The Prodigal Son

As Qin Yu finished speaking, the assembled officials erupted in uproar.

"Where are the thousands of miles of brocade and the myriad restaurants here?"

"Is he trying to say that we can't see anything?"

"How dare you deceive the emperor in front of him!"

"This kid's really stubborn. Even if you burn him to ashes, he'd probably still have his mouth left!"

"To be honest, that kid's stupid! He should at least have all the restaurants in the capital city laid out brocade and held a celebratory banquet! Anyway, His Majesty and the envoys from other countries won't go anywhere outside the capital city to see this..."

The ministers offered their opinions one after another, but then all shook their heads.

I've seen people talk nonsense before, but I've never seen anything this nonsensical!

In front of so many people, how dare he say that the brocade and restaurants are right in front of him?

As for the envoys from various countries, they didn't say anything, but many of them showed an expression of watching a show.

Even if the Empress of Ning found a scapegoat, Ning will still lose face as a whole because of this incident.

The louder the slogans that Empress Ningguo shouted back then, the more shameful she is now!

When a woman is in charge, the walls crumble and the house collapses!

This is absolutely true!

After this incident, Ningguo will inevitably become a laughing stock among the surrounding countries.

The reputation that Emperor Xiaowen of Ningguo had built up for the country over many years would also fall.

Back when Emperor Xiaowen was in power, Ningguo was renowned!

Emperor Xiaowen's biggest mistake was passing the throne to Zhao Luan, who was in front of him!

"Nonsense!"

Zhao Luan coldly looked at Qin Yu: "Where are the thousands of miles of brocade and ten thousand restaurants? Are you making a fool of me?"

Meeting Zhao Luan's gaze, Qin Yu was speechless.

That's enough!

You've gotten addicted to acting, haven't you?

You are an empress, not an actress!

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

Qin Yu bowed again, pointing to the brocade paving the road, and said, "This is the Thousand-Li Brocade!"

"It's not even a mile long, is it?"

Lü Chunqiu scoffed, "Qin Yu, do you think His Majesty and we are ignorant of propriety?"

"Lord Lü, you are mistaken!"

Qin Yu grinned and pointed to a tiny line of embroidery in the corner of the brocade, saying, "Lord Lü, come and take a look. Is this truly the Thousand-Mile Brocade?"

Lu Chunqiu frowned and immediately stepped forward.

Lu Si was suspicious, so he quickly followed and went forward to check.

Guided by Qin Yu, the father and son finally saw the line of embroidered characters.

A thousand miles of brocade!

Lu Chunqiu's expression suddenly changed, and he was unable to recover for a long time.

Such a thousand-mile-long brocade?

So, this restaurant is called "Wanjia Restaurant"?

No wonder they were celebrating the Empress Dowager's birthday outside the city!

So that's where they were waiting!

A seemingly hopeless situation was easily broken by Qin Yu?

"Lord Lü, is this a thousand-mile-long brocade?"

Qin Yu asked Lü Chunqiu with a smile.

Lu Chunqiu struggled to his senses and was about to speak when Lu Si interrupted, saying, "What you're doing is clearly..."

Lu Chunqiu's expression changed, and he quickly covered his son's mouth, forcing a smile: "It really is a thousand-mile brocade! The finest thousand-mile brocade!"

As Lü Chunqiu spoke, he stomped on Lü Si's foot again.

If you fucking want to die, don't drag me down with you!

This was clearly something His Majesty and Qin Yu had discussed long ago!

Now, envoys from various countries are all waiting to see Ningguo make a fool of itself!

If they dare to publicly undermine Zhao Luan, they'll be in for a much bigger mess than just getting a beating!

Qin Yu was surprised.

Yo!

I didn't realize that!

Lü Chunqiu is quite pragmatic!

He thought that Lü Chunqiu only wanted to kill him and would undermine the Empress regardless of the occasion!

Hearing Lü Chunqiu's words, the ministers couldn't help but feel curious.

What's wrong with Lü Chunqiu?

Is he alright?

And they even helped Qin Yu lie through his teeth?

Driven by curiosity, the courtiers gathered around.

Upon seeing those four small characters, the officials were first stunned, and then they all looked up at Qin Yu in disbelief.

The problem that stumped the entire court was solved by him with ease.

This……

At that moment, they didn't know whether to say they were too stupid or that Qin Yu was too smart.

But without a doubt, Qin Yu's life was saved.

"Excellent, what a fine thousand-mile brocade! It is indeed a top-quality thousand-mile brocade!"

