Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

The atmosphere in the audience tensed up as soon as Yelü Yuanjia uttered his words.

The eldest princess sat below the emperor. After listening, she looked at the emperor and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Yelü Yuanjia caused a scene yesterday and suddenly launched another attack today. I'm afraid it's a trap. We shouldn't agree to it so easily."

The emperor did not look at her, but stared intently at the Northern Di crown prince, who stood calmly with his hands behind his back below the stage.

He was well aware that the other party had ulterior motives and might be plotting something.

But Yelü Yuanjia had made his statement in front of so many people. If he refused, it would be tantamount to admitting that the Great Wei had no one to rely on, and it would be tantamount to showing weakness in front of the Northern Di people.

If word gets out, what will become of the Great Wei's reputation? What will become of his imperial authority?

Yelü Yuanjia had calculated this point precisely, which is why he dared to openly provoke them.

"Very well. I will grant your request. You may set the challenge for us, the Northern Barbarians. Our Great Wei will naturally have someone to answer it. Please."

A single word can decide the outcome.

But as soon as the emperor finished speaking, the Crown Prince of the Northern Barbarians slowly raised his hand and said calmly, "Your Majesty, please wait."

With this dragging and pulling, the faces of the Wei officials and nobles all darkened.

Immediately, an impatient military officer stepped forward, drew his sword, and angrily rebuked him.

"What exactly is the Northern Barbarian's intention? Are they deliberately toying with our Great Wei by delaying us time and time again?"

Yelü Yuanjia raised the corner of his lips, his smile arrogant, his tone casual yet sharp.

"Please be patient, everyone. Since this is a competition, there must be a prize. Wouldn't it be boring without rewards and punishments?"

He raised his hand and waved it gently.

A Northern Di guard immediately stepped forward, holding a square ebony box about a foot in size in both hands, and knelt on one knee, raising the box high.

The box was completely black, without any decorations, and it gleamed coldly in the sunlight, as if it had absorbed all the warmth from its surroundings.

All eyes were on the box.

Yelü Yuanjia stepped forward personally, raised his hand, and lifted the lid of the box.

Those nearby gasped in shock upon seeing it clearly.

A wine vessel lay quietly inside the box.

The cup is pure white with a pale ivory hue.

Its shape is a complete skull.

The eye sockets were smoothed and edged with a thin gold trim.

The top of the head was flattened and inlaid with a silver cup rim.

The chin area is cleverly designed as a base, which steadily supports the entire cup.

Under the bright blue sky, those empty eye sockets seemed to be gazing at something.

In the dead silence, the Emperor of Wei on his throne twitched his brow and asked in a deep voice, "Crown Prince Yelü, what is this?"

Yelü Yuanjia smiled slightly, reached into the box and took out the skull cup, holding it high in front of him so that everyone could see it clearly.

"Last year, my Northern Di cavalry trampled the Western Rong royal court. I personally cut off his head and ordered the craftsmen to make a golden skull cup."

The expressions of the civil and military officials changed drastically.

Using the head of an enemy king as a wine vessel—how ruthless! How arrogant!

The Northern Barbarians are trying to establish their authority with murderous intent right from the start!

Yelü Yuanjia took in all the surprise, anger, and fear on those faces, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Your Majesty, I, the Crown Prince, have set three questions for you today, best two out of three. If anyone in Great Wei can solve them, the Western Rong King's skull and gold cup will be presented to Great Wei as a gift from my Northern Di tribe. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Having said all that, they were already in a difficult position.

The Emperor of Great Wei spoke loudly, his imposing manner in no way diminished.

"Very well, since the Crown Prince of the Northern Barbarians is in such a refined mood, I shall gladly oblige. If the Great Wei cannot solve the question posed by the Crown Prince, I will bestow upon the Northern Barbarians the Nine-Dragon Jade Disc treasured in the palace."

The Nine Dragon Jade Disc is a treasure passed down from the founding emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty, and it is a symbol of the majesty of the Great Wei!

The eldest princess suddenly stood up, wanting to speak to stop him, but the emperor raised his hand to stop her.

Yelü Yuanjia clasped his hands and bowed respectfully.

