Ning Chen was hit by the true qi in his body, and blood kept flowing out of the corner of his mouth. At this moment, he didn't dare to be distracted at all. He forced himself to focus and re-condensed the collapsed cyclone.
"How could that be?"
In the next moment, Qing Ning's expression changed again. The entire room was covered in frost, and the temperature instantly dropped to freezing point. A large amount of Spiritual Qi continuously rushed into Ning Chen's Dantian, and the entire Sea of Qi began to spin crazily, constantly devouring the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
"Hah!"
With a loud shout, Qing Ning activated her body's martial arts and channeled her Genuine Qi into Ning Chen's body through her right finger, helping him suppress the uncontrollable Genuine Qi vortex in his Qi Sea.
About an hour later, the painful expression on Ning Chen's face gradually disappeared. The Sea of Qi in his body returned to normal, and a silver vortex slowly and peacefully rotated.
Only then did Qing Ning heave a sigh of relief. She retracted her right hand and her beautiful face was filled with anger. This brat was too much of a troublemaker. Fortunately, she had arrived in time. Otherwise, he would not even know how he died.
Ning Chen opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the furious look on Qing Ning's face. His heart skipped a beat, and he was both scared and touched.
"Show me your hand and let me check your injuries."
Seeing the bloodstains on Ning Chen's lips, Qing Ning was worried about his injuries. She held back her anger and said in a deep voice.
"Hehe, it's fine, I'm fine."
Ning Chen was unwilling to do so. He giggled foolishly as he tried to think of a countermeasure. He was determined not to let Qing Ning check his pulse. Otherwise, he would not be able to hide the fact that he was a fake eunuch.
He wasn't worried about what Qing Ning would do to him, but he was afraid that Zhangsun would kill him in a fit of anger.
After all, Qing Ning had already helped him keep Mu Chengxue a secret. He could roughly tell that as long as it did not involve his eldest grandson, Qing Ning could tolerate anything and would not take it to heart. Even if Mu Chengxue was the murderer who assassinated Emperor Xia, she could pretend that she did not know.
However, once she had the chance to get her eldest grandson, this great aunt would not be so easy to talk to.
If news of a fake eunuch appearing beside the empress spread, it would be a huge joke.
He could guarantee that once Zhangsun gave the order, Qing Ning would chop him into pieces.
Therefore, he could only laugh foolishly as he dodged. If this lady used force, he would definitely not listen to her.
Injuries were nothing. Compared to his life, he could endure it even if it was ten times worse.
Seeing Ning Chen's strange behavior, a hint of suspicion rose in Qing Ning's heart. She frowned and asked coldly," Are you hiding something from me?"
"Hehe, how could I? How could I have the guts?"
As Ning Chen spoke, his body kept moving towards the corner of the bed. He couldn't help but worry in his heart. This lady wouldn't really use force, right?
He couldn't beat her!
Fortunately, what Ning Chen was worried about did not happen. Qing Ning only stared at him for a while before turning around and leaving.
"Have a good rest then. I'll come and see you tomorrow."
" Goodnight, Sis Xiaoning."
Ning Chen secretly heaved a sigh of relief and quickly waved goodbye. However, his entire body was still hiding in the corner, not moving at all.
"Uh…"
As soon as Qing Ning left, Ning Chen finally could not suppress the bruises on his body and vomited blood all over the ground.
Outside the door, Qing Ning stopped in her tracks and waited quietly for a long time before leaving silently.
The bright moon traveled west. At dawn, Ning Chen was still sitting on the bed, circulating his mental cultivation method over and over again. He was so focused that he forgot the time.
When he woke up, the East Ascension Sun was already glaring. Ning Chen's heart sank. Thinking of today's literary competition, he became even more anxious. He pushed open the door and wanted to rush to the Revelation Hall. However, before he could leave Weiyang Palace, he was stopped by the young eunuch guarding the door.
"The Empress has ordered that you cannot step out of the palace gates."
The young eunuch guarding the door was very polite, but he was also unusually firm. Ning Chen was anxious, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape. For a moment, there was nothing he could do.
Given Zhangsun's cautious personality, he would definitely send someone to summon him if he encountered any problems. The reason why he had not arrived yet was either that he had already solved the problem of the envoy from Zhen Ji Kingdom or that Qing Ning had told him about his injuries.
