"Using the same old trick?" Chu Qing frowned.
"Your Ladyship, surely you haven't forgotten. Last time, they made you lose face in front of everyone like this..."
Lüluo's voice was extremely soft, but tinged with a hint of sobs.
What on earth could be done!
Last time when Chu Qing returned from the palace, her face was deathly pale and she remained silent. It took Lüluo a long time to coax the reason out of her.
It turned out that in the palace over the past decade or so, a multiplayer game had become popular. Different from the previous refined games, players didn't necessarily need to be well - read.
All they needed was to be able to do arithmetic and recite the multiplication table.
As for the rules, the first person would randomly say a number within ten, and the remaining players would have to say the next number in sequence. However, if the number was seven, contained seven, or was any number in the row of seven in the multiplication table, the player couldn't say the number but simply tap the cup in front of them, and the next person would continue in order.
If a player made a mistake or forgot to tap the cup, they would lose.
The loser would then be assigned to do something by the others.
Logically speaking, given Chu Qing's background, her arithmetic should have been decent.
But "logically speaking" was just that. Although Chu Qing came from a merchant family, she was actually quite poor at arithmetic and couldn't even recite the multiplication table smoothly.
So during the last banquet, Chu Qing made mistakes every time! Either she said the wrong number or, after the previous person tapped the cup, she got confused and forgot what number she should say. Since they were all concubines in the harem, the punishments wouldn't be too vulgar. But if someone had the intention to punish another, it wouldn't be easy.
And because of her status, Chu Qing naturally became the target of many.
...
"Your Ladyship, who on earth came up with this game! It's really..." Lüluo murmured in a hushed tone, but wasn't sure what else to say.
After listening to Lüluo's endless chatter, Chu Qing lowered her head.
She was on the verge of bursting into laughter!
Because this game was something she had come up with accidentally in her previous life when she was the queen!
She never expected that people were still enjoying playing it now!
The problem was... these people wanted to use the game she had invented to punish her?
A faint smile played on Chu Qing's lips. She had never lost when it came to this game!
Without dwelling on why the previous Chu Qing was so bad at arithmetic, the current Chu Qing was fully confident as she awaited the start of the game.
Those who had been looking forward to seeing Chu Qing show a panicked and embarrassed expression were surprised to find that she had changed her demeanor. Now she sat there calmly, and upon closer inspection, one could even detect a glimmer of excitement in her eyes...
Another person couldn't hold back and said loudly, "Princess Ning, did you memorize the multiplication table properly after you went back last time? Don't be like last time. Some of the sisters at the back didn't even get a chance to count before we had to start all over again."
Hearing this, some people began to chuckle.
Chu Qing raised her eyes and looked at the speaker. If she wasn't mistaken, this was the same person who had targeted her earlier.
The woman's features resembled Xu Xin's. Maybe they were relatives.
The queen couldn't stand it any longer and said coldly, "Concubine Xuan, watch your words. You're being so disrespectful."
Just as Concubine Xuan was about to defend herself, the empress dowager smiled and said, "There are no so many rules at today's gathering. Let's start earlier. I'm quite eager to see who among you is the most alert."
Everyone lowered their eyes and replied in agreement.
Since the empress dowager was not convenient to participate, the queen claimed to be unwell and wanted to give the initiative to Chu Qing so that she could get used to it first. So Chu Qing was the first to start.
With a slight curl of her lips, Chu Qing made her move. Everyone was ready, waiting in anticipation.
"Clang!" Chu Qing didn't say a word. Instead, she gently tapped the cup in front of her with a chopstick.
Everyone was stunned, not knowing what to do.
Previously, the starting numbers had almost always been among the first six. No one had ever started by tapping the cup.
Seeing that no one was reacting, Chu Qing feigned confusion and said, "There's no rule saying that one can't start by tapping the cup. You can continue."
The person sitting next to Chu Qing hesitated for a moment and then said, "Eight...?"
After that, everyone took their turns in sequence and gradually got into the rhythm.
Soon, it was Chu Qing's turn again.
The person before her said twenty - six, and the next one tapped the cup.
Without hesitation, Chu Qing also tapped the cup.
But the next person was completely lost and stood there in a daze for a long time.
The queen said with a hint of delight that this round was over.
Naturally, the person sitting next to Chu Qing had to accept the punishment.
...
No one knew how many rounds they had played in the end. Almost everyone had made mistakes, except for Chu Qing, who passed every round smoothly.
When it was Concubine Xuan's turn to make a mistake, it happened to be Chu Qing's turn to decide her punishment.
After thinking for a while, Chu Qing said casually, "In the past, the punishments were mostly about writing poems or showing off talents. I find them rather boring. How about something different today to liven things up? What do you think, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager?"
"As long as it's not too excessive, it's up to you."
Chu Qing smiled in response and then scanned everyone around. "I've heard that there's a concubine in the harem who is quite good at archery. I wonder who it is?"
Hearing Princess Ning mention archery, Huo Xiaoxiao immediately said loudly, "Your Highness overpraises me. I did learn some martial arts from my father since childhood and am somewhat proficient in it."
"Could you still hit the target if your eyes were blindfolded?"
"If the target is stationary, I believe I can do it." Huo Xiaoxiao showed a confident smile. In the past, people in the palace thought she was too rough for always practicing martial arts, so this was the first time she had been recognized.
Chu Qing nodded in satisfaction. She got up from her seat and walked to the center of the main hall.
"Since it's a punishment, there should be some real consequences, shouldn't there?" Chu Qing said with a smile as she looked at Concubine Xuan. "In this game, the loser must always accept the punishment. Concubine Xuan, do you have any objections?"
Seeing Chu Qing's bright smile, Concubine Xuan felt a sense of unease. But since she had always looked down on Chu Qing, she wasn't going to back down easily. So she said bravely, "I'm naturally willing to accept the punishment."
"Very well... Then my punishment for you is that you'll place an apple on your head, and this apple will be shot by someone with their eyes blindfolded."
"Are you trying to kill me?" Concubine Xuan was shocked and panicked upon hearing Chu Qing's words. She even forgot the proper form of address and looked at the empress dowager for help. "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, please uphold justice for me! Princess Ning is trying to kill me on purpose!" With that, she immediately knelt on the ground.
The empress dowager's expression turned cold. "What does this mean, Princess Ning? Concubine Xuan is the emperor's concubine! Are you defying the royal authority?"
Chu Qing raised an eyebrow and replied calmly, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, don't be impatient. I haven't finished speaking yet. I can't bear the charge of defying the royal authority."
After saying that, Chu Qing walked up to Concubine Xuan slowly and looked down at her. The words she said next shocked everyone.
"I'll stand in front of you. If the arrow misses, it'll hit me. If it doesn't, you can easily get through this punishment. What are you afraid of?"