"Your Majesty is so generous; I, the Crown Prince, admire that. Then it's a deal!"

With the bet settled, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy.

Yelü Yuanjia raised his hand to signal, and immediately a Northern Di servant came forward with a sandalwood tray.

Ten scrolls of silk were neatly stacked on the plate, their scrolls yellowed and their edges slightly curled, clearly indicating that they were quite old.

"The first challenge is these ten volumes of policy essays, written by our Northern Di ancestors. They are mixed with our Northern Di dialect, and the sentences are not grammatically correct."

We ask the talented people of Great Wei to identify three scrolls from this collection within one hour.

These three volumes contain secrets about the terrain, military deployment, and defenses of our Northern Barbarians. We must not only discern these secrets, but also explain their core essence.

The Northern Barbarians were truly arrogant to the extreme, daring to bring up military preparations and defenses.

Aren't they afraid that the Great Wei will see through their true intentions?

Could it be that they are truly confident that they can defeat the Great Wei in one fell swoop?

After Yelü Yuanjia finished speaking, he paused and looked at the crowd below the stage, whose expressions varied.

"How was it? The first level wasn't too difficult, was it?"

Not difficult?

The civil officials of Wei below the stage looked at each other in bewilderment. Some of them had already stepped forward to take the ten scrolls of silk, hurriedly flipped through a few pages, and their faces immediately turned ugly.

Those policy essays were obscure and mixed with other words, without any structure or pattern, and no rules could be found at all.

Moreover, it doesn't use the Great Wei script; it's incredibly messy, and even if you looked at it for a whole day, you might not be able to tell the difference between the real and fake.

The civil officials in the capital looked at each other, none daring to step forward and accept the challenge.

In the silence, Yelü Yuanjia stood with his hands behind his back, speaking in a leisurely tone.

"What? Is there no one in Great Wei? If you find it difficult, just admit defeat. I, the Crown Prince, am not such a heartless person."

The words were like sharp blades piercing the hearts of everyone in the Great Wei. The emperor's face darkened, and the princess's phoenix eyes were filled with anger.

However, there was nothing they could do, as the questions posed by the other side were too tricky and stumped all the court officials.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to give it a try."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure in moon-white robes emerge from the direction of the Duke of Yu's mansion.

Liu Wenying had been observing the situation throughout. Upon seeing him, she murmured, "Second Master..."

Pei Zeyu stood tall and bowed calmly to Yelü Yuanjia.

"I am Pei Zeyu, a junior official in the Ministry of Personnel's Performance Evaluation Department. I am willing to give it a try."

Yelü Yuanjia, a mere fifth-rank official, raised an eyebrow and said disdainfully, "These characters are obscure and complex, even Grand Secretaries are stumped. Are you sure you can decipher them?"

How will you know if you don't try?

"Then—please go ahead!"

Pei Zeyu stepped forward and picked up the first scroll of silk.

A moment later, he put down the first volume and picked up the second, the third...

In such a short time, what could he possibly figure out?

Yelü Yuanjia sneered inwardly, already convinced that he was nothing but a show-off, and predicted that he would soon be defeated and obediently admit defeat.

However, Pei Zeyu flipped through those policy essays, one volume after another, unhurriedly, without the slightest anxiety on his face.

After two incense sticks had burned, Pei Zeyu put down the last scroll of silk.

"Your Highness, I have already figured it out."

What?

The audience erupted in cheers.

Two incense sticks? That's only two incense sticks!

Yelü Yuanjia was surprised, but quickly calmed down and assumed that the other party was just pretending.

"Oh? Then please go ahead."

Pei Zeyu picked up the third scroll of silk, unfolded it, and pointed to a certain part of it.

"This volume describes the distribution of grain and fodder in the northern barbarian lands south of the Gobi Desert. Although it is transliterated in dialect, the words mentioned in the text, such as Gobi Desert, autumn harvest, and grain storage, echo the later mention of fat horses and southward migration."

If I'm not mistaken, this should be a pre-battle preparation report from one of the Northern Barbarian generals.

Yelü Yuanjia's smug smile froze slightly.

…………