Chapter 673 - 673: The Peak of Life
Chapter 673: The Peak of Life
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The eyes of the young Princess of the Western Jin Dynasty lit up. “It sounds fun!”
Zhao Kangning smiled. “Yes, flower picking is very popular in Northern Yan. If you like it, I can teach you how to play later. Then shall we compete today?”
“Okay, okay…”
Halfway through her excitement, the young Princess of the Western Jin realized that she was a little too close to Zhao Kangning. She rubbed the mane of Sihu and asked Su Xiaoxiao, “Qin Su, you can teach me. Qin Su, your qinggong is not bad, right?”
Lu Ying said with a bitter expression, “Qin Su doesn’t know qinggong.” The young Princess of the Western Jin was speechless.
She scratched the Sihu guiltily like a child who had done something wrong.
“Qin Su…” She looked at Su Xiaoxiao weakly.
Zhao Kangning also looked over and smiled provocatively. “Qin Su, it’s not too late for you to admit defeat now. If you go up later and fall… it will be very painful.”
“I’ll compete with you,” Su Xiaoxiao said.
“Qin Su!” the daughters of the Palace Academy said in unison.
Zhao Kangning had practiced martial arts since she was young and had inherited Helian Ye’s true teachings. Her qinggong was even more powerful than many imperial experts. Wouldn’t Qin Su be dead if she competed with her?
Zhao Kangning smiled and said, “Alright! You have guts. I admire you very much. I hope you can do your best. It’s not embarra.s.sing to admit defeat.”
Princess Hui An stomped her feet and said angrily, “You’re the one who will lose!”
For the sake of fairness, the flower picking building was built by the Western Jin envoys. No one was allowed to observe the entire process. After it was built, everyone was invited back to the gra.s.sland.
Seeing that the attic was still high, Holly was shocked. “Didn’t you say 20 feet? This, this is at least 30 feet, right?”
“36 feet,” Su Xiaoxiao said.
“Why is it so high?” The young Princess of the Western Jin asked reproachfully.
“That’s how high you drew,” the lead guard said.
The height and position were decided by drawing lots. Su Xiaoxiao drew a puzzle, and Zhao Kangning drew a height.
Zhao Kangning smiled and said, ‘Qin Su, if you’re afraid, please ask them to build it again.”
Su Xiaoxiao said calmly, “No need. Let’s begin.”
Zhao Kangning looked at her one last time and couldn’t hide her mockery. “No matter how calm you pretend to be, you’ll still lose.”
She had long asked around. Qin Su had only learned qinggong recently and was hopeless at it. She wanted to see how Qin Su could compare to her!
Su Xiaoxiao was quite helpless about not being able to learn qinggong.
However, without qinggong, there was still a chance of winning.
She had already observed the structure of the flower picking building. If it was compared to a house, the horizontal rod would be the floor, and the vertical rod would be the weight-bearing wall. The latter would definitely not have a hollow rod.
If she followed the empty rod up, she would definitely not miss.
The gong sounded.
Zhao Kangning used her qinggong and leaped up. 36 feet seemed to be disadvantageous to Su Xiaoxiao, but it was actually not too advantageous to Zhao Kangning.
Her qinggong had yet to reach the peak. She needed to borrow strength a few times, but she was definitely stronger than Qin Su.
Princess Hui An was anxious. “What’s my sidekick doing? Why isn’t she going up? Zhao Kangning is almost halfway up!”
Princess Jingning frowned slightly.
Zhao Kangning’s qinggong was better than she had imagined.
Su Xiaoxiao put on her silver silk gloves and tested the feel of the vertical shaft. She was not affected by Zhao Kangning and was calm from the beginning to the end.
She grabbed a vertical rod and flipped sideways, wrapping her legs upside down around the vertical rod. She kicked the horizontal rod above with her toes to confirm that it was a solid rod. Right on the heels of that, her soft waist displayed astonishing core strength.
She hooked the horizontal rod with the tip of her foot and curled up like a vine, firmly clinging to the next vertical rod.
Everyone couldn’t help but exclaim.
Wasn’t this too dashing? How did she do it?
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t stop. Every time she flipped, kicked the rod, and hung upside down, she exerted her strength and beauty to the limit.
Zhao Kangning’s clothes fluttered like a fairy. At first, she was quite eye-catching, but after looking at Su Xiaoxiao and then at Zhao Kangning, everyone felt that the latter was like a sky monkey. Most importantly, she kept stepping on empty poles.
Lu Hui sighed. “Qin Su is still the best. She didn’t miss. Qin Su, hurry up and chase after her.”
Lu Ying nodded and said nervously, “Qin Su, you have to win…”
With Zhao Kangning’s advantage in qinggong, even if she repeatedly stepped on the empty pole, she would soon reach the top.
She wanted to see if Su Xiaoxiao had already fallen. When she turned around, she was surprised to find that Su Xiaoxiao was only three feet away from her!
This was impossible!
How did she climb up?
Su Xiaoxiao flipped sideways again and hooked the vertical rod firmly.
Zhao Kangning frowned. Why didn’t she think of this method?
However, it was too late to change it now. She would never admit that she did not have Su Xiaoxiao’s strength.
If she stepped on the empty rod again, she would lose, unless…
A cold glint flashed across her eyes as she stomped on the solid pole under her feet. The entire structure swayed.
The expression on the Face of the young Princess of Western Jin Kingdom changed. “Ah—Qin Su—”
Princess Hui An’s face turned pale. “Little sidekick! Zhao! You’re too despicable! If you can’t afford to lose, don’t compete! Aren’t you ashamed to use such a method? To think that you’re a princess of the royal family!”
“Hmph, losing was the real humiliation. I havr not broken the rules. What was wrong with stepping on the pole?”
Su Xiaoxiao hung upside down with one foot wrapped around the vertical rod. Although it was very dangerous, she was not thrown off.
She looked at Zhao Kangning, who was not far away, and suddenly stretched out her toes to kick away the horizontal rod under Zhao Kangning’s feet.
Zhao Kangning suddenly fell.
Although Su Xiaoxiao’s counterattack surprised her, her qinggong was good, so she was not afraid at all!
She stepped on a solid rod. This was what she had just walked past. She remembered and landed steadily.
However, at this moment, something unexpected happened.
The solid rod under her feet suddenly became Ana empty rod.
And she was not prepared and did not hold back.
She hurriedly grabbed another solid rod and it actually became another empty rod!
How could this be?
It was Qin Su!
It must be her!
She untied the ribbon!
She had deliberately fallen so far behind to observe the solid rod she had stepped on. She was so despicable!
THUD!
She fell awkwvardly onto a green gra.s.sland.
At the same time, Su Xiaoxiao successfully reached the top and picked the silk flower.
She glared at Su Xiaoxiao fiercely. “I’m not convinced! I’m not convinced! You cheated!”
Princess Hui An said righteously, “You attacked first!”
Lu Ying hurriedly echoed, “That’s right. We all saw it. You deliberately shook the bamboo pole to make Qin Su fall! Are only state officials allowed to set fire but not commoners?”
Zhao Kangning gritted his teeth. “There’s still a riddle. I don’t believe she can solve it!”
The question that Qin Su had drawn was the most difficult math question in Northern Yan.
Even the Grand Scholar of Northern Yan too more than half a year to solve it. So what if she knew the a.n.a.lects of Confucius backwards? Many scholars could not even understand the nine chapters of arithmetic!
She did not believe that Qin Su had the ability!
She sneered. “If she can’t answer, it’s not a win. At most, it’s a draw with me!”
“Thirteen.”
Su Xiaoxiao gave an answer easily..