fox, she has no shame at all..."

"Aunt," Puyang Yi cautioned her to be discreet and then glanced back at the scene.

"There’s not much time left, Aunt, please make a decision quickly."

Li Sangruo huffed, "What if she can’t do it?"

Puyang Yi said, "Feng Shi Er Niang stated that Aunt can refuse."

This was blackmail.

Blatant blackmail against her.

A lowly woman, actually daring to covet the title of a first-rank official’s wife...

Li Sangruo was so filled with anger that her teeth itched.

Noticing that Tang Shaogong had not spoken for a long time and thinking of his cunning and strategies, she turned to ask, "Uncle Shaogong, what do you think?"

Tang Shaogong’s face was expressionless, "Empress Dowager makes the final decision."

From the moment she decided to let Xing Dalaon enter the competition, she didn’t let Tang Shaogong get involved, deliberately avoiding him, not wanting him to take any credit.

Clearly, Tang Shaogong didn’t want to clean up her mess either, leaving the difficult problem back to her.

Actually, Li Sangruo was very clear about priorities and knew what to weigh at the moment, she just couldn’t swallow her pride.

"Utterly shameless! Utterly shameless!"

"What a shameless Feng Shi Er Niang!"

Suddenly, Puyang Yi cried out in alarm.

"Yan Buxi has solved another riddle!"

Li Sangruo loosened the teeth she had been biting down on, finally closing her eyes, "Granted! I permit her!"

Puyang Yi was overjoyed.

Thus, everyone saw a servant with a writing brush go over to her, then come back and approach Feng Yun.

Feng Yun examined the question written by Xing Dalaon carefully.

"During the Yuanxiao festival, Wang Erlang is to set up lanterns for his father. There are nine lanterns to be arranged in ten rows, with every three lanterns needing to be in a straight line, please draw a diagram to demonstrate, how should Wang Erlang place the lanterns?"

Xing Dalaon was very good at calculations, but this kind of problem posed some difficulty for him.

Feng Yun smiled slightly and quickly drew a pentagram on the paper, handing it to the servant.

At this moment, in the entire Zhongba, everyone’s attention was on the scene, and hardly anyone noticed what was happening on Feng Yun’s side.

At that time, Yan Buxi had already moved on to the seventeenth obstacle, victory seemingly within reach, the people from Qi Country held their breath, their faces filled with anticipation, just waiting for that decisive moment.

Several members of the Feng Family were present on the scene.

Not only was Feng Ying there, but the two younger ones, Feng Zhen and Feng Liang, were also present.

The young children couldn’t control their emotions, and seeing Yan Buxi close to victory, they were almost ready to jump for joy.

"Win! We’re going to win!"

"Qi Country will surely win!"

Lady Chen, patting Feng Liang’s head, taught the child.

"Aliang, you should study well with your teacher, do you understand? Look, Master Yan is so capable, wherever he goes he is held in high regard, and is respected by all..."

Feng Liang had been spoiled by his family; he was small but bold.

Not going along with his mother, he raised his face and shouted.

"I think that servant is even more amazing."

Lady Chen’s face fell.

"Nonsense! How long has he been stuck at the fifteenth obstacle? He’s about to lose."

"But he’s only fourteen years old, Master Yan is already so old, who wouldn’t be able to bully a child?"

Feng Liang spoke unrestrainedly, his loud voice alerting those around them.

Lady Chen was so embarrassed she wished she could silence him.

Feng Jingteng coughed lightly and suddenly said, "Speaking of which, Shi’er Niang was even younger than him when she started learning mathematics..."

Lady Chen’s face darkened as she snorted.

"With her abilities, why doesn’t she go herself and compete with Master Yan, instead of sending a green boy to the field?"

Feng Jingteng felt a headache forming and lightly pressed his brow.

"Madam is right."

Lady Chen snorted, glancing at Feng Ying, who was quietly veiled, and then smiled kindly like a loving mother.

"Speaking of mathematics, our Aying was also often praised by teachers when she was young, saying that when she becomes the head of the household, no one would be able to deceive her..."

How could the teachings for managing a household compare to the challenges faced in the competition?

Feng Jingteng’s brows twitched as he replied with a forced smile.

"Indeed, indeed, who can compare with Aying?"

Only then did Lady Chen relax her expression, but she voiced her confusion, "However, speaking of which, although Shi’er Niang is not as good as Aying, she’s still educated by the Feng Family’s teachings from Xuzhou, and she should be a lot better than a servant. It seems she, after all, isn’t wholeheartedly with Jin Court..."

"Mother!" Feng Zhen suddenly tugged at Lady Chen’s dress, signaling her to look.

"The servant from Jin Country, Azhou, has passed the eighteenth obstacle."

Lady Chen’s speech was abruptly cut off as her gaze followed suit.

Yan Buxi was still at the seventeenth obstacle.

Xing Dalaon had also reached the gate of the seventeenth.

He seemed to be stumped again and was writing something down.

Soon after, the servant with the writing brush returned, not seeking anyone else but going straight to Feng Yun.

Feng Yun, looking down, quickly returned the piece of paper to the servant’s tray...

With the answers from Feng Yun, Xing Dalaon broke through the obstacle that stumped Yan Buxi and set off toward the eighteenth.

