The Emperor was in a difficult position. He had no idea why the princess of Xia was so insistent on marrying a man who was already married! If he had known, he wouldn't have boasted so readily.
With the Emperor remaining silent, no one else dared to speak.
The hall fell into a quiet stillness.
An awkward atmosphere settled in.
Wei Yu sat beside Wei Qing, her large eyes darting around, a schadenfreude smile playing on her lips.
If such an intractable princess were to truly enter the Prince of Ding'an's manor, there would be plenty of drama.
The Second Princess, seeing everyone's silence, realized this matter was not going to be easily resolved.
She walked over to Wang Qingyao and looked down at her, saying, "Princess Consort of Ding'an, do you dare to compete with me? If I win, you will yield your position as Princess Consort of Ding'an to me!"
Wang Qingyao's gaze swept over the Second Princess with surprise, then shifted to the Grand Princess and the other Xia envoys not far away.
After observing them all, she chuckled, "Second Princess, there's one thing you need to understand. Our Great Sheng is a land of etiquette, and the position of Princess Consort is not something that can be simply yielded. However, seeing as you are so infatuated with the Prince of Ding'an, I am willing to give you an opportunity. How about this: I will compete with you. If you win, I will allow you to enter the manor as a concubine. If you lose, not only will you have to give up any designs on the Prince of Ding'an, but you will also be forbidden from marrying any other man in the capital!"
Hmph, what a bold statement! It seemed as though she was certain the Second Princess would lose.
The Second Princess sneered, "It shall be as you say."
Whether it was as the main consort, a secondary consort, or a concubine, as long as she could enter the Prince of Ding'an's manor, none of that would be a problem.
"What shall we compete in?" Wang Qingyao asked.
The Second Princess clapped her hands, and a servant produced a square, colorful object from his robes and handed it to her.
None of the Great Sheng people present recognized what it was.
Seeing their curious gazes, the Second Princess revealed a triumphant smile.
Xiao Yun quietly leaned towards Wang Qingyao and whispered, "If you're going to compete, why not choose something you're good at? This Xia princess is clearly prepared."
Wang Qingyao winked at him, "Don't worry."
When the Second Princess had spoken to her about the competition, she had already used her clairvoyant eyes to scan and seen that one of the Xia people was hiding a Rubik's Cube.
Yes, that square, colorful object that no one had ever seen before was indeed a Rubik's Cube.
The Rubik's Cube was a rare item in ancient times, but not in modern times.
Wang Qingyao happened to be quite good at playing with it, so she had led the Second Princess into making this wager.
In fact, losing wouldn't be a big problem. It would be a good opportunity to see what this Second Princess was truly after.
"Second Princess, what is this?" The Emperor couldn't help but ask curiously.
The Second Princess held the Rubik's Cube high, displaying it to everyone, and said with no small amount of pride, "This is a Rubik's Cube, a small toy from our Xia kingdom, considered an intellectual puzzle. It's not difficult, like this... and like this..."
As she spoke, she began to solve it, and within her few words, the scrambled cube was quickly restored.
Everyone was stunned.
The Second Princess was even more pleased, "The Rubik's Cube is most popular among the children of Xia; almost every child has one. I'm fond of playing, so I brought one along. The Great Sheng empire is vast and full of talented people, I'm sure such a simple children's toy won't be too difficult for your Great Sheng people, will it? Right, Princess Consort of Ding'an?"
The Second Princess, while answering the Emperor's question, ultimately directed the topic towards Wang Qingyao.
Wang Qingyao silently rolled her eyes internally. The Rubik's Cube was invented by a Hungarian, when did it become a Xia invention?
"Of course," Wang Qingyao stood up and said without reservation, "Someone as intelligent as I am will naturally learn it at first sight. If the Second Princess doesn't mind, could you demonstrate it once more?"
The Second Princess naturally didn't believe she could learn it at a glance. She had studied the Rubik's Cube for six months before she could restore it to its original state. How could Wang Qingyao learn it on her first try?
The Second Princess was not worried at all, and even "thoughtfully" slowed down her movements.
"Has the Princess Consort learned it?"
Wang Qingyao smiled sweetly, "Yes, I have."
This time, it was the Second Princess's turn to roll her eyes internally: Learned it, my foot. You'll regret this later.
"Since the Princess Consort has learned it, let us begin the competition."
"Wait a moment," Wang Qingyao said.
The Second Princess looked at her, her eyes seeming to say: See, I knew it wouldn't be that quick to learn. She's going to cause trouble again.
Wang Qingyao was unsure of the Second Princess's skill level with the Rubik's Cube. Although she used to be good at it, she had been in this world for over a year, and her hands had grown rusty. To avoid any unforeseen complications, she said,
"How about we play something more exciting and compete with our eyes blindfolded?"
The Second Princess froze. She felt that Wang Qingyao's words were strange. She had only seen the Rubik's Cube today and was a complete novice, yet she wanted to play blindfolded?
The Second Princess, considering herself intelligent, pondered for a moment and felt she had seen through Wang Qingyao's intentions.
She was trying to be clever!
Wang Qingyao hadn't actually figured it out, but the words were out. To avoid losing too badly later, she proposed the blindfolded game! Since the Second Princess wouldn't be able to play blindfolded either, they would at best call it a draw!
Quite cunning!
The Second Princess smiled coldly. Although she couldn't solve it blindfolded, she still had some foundation. With slow exploration, she could restore much more than Wang Qingyao.