Chapter 337
Chapter 337 Duped in the Same Trough, Men Are No Match for Horses!
The Emperor burst into a hearty laugh, saying, "Bravo, Lin San! You have outdone the wily maiden of Goryeo and made the Turk counselor submit. Truly knowledgeable and insightful you are. Minister Xu, you have indeed recommended a significant talent for my Great Hua."
A smile crept onto Xu Wei's face. With such praise from the Emperor, Lin San's rise to prominence was just around the corner, even though the Emperor had already commended him the day before. Su Mubai turned pale and his face grew darker upon hearing this. Upon noticing his reaction, Prince Cheng merely smiled and said nothing.
Half of the questions had been answered. Korea had got the first question right, Tuju had triumphed in the second, and Lin Wanrong had passed both. As long as he got one more question right, he would stand firmly in an unbeatable position. Both Yi Seung-Jae and Ashile were a bit nervous; they hadn't expected that all their strategists combined would still fall short of the diminutive Lin San.
The young palace maid named Cuiyun fetched the envelope containing the third question, scanned it, and read aloud, "The third question is, could you all please turn around--"
Everyone turned around in confusion, only to hear the distant hoofbeats that made the ground tremble. Dozens of cavalries galloped toward them, cracking their whips to urge hundreds of fine horses. These hundred horses, all white with white hooves, seemed as if they were all molded from the same cast, and it was impossible to distinguish their ranks.
But the oddity did not end there. Behind this fleet of white horses came several more cavalries, herding a herd of white foals. The herd of foals, also all white, resembled a flurry of large, fluttering goose feathers in the snow, causing a thrill in the hearts of the spectators. The two groups of white horses arrived in front of everyone. The horses neighed and their voices rose and fell, creating a breathtaking spectacle.
Cuiyun smiled and said, "Now, we have one hundred white mares and one hundred white foals on the field. They are mother and child. The third question proposed by Princess Nishang is for you to help the hundred mother horses find their foals."
Having already answered two questions, Lin Wanrong had a taste of Princess Nishang's tricky and peculiar challenges. Other ladies tested suitors on either their literary or martial prowess during courtship, but she, being a royal princess, enjoyed these non-literary, non-martial things. It was strange indeed. He didn't know how she came up with this game of helping foals find their mothers. Wasn't this intentionally making things difficult?