It wasn't certain that he could solve the problem of the emissary of Zhen Ji Kingdom. Zhangsun didn't think so either. However, Zhangsun was cautious by nature and wouldn't let go of any possibility. Moreover, in Zhangsun's impression, the first person he would think of when he encountered any strange problem would be him.
Ning Chen had never hated a person so much in his life. Today, he finally met him. The little eunuch in front of him was unmoved by force or persuasion. He was impervious to oil and salt. He refused to let him out no matter what.
Why are there so many strange people in Zhangsun's palace?
Ning Chen was furious. For the first time, he had the urge to beat someone up.
Of course, he also put it into practice!
"Ya, Empress!"
Ning Chen was shocked. The moment the young eunuch turned around, a fist the size of a clay pot smashed into his back. Then, there was nothing else.
"Little brat, you're still too inexperienced to fight with me."
Ning Chen stepped over the young eunuch's body arrogantly and ran toward the Hall of Heavenly Mandate as fast as he could. As he ran, he despised himself. Usually, when Zhangsun looked for him, he would hide faster than anyone else. Now that Zhangsun was not looking for him, he was worried about this and that.
Behind the Heavenly Mandate Hall, Ning Chen ran over, panting. Seeing the guards, he was in trouble again. How was he going to get in?
"Eunuch Ning Chen?" At this moment, the closest general recognized Ning Chen and greeted him.
Ning Chen's eyes flashed with doubt. He didn't have any acquaintances in the palace?
"Could it be that little eunuch doesn't remember? I am Ling Xiao, the person who sent little eunuch out of the palace that day?”The general reminded.
Ning Chen took a closer look and recognized him. He had almost forgotten that he really had such an acquaintance. Back then, in order to leave the palace, he had tricked this guy quite a bit. He did not expect to meet him again today.
" So it's General Ling. Your armor has changed, and I almost didn't recognize you. Congratulations, General." Ning Chen saw that Ling Xiao's position had changed, and he hurriedly congratulated him.
Ling Xiao was in a good mood as he smiled and said," This is all thanks to me. Could it be that I have something to look for the Empress?" Do you need me to inform him?"
Hearing this, Ning Chen nodded vigorously. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to enter.
"Young Eunuch, please wait a moment."
Ling Xiao laughed heartily before turning around and walking into the hall.
While waiting, Ning Chen was bored out of his mind. He looked around and couldn't help but smack his lips. The decorations of the palace were too luxurious. Emperor Xia and Zhangsun were extremely corrupt.
"Eunuch, the Empress wants you to go in."
Not long after, Ling Xiao returned and whispered," Eunuch, be careful with your words. The Empress doesn't seem to be in a good mood."
Ning Chen nodded and threw him a look." Brother, you're so nice."
Ling Xiao understood and quietly returned a glance,"It's nothing."
Ning Chen sneaked into the hall from the back of the Heavenly Mandate Hall and found Zhangsun's position at a glance. However, when he saw Zhangsun's expression, his heart skipped a beat. How was this not good? It was obviously very bad.
However, since they were already here, there was no reason for them to retreat. They could only bite the bullet and sneak behind Zhangsun. They carefully shot a glance at Xiaoning, asking her what was going on.
Qing Ning shook her head gently, indicating that it was not appropriate to ask further.
After receiving the hint, Ning Chen quietly raised his head to look at Emperor Xia sitting on the long chair. He then looked at the officials present, and then saw the annoying, arrogant, and smug face of the envoy from the Extreme State. He roughly understood what was going on.
Great Xia had suffered a loss. If they lost, they would lose face.
"Is there anyone who can think of an answer?"
The Xia Emperor asked once more, his face grim.
Ning Chen lowered his head and looked at the black and white words on Zhangsun's table. While he was surprised, he could not help but have a trace of other emotions.
It seemed that the Confucian officials of Great Xia had a lot of skills. The content of the Wendu written on this white paper, whether it was poetry, music, chess, etc., had all been answered by the Confucian officials of Great Xia.
The only ones that had not been answered were the three couplets that were not difficult at first glance. However, they were still clueless.
It wasn't that it couldn't be matched, but the person who set the question had the upper hand. Under the time limit, it was naturally difficult to add.
On the white paper, there were only three questions left:
The first question is: An inch of land is used to build a temple. Beside the temple, there is a poem. The poem says: Send the monk back to the ancient temple tomorrow
[Question 2: Qian Eight Diagrams, Kun Eight Diagrams, 88 64 hexagrams, hexagrams, the universe has been determined.]
