Chapter 564
Chapter 564
‘Jin Mucong, that useless oaf, wants to marry Zhu Ying, the most talented woman in the capital? Does he have no sense of his own place? Is he dreaming? Your Majesty just displayed such a commanding presence, so why are you now showing such unreliability? How could you arrange such a match? This marriage is doomed to fail. Do you wish to be humiliated?’
Ning Yuanxian could only swallow his grievances. After all, who told him to promise that scoundrel Shen Lang he would grant any request? Following this, everyone silently mourned for Jin Mucong. Countless young, brilliant men had gone to court Zhu Ying. Among them was even a top scholar of the imperial examinations, but all had been utterly defeated by her, crushed in every field of knowledge until they lost all confidence.
‘Jin Mucong, that uneducated, untalented piece of trash, will probably be so thoroughly broken by the capital's most talented woman that he’ll lose all will to live. He’ll likely never be interested in women again. Her scholarship is so astonishing that she could crush him with a mere fingernail, let alone a finger.’
* * *
After arranging the matchmaking between Jin Mucong and Zhu Ying, King Ning Yuanxian paid no mind to how the rest would unfold. Besides, he was grappling with a headache of his own. The eighty-thousand-strong army had finished assembling, but the vast sum of military funds needed to pay them had vanished. Every day of delay would have a massive impact on the future of the nation. However, he had no intention of compromising with the Hidden Yuan Society in the slightest. Moreover, he had half-publicly shouted for the Crown Prince to go and discuss borrowing money. Crown Prince Ning Yi had entered the palace to plead for forgiveness over the matter, but it didn't change the fact that he still couldn't borrow the money.
Everyone came to believe that while the King couldn't borrow money from the Hidden Yuan Society, the Crown Prince could. This affair inadvertently elevated Crown Prince Ning Yi's status, and the struggle for the throne, which had clearly halted, showed signs of reigniting fiercely. Furthermore, this time the sparks landed on the King's own head. One could see just how powerful the Hidden Yuan Society had become from this situation alone.
After conducting a certain experiment several times and confirming it was flawless, Shen Lang planned to formally enter the palace to discuss the millions of taels in military funding with the King. With the results of this experiment, he was certain he could not only earn millions of gold taels in the short span of half a month but also that this venture was even greater than selling the secret formula for glass mirrors, meaning he could make an insane, limitless amount of money. If Shen Lang truly succeeded in this, he would have created another astonishing miracle. Earning millions of gold taels in half a month? Such a business simply didn't exist in this world. If this venture succeeded, it would be a fierce slap in the face to the Crown Prince and the Hidden Yuan Society, while also solving the King's immense predicament.
* * *
At that moment, inside Phoenix Pavilion.
As the matchmaking between Jin Mucong and Zhu Ying was about to begin, the fatty was incredibly nervous. Each day felt like a year, and he couldn't sit still. Everyone in the capital was mocking him for not knowing his place, and they were all waiting to watch the show. Looking out the window, he saw countless brilliant young men surrounding the building. Inside, many giants of academia and imperial scholars had also come to watch. They had all come to see just how flustered and foolish Jin Mucong would look before Zhu Ying.
Their thinking was simple. Zhu Ying's status was noble; they thought that marrying her would instantly elevate their own status to the heavens. Besides, she was the most talented woman in the capital.
‘We don't stand a chance. Many of us have been trampled by her talent and knowledge. If a man more pathetic than us appears now, we'll naturally feel better.’
But would Jin Mucong, meeting Zhu Ying for this matchmaking, truly feel inferior and ashamed of being less than her? No! Jin Mucong already felt far more inferior and was far more ashamed of himself than anyone could imagine.
* * *
Jin Mucong sat alone in the room, waiting for Zhu Ying to arrive. He had only one thought at the moment.
‘I just want to get this over with, go home, sleep soundly, and pretend none of this ever happened.’
He couldn't even dare to imagine marrying Zhu Ying. In fact, he knew nothing about this meeting; his brother-in-law had suddenly summoned him here for it, leaving him completely unprepared.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside, and Jin Mucong became so nervous he could barely breathe. Presently, the door opened, and a beautiful woman walked in. She had the face of a fairy, calm and warm, with eyes that sparkled with incomparable intelligence. She was none other than Zhu Ying, the most talented woman in the capital.
After entering the room, she glanced at Jin Mucong. In that instant, Jin Mucong felt half his heart surrender to her, and he was frozen as if paralyzed. In truth, she wasn't as beautiful as Jin Mulan or Zhong Shishi, but she looked exactly like the lover from Jin Mucong's dreams. Alright, to be honest, Jin Mucong had never had a specific image of his dream lover, but the moment he saw Zhu Ying, one formed instantly.
