Ouchi Taming the Cat, starting with the Ten Tiger Forms!

Chapter 511 Heavy Pressure
It was naturally impossible for the Eighth Prince to carry with him a huge sum of 20,000 taels of silver.

However, as early as the fierce stage of the competition, several princes and princesses who were still participating in the competition sent their attendants to collect the money.

But as the challenge money became more and more outrageous, they gradually lost confidence.

The eighth prince's attendant very tactlessly prepared the challenge money and handed it to him.

The Eighth Prince looked at the 25,600 taels of silver in his hand, fearing that Princess Ankang and Zhao Feng did not understand his expression, so he held it tightly in his hand and did not hand it over immediately.

"Ok?"

Zhao Feng's hand was already on the banknote, but when he saw that the Eighth Prince refused to let go, he couldn't help but frown.

He saw and heard the Eighth Prince's looks and whispers, but he made no attempt to understand.

What a joke. They, the Imperial Household Department, only follow the wishes of Emperor Yongyuan when doing things in the palace, right?

Besides, since so much money is involved, Zhao Feng didn't want to understand the Eighth Prince's expression.

"The Eighth Prince forcibly challenges Princess Ankang!"

When Zhao Feng sang loudly, the Eighth Prince suddenly felt his hands holding the banknote go numb and weak. He could only watch helplessly as the banknote fell into Zhao Feng's hands and went into his arms.

The Eighth Prince was not stupid, he knew that this was Envoy Zhao's trick.

Seeing that Zhao Feng ignored his gaze and acted as if he had not heard his suggestion, the Eighth Prince's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

"This old fellow!"

The eighth prince had a premonition that his more than 20,000 taels of challenge money might be wasted.

"Ankang, you can't let your brother down."

The Eighth Prince secretly glared at Zhao Feng a few times, and before he noticed, he shifted his hopeful gaze to Princess Ankang.

But when he saw the confused look on Princess Ankang's face, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat again.

"Hey, what does her expression mean?"

"Aren't you usually quite clever?"

"Why aren't you smart now?"

"You're not playing me, are you?"

The Eighth Prince blinked at Princess Ankang, and Princess Ankang blinked at the Eighth Prince even more innocently.

Seeing that the Eighth Prince was constantly making eye contact, Zhao Feng immediately urged him:
"Please let your highness the Eighth Prince start first."

"You are the challenging party."

"Oh..." The Eighth Prince answered weakly, as if he had lost his parents.

"Ah, luckily I was more careful, at least I didn't suffer the most."

When the Eighth Prince thought about it this way, he didn’t feel so bad anymore.

"No matter what tricks the third brother has, the eldest brother and his friends have nowhere to run."

The Eighth Prince glanced at Concubine Zhang, who looked as cold as frosty in the pavilion in the distance, and chuckled evilly.

As long as there are people who are more unlucky than him, he is not the most clownish one and there will always be fun for him to watch.

As for Princess Ying Ankang, the Eighth Prince hadn't thought much about her.

It would be better to say that if he defeated Princess Ankang, he would be the most clownish person today.

He knew very well what a hard life Princess Ankang had lived before.

The Eighth Prince had previously given Princess Ankang a horse, and he had helped her raise the horse for a long time, and only sent it to her after the Jingyang Palace was renovated.

After that, although Jingyang Palace seemed to have prospered and Princess Ankang also had the prestigious status of the Royal Silver Envoy, based on the Eighth Prince's understanding of Princess Ankang, she would probably not abuse her power for personal gain and significantly increase her monthly salary. At most, she would adjust it to a level similar to that of other princes and princesses.

The Eighth Prince participated in the supplementary competition mostly to join in the fun and cause trouble for the Third Prince and his companions.

But who could have thought that it would cost so much money just to join in the fun.

Next, the ignorant Princess Ankang defeated the Eighth Prince as expected.

"Myna, I need money."

Princess Ankang stretched out her hand towards the Eighth Prince.

"Ankang, this is not the case. Didn't you understand my expression?"

The Eighth Prince muttered to Princess Ankang.

"But you don't have anything valuable on you." Princess Ankang's face sank, and she said helplessly, "Oh, forget it."

Hearing this, the Eighth Prince's face lit up with joy, as Princess Ankang finally understood what he meant.

"For the sake of our friendship, I'll use the two remaining pieces of clothing on you to pay off the 20,000 taels of silver." Princess Ankang said in a generous tone.

Two pieces of rags were worth twenty thousand taels of silver. Princess Ankang was indeed very generous.

But the problem is that the eighth prince was left with only his shorts and fur coat.

The eighth prince's expression froze, and the smile on his face froze.

The next moment, he said seriously: "Ankang, put the 20,000 taels on my account, and I will definitely pay you back later."

As soon as the Eighth Prince finished speaking, Zhao Feng came over and asked loudly:

"Your Highness the Thirteenth Princess, the Eighth Prince requests that the account be temporarily kept and the twenty-five thousand six hundred taels be repaid later."

