Chapter Nineteenth: The Double Queens of Shu and Wu

  "Sister, you've fallen into the trap!" The masked woman heard the green-shirted girl say the answer so quickly and stomped her foot, saying: "If ten trees are lined up in a row, with two trees making one empty space, there are only nine empty spaces in between, which is actually eighteen zhang."

  The girl in the green shirt thought carefully and indeed it was eighteen zhang. Seeing Zhang Zixing's playful expression on his face, she became furious and made a gesture to pounce: "You wicked thief, how dare you trick me!"

  "Didn't the young lady say that this was a childish question? Why did you answer incorrectly? In the art of calculation, one originally needs clever thoughts, so where does the idea of deceiving people come from?" Zhang Zixing laughed and said: "In all things, use reason to convince people. Since the young lady has already calculated incorrectly, could it be that she still wants to force me to surrender with martial power?"

  The masked woman knew she was in the wrong, and hastily dissuaded her: "Sister, wait! He's right, divination requires clever thinking. Please step down first, I'll ask this gentleman for guidance."

  "Sister, look at his arrogant appearance, help me teach him a lesson!" The girl in the green shirt had always trusted her sister and followed her words to return behind the masked woman.

  The masked woman said to Zhang Zixing: "This old gentleman, the set of rare books in this store was originally reserved by me. Just now I saw you ask a difficult question and stump my sister, so you must be skilled in arithmetic. I also have a question, if you can answer it, I will let my sister apologize to you and give you the three books 'Tian Suan', 'Da Shang Li Yue' and 'Bai Cao Jing' as a gift; if you cannot answer, this book will still belong to me, and the matter of my sister hurting your servant will also be written off. How about it?"

  Zhang Zixing quickly answered the tenth question from the masked woman and saw that she must also be an arithmetic enthusiast. Upon hearing this proposal, he immediately became interested: "This is great, it can be used to collect the atmosphere and make friends with 'arithmetic', please ask Miss to ask questions."

  The girl saw his confident appearance, and with a sparkle in her bright eyes, she said: "Now there are young rabbits in the same cage, above there are thirty-five heads, below there are ninety-four feet, how many young rabbits are there?"

  There are a certain number of chickens and rabbits in the same cage. Counting from above, there are 35 heads; counting from below, there are 94 feet. Find out how many chickens and rabbits are in the cage.

  Zhang Zixing heard that this was the topic, and a smile flashed in his eyes. It turned out that this was a difficult question from "Tian Suan" that had no answer, and the original question came from "Sunzi Suanjing". For the Shang Dynasty people who had just popularized mathematics, it was indeed quite difficult.

  "This question is indeed difficult to answer," Zhang Zixing said after a moment of contemplation, first emphasizing the difficulty before suddenly shifting his tone: "However, as I just mentioned, clever calculations require creative thinking. If we consider it from another angle, there are at least two ways to solve this problem."

  "Two!" The woman's astonishment was not trivial, as she had herself been racking her brains for many days without being able to solve the problem. She hadn't expected this arrogant and bullying young nobleman to be able to solve it, and what's more, he had multiple methods: "Please instruct me, sir!"

  The masked woman was so anxious that she even changed her tone, while the green-shirted girl stared with wide eyes, as if to say "you can't answer and you'll be in trouble". The "noble young man" smiled more intensely on his face and slowly spoke out the correct answer.

  Originally, Sunzi put forward a bold idea to solve this problem. He assumed that if he cut off half of each chicken's and rabbit's feet, then each chicken would become a "one-legged chicken" and each rabbit would become a "two-legged rabbit". In this way, the number of feet of "one-legged chickens" and "two-legged rabbits" changed from 94 to 47; while the ratio of head count to foot count for each "chicken" became 1:1, and that for each "rabbit" became 1:2. From this, it can be inferred that if there is one more "two-legged rabbit", then the number of feet will exceed the number of heads by 1. Therefore, the difference between the number of feet and the number of heads of "one-legged chickens" and "two-legged rabbits" is equal to the number of rabbits, which is: 47-35=12; and the number of chickens is: 35-12=23.

  The person next to him had limited math skills and listened as if he was in a fog, while the masked woman was clearly an expert. After listening for just a few sentences, her eyes became serious and she carefully listened to Zhang Zixing's entire explanation process, afraid of missing a single word or sentence. Gradually, her gaze changed from initial suspicion to sudden realization, and finally to excitement and agitation.

  "I never expected such a hypothetical method, the way of calculation is indeed ingenious. Sir, you possess extraordinary wisdom, today's explanation has dispelled the doubts in my heart and broadened my horizons. I hope sir will forgive me for my earlier transgression."

  The green-shirted girl heard that the "evil thief" had indeed solved her sister's doubts, and her expression was greatly surprised. Zhang Zixing smiled at the green-shirted girl and said, "Today's matter is my fault from the beginning, and there is no need for you to apologize, let's just end it here."

  The girl in the green shirt snorted and turned her head away, seemingly unimpressed. The masked woman didn't expect that the difficult problem she had been unable to solve for many days would be easily solved by him. She was very impressed with Zhang Zixing and respectfully bowed to ask: "May I ask your esteemed surname and given name? Where is your residence? I also hope to learn from you in the future."