Jin Mucong thought he should stand up to be polite, but as soon as he rose, *Poot!* A fart escaped. He hadn't expected to fart so suddenly. Jin Mucong despaired inwardly.
‘It's over, it's all over! I, Jin Mucong, am already unattractive, and now I'm no better than a pile of dung.’
Zhu Ying took out a scented handkerchief and covered her nose. She stood there for a long while, only walking over to sit in front of Jin Mucong after the smell had completely dissipated. She remained on high alert, as if facing a great enemy. She was worried Jin Mucong might unleash another biochemical attack. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Jin Mucong, this matchmaking session with me is actually very simple. If you can answer three of my questions, we can continue to get to know each other. If you answer incorrectly, the meeting ends immediately!”
Jin Mucong nodded desperately. He just wanted to end this meeting quickly, hide under his covers, and sob his heart out. Because he had just had his heart broken. The moment he saw Zhu Ying, his heart was nearly captured, but since there was no possibility between them, he had already concluded that he was heartbroken.
“I will ask the first question. Listen carefully.”
Jin Mucong tensed up completely, but even before he could answer, he was wailing inwardly.
‘I can't do it. I'm uneducated and untalented; I'll never be able to answer.’
“Since you just farted, I'll make that the first question. Why do some farts smell while others do not?”
Ugh! Upon hearing that, Jin Mucong was completely stunned.
‘Th-this is a matchmaking question from the most talented woman in the capital? How peculiar! I… I think I’ve fallen for her even more.’
Jin Mucong wanted to ask if she asked such questions during her meetings with other men. Of course, he didn't have the courage to ask. In truth, Zhu Ying only asked such a question because she was meeting with Jin Mucong. After all, who told him to look so especially bullyable? And who farts during a matchmaking session?
“Can you not answer? Then I will leave. Let's officially end this meeting.”
“Most farts don't smell, but if you eat certain foods or need to relieve yourself, the farts tend to smell more. The reason they smell is because they contain special gases, such as hydrogen sulfide or ammonia. In fact, farts are flammable gases. If you fart enough, you can even light a fire.”
After hearing Jin Mucong's answer, Zhu Ying was momentarily stunned. She had never expected such a reply. In fact, she herself only knew a little about the subject, having learned the basics from a very rare book. Therefore, she had never imagined that Jin Mucong would give such a professional answer.
But how on earth did Jin Mucong know the answer? He had learned it while chatting with Shen Lang. Some things were asked by Bing'er, some by Jin Mucong himself, and the two curious children, Ye Huìhuì and Ye Jia, asked Shen Lang the most questions. The two children must have asked 'why?' a hundred thousand times. Moreover, every time Shen Lang answered, the children would seize the opportunity to ask about all sorts of things. While other things were hard to remember, for some reason, this kind of knowledge was easy to retain, and Jin Mucong remembered it after hearing it just once.
Zhu Ying nodded and said.
“You've passed the first question. I will ask the second.”
Jin Mucong straightened his collar, sat up properly, and nodded vigorously. Zhu Ying thought for a moment before posing her question.
“At night, we can see stars in the sky. What are they?”
This would be an incredibly difficult question for the people of this world. This was because ancient eastern dynasties associated the celestial bodies—the stars and constellations—with figures on earth. If a certain star fell one day, it meant a great figure in the world had passed away. Of course, if a great figure passed away and no star fell from the sky? Then they would think that person wasn't great enough.
“They can be divided into two categories. Some stars are particularly large and bright, which means they are relatively close to us. They shine because they reflect the light of the sun. However, most stars are actually as large as the sun. They only appear like tiny stars because they are very far away from us.”
This, too, was naturally something Shen Lang had taught him. Zhu Ying was once again astonished. She had often asked this question to the brilliant young men who came to court her, but not a single one had been able to answer. Instead, unable to answer, they would pretend to know, discussing thousands of characters from ancient scriptures. They thought that speaking many words would make them seem more impressive, feigning eloquence even in their confusion. But now, Jin Mucong had once again answered correctly. Not only was his answer correct, but it was also more complete than the knowledge she had read in books.
In fact, Zhu Ying had been deeply shocked when she read about this in a book. Wasn't it incredible enough that there was one sun in the sky? The myth of Hou Yi shooting down nine suns was already considered unbelievable by everyone, yet they could never have imagined that there were countless suns in the sky. Zhu Ying had been captivated by this fact for a long time, looking up at the stars every day.
‘This fatty is so impressive? How does he know such mysterious and advanced knowledge?’