"Do you agree?"

Hearing this, the Eighth Prince groaned inwardly.

"What do you want?"

But he only dared to criticize Zhao Feng silently in his heart.

Princess Ankang did not embarrass the Eighth Prince any more and immediately nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

"Okay, we at the Ministry of Internal Affairs will record this account for Her Royal Highness the Thirteenth Princess."

"I hope His Royal Highness the Eighth Prince can repay it in this way."

Zhao Feng finally said to the Eighth Prince with a smile, which completely stopped him from thinking of refusing to pay his debts.

“This old man!”

The Eighth Prince was angry but dared not say anything. He could only force a smile and nod in agreement.

More than 20,000 taels of silver was not a small amount for him.

The money for his previous challenge came from his own small treasury that he had accumulated over the years.

In the end, the eighth prince owed a lot of debts and left the stage in disgrace, ending his own additional game.

Next, it was the turn of the third prince, who also wore a minimalist style.

This time, the third prince needs to pay a challenge fee of 51,200 taels of silver.

The third prince strode to the front of the stage and faced Princess Ankang with a look of confidence.

Then, he raised his thumb, pointed at himself, and announced loudly:

"I will force myself to challenge myself!"

"..."

Everyone looked at the Third Prince in disbelief, whether they were concubines or princes and princesses, their faces were filled with disbelief.

At this time, the Third Prince's mother, Concubine Zhao Shufei, couldn't help laughing in the pavilion and broke the silence.

Li Xuan looked at the Third Prince, then at Concubine Zhao Shu, and couldn't help but think to himself, "This kid is quite flexible."

He smiled and shook his head, feeling a little regretful for not being able to trick the Third Prince.

But today, it’s not too bad that he can imitate the Daxing Superman costume in public.

Li Xuan originally thought that this guy would definitely find a way to get back at the lost person, but he never expected that he would actually choose to give up on his own initiative.

That's right. No matter how high they thought Princess Ankang's monthly allowance was, to spend tens of thousands of taels of silver just for the possibility of exchanging the monthly allowance was honestly a huge loss.

Even if I really get the monthly salary of Princess Ankang, it will take several years to get my money back.

If it is to maintain better treatment in the long run, it is still worth it.

But the current royal silver envoy is Princess Ankang. Even if we switch to her monthly allowance, it is hard to say what will happen in the future.

The third prince seemed to have made the decision to give up easily, but no one could understand his inner struggle.

The finger he pointed at himself was now trembling slightly.

At this moment, he shattered his own pride with his own hands.

All the achievements that made him proud in the past have now become a thing of the past and are meaningless.

After being defeated by Princess Ankang time and time again, the third prince finally accepted reality.

He is indeed not as good as Princess Ankang now.

His physical strength had declined compared to the beginning, but Princess Ankang was still relaxed when she defeated the Eighth Prince before.

Even without the challenge, the third prince knew the result, so he chose to give up.

He didn't feel bad about the tens of thousands of taels of silver. He couldn't afford it, and his mother would naturally help him pay for it. In front of so many people, Concubine Zhao Shu, one of the four concubines, would never ruin her son's show.

But the third prince finally abandoned his unnecessary self-esteem and chose to give up.

His trembling fingers gradually became firm, and the depression in his chest was relieved.

"Ankang, I am not as good as you now."

"But you never know."

The third prince said this to Princess Ankang, then after handing the silver to Zhao Feng, he walked off the stage under the gaze of everyone and returned to the pavilion where Concubine Zhao Shu was.

"Mother, I..."

Facing Concubine Zhao Shufei, the Third Prince didn't know what he should say at this moment.

But Concubine Zhao just smiled and tightened the fur coat for the third prince.

"Zhan'er, congratulations."

When the Third Prince heard his mother say this, a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"Your only enemy has always been yourself."

"And now you have finally taken the first step towards defeating yourself."

The third prince seemed to be thinking about something and turned to look at the people on the stage.

His gaze swept from the eldest prince to Princess Ankang, and finally stopped on the eighth prince.

The Eighth Prince had seen him give up directly before, and had wanted to praise him with something "nice", but seeing that the Third Prince was not in a good state, he had not opened his mouth.

The Eighth Prince could see that the Third Prince had become a little different after he gave up the competition.

And then, he did see the changes in the third prince.

The Third Prince smiled at the Eighth Prince and then looked away.

"Thank you for your guidance, mother. I will go back first."

After paying his respects to Concubine Zhao Shufei, the Third Prince did not watch the rest of the game, but left the Imperial Garden with his attendants.

Concubine Zhao Shu looked at her son's departing back with a smile on her face.

Rather than winning the game, what she cares more about is whether the third prince can grow.

However, the sudden withdrawal of the Third Prince from the competition caused a lot of discussion among people in the Imperial Garden, and there was no shortage of unpleasant words, but Concubine Zhao Shufei did not take it to heart.

There are so many gossips in the harem. If you take all of them to heart, will you still be able to live in the future?
With the third prince withdrawing from the competition, only the eldest prince and his three siblings are left on the stage with the opportunity to challenge.