After regaining his senses, Song Zhuo burst into laughter and was the first to clap his hands and cheer.

"Yes, this is the Thousand-Mile Brocade!"

"A Thousand Miles of Brocade, what a wonderful name!"

"Haha, it truly is a thousand miles of brocade..."

Immediately afterwards, the courtiers all burst into laughter.

All are not fools.

Now is the time to unite against a common enemy!

Anyone who dares to undermine us is doomed!

"What 'thousand-mile-long brocade'? It's clearly less than a mile long!"

Xiao Hu's voice suddenly rang out: "Are all the people of Ning Kingdom so fond of deceiving themselves?"

Brush brush!

Several gazes from Ningguo ministers suddenly fell on Xiao Hu.

Does this brat even have the right to speak here?

It's not his place to question!

"Whether it's self-deception or not, why don't you come and see for yourself?"

Qin Yu glanced at Xiao Hu, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

You little rascal, you're not getting it!

Xiao Hu snorted coldly and immediately stepped forward to check.

Envoys from other countries couldn't resist and stepped forward to take a look.

Upon seeing those four delicately embroidered characters, everyone's pupils constricted sharply, and they instantly understood everything.

Qin Yu moved in front of Xiao Hu, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Can you read? Do you want me to find someone to read to you?"

"joke!"

Xiao Hu scoffed, "Still saying you're not just deceiving yourself! Does embroidering a few words on brocade make it a thousand miles of brocade? Does engraving 'ten thousand taels of gold' on a gold ingot make it ten thousand taels of gold?"

Hearing Xiao Hu's words, the envoys from the small countries nodded in agreement.

They wanted to see what the commotion was like!

As a result, this is it?

Unexpectedly, Yan Li, the third prince of Yan, did not join in the sneer. Instead, he stared at Qin Yu with great interest.

"Yes, 'Thousand-Mile Brocade' is the name of a type of brocade!"

Qin Yu stared at Xiao Hu with a righteous indignation, "You're not so naive as to think that 'a thousand miles of brocade' really means a thousand miles of brocade, are you? You all shouted 'Long live the Empress Murong of Northern Qi,' as if she were some old hag who has lived for ten thousand years?"

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, Crown Prince Yu Jing of Min was the first to agree, saying, "The words may be rough, but the principle is sound; that is indeed the truth!"

Although Yan Li did not speak, he nodded in agreement.

"How dare you!"

Xiao Hu glared at Qin Yu: "How dare you insult my Empress of Northern Qi?"

"That's quite a strange thing to say!"

Qin Yu raised an eyebrow, looking at Xiao Hu with displeasure: "Didn't you say that a thousand-mile-long brocade has to be a thousand-mile-long brocade? Shouldn't the emperor live for ten thousand years? I see you have the strength of ten thousand men, how about I find ten thousand people to fight you?"

As Qin Yu finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

"you……"

Xiao Hu glared at Qin Yu, his eyes blazing with fury, but he couldn't find the words to refute her. He could only grit his teeth and growl, "That's sophistry! The great Ning Kingdom, holding a birthday banquet and playing these pointless word games—it's utterly ridiculous!"

That bastard!

He certainly has a sharp tongue!

"What is wordplay? This is a fact!"

Qin Yu was dissatisfied, saying, "Our Empress Dowager served the late Emperor for many years, always sharing weal and woe with him, and was deeply influenced by his benevolence and virtue."

"Do you really think our Empress Dowager would engage in such extravagant and wasteful behavior?"

"The 'thousand-mile-long brocade' that our Empress Dowager spoke of is, of course, just the name of the brocade, and the 'ten thousand restaurants' are merely the name of the restaurants!"

"I suspect that the Empress Dowager made this request to His Majesty because she wanted to help him expose the treacherous officials hiding in the court!"

"If there is any minister in the court who insists that His Majesty pave a thousand miles of brocade and celebrate in ten thousand restaurants, then he must be a deeply hidden traitor to the country..."

As Qin Yu spoke eloquently, a hint of surprise flashed in Zhao Luan's eyes.

Is this something that Qin Yu, a spoiled brat, would say?

Could it be that Qin Laohu taught him?

However, when she looked at Qin Fumeng, she saw that Qin Fumeng was also dumbfounded with his mouth wide open.

It's as if they're wondering, how did their dim-witted, unlucky child suddenly become so smart?

After Qin Yu finished speaking, he looked at Empress Dowager Guo with a big smile: "Empress Dowager, I guessed right, didn't I?"