"Outrageous!"

The Qi envoys approached Chunyu Yan’s desk and struck a small copper gong.

The sound drew the attention of the entire hall, and they loudly proclaimed:

"The Jin side has cheated."

"The person assisting with solving the puzzles is Feng Shi Er Niang!"

The crowd gasped in shock.

However—

After listening to the Qi envoys’ logic, the Jin envoys exchanged glances and laughed.

Ao Zheng, gently stroking his beard, smiled and said with a bow:

"May I ask the honorable envoy, is today’s competition between Mr. Yan and Azhou, or between Jin Country and Qi Country?"

The Qi envoy sneered, "Naturally, it’s between Jin Country and Qi Country."

Ao Zheng added, "Since it’s a contest between Jin and Qi, and there was no prior statement that only one person can participate and that no outside assistance is permitted, how can it be called cheating?"

This Censorate Chancellor could speak eloquently in the court and hold his ground against a multitude of ministers; he was certainly quick-witted.

In just a few words, he pointed out a loophole in the competition rules and found a reason for his side.

"This is sophistry!"

"What you are doing is sophistry!"

The two Qi envoys were so furious their faces turned red.

Ao Zheng smiled faintly, "If the honorable envoy is not convinced, you may invite Mr. Yan to also propose puzzles for the Qi participants to peruse. If one is not enough, two, or even all of you may discuss them together; our side will not accuse you of cheating."

All his words were seemingly reasonable.

Upon closer thought, they were entirely unreasonable.

As several Qi envoys were about to step forward to argue, Xiao Cheng spoke out.

"There’s no need for further words. Let’s continue."

Ao Zheng bowed from afar to Xiao Cheng.

"The magnanimity of Qi Jun."

Xiao Cheng’s eyes darkened as his gaze traveled over the crowd, landing on Feng Yun.

She sat in a corner surrounded by tall guards, nearly boxed in amidst them, blocking all lines of sight. Without special attention, she would go unnoticed.

Xiao Cheng slightly gathered his robe and summoned Jixiang.

"Ask Mr. Yan what the seventeenth puzzle is about."

Jixiang paused, then responded, "Yes."

Yan Buxi always had great confidence in himself and rarely sought others’ help.

He didn’t pass the seventeenth challenge not because the puzzle was too difficult, but because it involved a complex mix of different operations, which required a long time to conclude.

Therefore, when he heard Xiao Cheng inquiring whether he needed assistance, he immediately waved his hand in refusal.

"The best help is not to disturb this old man while I’m calculating."

After saying this, he buried his head and fervently carried on with his calculations on paper.

Yan Buxi was so immersed in the complex computations that he completely lost track of time.

It was only when the cheering rose to the skies, with the Jin people loudly proclaiming their victory, that he snapped back to reality.

"What are they saying?"

The scribe servant bowed his head and replied, "To answer the master’s question, they are saying that the servant Azhou has cleared twenty levels and acquired the gold abacus prize."

"What? What did you say?"

"Master, the Jin side has won."

"All twenty levels are cleared?"

"Cleared."

Yan Buxi collapsed into a seated position, staring with clouded, aged eyes, desperately scribbling and calculating on paper...

"Mr. Yan, there’s no need to calculate anymore."

The servant reminded him again, "The Jin side has already won."

"Impossible!" Yan Buxi interrupted, repeating ’impossible’ and shaking his head as he continued to write and calculate.

"Such a complex puzzle, even the most skilled mathematician would need time to solve it—how could a young lad possibly..."

As he spoke, he suddenly stopped.

As if struck by a sudden thought, he dropped his pen and stormed out of the hall in anger.

"Someone must have leaked the puzzle."

This stubborn old scholar was highly esteemed by the world and couldn’t accept defeat, even less could he believe he would lose to a fourteen-year-old boy.

Determined, he strode up to Chunyu Yan, bowed first, then conveyed a face full of anger and disdain.

"I dare to ask the Crown Prince Chunyu, has someone leaked the puzzles to the Jin side in advance?"

His question silenced the entire hall.

His suspicion was, in fact, the misgiving of many.

Chunyu Yan smiled slightly, indolent in his demeanor.

"Mr. Yan, I have personally supervised the event; no such thing has occurred."

"Your Highness, these puzzles aren’t something that can be solved with a little wit. With no leaked puzzles, there’s no possibility of their victory."

Yan Buxi was incredibly stubborn, his eyes bulging like copper bells, and ultimately, his ire settled on Xing Dalang.

The lanky young man of unremarkable birth, who seemed to lack familial scholarly background.

There are no noble scholars among the lowborn, no Aristocratic Families among the unprivileged. In such a polarized era, the fact that he could recognize a few characters and had some mathematical knowledge was already a miracle. How could he possibly triumph over him?

Yan Buxi clenched his teeth, "This servant must have known the answers in advance."

Before the echo of his words had faded, he turned to face Xiao Cheng and bowed deeply.

"Your servant has failed Your Majesty, but I refuse to concede. I implore Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the cheating on my behalf. Otherwise..."

He glanced around, bit his lip.

"I can only collide with the pillar of the council hall and die to prove my integrity."