The fourth prince looked around and sighed helplessly.

If they don't consider other things, they would also like to follow the example of the Third Prince and withdraw from the competition.

It's really not worth spending more than 50,000 taels just for a chance to win.

But when the three siblings saw Concubine Zhang's cold face in the audience, they knew they had no way out.

The third prince could afford to lose that person, but they couldn't.

"I'll go first."

The fourth prince said to the other two.

For the three of them, it didn’t matter who could defeat Princess Ankang; what mattered was whether they could really defeat her.

otherwise……

The three siblings couldn't imagine the pressure they would have to endure if they failed in the challenge.

"I want to force a challenge on Ankang."

The fourth prince stepped forward and challenged.

"Your Highness, the Fourth Prince, challenges the gold to be fifty-one thousand two hundred taels of silver."

Zhao Feng extended his hand with a smile.

The Fourth Prince now understood that no matter what the outcome of this game was, the Imperial Household Department would be the biggest winner.

Their attendants had already prepared the necessary silver bills.

The three of them could not come up with this amount of money.

In the previous business competition, the Fourth Prince had lost most of his savings and could not afford to pay so much money.

The eldest prince and the sixth princess did not have the same opportunities to earn extra money as he did, so they did not have much savings.

The challenge money was paid by Qingshu Palace, which was paid by their mother, Concubine Zhang.

This is also the reason why the three siblings are under tremendous pressure.

Zhao Feng, who collected the money, didn't care whether they were under a lot of pressure or not. He happily accepted the banknotes and arranged for them to compete.

Princess Ankang looked at the three siblings who were full of pressure and shook her head secretly.

She secretly glanced at Concubine Zhang who was sitting in the pavilion and felt that she was too serious.

Even the other concubines who were accompanying her in the pavilion did not dare to breathe, and the atmosphere was depressing.

Although the other four concubines were also sitting in other pavilions, they were just respectful and abiding by the rules, and the atmosphere was not that depressing.

It is obvious that Concubine Zhang is a person who brings low pressure wherever she goes.

It is a very tiring thing to deal with such people.

The eldest prince and his two siblings must have a hard time having such a mother.

Looking at Concubine Zhang, Princess Ankang thought of Concubine Xiao and couldn't help but smile gently.

In her opinion, her mother should be someone like Concubine Xiao.

Princess Ankang looked at the Fourth Prince in front of her and actually began to sympathize with her brother.

But she had no intention of losing to him.

The fourth prince performed exceptionally well in the end and scored four points.

Unfortunately, Princess Ankang scored five points again.

Princess Ankang won by one point.

After the result was announced, the Fourth Prince was not too surprised, but calmly asked Princess Ankang:

"You want a bill?"

Princess Ankang nodded silently, but then added: "If there are other things, you can leave it to Chief Steward Zhao to judge. As long as they are valuable enough, I will accept them."

The Fourth Prince smiled bitterly, looked at Princess Ankang and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but the decision is not up to me."

After saying this, the Fourth Prince looked at Concubine Zhang in the audience.

Since he is not the one who pays the money, he naturally has no right to make the decision.

Seeing that the eldest prince and his three siblings were all looking at her, Concubine Zhang said coldly:

"Here, keep going!"

The fourth prince silently gave up his seat and stood aside.

Just for such a trivial competition, their Qingshu Palace paid 100,000 taels of silver.

If we continue, it will cost at least 100,000 taels of silver.

But the Fourth Prince was sure that they would not be able to defeat Princess Ankang next time.

Princess Ankang's previous mistakes were all pretended. The Fourth Prince was already convinced of this through his previous competition with him.

Both brothers and sisters understood that it was time to stop, otherwise they would just be giving money to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Princess Ankang in vain.

But in public, the Fourth Prince did not have the confidence that he could convince Concubine Zhang.

He also didn't think that anyone present could stop Concubine Zhang's determination to fight the game to the end.

The next person to be pushed forward was the Sixth Princess.

She couldn't help feeling a little dazed as she held the dozen or so large-denomination banknotes in her hand.

For some reason, I suddenly feel that money is not money anymore, it’s just a string of numbers.

The fact that a royal princess could have such a radical change in her concept of money shows how much impact the recent events have had on her.

The Sixth Princess felt sorry for the money in her hands, and felt even more sorry for her two brothers.

Seeing that the eldest prince and the fourth prince were both as pale as eggplants hit by frost, and that everyone in the imperial garden was watching a show, the Sixth Princess could not help but bite her red lips tightly, and suddenly she had an urge to be willful and end the farce before her.

But when she made up her mind to raise her head, she was inexplicably met with the cold eyes of Concubine Zhang.

At this moment, the fiery impulse in the Sixth Princess' heart instantly solidified.

"I……"

"I want to force a challenge on Ankang."

The Sixth Princess lowered her head weakly and handed the banknote to Zhao Feng who was standing beside her.

(End of this chapter)