Selling wife for fame? Kick out the scumbag and marry the new emperor to enjoy the harem of favors

Chapter 158 is not simple

However, soon, voices emerged from the delegation of the Western Chi Kingdom.

"South of Nanshan Mountain, within Shuangquan Well, there are two springs, spring, spring."

Before he could finish speaking, he realized he hadn't matched the words, and his voice lowered.

With this line, many people who hadn't yet discovered the brilliance of the first line suddenly realized why, despite its simplicity, no one spoke up.

The character "三" (three) in the name of the Three Pagodas Temple corresponds to "塔塔塔" (pagoda, pagoda, pagoda) in the following couplet. Therefore, the second line cannot contain the character "三" (three), yet it must match "塔塔塔" (pagoda, pagoda, pagoda). Isn't that making things difficult?

Not only that, but it also had to correspond to place names like Beicheng and Santasi, so the room immediately fell silent and no one responded.

Although they were unwilling to be stumped by a young girl's first line of a couplet, the members of the Xichi Kingdom delegation really couldn't come up with a second line either, and their expressions became increasingly unpleasant.

Zhao Xingjin saw this and laughed loudly.

"What a wonderful Three Pagodas Temple! Wenxi, this first line of the couplet is excellent. Do you have a second line of your own?"

"Your Majesty," Princess Wenxi replied, "I was just thinking of the first line of the couplet, but I couldn't come up with the second line myself. That's why I wanted to take this opportunity to ask the gentlemen present for their advice."

This was also taught to her by Xie Jiu.

After all, one should leave room for maneuver in doing things. The people of Xichi Kingdom are no match for them, and no one on the Dajing side can match them either, so it won't hurt the other side's face too much.

Princess Wenxi was Zhao Xingjin's daughter, and her appearance was to bring honor to Zhao Xingjin.

"This can truly be called a masterpiece. No one can match it for the time being. Your Highness, you are so young yet you have such ingenuity. You are truly worthy of being an imperial princess," Xie Mingshen immediately praised.

With him taking the lead, many people in the audience immediately began to praise Princess Wenxi's intelligence.

The people of Xichi Kingdom saw this and, though unwilling, could only grit their teeth and agree.

They definitely lost this game.

But besides the people of Xichi Kingdom, there was another person who was unhappy, and that was the Queen.

The Empress went to great lengths to find someone to give Princess Zhaoqing etiquette lessons and cramming her on history and culture, hoping that Princess Zhaoqing would shine at the state banquet. However, Princess Wenxi stole the show first.

She didn't believe that Princess Wenxi could come up with such a couplet at such a young age. There must be someone secretly guiding her behind the scenes, and it was obvious who that person was.

The Empress's gaze lingered on Xie Jiu for a moment before turning away, her eyes filled with coldness.

However, no one was paying attention to her thoughts at the moment; everyone's attention was focused on Princess Wenxi.

The Empress Dowager was exceptionally kind, saying, "Wenxi is usually very reserved, but today she has surprised everyone with her remarkable talent."

"Your Majesty, Princess Wenxi is truly a woman of inner beauty, unassuming yet intelligent and serene," Consort Zhuang immediately praised.

Her thinking was simple: Princess Wenxi was an orphan, so it wouldn't hurt to promote her. Especially now that the Emperor and Empress Dowager both seemed to like Princess Wenxi, she naturally had to follow suit.

The Empress saw this and inwardly cursed Consort Zhuang for being foolish, but she couldn't help but add a few words of praise.

After they finished speaking, Zhao Xingjin glanced at everyone present and asked in a loud voice.

"Is there really no one who can come up with a matching couplet? If no one can, then this pine soot ink will be bestowed upon my little Wenxi!" He said this, and even if any of the officials of Dajing came up with a solution, they would not stand up at this moment. That would be stealing the limelight from the emperor's daughter. Moreover, the more important thing right now is to deal with the Xichi people. Wouldn't it be more gratifying to use a young girl to suppress them?
On the other hand, the people of Xichi Kingdom were genuinely surprised to find themselves facing off against each other, and they all frowned.

