Hearing the excited noise outside, Chu Qing immediately woke up.
When she opened her eyes, Wei Ying was sitting beside her, seemingly reading something.
"Are they back?" Perhaps because she had just woken up, even though she was fully conscious, her voice still carried a hint of laziness.
Hearing Chu Qing's movement, Wei Ying put down what was in his hand and walked to the bedside.
"Awake?"
Seeing that Wei Ying first showed concern for her, Chu Qing felt a warmth in her heart and responded with a smile.
"Let's go out. I'm sure everyone is waiting." Chu Qing said softly.
"Okay."
...
After the two walked out of the tent, they found that the two groups of people seemed to be arguing.
Wei Ying frowned and said in a cold voice, "What's all the noise about?"
When the members of the Black Cloud Army saw the King of Ning coming, someone immediately replied, "My lord! He won unfairly!"
Following the direction pointed by this person, Wei Ying and Chu Qing saw Ba Tel in the distance, tightly holding a bunch of flags in his hand. At this moment, he had his head down, looking somewhat ashamed.
However... he still held the flags tightly in his hand.
Wei Ying raised his eyebrows and walked forward with Chu Qing.
"You won?" Wei Ying said indifferently.
Only then did Ba Tel raise his face and reply in a low voice, "I should have won."
"You really have the nerve!" A soldier who had just spoken sneered and continued.
Wei Ying looked back at him coldly, and only then did he lower his head and stop talking.
However, the expression on his face still showed reluctance.
A dark look flashed in Wei Ying's eyes. He looked at Wei Yi and said, "You tell me."
The expression on Wei Yi's face was also not good. He replied sullenly, "My lord, this subordinate is incompetent... I couldn't defeat him. Please punish this subordinate!"
Seeing their reactions, Chu Qing narrowed her eyes and asked, "What happened? Who of you two can tell me?"
Ba Tel still had his head down. Wei Yi glanced at him and then slowly told what had happened after they went up the mountain.
"Reporting to my lord, after this subordinate went up the mountain, I successfully obtained the first flag. Then I realized the arrangement set by my lord. It should be that Qian is the head, Kun is the abdomen, Zhen is the foot, Xun is the thigh, Kan is the ear, Li is the eye, Gen is the hand, and Dui is the mouth. So I planned to climb to a high place to get a view of the terrain here, so I went to the highest peak of Ka Ze Mountain. When I got there, I roughly figured out the correct locations of the eight flags. After getting the flag on the peak, I went to the place of Gen, but found that the flag that should have been there was already gone. Presumably... it had already been taken by Chief Ba Tel. I didn't stay and continued to go to the place of Xun, where I found the flag still there. Then I went to the last two places and only got one flag. At that time, I thought that with six flags in my hand, I had surely won. So I returned along the original path to go down the mountain. But then..."
"You were ambushed?" Wei Ying raised his eyebrows and calmly got straight to the point.
Seeing that Wei Ying had already guessed, Wei Yi replied in a low voice, then hung his head dejectedly and said no more.
The person who had just shouted that Ba Tel had won unfairly couldn't help but speak up for Wei Yi again, "My lord, Chief Ba Tel is too... cunning!"
Ba Tel frowned but didn't say a word.
Wei Ying smiled, but his smile was extremely cold.
"What did I say before?"
"Whoever... has more flags in hand... wins."
"Then... who has more flags in hand now?"
"Chief Ba Tel..."
"So naturally, the winner is him."
"But..." The person seemed to want to say something else.
Wei Ying curled his lips and continued slowly, "What? Is our Black Cloud Army unable to accept defeat? In a battle, if you lose, are you going to rush up and tell the enemy that he won unfairly?"
With just this simple sentence, the little soldier who was speaking up for Wei Yi was left speechless.
Wei Yi finally said, "It was this subordinate who lost. All is fair in war. It was this subordinate... who underestimated the enemy."
Seeing that Wei Yi finally understood, Wei Ying softened his expression and patiently continued to explain, "This written test not only tested your martial skills but also your wits. Wei Yi, you didn't think as carefully as he did, and you couldn't beat him either. So of course, you lost."
Being bluntly criticized by his own lord, Wei Yi replied listlessly.
Indeed, he had thought that this young chief of the Ba Tel tribe shouldn't be so scheming.
Who would have thought... he had actually ambushed him on the way down the mountain.
Moreover... he couldn't even beat him!
Wei Yi lowered his head to reflect, while Ba Tel beside him perked up.
Just now, the King of Ning had actually affirmed him!
He had thought that the King of Ning would say that he was being sly!
Instead, he had said that he was smart!
Seeing Ba Tel regain his spirits, Wei Ying then continued to ask, "You saw through the arrangement I set."
"Um... no." Ba Tel answered honestly.
The smile on Wei Ying's face froze. He glanced at Ba Tel sideways and asked in confusion, "Then how did you get the flags from the place of Xun and the other place?"
"Um... I just searched randomly..." Ba Tel lowered his voice. Although he was afraid that telling the truth would make the King of Ning angry, he had always disdained to lie.
Wei Ying was completely stunned.
At this moment, he had already decided what to teach this silly boy first.
The atmosphere seemed a bit awkward. Chu Qing held back the urge to burst out laughing, pursed her lips into a rather proper smile, and said loudly, "A bet is a bet. This time, it's Chief Ba Tel of the Ba Tel tribe who won. So... Your Highness?"
Chu Qing gave Wei Ying a look, indicating for him to speak.
Wei Ying finally regained his normal expression and said seriously, "Ba Tel, in this assessment, whether it's in terms of literature or martial arts, you did well. So... according to our Central Plains custom, you should offer tea to me."
Ba Tel originally thought that the King of Ning was thirsty and was just about to ask when he caught a glimpse of Yu Er and the Princess of Ning looking at him excitedly.
Only then did he react.
Offering tea...
The King of Ning was...
Agreeing!
Due to the limited conditions, Ba Tel hurriedly picked up a bowl, filled it with tea, and knelt down respectfully in front of the King of Ning.
Normally, a man's knees are precious.
And Ba Tel was the chief of a tribe.
However, no one showed any dissatisfaction. Instead, everyone was beaming with joy.
The people of the Ba Tel tribe knew their young chief's abilities well. If he was willing to worship someone as his teacher, then that person...
Must be even more amazing!
However, the members of the Black Cloud Army had rather complex expressions.
Some people couldn't help but rub their stomachs.
Not only had they missed a big meal, but the rations they had painstakingly saved and were reluctant to eat up had also all been lost.
Ah!
It was really painful to think about it.
Feeling the hungry looks from his brothers, Wei Yi unconsciously took a step back.
This really couldn't be blamed on him.
Who asked these people to bet their food when they had nothing better to do!
Let them go hungry!
Chu Qing watched with a smile as Wei Ying stiffly drank the tea offered by Ba Tel. Then, naturally, she caught a glimpse of the somewhat resentful looks from the soldiers of the Black Cloud Army.
Chu Qing let out a soft laugh, cleared her throat, and said loudly, "What this princess said just now still counts. Tonight, not only the soldiers of our Black Cloud Army but also everyone here. We'll have wine, meat, and brothers. Let's get drunk!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted and cheered excitedly.
Seeing this, Wei Ying pretended to be sour and whispered to Chu Qing, "You've won over all my men."
Chu Qing smiled and said, "I'm yours. What are you afraid of?"