Chapter 29: You're Coughing Up Blood, Aren't You?
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Again?
Damn it, he really was the sort who would not shed a tear until he saw the coffin.
Zhao Yi cast a bored glance at Ye Qingliu, who looked as though he had gone completely mad, then turned his eyes toward the imperial throne.
He raised a brow at the Empress and let the corners of his lips curve upward.
The meaning in his gaze was unmistakable.
A minor matter. I can handle it.
The Empress understood at once.
A hint of amused anticipation appeared on her cold, breathtakingly beautiful face. The envoy from Southern Yue had already lost himself in desperation, abandoning every last shred of dignity. She was curious to see what else he could produce. And Zhao Yi… that man always managed to bring her the most unexpected “surprises.”
She slowly sat down, lightly raised her jade-like hand, and spoke in a cool voice filled with unquestionable authority.
“Granted.”
“Grand Academician Ye, I too would like to see what other tricks Southern Yue has hidden up its sleeve.”
Having received permission, Ye Qingliu looked like a drowning man who had finally seized the last piece of driftwood. His spirits surged. His eyes bloodshot, he glared murderously at Zhao Yi, as though he wished to devour him alive.
His crushing defeat in poetry had reduced the literary reputation he took such pride in to dust. Now, he had to recover his honor in another field!
Without the slightest hesitation, a feverish excitement on his face, he threw out his final trump card.
“This question has nothing to do with poetry. It tests the principles of mathematics—the foundation of governing a nation!”
He cleared his throat and shouted at the top of his lungs:
“There are pheasants and rabbits in the same cage. Altogether, there are thirty-five heads and ninety-four legs. How many pheasants and how many rabbits are there?”
The moment the question was posed, the entire hall fell silent.
The civil and military officials of the entire court looked at one another, their brows furrowed. Several officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works immediately lowered their heads, their fingers moving rapidly beneath their wide sleeves as they calculated. Yet the more they worked at it, the tighter their brows drew.
There were thirty-five heads, but ninety-four legs. With chickens and rabbits mixed together, how could anyone tell them apart?
Prime Minister Wang Defa stroked his beard and sank into thought. The problem looked simple, but it demanded considerable mental arithmetic. For the moment, he could not find a solution.
His father, Zhao Zhao, was even more frantic, sweat breaking out across his forehead. When it came to poetry and literature, heaven knew what kind of extraordinary luck his rebellious son had stumbled upon—he could actually compose verses on the spot. But mathematics required genuine skill, with no room for bluffing. It was over. The Zhao family was likely to be humiliated beyond redemption today, right along with him.
Yet in the silence, while everyone was racking their brains, an inappropriate sound suddenly broke the tension.
“Pfft…”
Zhao Yi could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
He laughed so hard that he doubled over, one hand clutching his stomach, tears nearly streaming from his eyes. His undisguised mockery was like red-hot steel needles, stabbing into the hearts of every member of the Southern Yue delegation.
“You…” Ye Qingliu trembled with rage.
Zhao Zhao’s vision went black, and he nearly died of anger on the spot.
On the imperial throne, the Empress Wu Mingkong frowned slightly. What sort of conduct was this bastard displaying? It was utterly disgraceful!
But then she reconsidered. Whenever he acted like this, it seemed to mean that the other side was about to suffer terribly. She suppressed the urge to rebuke him and watched to see what would happen.
Zhao Yi finally managed to stop laughing. He rubbed his aching stomach and spoke lazily.
“I thought it was going to be some earth-shattering problem.”
“You kept us waiting all that time for this?”
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He swept his gaze around the hall, then fixed it on Ye Qingliu.
“Are you damn well kidding me?”
Chen En, who had already collapsed on the floor, somehow found the strength to point at Zhao Yi and roar hoarsely:
“Y-You insolent wretch! If you have the ability, solve it! What kind of hero only talks and never acts?”
“Solve it?”
Zhao Yi dug a finger into his ear and looked at him as though he were an idiot.
Without even pausing to think, he gave the answer.
“Twenty-three pheasants and twelve rabbits.”
He said it so casually, as if he were merely remarking that the weather was pleasant.
“You have the nerve to bring such a simple problem into the Golden Hall? Is Southern Yue really so short of capable people? Shall I teach you how to calculate it? Assume they are all chickens. That would give you seventy legs, twenty-four fewer than the total. A rabbit has two more legs than a chicken, so where did those extra twenty-four legs come from? From twelve rabbits. This is elementary-school arithmetic, and you treat it like some priceless treasure?”
Ye Qingliu’s body suddenly went rigid.
The answer was exact!