  In this era, most women take it as their duty to be a good wife and mother, even someone like Huang Feiyan who likes archery is considered an exception. Let alone someone as diligent and studious as the masked woman. Zhang Zixing also appreciates the masked woman: "I don't dare to accept such praise, Miss. I'm just a lazy person, self-proclaimed Carefree Wanderer, with no fixed residence, only these two servants attending me. What I said earlier about the mansion and the young servant was just joking, it's laughable."

  The masked woman saw that Zhang Zixing was not an ordinary citizen, knew it was a lie, and didn't expose him. She continued to ask: "Just now, Mr. said there is another solution... The little woman dares to ask, please don't hesitate to tell her."

  "This... isn't part of our bet, is it?" The carefree wanderer deliberately showed a troubled expression: "If the young lady is willing to promise me one thing, I'll tell her everything."

  "The young lady also knows the principle of keeping secrets... " The masked woman frowned and said: "Sir, please first say what conditions."

  Zhang Zixing originally wanted to let her lift the veil and see the true face of Lushan, but after a moment's thought, he changed his words: "Actually, this is not any special condition, it's just that the method is very novel and can't be explained in three or two sentences. Today I still have something important to do, so I'd like to make another appointment with Miss to discuss further."

  "It's embarrassing to say, but I often go to Weimiao Caotang to teach arithmetic. If you have leisure time in the future, you can find me there." The woman said, taking three "treasured books" from the shop owner and presenting them to Zhang Zixing with both hands: "I hope that when the time comes, sir will give more guidance to the poor students of Caotang. I thank you in advance."

  "Return the book to its original owner?" Zhang Zixing secretly smiled and pushed the book back, "Since we've already made a promise to meet again, I'll leave this book with you for now. It's not too late to return it to me when we see each other next time."

  The woman no longer declined, took the book, and with a quick glance at his face, bid farewell and left with the girl in the green shirt.

  "Your Majesty, have you taken a liking to these two women? Should I go and investigate their backgrounds?" Fei Zhong asked cautiously, observing the emperor's expression. He noticed that the emperor had other intentions and quietly approached Zhang Zixing to ask in a low voice. This guy was clever and knew that if these two women were favored by the emperor, his own plans for today would be ruined.

  "No need, I have my own plans. You're making a fuss over nothing. Let's just head back first and prioritize treating your injuries." Zhang Zixing said with a shake of his head, causing Fei Zhong and Jiang Wenhuan to feel grateful. In fact, he did have some interest in the masked woman, but more so out of curiosity. As for the "borrowing books" move, it was one that Zhang Zixing often used when getting to know female classmates back in his student days - although it was a bit cliché, it was quite effective.

  Back in the palace, Zhang Zixing hastily summoned the imperial physician to treat Jiang and Fei's injuries. Fei Zhong only had a fracture, but Jiang Wenhuan's face was badly injured, with severe bone fractures in addition to external wounds. The green-shirted beauty moved as swiftly as lightning, saying that even Jiang Wenhuan himself couldn't see what hidden weapon it was, only discovering some strange crystal shards on the ground. Fortunately, with the advent of the "Hundred Herb Classic", the imperial physician's medical skills had also made great progress, and the two men's injuries were quickly and effectively treated.

  That night, Zhang Zixing reviewed the original "Fengshen Yanyi" in his super brain again. Suddenly, he thought of one person: absolute beauty, hidden weapons, and five-colored stones. Could it be her? He had always wanted to meet her, but unexpectedly, they just passed each other by today. In the original book, this beautiful woman's encounter was tragic. She was forced into marriage with an ugly man and then died on the battlefield. Now that he is Zhou Wang, he must find a way to prevent the beauty from falling into the "beast's" clutches again - although in this era, it was common for girls to marry at 13 or 14 years old, but in his view as a "modern person", it was still too young. After a few years, he would simply issue an edict to make her a concubine and summon her into the palace. That dead dwarf Tuhai Sun wouldn't be able to do anything about it!

  As for the identity of the masked woman, Zhang Zixing was puzzled. According to the information provided by Fei Zhongyuan, Deng Chan had no sister, and there was no such mysterious woman in the original book who didn't show her true face? However, thinking that he could meet her again at the grass hall in a few days, Zhang Zixing's heart also relaxed: I wonder what kind of beauty this woman's true face is. If the opportunity is right, why not take this masked woman into the harem and join the "Double Xiu Army"?

  As he thought of this, he suddenly became vigilant: how had he become increasingly unable to restrain himself from the opposite sex lately? His desire for beautiful women and his longing for them seemed even stronger than before, and his love for them was even more ardent. Could it be due to the fact that he had cultivated the Huangdi Sufemale Jing to a certain extent? No wonder it's the favorite of lechers...

  Just as Zhang Zixing was indulging in his fantasies, he suddenly heard that the Grand Tutor had requested an audience and reported on the urgent military situation from Duke Dongbo Jiang Huan Chu - the Eastern Yi tribe launched a large-scale invasion.