The last question, which looked the simplest but was actually the most difficult, only had seven numbers: one two three four five six seven
Although the Confucian officials in the court were well-educated and only eight or nine buckets high, couplets were originally unorthodox. They flourished among the folk literati, scholars, and beauties, but the great Confucian scholars rarely touched on them. It was not easy to match two of the five absolute couplets in such a short time.
Ning Chen looked at the envoy with disdain. This guy was too shameless. He had prepared a question for half his life and let these Great Xia scholars answer it in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. He was really shameless and invincible.
"Xia Emperor, it seems that your subject is unable to answer."
The messenger from the Zenith Kingdom laughed, his arrogance undisguised." A thousand years ago, the Headmaster was born in the Zenith Kingdom. He then taught by example and passed down the Confucian teachings. However, when he came to the Xia Kingdom in his later years, the world thought that the Headmaster was from the Xia Dynasty. Now that I think about it, it's really laughable."
"F * ck!"
Ning Chen couldn't help but curse. Since when did the Headmaster of the Academy become a member of the Zenith Empire? Why didn't you say that Xia was yours a thousand years ago?
Hearing the shameless words of the envoy from the Zenith Kingdom, the Confucian officials of the Xia Kingdom were even more furious. Their faces turned red and they cursed. The Headmaster was a believer of the Confucian Sect. How could he allow others to trample on him?
"How insulting!"
The messenger from the Zhen Ji Nation laughed arrogantly. He felt very happy after being humiliated yesterday.
"Empress!"
Ning Chen couldn't take it anymore and said in a low voice,""I'll do it."
This time, it was Zhangsun's turn to be surprised. Looking at Ning Chen's serious face, a trace of hesitation flashed across her beautiful eyes.
However, seeing that the incense stick was about to burn out, Zhangsun did not think too much about it. He stood up and looked at Emperor Xia, who was sitting on the long chair. He bowed slightly and said respectfully,
"Your Majesty, ChenQie would like to recommend someone."
"Correct!" The Xia Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly.
" Ning Chen!" Zhangsun Huishou looked at Ning Chen with a solemn expression that he had never seen before. He said seriously," Don't insult the dignity of Great Xia!"
Even if she was the Empress, she would still have to bear a great deal of pressure in front of the Xia Emperor and the ministers. If Ning Chen were to lose, it would not be as simple as losing a match.
Ning Chen knew the seriousness of the matter and understood the pressure on Zhangsun.
He wasn't acting impulsively, but time didn't allow him to make any more arrangements. It was the fastest choice for him to answer.
More importantly, he owed his grandson a debt of gratitude. He could not be ungrateful.
Calmly stepping out, Ning Chen no longer held back his sharpness. He stood in the middle of the hall with his head held high. A beautiful palace maid immediately brought over a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, placing them in front of the table that had already been set up in the hall.
Zhangsun gestured, and Qing Ning stepped forward to grind it. In the Heavenly Mandate Palace, the red sleeves added fragrance, and for a moment, there was a lot of fun.
Ning Chen picked up his brush and wrote in semi-cursive. The first couplet instantly appeared on the paper.
An inch of land is used to build a temple. Beside the temple is a poem. The poem says: Send the monk back to the ancient temple tomorrow
Two trees formed a forest, and the forest showed the ban. The ban said: Axe Jin enters the mountain forest at the right time
"Alright," she said.
Several Confucian officials in the court slapped the table and stood up. Excitement appeared on their faces as they praised him.
The matching was neat and the artistic conception was extraordinary. This little eunuch had once again shocked them.
Nearby, the envoy from the True Extreme Nation moved his sleeve and frowned.
After a short moment of shock, Ning Chen did not stop writing. The second couplet appeared in front of everyone again.
Qian Eight Diagrams, Kun Eight Diagrams, 8864 hexagrams, hexagrams, the universe has been determined.
Nine Luan, nine Feng, nine nine eighty-one, the sound of the phoenix and the phoenix
"Ha!"
This time, all the great Confucians laughed. This couplet couldn't be said to be beautiful, but it was really coincidental. Moreover, it had also flattered Zhangsun and Emperor Xia a little. The phoenix and phoenix were auspicious and had a beautiful meaning. It could also be said to be excellent.
The Xia Emperor's lips curled into a smile. Although the Son of Heaven's destiny was truly long, and it was a little inappropriate to describe him as a phoenix, for the sake of this perfect couple, it was worth it for him to suffer a little.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]