But… how could he have solved it so quickly? That method was completely unheard of! Ye Qingliu was still trying the most cumbersome approach, testing the possibilities one by one, while his opponent had already produced a clear and indisputable calculation!
Zhao Yi did not give him the slightest time to think. He planted his hands on his hips and launched straight into mockery.
“It is only polite to return what one receives.”
“Since you like arithmetic so much, I shall give you a problem as well.”
He paced back and forth. His manner was less that of a man standing in the imperial court than someone strolling through his own garden.
“Listen carefully.”
“There is a troop of soldiers, though their number is unknown. Count them in groups of three, and two remain. Count them in groups of five, and three remain. Count them in groups of seven, and two remain.”
Zhao Yi paused, a devilish smile spreading across his face.
“How many soldiers are there?”
The question was like thunder exploding across a clear plain. Ye Qingliu and every envoy from Southern Yue were instantly dumbfounded.
Groups of three, groups of five, groups of seven? And there were remainders? How in the world was anyone supposed to calculate that?
It was not only the Southern Yue delegation. Even the civil and military officials of Great Zhou were completely bewildered. The problem sounded like something no human being could possibly solve.
Cold sweat broke out across Ye Qingliu’s forehead. He muttered under his breath, his fingers moving rapidly as he calculated, but his mind was utterly blank. He could not find the slightest lead.
The entire Southern Yue delegation fell into a deathly silence. They looked at one another, their eyes filled with bewilderment and terror.
Zhao Yi gazed at their frantic, constipated expressions, shook his head, and wore an expression of profound disappointment.
“That’s it?”
“That is the extent of your ability?”
“You people really are hopeless.”
He stepped forward and leaned close to Ye Qingliu. His handsome face bore an utterly sincere expression, and although he lowered his voice, everyone nearby could hear him clearly.
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“If you truly cannot manage it, why not take me as your master?”
“Kneel, kowtow, and call me Master. Then I will teach you.”
His words seemed to drain the last breath of oxygen from the air.
On the imperial throne, even the Empress’s exquisite face twitched slightly in shock.
Was this man even human?
In front of the entire court and the envoys of two nations, he had asked a grand academican of a foreign country to become his disciple? This was no longer mere humiliation. He intended to grind that man’s dignity—and the honor of all Southern Yue—beneath his feet and trample it into the floor.
She was both angry and amused. Angry at his reckless, outrageous behavior, free of the slightest restraint. Amused by the sly cruelty of his methods, which were, she had to admit, immensely satisfying.
His father, Zhao Zhao, simply closed his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.
It was over.
The feud had been driven all the way to the grave. From this day forth, Southern Yue would probably start coveting even the ancestral tombs of the Zhao family.
“You… you…”
Ye Qingliu pointed at Zhao Yi. His face went from white to red, from red to purple, and finally turned an ashen iron-gray.
A ripping pain tore through his chest, and a sweet, coppery taste surged into his throat.
“Pfft—”
A mouthful of blood burst forth, splattering across the gleaming tiles of the Golden Hall in a shocking crimson stain.
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed stiffly to the floor.
“Quick!”
“Summon the imperial physicians!”
The Empress was startled by the sudden turn of events and hurriedly issued an order.
“Take Grand Academician Ye away at once and make sure he receives proper treatment!”
And so the farce came to an end.
After the morning court session, the officials streamed out in groups of two and three, but the murmurs of discussion continued without end.
Minister of Works Sun Decai wiped the lingering sweat from his brow and leaned toward the Vice Minister of Revenue.
“That boy from the Zhao family is truly something else. His tongue is far too sharp! I still haven’t figured out that mathematics problem.”
Prime Minister Wang Defa was walking ahead. At those words, he suddenly stopped. He did not turn around or say anything, but the complicated look in his eyes spoke volumes.
Zhao Yi’s talent for poetry was already astonishing enough to shake the world. Yet the mathematical problem he had posed today was even more disturbing.
Counting in groups of three, groups of five…
That was clearly a method for counting troops in the military!
The boy was by no means merely a silver-tongued scribbler skilled at literary flourishes. Hidden within him was the talent to organize the world—the strategic brilliance to govern a nation and command armies.
It was just that his temperament…
He was far too unruly, far too lawless.
“That’s right. You should have seen how he cursed Imperial Censor Chen into taking to his bed a few days ago,” another official whispered, his face full of lingering fear.
“I understand now. That man is someone no one can afford to provoke. Better to offend the King of Hell than that mouth of his.”
“Tuoba Hong of Wild Goose Gate, the censors of the监察院, and now the envoys from Southern Yue… That mouth of his can truly kill!”
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