Upon seeing this, Gao Sui immediately laughed and said, "Princess, you are so intelligent at such a young age. I am truly impressed. I am a good-for-nothing. When I was your age, I was probably playing with crickets somewhere. I am really incomparable to you!"

Losing is losing. It's even more shameful to act like you can't accept defeat.

"Your Highness is clearly a free-spirited and unrestrained person. You should practice martial arts, right? When I was young, I preferred martial arts to literature. I often couldn't get into those articles and poems, let alone compose poems. But everyone has their own ambitions and strengths. Today, my little daughter is quite clever and has managed to stump you all." Zhao Xingjin said in a half-joking tone.

If the other party has a good attitude, he will naturally give them a good look in return.

Ultimately, both countries aim to establish peaceful diplomatic relations.

In the end, the Xi family's pine soot ink ended up in Princess Wenxi's pocket, and the matter of the couplets was considered closed.

The people of Xichi felt they had lost face and were still resentful.

Especially Shangguan Yi, that hot-tempered old man, was extremely frustrated.

However, Zhao Xingjin pretended not to see them and talked more with Prince Gao Sui and the more sensible Zhao Zaiyan.

The atmosphere was fairly lively and harmonious.

As the banquet progressed, a dish of shark fin soup with phoenix tail was served, which prompted Gao Sui to sigh in admiration.

"I never thought I'd be able to eat this dish in Dajing. Phoenix tail shark fin was one of my father's favorite dishes. However, the way the Dajing imperial chefs make it seems to be different from how we make it in Xichi Kingdom. I haven't touched this dish since my father passed away."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xingjin looked up at him and said, "I never imagined that this dish would bring up such a sad memory for the Prince."

Gao Sui was the late son of the old emperor of Xichi Kingdom. He was born when he was 65 years old. When Gao Sui was 10 years old, the old emperor passed away and his elder brother ascended the throne. He died of illness less than a year after ascending the throne. Then his nephew Gao Xun succeeded him, and it has been 4 years since then.

Despite being only fifteen years old, he has already served under three emperors.

"It was just a fleeting thought of the past, nothing to worry about." Gao Sui smiled somewhat reluctantly, then suddenly said, "I heard that Your Majesty's biological father has also passed away. I think Your Majesty can understand my longing for my father. Please don't blame me for ruining the lively atmosphere of this palace banquet."

Zhao Xingjin waved his hand, "Of course not. The Prince's filial piety is truly touching."

His words seemed to offer Gao Sui some comfort, and his expression showed a slight touch.

He then sighed, “To be honest, Your Majesty, my father’s birthday is in the first month of the lunar calendar. In previous years, I would go to the imperial mausoleum to pay my respects. But now I am in Dajing and cannot make it back. I am a little sad. I just hope that my father will not blame me.”

After saying that, he suddenly asked, "I heard that His Majesty's former residence was in Anlu Prefecture. I wonder if he still has to travel a long way to pay respects to His Majesty during these ceremonies? Or has His Mausoleum already been built in the capital?"

When Gao Sui said this, his tone and expression were exactly like those of a gossipy fifteen or sixteen-year-old kid.

But as a prince of the age who was qualified to be sent as an envoy to Dajing, how could Zhao Xingjin treat him as an ordinary little kid?

Sure enough, after Gao Sui asked this somewhat impolite question, Zhao Zaiyan immediately reminded him in a deep voice.

"Your Highness has had too much to drink and is a little drunk."

"Lord Zhao, I am not drunk." Gao Sui shook his head.

At this moment, Shangguan Yi spoke up, "Your Highness, His Majesty's biological father was a prince, so how could he be buried in the imperial mausoleum? Naturally, he should be laid to rest in his ancestral home of Anlu."