When Tong Yingying heard Princess Xiliang’s question, she thought to herself, if Qiao Lu couldn’t solve it but she could, this would be a great merit.
It was just that the problem was really a bit tricky.
“Ms. Tong, you’ve been known as talented. Do you know the answer?” A noble girl asked Tong Yingying, “This problem is too difficult to solve, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, how can it be solved within half an hour? Miss Tong, do you know the answer?”
Tong Yingying said, “It should be in a wooden box.”
The people of Xiliang were foxy. They probably thought that the people of Datang would think that their national treasure would be put in a jade box, so they would do exactly the opposite and put it in the wooden box instead.
After Qiao Lu listened to Princess Xiliang’s question, he frowned and said crossly, “Xiliang Barbarians, even if we have a blood feud, you don’t have to insult me like this!
“Your Majesty, it’s too humiliating. In our Datang, even a three-year-old child would disdain answering this kind of question, but they are using such a simple question to humiliate us!”
Qiao Lu often went to the military camp before he was twelve.
Those veterans often mentioned to him the tragic scenes of his grandfather, granduncles and uncles dying on the battlefield and told him that Datang and Xiliang must not exist under the same sky!
Seeing Samo’er asking such a simple question, he thought that Xiliang was humiliating and provoking Datang.
Samo’er said, “Young Master Qiao, if you can’t answer it, just admit it. You still have half an hour to think about it slowly. You don’t have to be so flustered!”
Tong Yingying also echoed in the crowd. “Young Master Qiao, I’ve already got the answer. If you can’t answer it, don’t worry, Let me answer it.”
Zhou Shihui, who was sitting at the table of Duke Wu Mansion, snorted. “Shut up! My senior brother can answer it!”
Qiao Lu said, “Flustered? Are you kidding me? Isn’t it hidden in the jade box? I could answer this kind of question when I turned three!”
Qiao Jinniang said to Qiao Lu, “Brother, this must be a ‘big challenge’ for the ministers of Xiliang to answer this question. You should understand them.”
Samo’er clenched her hands in anger and said, “Three years old? Young Master Qiao, did you guess the answer? A three-year-old child can’t even speak!”
Little Lu Xi said cutely, “If Uncle Iron Box is telling the truth, then the national treasure is in the jade box. But Uncle Wooden Box also lied, so only Uncle Iron Box spoke the truth, and the other two uncles lied. I’m only three years old!”
As he spoke, he extended three little fingers.
Then he turned to look at Qiao Jinniang. “Mommy, am I right?”
Qiao Jinniang touched the little bun on Little Lu Xi’s head. “Xi’er is amazing.”
When Tong Yingying heard the words of the imperial grandson, she realized that her answer was wrong and felt a bit embarrassed, but then she couldn’t help but admire the imperial grandson.
If she had a child with the Crown Prince in the future, the imperial grandson must be a big obstacle for her child!
Samo’er clenched her hands and said, “Fine, you won on the first question. I heard there are many delicious foods in the Tang Dynasty, and the Crown Princess used to be a restaurant shopkeeper.
“I have two ducks here. May I ask if you can make a delicious dish with the ducks but there can’t be any skin, meat, bones or internal organs in the dish?”
The envoys of Xiliang took two ducks over, which were still quacking loudly.
Qiao Jinniang said, “It’s not difficult to make the dishes requested by the princess, but it will take about two hours. This dish will be served to all the distinguished guests at dinner.”
Samo’er looked at Qiao Jinniang confidently. There was no way Qiao Jinniang could solve this problem.
“Okay, there’s still the last question. I’ll keep it until dinner time!”
The lunch hadn’t been over yet, but everyone was thinking about this problem.
Tong Yingying racked her brains but still couldn’t work out an answer. No meat, no skin, no bones, and no internal organs? Then what would be left in a duck?
Could duck feathers be made into a dish? But duck feathers couldn’t be eaten!
As this concerned the dignity of Datang, even Prince Huai temporarily put aside his schemes against the Crown Prince and began to think about the answer, but there seemed to be no answer. Even on a duck head and duck feet, there were skins and meat.
Even when the lunch was over, everyone was still thinking about the answer.
Qiao Jinniang was not anxious at all. She let the imperial maids take the two ducks back to the East Palace, went to the kitchen, and ordered the imperial maids to boil hot water.
Still wearing a wide-sleeved long dress, she began to sharpen the kitchen knife.
After Fulu came in, she shouted, “No! Even if you can’t answer this question, you don’t have to self-harm!”
Qiao Jinniang, however, after cleaning the knife, ordered someone to prepare a soup bowl with warm water, and put a little shochu and a little salt in it.
She raised the knife and chopped the duck in the neck, and the duck, who was still quacking, died instantly.
Qiao Jinniang let the duck blood drip into a bowl.
Fulu was so frightened that she froze for quite a while before she suddenly let out a scream, “Ahhh!”
“You, you, you…”
Qiao Jinniang said to Fulu, “Since you are here, serve as my assistant for now.”
Fulu timidly took over the dead duck whose blood had been drained from Qiao Jinniang’s hand.
Qiao Jinniang said, “The duck can’t be wasted. Go, pluck out the duck with the imperial maids.”
Fulu was speechless. Why did she, a dignified princess, have to pluck out a duck? Could it be the retribution for her stealing Qiao Jinniang’s preserved ducks from her yard during the last Spring Festival?
The supervisor of the kitchen walked up to Qiao Jinniang and said, “Your Highness, please let us do the menial work of processing ducks…”
Qiao Jinniang said, “You drain the ducks’ blood only to make duck meat more delicious, but there are skills for draining ducks’ blood. With carelessness, the small feathers of the duck may fall into the blood when the duck is struggling. Now, watch how I do it.”
Qiao Jinniang began to teach the eunuchs and imperial maids working in the kitchen how to kill ducks.
…
In the Queen’s palace.
Zhou Shihui racked her brains for a long time. “Aunt, what should we do? How is it possible to make such a dish? No meat, no skin, no bones, no internal organs… there is nothing left on the duck then!”
Duchess Wu also sighed. “Princess Xiliang obviously means to humiliate our Datang. Yingying, you are smart. Have you worked out a solution?”
Tong Yingying said, “I heard that some commoners would eat duck eggs that are still in the belly of female ducks, saying that duck eggs are the most nourishing.”
Duchess Wu’s eyes lit up and said, “Yes! The duck eggs that are still in the belly of female ducks should not be regarded as internal organs, right?”
However, Zhou Shihui disagreed. “Why are they not internal organs? Since duck eggs are still in the duck’s belly, they are internal organs.
“Besides, I glanced at the ducks that the Xiliang Kingdom gave us just now. There seems to be two male ducks. Even if they are female ducks, we don’t know if there are any eggs in them!”
Tong Yingying said, “Then do you have a better solution? Can you just sit by and watch Datang’s dignity being stepped on by Xiliang? I’ll go to the East Palace to see if there are any eggs in those two ducks!”
